EPG Collector: Top Features and Setup Tips

EPG Collector: Top Features and Setup TipsElectronic Program Guide (EPG) data is the backbone of modern TV experiences—enabling program schedules, search, reminders, recordings, and personalized recommendations. EPG Collector is a tool designed to aggregate, normalize, and deliver EPG data from multiple sources to your media server, DVR, or IPTV stack. This article covers the top features of EPG Collector, how it works, setup and configuration tips, common pitfalls, and optimization strategies to get accurate, timely program listings.

What EPG Collector does (overview)

EPG Collector gathers program schedule information from various providers (XMLTV files, web scraping, M3U/XSPF playlists, API feeds from broadcasters or aggregators), merges and normalizes the data, and outputs it in formats consumed by clients such as Kodi, Plex, TVHeadend, Jellyfin, and IPTV set-top boxes. It typically supports scheduling, channel mapping, guide caching, timezone handling, and program metadata enrichment (descriptions, posters, categories).

Top features

1. Multi-source aggregation

   • Collects EPG from XMLTV files, JSON/XML APIs, web-scraped HTML pages, and third-party aggregators.
   • Can combine multiple sources to fill gaps in coverage (e.g., broadcaster feed + local guide).

2. Channel mapping and normalization

   • Maps source channels to a unified channel list used by your media system.
   • Supports channel IDs, names, frequencies, and logical channel numbers (LCNs).

3. Time zone and DST handling

   • Correctly adjusts event times for time zones and daylight saving changes, preventing off-by-one-hour errors.

4. Automatic updates and caching

   • Periodic fetches to keep guide data fresh while using caching to reduce network and CPU load.
   • Incremental updates where supported to minimize data transfer.

5. Program metadata enrichment

   • Adds descriptions, images (posters/thumbnails), genres, cast, and ratings from supplemental sources.
   • Normalizes categories for consistent searching and filtering.

6. Flexible output formats

   • Exports XMLTV (ET), JSON, or other formats required by downstream applications.
   • Supports compressed outputs (gz) to save bandwidth and storage.

7. Channel grouping and favorites

   • Creates logical groups (by language, region, genre) so clients can present organized channel lists.

8. Conflict resolution and deduplication

   • Detects overlapping or duplicate events across sources and resolves them by priority rules or heuristics.

9. Filtering and custom rules

   • Allows excluding channels or program types, renaming channels, or applying transformation rules.

10. Integration with DVR/recording systems

    • Generates guide data compatible with recording rules, allowing accurate scheduling of timed or title-based recordings.

How EPG Collector works (architecture)

• Input layer fetches raw guide data from configured sources on a schedule.
• Parsing layer converts each source into a common internal representation (events with start, end, title, description, channel ID).
• Normalization and enrichment layer handles channel mapping, time conversion, deduplication, and metadata augmentation.
• Storage/cache layer retains recent EPG data and serves incremental queries.
• Output layer produces XMLTV/JSON and serves it via HTTP, file export, or direct API integration with a media server.

Setup and configuration tips

1. Choose reliable sources first

   • Start with official broadcaster or aggregator feeds for your region if available. They’re usually the most complete and accurate.
   • Use web-scraped sources only when no official feed exists, and monitor them for layout changes.

2. Plan channel mapping up front

   • Export a channel list from your client (e.g., TVHeadend or Kodi) and create a mapping file so channel IDs align between guide and player.
   • Use stable identifiers (network ID/service ID) where possible rather than display names.

3. Set correct time zone / locale

   • Ensure the EPG Collector and the downstream client share the same timezone configuration. Prefer explicit timezone settings over relying on system defaults.
   • Verify DST transitions by inspecting guide entries around changeover dates.

4. Tune update frequency

   • For most regions, updating every 6–12 hours is sufficient. Increase frequency for fast-changing schedules (live news, sports).
   • Use caching to avoid hitting rate limits on source providers.

5. Configure source priorities and deduplication

   • Assign priority values to sources so the collector knows which feed to trust when conflicts arise.
   • Enable similarity thresholds for titles/descriptions to merge slightly different versions of the same event.

6. Enable metadata enrichment selectively

   • Enrichment (posters, cast) improves UX but increases processing and network use. Cache images locally or use CDN-hosted thumbnails.
   • Limit enrichment to channels/program types where imagery matters (movies, series, specials).

7. Monitor for failures and changes

   • Set up alerts for parsing errors, authentication failures, or drastic changes in guide size—these often indicate source changes.
   • Maintain a small log retention for debugging feed changes.

8. Test with your client early

   • Hook the collector to your client (e.g., point Kodi/Plex/TVHeadend to the collector’s output) and confirm schedules line up before enabling automatic recording rules.

9. Handle region-specific quirks

   • Some countries present shows with local time offsets or split schedules; use per-channel time adjustments if necessary.
   • Language and encoding: ensure correct character encodings (UTF-8) to avoid garbled titles.

10. Backup and version control configuration

    • Keep the collector’s config, channel maps, and transform rules in a version control system. That makes rollbacks simple when a change breaks parsing.

Common pitfalls and fixes

• Off-by-one-hour errors: usually timezone/DST mismatch. Verify both collector and client timezone settings and consider storing times as UTC internally.
• Missing channels: mismatch between channel identifiers in guide and client. Revisit mapping file and prefer numeric IDs where supported.
• Duplicate programs: tune deduplication thresholds and source priorities; remove low-quality or stale sources.
• Rate limits / blocked scraping: respect robots.txt where applicable, add caching, and consider using official APIs or paid aggregators.
• Large image downloads slowing processing: switch to thumbnails or lazy-loading, and cache images.

Performance and scaling tips

• Use incremental updates and delta parsing where sources support it.
• Store EPG data in a lightweight local database (SQLite, Redis) for fast reads.
• Run parsing jobs in parallel but limit concurrency to avoid saturating CPU or network.
• Compress exported XMLTV (gz) and use HTTP caching headers to reduce repeated downloads by clients.
• For multi-region setups, partition data by region and serve only relevant channels to each client.

Example minimal configuration checklist

• Source feeds configured (at least one reliable source)
• Channel mapping file matching your client
• Timezone set to the region or UTC
• Update schedule defined (e.g., every 8 hours)
• Metadata enrichment toggled as needed
• Output endpoint reachable by client (HTTP/file)
• Monitoring/alerts enabled for parsing failures

Final notes

EPG Collector brings order to disparate program schedule sources and makes TV guides useful and reliable. The key to a robust setup is choosing good sources, keeping channel mappings accurate, handling time zones explicitly, and monitoring for feed changes. With those pieces in place, you’ll have timely, enriched program data powering recordings, reminders, and search across your media ecosystem.