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Watching TV

Views​

ChannelUP has two main views for browsing your channels. Switch between them from the settings menu.

EPG Grid​

The default view. A time-based grid showing channels on the left and programs laid out across time.

  • Navigate with arrow keys to move between channels (up/down) and time slots (left/right)
  • Current time is marked with a vertical indicator line
  • Programs are colour-coded by genre — movies, sport, news, etc.
  • Program info appears when you highlight a cell — title, time, synopsis, and genre
  • Press Enter on any program to tune to that channel

ChannelUP EPG grid with a focused program and navigation state

Time navigation

Use left/right arrows to scroll through time. The grid can show up to 7 days of guide data, depending on your look-ahead setting.

An alternative card-based view, useful for quickly scanning what's on now.

  • Each channel is shown as a card with the current program's artwork (when available), title, and a progress bar
  • Scroll left/right to browse channels
  • Press Enter to watch the highlighted channel
  • The carousel shows a synopsis preview below the card

ChannelUP carousel showing the focused channel card and program details

Live Playback​

Starting Playback​

Press Enter on any channel in the grid or carousel to start watching. The stream starts in fullscreen.

A buffering indicator appears while the stream loads — this is usually just a second or two on a wired connection.

ChannelUP fullscreen player displaying the buffering indicator

During playback, press Down to open the mini carousel overlay at the bottom of the screen. This lets you:

  • Browse channels without leaving the current stream
  • See what's on each channel (current program title and progress)
  • Switch channels by pressing Enter on a different channel card

ChannelUP mini carousel over fullscreen playback

The mini carousel auto-hides after a few seconds of inactivity.

Screen Keep-Alive​

ChannelUP prevents your TV from going to sleep or showing a screensaver during playback. This can be toggled in the settings menu.

Subtitles​

ChannelUP supports DVB bitmap subtitles for Australian free-to-air broadcasts.

Enabling Subtitles​

During playback, access the subtitle options through the settings overlay:

  • Choose a subtitle track from available tracks on the broadcast
  • Select a font — Standard, Atkinson Hyperlegible, or OpenDyslexic for accessibility
  • Your choice is remembered per channel — next time you tune in, ChannelUP restores your preferred subtitle track automatically
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Add screenshot here: subtitle track selection overlay during playback, showing available tracks and font options.

How Subtitles Work​

Subtitles are extracted in real-time from the broadcast transport stream by a custom demuxer running in the webOS service layer. They're rendered as bitmap overlays on the video surface, so they look exactly as the broadcaster intended.

Audio Tracks​

Some channels broadcast multiple audio tracks (e.g., different languages or audio description).

  • During playback, access audio track selection through the settings overlay
  • Switch tracks without interrupting the stream
  • Your preference is saved per channel — ChannelUP automatically selects your preferred audio track each time you tune in

ChannelUP audio-only playback view with the mini carousel and track controls