An XMLTV time can include a numeric offset from UTC. Read that offset before applying a player correction. When an offset is omitted, the XMLTV definition assumes UTC; a local-looking number is not automatically local time.
Prepare one trustworthy comparison
Choose one programme with a known date, national feed and official schedule. Note the player’s current guide offset before making a change. Also record the device’s automatic time-zone setting. Do not alter a whole-device clock to disguise a guide discrepancy; the question here is how one source timestamp is interpreted, not whether the device should run at an invented time.
Work through the offset
The fictional timestamp 20261108203000 +0500 means 20:30 on 8 November in a zone five hours ahead of UTC. Subtract five hours to obtain 15:30 UTC. A viewer whose applicable offset is +0000 would expect 15:30 for that same instant. These are original arithmetic examples, not a television schedule.
Midnight matters. In 20261108013000 +0500, subtracting five hours produces 20:30 UTC on 7 November. Comparing only the hour would miss the date change. Keep the programme date attached to every time in a report. The relevant civil offset can also differ across dates, so a successful manual correction today should not become a permanent assumption.
Classify what the comparison shows
A uniform displacement across the correct feed may justify checking the player’s documented offset control. Unrelated programme titles point toward mapping instead. Missing future entries point toward guide coverage or refresh, which an hour adjustment cannot create. If the application applies an existing source adjustment, an additional manual correction may move otherwise correct entries again.
- Compare source date and offset, device zone and displayed guide time.
- Change only a documented guide setting after recording the old value.
- Recheck the chosen programme and another entry near a different date boundary.
Check the same instant and date
The same programme should represent the same instant after conversion, even when viewers see different local clock times. If the result remains wrong, provide the exact feed, source timestamp if available, expected local time, displayed time and date. Exclude private guide URLs. Ask the provider whether the data or mapping needs correction instead of repeatedly stacking offsets. This reference supplies time arithmetic, not a promise that a particular player imports every XMLTV variant.
Sources and review
- XMLTV Document Type Definition — XMLTV project