M3U Streaming with Multiple Users

[Omphalos 3]

I have a question about the M3U functionality for live TV. If I have multiple people streaming remotely from my server, does Emby simply pass along the channel URL and then have the device stream the channel directly from the provider? Or does Emby transcode the stream and then relay it to the client?

 

The reason I ask, I'm trying to determine if multiple users viewing live TV will be seen by the provider as a single device or as multiple devices. If Emby transcodes and then relays the stream, then the provide would probably only see the Emby server since the client would never connect directly to the provider. But if it passes along the URL to the client then the provider would see each individual client since they would be streaming directly from the provider. Anyone know how it works?

[Carlo 4330]

All TV goes directly through your server.  The URL is never passed on to the client.  Your provider will always see your Emby Server IP, not the client.

Keep in mind if you had 3 users on your system watching CBS and 2 users watching FOX you have 5 streams outgoing but Emby would only use two from the provider (one CBS, one FOX) because it can share the input stream.

[Omphalos 3]

That's great information, thanks! Exactly what I needed to know.