Speed to tune?

[jriker1 16]

Using Emby with HD HomeRun Prime cablecard tuner on same switch. Well Emby is on a 10Gbps switch and HD is on 1GB switch but switches are DAC linked.  Anyway, are there optimal settings for watching live TV with Emby?

 

I am finding in Windows (wired) takes about 4 seconds to tune in a channel and then for about the next 10 to 15 seconds audio cuts in and out and eventually stabilizes.

With my Android (wired) it takes about 7 seconds to tune in a channel and has less hiccups to stabilize but still has brief audio outages initially.

 

Not in front of my Shield TV right now but here is what the admin console shows when playing on Windows if this is relevant:

 

Stream HLS Converting to compatible container
Video: 720p H264 Direct Play (8 mbps)
Audio: English AC3 5.1 Transcode (MP3 384 kbps)

 

On my iPhone (Wi-Fi) for reference is all direct play and takes about 3 seconds to come up and smooth the whole time.

 

Thanks.

 

JR

Edited February 14, 2023 by jriker1

[Sammy 739]

This has long been an issue with Emby. The timing is in the conversion to compatible container and creating a pause buffer. If you direct play you can't pause and resume and IIR, Closed Captions will not be visible either. I've learned to live with the slower tune times in the name of saving money over having to rent cable boxes and pay DVR "taxes" for each of 8 TV's smattered about the place.

[Spaceboy 2502]

did someone say tvnext?

[jriker1 16]

Thanks Sammy.  I don't have access to my Shield TV right now but I see this:

 

iOS 3 seconds and no transcoding

Windows 4 - 5 seconds and transcoding audio

OK understand the pause buffer thing.  Maybe not the audio stuttering for a period after it starts playing but do we know if the Shield is transcoding everything?  Audio and Video that it's the longest to start?

[arrbee99 1561]

24 minutes ago, Spaceboy said:

did someone say tvnext?

Wouldn't dream of it

[arrbee99 1561]

You have to admit though, the present tuning speed is still quicker than the time taken to create stuff to fix it and then not implement it.

[jriker1 16]

I'm unfortunately still using Windows Media Center and need that experience or better to get my family to move off it.  This isn't bad but still have that uncomfortable period when starting  Live TV if it's going to crap out or not.  Would love to get rid of WMC and my XBox 360 extenders!!!!

[Guest CodeCat5]

14 hours ago, jriker1 said:

I'm unfortunately still using Windows Media Center and need that experience or better to get my family to move off it.  This isn't bad but still have that uncomfortable period when starting  Live TV if it's going to crap out or not.  Would love to get rid of WMC and my XBox 360 extenders!!!!

Channels DVR is the only one I've tried that I would say is on par or better than WMC in every way. It's a great system, though a bit pricey IMO at $8/month with no options for a lifetime license. If you watch a lot of broadcast TV though then it might be worth the cost. They do also offer the stand-alone Android Channels app without the DVR for a one time fee of $25. I personally use that for most of my live TV surfing and Emby for the DVR. I would definitely prefer to have everything in one app, but this works well enough for me and I don't have any monthly subscriptions.

Emby's "tvnext" project sounds very interesting and may give Channels a run for their money. It seems like it's been put on the back-burner though as Emby seems to have other priorities at the moment, so there's no telling when we might actually get to see it.

[bob174 6]

They've been talking about a major TV release for literally, years.  If it is ever released, due to the leaked large feature set, I suspect that it will have a host of issues that may drive you back to the previous clients for some bit of time.  The Emby team are an internally smart bunch in that no feature release schedule has ever been committed to (not even with the granularity of what year something may come out) so there is no expectation or missed deadlines to irritate the user community.  However, this is the most frustrating aspect of the Emby product for the users.  Vague references to new features, bug fixes, etc., with no apparent delivery schedule.  The standard refrain is "we're looking at it".  It's no way to run a software shop that's committed to its user community.

[Sammy 739]

@CodeCat5

I haven't heard of the stand-alone Android Channels app without the DVR for a one time fee of $25 before. Is this better than the Channels app already present in AndroidTV?

[Guest CodeCat5]

19 hours ago, Sammy said:

@CodeCat5

I haven't heard of the stand-alone Android Channels app without the DVR for a one time fee of $25 before. Is this better than the Channels app already present in AndroidTV?

You're referring to the "Live Channels" app from Google, right? It's been a while since I've used that one, and in fact I think I had to completely disable/remove it because it was causing some other weird issue within other unrelated apps. In my experience though the "Channels for HDHomerun" app is better and more stable than "Live Channels" was. Here's a link to their page:

https://getchannels.com/for-hdhomerun/

Edited April 8, 2023 by CodeCat5