Jump to content

Why use Emby for Kodi?


NiallWaller
Go to solution Solved by dougl416,

Recommended Posts

PhilWhite

Connect is better now after the last update.  I share your pain dealing with it in the past.

 

I would say most of this depends on personal preference since there are many ways to achieve the same results.

 

One thing that is nice about Emby for Kodi is that I only have to change metadata in Emby and the changes show up in all my Kodi clients, so it's less work.  And Emby updates the library often, so I don't have to wait for a library update when I turn on Kodi any longer.

 

Recently, though, since Emby TV has improved so much I haven't bothered using Kodi and I just use the Emby interface.  Kodi is still much prettier the way I have it set and it is certainly more configurable.

 

The other thing to consider is what type of backend you use.  I have a FreeNAS server and use the Emby plugin for FreeNAS.  Emby TV is one of only a few ways to have live TV set up with FreeNAS.  There are ways to do it with MythTV and TVHeadend, but they are much more involved than the ease of setting up Emby TV.  With other servers DVBLink is a great solution.  I think any solution that relies on only one computer as backend is better than solutions that require a second computer to provide TV (as with using Server WMC) -- but that is just a personal preference.  But if you use a windows box as server for media and for TV, then it's a wash.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

NiallWaller

As I need to decide if I'm going to use Kodi or not can someone tell me what it is that people prefer about Kodi over Emby?

 

Got to disagree there pal, lots of the kodi tv backends are more mature. So you just set it up and it's done no maintenance required...

So at the minute I'd probably use them. However I'm hopeful at some stage theater drops and removes the need for kodi entirely.

 

How are Kodi back ends more mature if they're the same ones used by Emby?

What do you mean about theatre? Is Emby theatre currently not good enough?

 

 

 

No you are not as both kodi and emby live TV plugins access the same backend api so they appear synced as they access the same data

Will data on what recorded TV has been watched and progress also be maintained by the TV server and synced?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are Kodi back ends more mature if they're the same ones used by Emby?

What do you mean about theatre? Is Emby theatre currently not good enough?

 

 

 

They aren't the same plugins, and they're more mature because kodi/xbmc has been around a bit longer(in the current iteration) and has a few more devs...

And no, in my opinion theater is not ready.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NiallWaller

PhilWhite, with your setup are you able to watch live TV, recorded Tv and TV guide through Emby for Kodi?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PhilWhite

PhilWhite, with your setup are you able to watch live TV, recorded Tv and TV guide through Emby for Kodi?

No.  Emby TV is so new that there is no TV plugin for it in Kodi.  Emby for Kodi is only for serving up your own media, so it does not include live TV or a TV guide.  That is actually one of the reasons why I have been using Emby by itself lately since I can access all of those things in the Emby app.  When I use Kodi I access live TV right now with the HDHomerun Live app, which works very well, but it suffers from interlacing issues (that should be solved when Isengard comes out next Monday).

 

The reason to use Kodi is that you can fashion it any way that you like.  You can personalize it with whichever backgrounds you want to use, so it presents your media in a prettier way than Emby does (presentation is not Emby's forte).  And it plays pretty much any file type you can throw at it.

 

I've stopped thinking about having everything in one app by now anyway.  I think in terms of the environment serving up my media and surrounding streaming services.  I think there is something to be said for using Kodi, but I find Emby adds to the Kodi experience by centralizing media and allowing Kodi to do the things it does best -- presenting the media.  Within a particular environment -- I use Fire TVs right now -- why not use Kodi and Emby and whatever else you might want (sports channels, Netflix, etc.)?

 

The way I have things set up I have a central server that provides all my media and also TV (but I can also access TV directly from the network tuners) and three clients (Fire TVs) that present everything to the TVs.  I generally only use a few apps -- Kodi, Emby, MLBTV, Netflix, Sling TV, etc.  I love it.  The only thing I'm contemplating right now is whether or not to invest in a Nvidia Shield TV, but I don't see many reasons to do that right now because I'm not a gamer and Emby TV really works.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

xnappo

Kodi does support live TV thouugh, with the same backends Emby supports.  You can have everything in one app if you want.

 

Just install it and try it. :D It isn't really like you are making a critical life decision,  you can always uninstall it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

swhitmore

Kodi does support live TV thouugh, with the same backends Emby supports.  You can have everything in one app if you want.

 

Just install it and try it. :D It isn't really like you are making a critical life decision,  you can always uninstall it.

 

I can confirm that Live TV works well like this. I use ServerWMC as the backend that connects to Emby and Kodi separately. There has been no issue doing this. I see the same recorded shows, and can schedule and manage recordings in both Emby and Kodi just fine.

 

ServerWMC was really easy to set up. I do remember issues when it was first released, but it was fixed shortly after.

Edited by swhitmore
Link to comment
Share on other sites

CBers

Really?

In my experience ddns>connect by a LONG way, I could never get connect to work properly/consistently for long enough to justify sticking with it.

I've never used the Emby for Kodi addon with it, but I can switch between my son's server and also friends servers without issue.

To connect Kodi to a remote Emby server, you can't use EMBYCONNECT (obviously).

 

You have to connect to an account created on the Emby server and then enable HTTP instead of SMB in the Emby for Kodi addon.

 

Sorry if this is obvious, but hadn't tried it before.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
Trevor68

Sorry to raise old questions, but I searched this forum for "livetv" and this thread had the most discussion. Basically I am looking for a LiveTV option that will allow me to go forward with Windows 10 on my HTPC, which plugs into my Samsung H series via HDMI, making my "smart" TV, a dumb monitor, which is my excuse for being so out of touch with "smart" tv apps.

 

From reading this thread I understand that Kodi for Emby does not support LiveTV, but Kodi itself does using similiar backends to Emby? I see one person was using ServerWMC as the backend, but would not that itself become defunct without WMC, or does it live on somehow?

 

I guess what I'm really asking, is what "app" do people have installed on their TV's to view and record LiveTV. And if it's not Kodi for Emby, then I guess your switching between 2 apps, one for LiveTV and the other for your own media?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

e123enitan

Stay tuned for upcoming Live TV announcements with Emby!

Thanks Luke,but couldyou elaborate on what this all about,I am gussing emby/kodi will incorporate LiveTv.

;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vidman

I believe it's that emby server will be incorporating the emby tv live tv plugin as a core feature

So if you have a hdhomerun network tuner it will require very little setup to work with emby server

Edited by Vidman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
fromthewoods

Ya, PCI internal tuner support would be nice. I've set up NextPVR on Windows 10 with an AverMedia Tuner and it works but it's a little buggy... maybe it's my crappy tuner. lol. I have a Hauppauge internal tuner in my "prod" wife-approved HTPC but it's dedicated to the rock solid (and dying) WMC. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Solution
dougl416

I recently switched from Kodi running my media, to Plex, now to Emby. For me it's simple.

 

* Better control over the meta-data.

* Centralized server that can save the progress and viewing habits of all my users

* Doesn't require Kodi to run artwork downloaders. As all the artwork and information is handled by the centralized server.

* Emby is available for everything. This allows me to run it on my Openmediavault server, which has basically become a dedicated Media server.

* Incorperates itself amazing with Kodi. It automatically fills out and organized the categories.

* Sometimes NFS and Samba shares like to randomly break, which causes Kodi to have all types of problems. Emby handles the connection between the client and my server. So no need to worry about why OMV shut off my NFS shares.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...