snapperdg 0 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Hi I currently use Plex sideloaded on a Now TV as a media client and a Humax FOX-HDR2 PVR box with the custom firmware for live TV and PVR. The HDR2 is starting to make strange noises from the disk, so I'm looking at options before it dies... What I would like is a single tv front end box that handles Live TV, PVR and media playing. The new emby release looks good with the live TV plug in and recording etc. Can all this functionality be used via the NowTV box with an emby sideloaded or do I need to replace it with something else? There will be 3 TV front ends attached to my existing server (E5 Xeon running ESXi) with the emby back end server running a Linux distro. Can anyone suggest a good *easy-to-use* front end that will work with PVR and have a high WAF? I'm in the UK if that make a difference... Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14949 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The choice is up to you but I'm working very hard to make the ATV/FTV app one of the best interfaces around for Emby Live TV and DVR. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmarq13 5 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The choice is up to you but I'm working very hard to make the ATV/FTV app one of the best interfaces around for Emby Live TV and DVR. 2nd for the FireTV. Are you hoping to get the FTV app to the point that it won't require transcoding at all? So far that's one of the biggest benefits of the Kodi LiveTV implementation. It manages to do the stream from a HDHomerun without transcoding. Otherwise keep that in mind and make sure your server is sized appropriately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapperdg 0 Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Thanks for your replies. whilst i have nowtv boxes currently for plex, they only cost me 5ukp each, so if i have to junk them for something else, its not a great loss... @@ebr - is the Fire TV stick any good? its only use will be for emby, being hidden away behind the tv is quite attractive... any other hardware recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14949 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 The FTV app will run on the FTV Stick but, in my personal opinion, I don't think that is the best choice - unless you are just trying to get something very cheap for multiple low-use situations. The FTV Stick is just about the lowest power device of its kind. The remote for it is very cheap as well when compared to the full FTV one. It is a $29 device and that extra $70 can make a big difference. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14949 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 2nd for the FireTV. Are you hoping to get the FTV app to the point that it won't require transcoding at all? So far that's one of the biggest benefits of the Kodi LiveTV implementation. It manages to do the stream from a HDHomerun without transcoding. Otherwise keep that in mind and make sure your server is sized appropriately. I'm sure there will always be a need for transcoding for some content types but the newest version of the FTV app (in beta now) direct streams even more than the current release one does. However, Live TV still requires some transcoding at this point in time. In my experience, it is pretty light-duty transcoding though. We are continuing to work on it but haven't solved the puzzle of direct playing the live tv streams on these devices yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmarq13 5 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I'm sure there will always be a need for transcoding for some content types but the newest version of the FTV app (in beta now) direct streams even more than the current release one does. However, Live TV still requires some transcoding at this point in time. In my experience, it is pretty light-duty transcoding though. We are continuing to work on it but haven't solved the puzzle of direct playing the live tv streams on these devices yet. Great thanks for the update. I'm stuck with an older non-dlna HDHomeRun so haven't been able to join the beta at all. Very closely watching the amazing progress you guys are making as a potential option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapperdg 0 Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 The FTV app will run on the FTV Stick but, in my personal opinion, I don't think that is the best choice - unless you are just trying to get something very cheap for multiple low-use situations. The FTV Stick is just about the lowest power device of its kind. The remote for it is very cheap as well when compared to the full FTV one. It is a $29 device and that extra $70 can make a big difference. YMMV. thanks @@ebr - will the FTV client have customisable home/media screens? - i.e. can you turn the unwanted icons/eye candy off? the family like using RarFlix for Plex as the home screen can be configured to just show TV shows and Movies icons - they are a very minimalistic lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14949 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 thanks @@ebr - will the FTV client have customisable home/media screens? - i.e. can you turn the unwanted icons/eye candy off? the family like using RarFlix for Plex as the home screen can be configured to just show TV shows and Movies icons - they are a very minimalistic lot If you setup the libraries on the server for those users to be that minimal, then that's what you'll get in the FTV client. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantaxp7 190 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I have the firetv stick and it is quite sluggish. I am contemplating testing the full FTV Does it direct stream mkv? And does it allow passthrough of audio with out being PCM like android tv does? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14949 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 All the Fire devices appear to be limited to stereo at this point. The NP or Shield will bitstream DD and decode DTS to PCM (which is what your receiver is doing anyway when you bitstream). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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