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Which frontend app do you use?


FrancisK7

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FrancisK7

I am a Canadian OTA user with a last-gen hdhomerun and am looking for advice on which frontend solution to go with.

 

I have a HDHR3 tuner which did not support DNLA so relied on an old laptop that ran WMC hooked up to a TV via HDMI to do my live TV/PVR.

 

The laptop is dead, and now I have a Surface 3 Pro (i7/8GB) as a replacement. Since it has Windows 10, I couldn't use WMC.

 

I spent hours trying MediaPortal,NextPVR,ArgusTV, etc. in vain. When I realized my tuner didnt support DNLA, I ordered the HDHR4-2US(CA) which I received yesterday.

 

Still couldn't make any of these apps work. I bought HDhomerun PVR, but I don't like the interface.

 

So I bought a Schedules Direct sub and got Emby.

 

Installation was a breeze, tuner got detected, schedules direct account logged in fine and both tuners appear correctly.

 

I just don't have any solid frontend software right now.

 

What do you guys recommend? Emby Theather loaded the channel list fine but not EPG logos or schedules.

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jasonmcroy

The current Emby Theater does not show any guide information, but for me does play back TV nicely.

 

There is a new Emby Theater being developed to replace the current one. That App does show the guide data. When that is released you will have a nice solution for a front end.

 

In the meantime you could also use Kodi as a frontend and install the dedicated HDHomerun App they have, although it sounds like you may have tried that. I agree the interface for the DVR part isn't that great and the guide is different than what you're used to with WMC but it does work well for me on playback. I don't like their EPG guide solution either so I know how you feel. I did also purchase the DVR through them during the Kickstarter campaign. 

 

I have gone back and forth between their DVR and the Emby TV DVR and I like the Emby interface much better.

 

Another idea you could try is using the Emby Web Client. That also has a nice interface.

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FrancisK7

Thanks Jason, really appreciate the input.

 

Indeed I am used to a table view for TV scheduling so absolutely hated the HomerunPVR app with huge thumbnails and grid. What a waste of screen real estate.

 

From what Ive gathered the only way to get table view guides is with Emby and NextPVR?

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jasonmcroy

I think you can also get it via Mediaportal but it had been years since I used that program.

 

Sent from my SM-G386T1 using Tapatalk

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If you are willing to use a Nexus Player, Shield or Fire TV, our Android TV app has full live TV guide support including while watching a channel.

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  • 3 weeks later...
FrancisK7

I just bought a new Vizio M60 4K TV and my Surface 3 Pro cant output to it.

 

What hardware do you recommend to use alongside Emby server? A Roku? Is that 4K compatible?

 

I want to take advantage of my scheduledirect sub so would like a hardware solution that can accomodate full live tv guide support.

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FrancisK7

So I purchased a Nvidia Shield TV (16GB) and installed Emby. Its connected to the network via Ethernet.

 

Emby server is running on a PC on the main network.

 

Tuning to a channel can take as long as 10 seconds.

 

Is that normal behavior?

 

App is not unlocked, trial behavior?

Edited by FrancisK7
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Not if you are using the internal TV with an HDHR and allowing direct streaming of live TV.

 

My channels tune in 2-3 seconds at most.

 

If using an external service or transcoding is occurring, then that will take longer.

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FrancisK7

HDHR4 is the internal TV and direct streaming with no transcoding

 

Except for CTV, guide isn't loading either even though schedulesdirect config is OK in server

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FrancisK7

I just checked settings and its set to use VLC and direct streaming.

 

It takes more like 15s-20s for a channel to load.

 

Since I have a 4K TV I lowered the resolution to 720p or less to see if this helped, not at all.

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