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What is the ultimate setup for live TV?


tpchristian
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tpchristian

Thanks for bearing with me as I haven't done a search on this.  Happy to dig into the forum more on any relevant topics, but looking to get some guidance on what to research.  I am a long time WMC user and still use this today.  I used MB back in the day and have a life license for Emby now.  I have a couple PCs with 4-turner internal Infinitvs in them.  I use xbox 360 on another TV.  I have experimented with running Server WMC and using that to do live tv, but have a couple  problems with it.

 

1) Not able to fast-foward, rewind, skip.

2) It seems to leave a recording in my recorded TV after I am done watching live tv.  I'm guessing I must have some config wrong, but haven't figured that one out even though I have search around a bit for an answer for this part.

 

I am trying to figure out if I can get my setup working well or looking into something else like a network tuner like HDHomeRun Prime.  If any of you have a live tv setup that is working great for you, I'd love to get the high-level to begin my research.

 

I guess I could keep trying to go along on WMC, but every day I get more paranoid that I am going to have some issue I can't work around or be able to get my hands on a 360 for an extender.

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legallink

I would check out the live tv section of the site. I have live tv running with an hdhomerun prime, works very well. Not flawlessly but neither did wmc for me. That being said, most issues are solvable when they come up.

 

In general you'll need a source that emby can work with, an epg to schedule shows/see listings, and the premier membership. I don't believe that emby supports infini tv's just yet. They do support hdhomeruns, and I use schedules direct for my epg provider. I like it a lot more than I did wmc, as wmc had so many protections and hurdles that it was painful. That being said, HBO and channels like that will be unwatchable if that is important for you.

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tpchristian

legallink,

 

Sorry for the late reply.  I didn't get any notifications for this.  I guess I have to check forum settings.  I had assumed it would be automatic.  I don't have a huge problem buying a hdhomerun prime if this setup works well.  Operationally, my setup has been pretty flawless.  I have a hard time thinking of an issue except when one of my hard drives crapped out.  

 

So, I am most curious about the comment about it not being flawless.  Can you just give me an example of what types of issues you are talking about so I understand the severity or if they are minor.  With the setup you have, can you answer if you have the following issues...

 

  • Are you able to skip backward/forward in the recorded show or live tv?  In my experimentation with server WMC, I have problems with that.  This is a show-stopper for me in any new config I invest in.
  • Are you able to setup something similar to comskip that will automatically skip commercials.  With a rare issue which can be manually controlled, this has been flawless for me.

I never even thought about program guide, or potential cost.  That has always been free with WMC.  I looked at the site of the one you are using.  Do I understand correctly, $25/yr?

 

I don't currently have HBO, etc.  I am curious what you meant by that, however.  I don't have any restrictions on channels with my infinitv with cable card.  Well, I guess that I did when I was on time warner.  They set the copy flag which forced me to only watch on the same pc (or extender) that it was recorded on.  At my new house I am on xfinity and they don't set that flag.  I can watch from either computer (or extender).  I would have assumed that hdhomerun prime would be similar with the cablecard.

 

I am already a lifetime premier supporter of emby.

 

I appreciate any further responses you provide.  I'll start browsing the live tv section a bit more now that I have some clue of a setup to replace mine with.

 

-Tom

 

 

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mediacowboy

Yes you are reading that right for schedules direct.

 

I also believe legallink was referring to the flagging of copy protected content. HBO is know for being copy protected.

 

Emby TV does support pausing live TV. It also supports rewind and fast forwarding of both paused TV and recordings.

 

Emby is working on comskip support. Right now they have the option in the dev build to have comskip run after a recording.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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legallink

As for not being flawless, there are a couple of things you have to see what works for you. Examples are:

1. If you are converting to MP4, you have to check and make sure the audio doesn't get out of sync with the video. You have to see what works for you with the preserve original audio and video settings.
2. I had an issue out of the blue where it wasn't maintaining scheduled recordings. I haven't figured out why this happened, but it was solved by cleaning the database and setting up the recordings again.
3. As mediacowboy indicated, you can't watch or record copy protected streams. Double check with your provider. I have fios and they seem to only copy protect HBO, starzz, showtime, and channels like that.
4. Loading up a channel can take a while to view it.
5. Epg's aren't exact and so some shows start a little early or end a little late, so you need to add some padding on the recording on the front end and the backend.
6. Navigating the EPG is ok, but not amazing. For the most part it is solid, but hopping from day to day, is eh.
7. You can't search for a show and then have it record like you can in wmc. You just have to find when it is playing in the epg and record the series.

Despite all that, it just works in general, and the support of something goes wrong is fantastic. With WMC a lot of things worked, but when it didn't there weren't a lot of answers.

Edited by legallink
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