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Tuning to live tv time consuming


Smn8600

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Smn8600

Starting a recorded show takes 1-2 seconds, but tuning to a live tv show takes 10-15 seconds. I'm using the HDHomeRun Connect. Am I alone on this or is this considered normal? Watching tv with the HDHomeRun software is almost instant. Why does Emby take so long?

 

 

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lifespeed

I have noticed this also, although it seems to vary.  Don't know if it matters or not, but I have been recording the raw MPEG2 TS stream to simplify things as I was suspicious FFMPEG would choke, particularly if the OTA signal dropped out or pixelated badly.  Maybe I can switch back to MKV format once I get my antenna configuration completely nailed down so the signal is perfect at all times.  A tall order for OTA TV, but I think it can be done in my geographic location.

 

I'll check again tonight, if the delay seems unreasonable I'll post a log.

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BAlGaInTl

I've experienced the same thing.

 

With Kodi connected to my TVHeadend server, I could tune and change channels quickly.

 

Emby takes a significant amount of time to tune those same channels.

 

I don't watch a lot of live TV, so it is a minor annoyance for me at the moment.  The guide in Emby makes up for it though.  I've found it much more fluid and easy to look at.

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Jdiesel

I would imagine that because of the way Emby works it must probe the stream to get the stream info then start remuxing or transcoding the stream before playback starts on the client. All of this takes time but is necessary for features like time shifting. I'd be curious to know how much of a buffer is used between initiating a live tv stream and when playback starts on the client.

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BAlGaInTl

I would imagine that because of the way Emby works it must probe the stream to get the stream info then start remuxing or transcoding the stream before playback starts on the client. All of this takes time but is necessary for features like time shifting. I'd be curious to know how much of a buffer is used between initiating a live tv stream and when playback starts on the client.

 

Possibly.

 

Isn't the same thing happening with TVHeadend? 

 

Perhaps it is because TVHeadend doesn't try to analyze the stream?  It just serves/records it?

 

Could that be an option with Emby?

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lifespeed

I would imagine that because of the way Emby works it must probe the stream to get the stream info then start remuxing or transcoding the stream before playback starts on the client. All of this takes time but is necessary for features like time shifting. I'd be curious to know how much of a buffer is used between initiating a live tv stream and when playback starts on the client.

 

I currently don't transcode live TV, PC clients can direct play.  The delay is still far more than tuning a channel using Silicondust software.

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blade005

Starting a recorded show takes 1-2 seconds, but tuning to a live tv show takes 10-15 seconds. I'm using the HDHomeRun Connect. Am I alone on this or is this considered normal? Watching tv with the HDHomeRun software is almost instant. Why does Emby take so long?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What client apps are you using to view LIVE TV?

 

I just did a quick test across a number of clients to see the start up response times.

 

HARDWARE:

  • HDHomerun Connect - HDHR4-2US tuners.
  • OTA Antenna

I tuned to the same HD channel within a few minutes of each other.

 

Results listed below:

 

EMBY LIve TV Startup Response Times      

 

Web UI (Chrome)

Transcoding Mode

Wired Network

14-15s Response Time

 

Android App-Beta (Phone & Tablet)

Direct Play Mode

WiFi Network

3-5s Response Time

 

Roku 3 - Emby Preview Beta App

Transcoding Mode

Wired Network

17-20s Response Time

 

Emby Theater Desktop

Direct Play

Wired

3-5s Response Time

 

For me, it seems that a client that can Direct Play the Live TV stream starts up in about 3-5 seconds. Clients that require transcoding are considerably longer and may be dependent on other Emby activity that is using resources.

 

I don't use Live TV within Emby that much. I do find that using the HDHomerun app on both a W10 and W7 Desktop PC and the HDHomerun Beta app on Android phone and tablet with same HDHomerun tuners outside of Emby ecosystem are just about a 1 second startup response or channel change.

Edited by blade005
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Smn8600

What client apps are you using to view LIVE TV?

 

I just did a quick test across a number of clients to see the start up response times.

 

HARDWARE:

  • HDHomerun Connect - HDHR4-2US tuners.
  • OTA Antenna

I tuned to the same HD channel within a few minutes of each other.

 

Results listed below:

 

EMBY LIve TV Startup Response Times      

 

Web UI (Chrome)

Transcoding Mode

Wired Network

14-15s Response Time

 

Android App-Beta (Phone & Tablet)

Direct Play Mode

WiFi Network

3-5s Response Time

 

Roku 3 - Emby Preview Beta App

Transcoding Mode

Wired Network

17-20s Response Time

 

Emby Theater Desktop

Direct Play

Wired

3-5s Response Time

 

For me, it seems that a client that can Direct Play the Live TV stream starts up in about 3-5 seconds. Clients that require transcoding are considerably longer and may be dependent on other Emby activity that is using resources.

 

I don't use Live TV within Emby that much. I do find that using the HDHomerun app on both a W10 and W7 Desktop PC and the HDHomerun Beta app on Android phone and tablet with same HDHomerun tuners outside of Emby ecosystem are just about a 1 second startup response or channel change.

 

 

 

I'm using the exact same tuner with an OTA antenna in my attic.

My response times are almost exactly the same for the Web UI (15 seconds) and Emby Theater (5 seconds). My Amazon Fire TV Stick (1st generation) takes about 15 seconds to tune, but that's not surprising due to it's age and it's generally slow.

 

I'm just glad to hear that other people with similar hardware are having the same issues.  If everyone complains about it, it will get fixed. The Emby developers are awesome! I will gladly continue giving them my money considering the rate that they are releasing bug fixes and new features.  The whole community is fantastic.

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BAlGaInTl

I have a similar setup... HDHR3-US (legacy) with OTA

 

Emby is 4-5 seconds to open a stream (direct play in Theater or Android TV app)

Emby Web client about 14 seconds

 

Kodi (TVHeadend plugin) is just over a second.

TVheadend Web Client 4-5 seconds.

 

Seems that TVHeadend is handling it much faster.

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denz

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done as tuning is too slow compared to other pvr when I changed to ssd for wmc it tunes nearly instantly. It's the probe that takes so long in Kodi they have figured out how to play live TV instantly. On the pi I noticed that emby server takes 2 seconds than the pi takes further couple of seconds so it just builds up.

 

I am confident that Luke will figure it out maybe something that it saves a probe so next time it just sends that info or it could tune to channels during no use to save this info. I am sure that is how TV operate they scan all channels that is why channel change is instant.

 

 

WMC also does scanning during periods of no use that is why it picks up new channels.

Correct me if I am wrong.

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mediacowboy

If it is the probe why not probe during the refresh guide and cache what is returned for each channel?

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pünktchen

If it is the probe why not probe during the refresh guide and cache what is returned for each channel?

Because the media info can vary with each program. Not video, but audio and subtitles. There's only one real solution: give the user the option to disable probing for live tv and just direct play the stream (if the requesting client is not a browser). That's what every other pvr software is doing, they just send the stream! The developing resources shouldn't be wasted in optimizing the probing but playback capabilities of the clients. Edited by pünktchen
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mediacowboy

Because the media info can vary with each program. Not video, but audio and subtitles. There's only one real solution: give the user the option to disable probing for live tv and just direct play the stream (if the requesting client is not a browser). That's what every other pvr software is doing, they just send the stream! The developing resources shouldn't be wasted in optimizing the probing but playback capabilities of the clients.

I did not think about that. The only time I watch live TV is for background noise. Everything else I have in my media folders.
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Smn8600

Because the media info can vary with each program. Not video, but audio and subtitles. There's only one real solution: give the user the option to disable probing for live tv and just direct play the stream (if the requesting client is not a browser). That's what every other pvr software is doing, they just send the stream! The developing resources shouldn't be wasted in optimizing the probing but playback capabilities of the clients.

When watching my windows 10 system application processes I can actually see the probe pop up in a separate process but it's only there for a split second. It seems like most of the waiting is to build up a stream buffer between the server and the client. Luke will figure it out. It's a minor annoyance. The quality of the software as a whole makes up for it. If they got the delay down to under 2 seconds I'd just find something else to bitch about lol.

 

 

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I have noticed this too. For now my solution has been to use the Xbox One HDHR app. That thing is super slick, super responsive, has channel overlay with guide, etc. It's too bad Luke couldn't just build that thing into Emby. Seems like a win/win for Emby and Silicondust although Emby is a "competing software" now that Silicondust is trying to build a DVR.

 

Edit: Most importantly their application doesn't appear to transcode.

Edited by Bert
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There's an update currently rolling out to the Windows Store and the app will now direct play your mpeg2 video recordings on Xbox One. Enjoy.

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There's an update currently rolling out to the Windows Store and the app will now direct play your mpeg2 video recordings on Xbox One. Enjoy.

Holy balls! Nice!

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