Nvidia Shield - Use MPV for Live TV

[cbdudek 15]

I have an Emby Server running in a Windows environment with a Core I7-2600K processor.  Its on my local LAN.

I have a Nvidia Shield that is hardwired into my gigabit network.

I have a HDHomerun Prime

 

I have been activating and deactivating this "use mpv for live TV" setting just trying to figure out what the advantage is. I noticed a bit lower quality a couple times, but I haven't tested it enough to really get a good idea if it is better or worse.

 

Can anyone tell me if I should be using this setting or not?  Is it worth it on a local LAN or only if I am streaming or both? 

[kanipek 225]

I have an Emby Server running in a Windows environment with a Core I7-2600K processor.  Its on my local LAN.

I have a Nvidia Shield that is hardwired into my gigabit network.

I have a HDHomerun Prime

 

I have been activating and deactivating this "use mpv for live TV" setting just trying to figure out what the advantage is. I noticed a bit lower quality a couple times, but I haven't tested it enough to really get a good idea if it is better or worse.

 

Can anyone tell me if I should be using this setting or not?  Is it worth it on a local LAN or only if I am streaming or both? 

If the primary player (Exoplayer) works for you and meets all your needs then I would recommend using that. MPV is an optional player for use by those having issues with Exoplayer.

 

For example for myself - The Exoplayer doesn't work for certain channels, I am assuming that has something to do with how those channels are encoded. So What I see is extremely long times to actually tune those channels - and eventually using transcoding Emby figures it out and those channels play. Also tuning times for all channels are generally slower than when using MPV. So when I do choose to watch Live TV I am using MPV as it works much better for my needs.

 

At the moment I believe because of some Oreo version issues there are a few problems with MPV and @@ebr has had to make a few changes to prevent crashing while using MPV and those changes for me have resulted in interlacing artifacts for most of the channels. I think when MPV's issues on Oreo get sorted out that those changes will be reversed and the interlacing artifacts will go away, that is a guess on my part though.

 

I use Direct Play when watching Live TV.

 

So what ever works best for you, is what you should use. If neither of those options are working for you you can also install any number of players - VLC for example and then select the Use External Player option.

[cbdudek 15]

I do like Direct play a lot.  I just also like the time shifting while watching live TV so its hard for me to use direct play.

 

I have some issues with long load times right now using Emby Live TV.  By long I am talking about 20-30 seconds and that is with no MPV or Directplay.  I might turn on MPV and time it tonight, and then turn on Direct Play without MPV and see how it behaves.

 

Thanks for the great information on MPV.  I think I saw some of the interlacing and artifacts issues while watching the Tour De France on MPV on NBCSN.  I turned it over to a new channel and those went away. 

 

Is the MPV player supposed to be better than Exoplayer in terms of quality or its strictly just another option?  Kind of like choosing between an external player like VLC or the Emby native player, correct?

Edited July 20, 2018 by cbdudek

[kanipek 225]

I do like Direct play a lot.  I just also like the time shifting while watching live TV so its hard for me to use direct play.

 

I have some issues with long load times right now using Emby Live TV.  By long I am talking about 20-30 seconds and that is with no MPV or Directplay.  I might turn on MPV and time it tonight, and then turn on Direct Play without MPV and see how it behaves.

 

Thanks for the great information on MPV.  I think I saw some of the interlacing and artifacts issues while watching the Tour De France on MPV on NBCSN.  I turned it over to a new channel and those went away. 

 

Is the MPV player supposed to be better than Exoplayer in terms of quality or its strictly just another option?  Kind of like choosing between an external player like VLC or the Emby native player, correct?

I think from what I have read it depends who you ask. I think I prefer Exoplayer. Plex uses it as well - and I don't have any issues direct playing any channel using Plex, but IMO Emby is the better interface, Plex is VERY basic.

 

To my knowledge MPV is provided for those that (like me) have issues using Exoplayer with Emby, MPV actually replaced VLC as the built in option several updates ago - wish they would bring VLC back but I don't see it happening. Fortunately it can still be used as an external player, but you lose all the Emby integration doing it that way - BUT it works all the time every time. And yes the MPV option is sort of like using an external player but you get the Emby integration stuff - access to the mini EPG, channel guide etc.

Edited July 20, 2018 by kanipek

[Guest asrequested]

Neither one of them work well. Depending on the device you use, the issues vary. In my case, no matter which device I use, or whether I use mpv or ExoPlayer, live TV still occasionally pauses. And for videos, ExoPlayer handles HDR, better. Only because it passes the metadata, and mpv doesn't work that way. Once mpv for Android is getting regular development and catches up with it's big brother, ExoPlayer can go bye bye. I honestly don't think it's very good. It's competent, at best, but very inflexible.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Doofus

[cbdudek 15]

The Directstream of Live TV using Exoplayer works awesome.  I may just use this and see if I can just not get used to doing the time shifting piece. 

I will have to watch how development of exoplayer and MPV go.  Its great emby is adding more options, and I assume that certain players are going to work better in certain circumstances.

 

 

Neither one of them work well. Depending on the device you use, the issues vary. In my case, no matter which device I use, or whether I use mpv or ExoPlayer, live TV still occasionally pauses. And for videos, ExoPlayer handles HDR, better. Only because is passes the metadata, and mpv doesn't work that way. Once mpv for Android is getting regular development and catches up with it's big brother, ExoPlayer can go bye bye. I honestly don't think it's very good. It's competent, at best, but very inflexible.

 

I have an issue with Live TV pausing once in the first 3-5 minutes of playing a live show if I am using Exoplayer or MPV.  After that initial pause, it works fine.  I know things are working fine in the background because if I rewind and rewatch, I don't get the pause.

 

I have found that if I go Live TV using directstream, both Exoplayer and MPV work flawlessly.

 

I used to have small form factor Windows PCs hooked up to my televisions and using Kodi to stream live TV and the Emby plugin.  Now that I have retired those windows computers for Nvidia Shields, I am not regretting that decision, but I am finding that I have to learn a lot of new things.  Either that or start using the HDHomerun native client on Android for live TV.

[Guest asrequested]

And that's my point. Just look at the posts that people make about this. "This way works for me... " , "But it doesn't work for me. I have to use it this way..."

 

The bottom line is, that you simply can't have one shoe fits all. There's a left and a right, two genders, a plethora of sizes and varying tastes. Video playback has a huge gamut. You have to have options, or you'll constantly be troubleshooting. Configurability is a necessity!

 

Just look at the testing area. It's never ending. Every change breaks something for someone.

[cbdudek 15]

And that's my point. Just look at the posts that people make about this. "This way works for me... " , "But it doesn't work for me. I have to use it this way..."

 

The bottom line is, that you simply can't have one shoe fits all. There's a left and a right, two genders, a plethora of sizes and varying tastes. Video playback has a huge gamut. You have to have options, or you'll constantly be troubleshooting. Configurability is a necessity!

 

Just look at the testing area. It's never ending. Every change breaks something for someone.

 

Very good point.  Local network, Emby Server Build, Internet Connection....they all matter.  Configurability is key for sure.

[ebr 14959]

Leave it unchecked.

 

If you weren't having problems with the defaults then there is no need to change it.

 

FYI MPV will not support DD 5.1 output at this time but the default player does.

[cbdudek 15]

Leave it unchecked.

 

If you weren't having problems with the defaults then there is no need to change it.

 

FYI MPV will not support DD 5.1 output at this time but the default player does.

This is good to know. I don't use 5.1 in my house right now but I may down the road.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

[Sammy 739]

Following along..

 

Currently Live TV crashes for me with either player and Direct Play off to allow for time shifting Live TV. And by crashes I mean I have to force close Emby after Emby boots me to the home screen.

 

I am on the latest Oreo Build and latest stable Emby Server and app as of this morning but I'm not sure of version numbers except the Server is 3.5.1.0.

 

Another post and logs forthcoming when I have the time.

 

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Edited July 26, 2018 by Sammy

[cbdudek 15]

Yea, I don't have that issue.  You may want to post a new topic in the forums.