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VirtualTV plugin


pünktchen

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Oracle

Recently installed latest version of this plugin, using latest update to Emby Server on Synology DSM6.

I very much love this idea, and this project. Minimal issues, except for commercials not playing for me (Still tinkering, any ideas?)

I was hoping someone could share their channel lineup, for just some ideas on some fun channel names, and the content that goes into those?

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  • 4 weeks later...
Dibbes

@pünktchen Hey mate! Still enjoying this plugin and no issues to speak of... Really grateful! Anyway, not sure if you remember, but a few years back we talked about adding a capability for music (or even a completely new plugin) so that it seems like radio channel... Have you thought of that a little more?

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YsarKain

First off, thanks so much for this plugin.  I was trying to get disquetv working with Plex, but it would fail to transcode or something about every 3rd show.  I had this up and working (at least in the web client) in just a day or so (mostly time spent scanning the library).

The problems I am having now are using an external application (I was trying it with VLC), and exporting the playlist with the external domain name.  When I try to open the .m3u file with the local IP address in it, VLC accepts it, lists the channels in the playlist area, but none of them get a stream going.  I looked at the URLs in the .m3u and I see the local IP and port, usernames, etc.  I tried also using the override to put my domain name on it for internal and external use.  I've been using nginx remote proxy, and it connects from my phone into emby no problem, but when I try to export the guide/playlist with my domain name it fails.  Any suggestions for what else to look at for these issues?  I've been fiddling around with settings for 2 days now.

 

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pünktchen

Ups, it seems remote connections are broken. I'll have a look at it, but probably not before next week.

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pünktchen
On 8/13/2022 at 6:52 PM, Dibbes said:

a few years back we talked about adding a capability for music (or even a completely new plugin) so that it seems like radio channel...

Really? What was my answer? Today i will say no to this. There are so many web radio stations, music streaming services or the smart playlist plugin for local content that i see no need for this.

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YsarKain

@pünktchenI'm running 4.8.0.8 beta right now while I test out Emby

I was planning on reinstalling on Stable once Sonarr finishes generating metadata, found more than a few missing shows in my libraries, and couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Edited by YsarKain
clarification
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Dibbes
20 hours ago, pünktchen said:

Really? What was my answer? Today i will say no to this. There are so many web radio stations, music streaming services or the smart playlist plugin for local content that i see no need for this.

Your answer was that you might look into it if you had time, that was before we had a working smart playlist plugin though... 

But fair enough. Thanks for this 🙂

 

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buhochileno

Hi guys, new to emby plugin things, so sorry if this is very basic question but where can I download the plugin?...links on the initial post says "unavailable" (all versions), I will like to try 4.5 version on my emby server..

Is this plugin still workin?

 

Thanks

 

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buhochileno
5 minutes ago, buhochileno said:

Hi guys, new to emby plugin things, so sorry if this is very basic question but where can I download the plugin?...links on the initial post says "unavailable" (all versions), I will like to try 4.5 version on my emby server..

Is this plugin still workin?

 

Thanks

 

..never mind, they work now..

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andrewds

Hello!

I've tried to read through the thread to see if this has already been discussed, so apologies if I missed the answer to this question. I think I must be doing something incorrectly with the plugin configuration but I am just absolutely stuck.

To my understanding continuous playback will transcode several video files into one large file for playback where as playlist will play the files invidually. Also, Live will play the current item's (per the guide) video file from the current guide timestamp whereas archive will play the item from the beginning of the file.

So, ideally what I would like to do is avoid transcoding large files because while I do have discrete graphics they're not especially powerful. I would also like to play the file from the beginning. So, what I think I should be selecting is "Playlist (Archive)". However, this is still starting the current item from the middle of the file. Moreover, it's not actually working -- I get a black screen with a spinning wheel and the current timestamp somewhere in the middle of the item but it never plays. I can't get "Playlist (Live)" to work either, it does the same thing as "Playlist (Archive)". Both "Continuous (Archive)" and "Continuous (Live)" work, and archive does start at the beginning whereas live starts somewhere in the middle. But even if I set the max number of transcoded items to 1 to prevent transcoding a huge file, it does still appear to transcode. I also do encounter weird stuttering or unrecovered timeouts. I don't observe any issue with transcoding during other playback modes (not through VirtualTV's LiveTV stream.

I'm very new to the plugin and have been experimenting with configurations for several days to try to sort things out. I appreciate if anyone can set my understanding straight as I'm sure I have misunderstood some things. I also appreciate any help with getting the configuration working. Ideally what I will have is minimal transcoding (unless for device compatibility obviously) with the current guide items starting playback at the beginning.

Thanks so much!

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pünktchen
7 hours ago, andrewds said:

To my understanding continuous playback will transcode several video files into one large file for playback where as playlist will play the files invidually. Also, Live will play the current item's (per the guide) video file from the current guide timestamp whereas archive will play the item from the beginning of the file.

All correct so far.

 

7 hours ago, andrewds said:

So, what I think I should be selecting is "Playlist (Archive)". However, this is still starting the current item from the middle of the file. Moreover, it's not actually working -- I get a black screen with a spinning wheel and the current timestamp somewhere in the middle of the item but it never plays. I can't get "Playlist (Live)" to work either

What client app are you talking about?

 

7 hours ago, andrewds said:

But even if I set the max number of transcoded items to 1 to prevent transcoding a huge file, it does still appear to transcode.

Where do you set the max. number of transcoded items and what are trying to achive with this? One transcoded still allows a transcode.

 

7 hours ago, andrewds said:

I also do encounter weird stuttering or unrecovered timeouts. I don't observe any issue with transcoding during other playback modes

Again, what client app? But most likely your server cannot keep up with the transcoding that often takes place with Continous Playback modes.

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andrewds

Hello pünktchen, thank you for your help.

5 hours ago, pünktchen said:

What client app are you talking about?

Most of the clients are Roku devices in my home. I don't have playback issues when using Emby with Roku through built-in functionality, but I can't get playback in VirtualTV's Playlist mode to work for me with either Archive or Live. I have tried with Chrome on Windows 10 and Ubuntu 22.04 with the same outcome occurring (black screen somewhere in the middle of the item, spinning wheel, video never plays).

4 hours ago, pünktchen said:

Where do you set the max. number of transcoded items and what are trying to achive with this? One transcoded still allows a transcode.

"Max. number of items to queue for continuous playback:" in VirtualTV's Playback Options. I was hoping this would prevent transcoding into a large file to remove the stuttering and timeouts I see periodically with Continuous Playback mode so that I could emulate the "Playlist (Archive)" mode that I would ideally be using but can't get to work for me.

I appreciate the time you are spending helping me and others in the community. The plugin is awesome.

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pünktchen
4 hours ago, andrewds said:

Most of the clients are Roku devices in my home

It's an on and off with the Roku apps. @kanipek @crfloyd0932 are you still using my plugin? If so, does Playlist Playback work on your Roku devices?

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Tremas

Hi. I'm using the plugin with a Roku ultra and a TCL Roku TV. I've also been participating in the closed beta for the Roku AP, and the in the last go around Playlist (Live) mode was working for me in both release and beta. Is your Roku ap up to date? I don't use Playlist (Archive), but I can test. What server version are you running?

Roku is definitely a tricky beast and is less tolerant of certain media types. What type of files are in your channels? Do they play normally by themselves? Do they have embedded subtitles, (or lots of embedded subtitles) because that could possibly cause an issue. If the plugin is failing in the web ap as well, it might be related to the media or your setup.

Even though Roku is working for me, I can confirm that android and iOS work more smoothly and start channels instantaneously where Roku takes a few seconds.

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andrewds

Hello @Tremas, thanks so much for jumping in to assist.

I'm using two TCL Roku tvs and a Roku express plus. I believe they're up to date but I'll double check that. I've also just gotten a more powerful GPU that I'm going to install, and I'm updating the GPU driver from one in June to one only a few days old. My server version is 4.7.6.

The files do play normally on their own, no problems at all. Most of the library are HEVC/mkv but there are some h264/mp4s as well. It's not very common for me to see transcoding for any of the Roku devices, most direct stream.

Perhaps I'll also pick up a Fire stick to test with.

Edit: forgot to reply that none of the files have embedded subtitles, any subtitles are separate files.

Edited by andrewds
Clarification
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Tremas

No problem, @andrewds, happy to help out. It's a great plugin and I hope we can get it working for you. As I said, it is working on Roku for me and several other community members so it is probably just a matter of getting things set up correctly. In my house I am able to play 4k HDR media through a virtual channel on Roku - and that's using a Synology NAS as a server. I'm also running server version 4.7.6 the same as you, so need to go to Amazon just yet.

Continuous mode is always going to transcode, so the issues you are seeing with that is likely related to how efficiently the server is feeding the client. Playlist is going to work better for Roku, and it seems like that's what you prefer anyhow so we should focus our efforts there.

If the files play correctly or direct stream when played on Roku without the plugin, I don't think your GPU is having an effect with playlist mode. I would suggest you start the troubleshooting by disabling any other plugins (if you have any). Then I would check your settings in the Roku (client) ap. I would confirm that your playback settings are set to give you as much throughput as your network can handle (the default "Auto" setting tends to be conservative). I would also check your subtitle settings to make sure they are not playing automatically or trying to burn in. I haven't played with intro-skip, but I would disable that just in case. Make sure the ap version is up to date and run a guide refresh are the the only other things I can think of from the top of my head. I can check my settings this weekend and test some things this weekend and get back to you. Good luck.

 

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andrewds

Well, I have more information. It seems that the streams do work and work as expected on Chrome on Windows 10 and Ubuntu 22.04. It just took a few seconds to start. For all of the Roku devices they still don't work, although giving it some time I see now that what is happening is that even on Playlist (Archive) mode that are starting mid file, spinning a circle for a bit, then spinning a circle at 33% indefinitely.

I'm going to try modifying other client settings.

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roaku
6 minutes ago, andrewds said:

Well, I have more information. It seems that the streams do work and work as expected on Chrome on Windows 10 and Ubuntu 22.04. It just took a few seconds to start. For all of the Roku devices they still don't work, although giving it some time I see now that what is happening is that even on Playlist (Archive) mode that are starting mid file, spinning a circle for a bit, then spinning a circle at 33% indefinitely.

I'm going to try modifying other client settings.

I've found Rokus to be very finicky about things like subtitles, alternate audio tracks, embedded images, etc.

Things that play back fine when I start them manually can fail when using Virtual TV in playlist mode. I can usually fix it by tweaking the file (removing an embedded image, adjusting the default audio/subtitle track, etc.).

Something is just different about the playback context I guess.

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andrewds
23 minutes ago, roaku said:

I've found Rokus to be very finicky about things like subtitles, alternate audio tracks, embedded images, etc.

Things that play back fine when I start them manually can fail when using Virtual TV in playlist mode. I can usually fix it by tweaking the file (removing an embedded image, adjusting the default audio/subtitle track, etc.).

Something is just different about the playback context I guess.

Thanks for this feedback @roaku, I suppose that explains why Continuous which reencodes prior to streaming would 'correct' the issue for the Rokus. I have just installed a better GPU in the server so perhaps I will use that solution for now. I was experiencing some unusual stuttering and timeouts in continuous mode previously, which I don't experience even when transcoding during playback outside of the plugin, but I'm hopeful that the better GPU will correct that.

I am continuing my investigation and will reply further. Thank you!

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Junglejim

Hi guys, looking for some help. I'm new to the Live TV side of things with Emby. I installed the plugin (1.1.2.0 on Emby 4.7.6.0) and followed the instructions in the OP but I just can't seem to get this to work. I entered a apikey and made a couple of channels to test it out..

Screenshot_2022-08-27_13-25-42.thumb.png.e686a42decaa8fe9196c273b94c98af8.png

In the live TV settings setup the TV Sources is set to VirtualTV and the channels show up..

Screenshot_2022-08-27_13-31-51.thumb.png.65843538a31676260040804609aeb286.png

Screenshot_2022-08-27_13-32-15.thumb.png.3583686b1ae28bafd7ca14b04a29625e.png

I see no way to access live TV, I thought there would be Live TV thumb on the home screen or something. I'm probably missing something obvious here. :)

Edit: Forgot to mention I'm running emby from a docker if that makes a difference. Also are there any other plugins that VirtualTV needs?

Not a big deal really if I can't get it to work. It would be nice to play with but all good if it won't work for my setup. 😉

Edited by Junglejim
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Junglejim
8 hours ago, pünktchen said:

Did you allow live tv access in your user profile?

Thanks mate, that was it. I'm a total dumbass.😆

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kanipek
On 8/26/2022 at 1:23 PM, pünktchen said:

does Playlist Playback work on your Roku devices?

Mine is working fine here.

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