Upcoming server release and being able to reuse xmltv channel IDs

[BillOatman 500]

Hi.  Right now I have about 20 channels using the same xmltv channel ID entry. This is intentional and correct, as it is a group of car racing channels all showing the same race, but from a different perspective.  Right now in the guide I only see the first channel and not the other 19.  I understand this is the current behavior of Emby, but my question is, in the upcoming server release, will I see 1 channel in my guide or all 20?

Thanks!

[Luke 37049]

That won't change, but in the near future we'll be looking at giving you more control over that.

[BillOatman 500]

9 hours ago, Luke said:

That won't change, but in the near future we'll be looking at giving you more control over that.

Disappointing, but thanks for the information.

[Carlo 4330]

17 hours ago, BillOatman said:

Hi.  Right now I have about 20 channels using the same xmltv channel ID entry. This is intentional and correct, as it is a group of car racing channels all showing the same race, but from a different perspective.  Right now in the guide I only see the first channel and not the other 19.  I understand this is the current behavior of Emby, but my question is, in the upcoming server release, will I see 1 channel in my guide or all 20?

Thanks!

That seems like an improper provisioning to me as using the same ID for different streams is wrong. Each of these should get a unique ID.
You could always modify these 20 channels to make the ID unique and then Emby will load them.

[BillOatman 500]

6 hours ago, cayars said:

That seems like an improper provisioning to me as using the same ID for different streams is wrong. Each of these should get a unique ID.
You could always modify these 20 channels to make the ID unique and then Emby will load them.

Its the same program, different perspectives so it makes perfect sense to me to have 1 entry in the xmltv file instead of 20 copies of the exact same thing. Yeah I could make 19 copies of it, but I was hoping not to need to add the bloat if a change was on the horizon.

Another situation would be multiple IPTV providers with the same channel.  Why have multiple copies of the exact same thing in the xmltv file.  

Tivimate, which I also use regularly, does not have this issue.  I haven't seen any other players that do.

[Carlo 4330]

1 hour ago, BillOatman said:

Another situation would be multiple IPTV providers with the same channel.  Why have multiple copies of the exact same thing in the xmltv file.  

Good Question. That's probably why Emby removed the dupes.

[ebr 14910]

3 hours ago, BillOatman said:

different perspectives ... the exact same thing

Well, that wouldn't be the exact same thing would it?  

If they really were the exact same thing then you wouldn't have a need to access them individually.

[BillOatman 500]

2 hours ago, cayars said:

Good Question. That's probably why Emby removed the dupes.

Different streams of the same channel ... known as a backup   Absolutely should not be removed.

[Carlo 4330]

Then if you don't want them removed, rename the ID so they are no longer a dupe.

You have control over this via the way you present the m3u to Emby.

[BillOatman 500]

1 minute ago, cayars said:

Then if you don't want them removed, rename the ID so they are no longer a dupe.

You have control over this via the way you present the m3u to Emby.

Streams are different in the m3u, they are not duplicates. They are being removed by Emby because they reference  the same xmltv entry.  They are not duplicate streams. Emby's perspective seems to be since they play the same content, they are a duplicate.  All other players that I know about only consider a stream a duplicate if the stream links are the same. I consider that the "correct" way.  YMMV.

[Carlo 4330]

Yes Emby does this differently by user request over time.  If you load up a couple of m3u files with duplicate IDs this can be a real pain to dedupe.

It's far easier to remove feeds that duplicate the ID to simplify the Guide for users.  Those users who have more advanced needs are in control to modify the m3u file to give them exactly what they need.

This is the best of both worlds to dedupe/simply for those who don't understand this stuff while allowing the more advanced user control over their feeds.
This could likely change in th future but for now to allow these additional channels you'll have to modify the ID  maybe add an "-2" or similar to make it unique.

[BillOatman 500]

2 hours ago, cayars said:

Yes Emby does this differently by user request over time.  If you load up a couple of m3u files with duplicate IDs this can be a real pain to dedupe.

It's far easier to remove feeds that duplicate the ID to simplify the Guide for users.  Those users who have more advanced needs are in control to modify the m3u file to give them exactly what they need.

This is the best of both worlds to dedupe/simply for those who don't understand this stuff while allowing the more advanced user control over their feeds.
This could likely change in th future but for now to allow these additional channels you'll have to modify the ID  maybe add an "-2" or similar to make it unique.

Yeah that's exactly what would needs to be done. And add xmltv channel and programme entries that match the "-2" etc IDs.

[ebr 14910]

16 hours ago, BillOatman said:

Emby's perspective seems to be since they play the same content, they are a duplicate

Actually, Emby's perspective is since they have the same ID they are duplicates.

[BillOatman 500]

6 minutes ago, ebr said:

Actually, Emby's perspective is since they have the same ID they are duplicates.

Same TVG-ID, but we are splitting hairs now

[Carlo 4330]

How so?  A duplicate TVG-ID is a duplicate TVG-ID, regardless of any other data that's part of that stream entry.

[BillOatman 500]

1 hour ago, cayars said:

How so?  A duplicate TVG-ID is a duplicate TVG-ID, regardless of any other data that's part of that stream entry.

Correct a TV Guide (ie reference into the xmltv file) ID. It just comes down to the definition of a duplicate stream.  Mine is different than yours (and Emby's  ) is all.

Edited May 10, 2021 by BillOatman

[BillOatman 500]

What I ended up doing just for Emby was to use a feature of IPTVBoss (xTeVe has this concept as well) called Dummy EPG entries for the 19 other channels. The first channel has the actual guide (race) data and schedule.  And the Dummies have "See the main race guide for dates, times, and details.".  

Good enough for now and at least allows the channels to be visible in the Emby guide.  

Edited May 10, 2021 by BillOatman

[Carlo 4330]

Nicely done.  You could have also just mapped the channels in Emby to the same guide source as well so they all show the same schedule.  However your way "may" have an advantage if your record shows/series/events as it would only be able to use the main channel this way since it's the only channel with true EPG info.

[BillOatman 500]

I havent really figured out the way Emby maps channels

 

[Carlo 4330]

Here you go.

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001848809-live-tv-channel-mapping

PS this will change a bit and get simpler in an upcoming beta.