How does LiveTV work?

[crusher11 1101]

I've never really looked into it before and now that I've started a lot of the info seems to assume you already have a pretty solid base of knowledge and/or are in America.

I'm in Australia, so things might be different. My mother's DVR just died and I'm wondering if it's worth looking at setting up LiveTV in Emby as a replacement.

[MBSki 1114]

Yes, if you already have an Emby Server running it's worth testing out. The big question is do you want Cable or do you want to try OTA? There's also the option of IPTV that many people have setup, but I haven't tried that yet. I have an HDHomeRun tuner that I use for Cable that works really well. I'm in the US though. I'm not sure if it would be any different in Australia.

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  In Oz, guide data is probably your biggest stumbling block as we don't provide that there.  I believe there are some public sources though.

[crusher11 1101]

31 minutes ago, mbarylski said:

The big question is do you want Cable or do you want to try OTA?

It wouldn't work with cable, surely?

[Spaceboy 2573]

it can work with practically anything. for the more complicated sources the question is - do you want to go through the steps necessary/will you be satisfied with a limited experience.

until you say how you receive your tv no-one knows though

[emveepee 132]

If you don't need all the non PVR features of Emby, I suggest not buying anything right away and installing NextPVR and hooking it up to Matt Huismann's IPTV  for your region, https://i.mjh.nz/au/  NextPVR arguably offers more PVR functionality then Emby and there are clients for most platforms can give you a true STB experience with a 10' interface..  You also have the choice of trying Kodi clients.    NextPVR lets you move to DVB-T with the OTA EPG should you want a little bit better quality that isn't Internet bound.

If those clients don't work for her or  if you want a media centre or a strong web browser interface then definitely look at Emby.  It is a polished product if you want to buy into their infrastructure.

Deciding on you backend platform is also important it often needs to run 24/7 or have power management.  Do you want a Windows PC, a NAS,  or a small PC like an RPi.

Martin

Edited April 20, 2022 by emveepee

[arrbee99 1815]

In New Zealand I use Matt Huismans stuff as well, it provides iptv and a guide. Do this using Emby and either the m3u route added recently or the NextPVR plugin V4.0.0(?)

[emveepee 132]

@arrbee99the reason I suggested NextPVR without the plugin is I don't feel there is enough information in the original post to confrim that Emby is "worth" investing in.  Clearly if you post on the Emby forum and ask if Emby PVR is worth it  subscribers are going to say "yes".  I was giving an alternative point of view.  Once the op becomes a knowledgeable user, they can decide, with the help of this forum, why transitioning  to Emby is worth it.

Martin

[arrbee99 1815]

Fair enough

I just assumed, seeing as crusher11 isn't new to Emby. Shouldn't assume though...

[crusher11 1101]

Yeah, I have 70TB of my own media on a server that's been active for two or three years now, it's not a question of "should I start an Emby server" it's a question of "should I add live TV to my Emby server". 

[emveepee 132]

Sorry, I was assuming your mother was not living with you so you would be creating a single instance for her setup.  In this case I would certainly try the mjh solution.

Martin

[crusher11 1101]

1 hour ago, emveepee said:

Sorry, I was assuming your mother was not living with you so you would be creating a single instance for her setup.  In this case I would certainly try the mjh solution.

Martin

Are you saying that matters? I figured it would be just as accessible as anything else on the server. Or are you assuming I don't have remote connections set up?

[crusher11 1101]

18 hours ago, emveepee said:

Matt Huismann's IPTV  for your region, https://i.mjh.nz/au/

I don't know what I'm looking at here.

 

18 hours ago, emveepee said:

NextPVR lets you move to DVB-T with the OTA EPG should you want a little bit better quality that isn't Internet bound.

I have no idea what this means.

[emveepee 132]

Deleted

Edited April 21, 2022 by emveepee
cannot delete

[emveepee 132]

32 minutes ago, crusher11 said:

Are you saying that matters? I figured it would be just as accessible as anything else on the server. Or are you assuming I don't have remote connections set up?

Live TV buffering is not the same as with your saved videos, there is nothing to prebuffer so response will not be the same as with a DVR.  If she likes to channel surf with a remote then this would be most apparent.  

Recordings should be similar to what she experiences with videos from your server but not necessarily with her colocated DVR. 

I don't know how the mjh IPTV URL's work or if they are transcoded but OTA 1080i broadcasts can be very high bitrate and definitely won't direct play in a browser.  This might be more of a concern if you want to add a tuner.

Martin

[emveepee 132]

2 minutes ago, crusher11 said:

I don't know what I'm looking at here.

 

I have no idea what this means.

You need to add the m3u and EPG URL's in Emby IPTV, but I can't help you there I don't use Emby.

Don't worry about DVB-T which would be the over the air broadcasts in Australia for now.  Emby's support for DVB-T is weak with limited tuner support and no EPG data but that could be helped via NextPVR.

[crusher11 1101]

So....that link has a bunch of XML and M3U8 files, but it doesn't appear to be as simple as adding them to Emby's Live TV section under "TV Sources" and "Guide Sources"...no idea where NextPVR fits into this or how to make it work on my Synology NAS...

[crusher11 1101]

Actually it does seem that simple, just to get a feed...I've got most channels up, although one simply refuses to play ("no compatible streams" on the web, hangs Theater, just a blank screen on Android TV). But again, no idea where recording or NextPVR fit in. And there are a bunch of weird channels that don't seem to have anything on them and I've never heard of.

[emveepee 132]

NextPVR doesn't fit in at all if your are using IPTV.  I suggested that if you wanted to add a digital tuner that Emby didn't support.  If you are happy with the guide data and your mother likes the  Emby client you set up for her as the replacement to DVR that's great.

Martin

[SamES 1056]

@crusher11 a HDHomeRun with a subscription to the IceTV guide for about $4/month makes this a quick and easy install that works well.  Just buy the xmltv subscription, that’s all you need  

 

The IceTV guide is accurate with at least 7 days data and their support team are quick to fix any issues with guide metadata, incorrect id’s, images, etc. been using it for about 5 years and it’s pretty much set and forget. 

You can browse the guide here

https://tv-guide.icetv.com.au

[crusher11 1101]

What does that give me that I don't currently get for free? 

[crusher11 1101]

Everything seems to be working, except there are no compatible streams for Channel 10.

[SamES 1056]

1 hour ago, crusher11 said:

What does that give me that I don't currently get for free? 

Everything works…

[crusher11 1101]

$200 plus $4 a month just for channel ten is a pretty massive expense. One presumes Ch10 is fixable somehow...

[SamES 1056]

I’ve not found the m3u8 streams to be stable or of a high quality, but that was a few years ago, so maybe they’ve improved.