The Movie Database (TMDB)

TMDB supplies movie, television, person and image metadata through distinct catalogue entities and language-aware API requests.

TMDB, The Movie Database, supplies catalogue data for movies, television and people, together with associated images. Its API v3 documentation treats those as distinct resources.

Retain the entity context

Catalogue resource Intended relationship
Movie A movie record
Television series A series record
Season/episode A position and entity within the applicable TV structure
Person A credited person
Image reference A related asset, not the movie identifier itself

A movie lookup and a TV lookup using the same printable number should not be treated as the same entity relationship. In Emby, selecting the right match is therefore more specific than pasting a numeric value into an unspecified field.

Provider identifiers develops that namespace/scope model.

A request can ask for translated text

TMDB documents language-region requests such as en-US and pt-BR. The requested presentation can affect returned descriptive fields while preserving the underlying entity.

An original comparison might ask for one selected movie's English and Portuguese title/overview. If one field lacks a translation, the response or integration's fallback behavior becomes part of the result; the documentation does not promise that every field is localized.

Names, original language and translated descriptions also have different meanings. Changing the metadata request language does not change the spoken language of the local video.

An image path is not the downloaded artwork

TMDB's image documentation combines configuration information with an image's file path and a chosen size. The path associated with a movie is consequently only part of a usable image reference.

The resulting resource still needs retrieval and association with the intended poster, backdrop or other role. A smaller image variation is a derivative of the asset, not another catalogue film.

Emby's image management exposes selected artwork. Artwork language selection considers language as another choice alongside role and size.

Dates describe particular release events

TMDB provides release-date/certification information with release types such as premiere, theatrical, digital and physical. One displayed year is a library presentation of that richer event information.

The release-date article explains how country, event type and precision prevent different valid dates from being mistaken for an identity error.

See Also

References