Android on Windows?

Channels Android TV Troubleshooting
#1

A while ago I asked about using Channels with WIndows. I have the Channels DVR.

It appears that the Windows Android Subsystem is discontinued.

I tried Bluestacks,and there is no video, but everything else seems to work, including the controls, which appear as they should, and all my recordings are available. I tried Youtube with Bluestacks, and I get video.

I have a GE Force GTX 970 Video Card.

Looks like Google has something for gaming only, but Channels is not available.

I have a FireTV 4K, but with channels it frequently acquires ghosts and I have to switch video sources to get it to go away. This doesn't happen if I use my DVD player or PC or any other app on FireTV, except for HDHR and Channels.

Any suggestions for Windows?

#2

From Microsoft:

Customers that have installed the Amazon Appstore or Android apps prior to March 5, 2024, will continue to have access to those apps through the deprecation date of March 5, 2025.

#3

Download the Google Play Games on PC Developer Emulator | Android game development | Android Developers

#4

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#5

It loads but I get sound from Channels DVR ... but no picture.... out of curiosity I uploaded diagnostics.

#6

What are ghosts? Sounds like your having problems either way. you may want to switch to another device, AppleTV, ONN device etc.

I would use a different platform as opposed to going down this road. "Sucks at best" would be my take on it.

#7

I have use the Android client for Channels DVR on a few computers using Bluestacks. You need to set the Video Decoder to Software. Look in settings playback advanced.

1 Like
#8

The only APP I cannot get to play Video using the google emulator is Channels DVR ,,,, Hardware Plays Audio no Video ... Hybrid Crashes ... software crashes.... it is a shame because it is the only one that does not have a Windows APP.

Here is a SageTV sample...

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Emby

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#9

Slampman wrote:

What are ghosts?

Ghosts are old frames that get stuck. Usually happens when I fast forward, rewind, or stop or navigating.
Does not happen on all other FireTV apps I use except when I used to use HDHR.

Doesn't happen when just watching something. So whatever you are watching is superimposed over an old frozen frame.

#10

I have Bluestacks 5.21.651.1003.

I find no playback, advanced.

It has a Graphics Renderer setting, which has radio buttons for OpenGL, DirectX or Vulkan. None seem to work with Channels. There is an Interface Renderer setting, I chose software. There is an ASTC Textures setting, I chose disabled. There is Prefer Dedicated GPU setting, I chose disabled.

I tried giving it more memory. I tried the anti-tearing setting. I tried buying the HVEC engine from MS.

Nothing allows the display of video on my Windows machine in Channels.

VLC works partially, but does not support AC4, so no audio in ATSC 3.0, just video.

#11

I think I will look into ONN next. Windows is too hard, or impossible, and FireTV has issues with Channels and HDHR.

Thanks for your suggestion.

#12

You need to set the Video Decoder to Software in Channels DVR. Look in settings playback advanced.

#13

Are you saying the HDHR application has the same problem as the Channels DVR application on your FireTV? I don't believe there has been a ghosting problem (as defined by you) with any of the FireTV devices. Keep in mind you may have a tuner problem, such as poor reception or old firmware.
Hopefully the ONN device will help, but if the HDHomerun application is having the same problem you may want to contact Silicon Dust about your problem.

#14

You must own a very OLD FireTV because there is no Problem using Channels DVR and HDHR .. Making blanket statements like FireTV has problems with ChannelsDVR and HDHR is just not true.

If you are seeing ghosts has nothing to do with your Client has more to do with your reception/Antenna.

#15

I bought my FireTV Stick 4K in Nov 2023 from Amazon.

The ghost frames have nothing to do with reception. It is navigation, like fast forward or rewind, or getting out of a stream that leads to the stuck frames, maybe every once in four or five efforts to navigate. It goes away when I switch HDMI inputs and come back. Somehow HDHR and Channels don't blank the memory properly on my FireTV or maybe the HEVC decoder on Firetv is buggy or its just a bad unit. The problem is impossible to reproduce. If it were a reception issue you would expect it to happen in the same spot in a recording.

Channels audio is far superior to HDHR which has tenth second dropouts periodically, only on ATSC 3.0. Maybe 5 to 10 times an hour. I have measured them with a microphone. I have also reproduced the HDHR audio issue on my android phone in the same exact spots. Note that I have recorded HDHR video, imported it into Channels, and could listen to the same spots that had issues in HDHR, and the same recordings played just fine in Channels. Which is why I switched to Channels.

I have just bought an Nvidia shield (thanks to @slampman) and still hear audio issues in HDHR which I think is just plain buggy. So far Channels has been perfect with no issues but I have only watched a couple of hours. I believe there is hope. But Windows does not seem to be the answer.

#16

That seems very odd. We use 5 or 6 different Firesticks over the past few years and never had anything like that happen. I wonder if it's a problem with either your television or a malfunction with just that one Firestick.

#17

One other minor issue I forgot to mention and is very noticeably fixed by the NVIDIA Shield Pro is jerkiness after skipping back and starting playback. On the Fire TV Stick this was reliably bad. It would play too fast, then slow to normal speed. This did not happen on the PBS app, for instance. Video skip and playback with the Shield and Channels is smooth and what I would expect.

As far as updates on FireTV are concerned, I remember out of memory errors and I could not update until I removed a bunch of apps. I only installed PBS, Youtube and Channels (I had removed HDHR earlier). When doing an update of Channels I would have to remove Youtube and PBS, and then do a reset (not a factory one) or the update would not go. FireTV firmware updates are automatic. I have not yet had an update with the Shield.

My display is a 4K Wireless Projector, if that has to do with the ghost frames. I have a UHD Blu Ray player and a Linux PC (MythTV) and no ghosts with either of them on the projector nor Youtube nor PBS app on the Fire TV Stick.

I tried the Shield AI 4K enhancement mode and watched an old documentary, "Ghost Army", which I had recorded recently with ATSC 3.0, 1080P, and I thought the picture was amazing, navigation was fabulous. And ironically there were no ghosts.

My current equipment related to Channels viewing:
NVIDIA Shield Pro on Ethernet
Yamaha RX-A2A
Epson 5040UBe
HDHR Flex 4K (Ethernet only)
Linux PC serving as Channels DVR connected via Ethernet

HDMI Connection:
Shield to Epson receiver using HDMI (receiver has four HDMI inputs)
HDMI Audio output from the Epson receiver to the Yamaha
HDMI wireless link from Epson receiver to the projector

Alternative HDMI Connections:
Shield to Epson receiver using HDMI
HDMI from Epson receiver to TV
HDMI Audio/video from Epson Receiver to my TV
HDMI audio link from TV to Yamaha using eARC

I did a factory reset of the Fire TV Stick, and donated it to my ex-wife after warning her.

My recommendations:
No to Windows (maybe an expert could set this up?)
No to HDHR Android app due to faulty audio

Fabulous experience so far:
Nvidia Shield Pro
Channels App on Shield

Bad experience:
Occasional ghost or stuck frames with Channels and HDHR app used with Fire TV Stick 4K, circa Nov 2023.

#18

This thread has gone way off on a tangent ... it is supposed to be Android on Windows. Maybe it can be split to go back on track.

I am still trying to get that Google AndroidTV emulator to work with Channels. I found that you can use the GPU so will be testing that.

It is pretty cool ... Just needs to work with Channels.

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