BETA: Chrome Capture for Channels

So now that I got xTeve back online, now dealing with this when trying to use the Chrome capture:


Any suggestions? Was going to try and use the ADBTuner to add 1 game to my local games, but I can't get that running (posted issue in the other thread)

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Does anyone have anything to add about this?

It sounds interesting but it could be done with puppeteer so I would try to test around with that and then when done get some PRs going

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Does anyone know how to use puppeteer or how to integrate to this process?

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You gonna have to do some reading on that

So I finally set up a standalone Windows 10 fresh install box to tinker with CC4C. All I had available was a mini HP with Intel 9th gen Intel Celeron G5905 CPU (weak) with only the on-board Intel Quick Sync iGPU, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD. I was hoping Quick Sync would be able to provide some magic with Chrome, but in this instance, it did not. Just not enough horsepower for even one channel instance on the Apple TV. Both CPU and GPU utilization were maxing out causing the bottleneck.

I am pretty set on the CC4C method, since HDMI or ADBTuner won't meet my needs with Spectrum. So, looks like I need to shop / build a system. I know some have had success with the Beelink Ryzen 7 box, which is about $359 right now on Amazon. Perhaps I can find something else on used market to meet need. I don't expect to run more than 2-3 Chrome tabs at once, and that would be rare, for example if recording and watching. I would prefer to build a box, not sure I trust the Beelink to be long-lasting. How are those working out?

Any newer system when idle shouldn't draw much power, that is a plus, but want to be able to run solid 3 (4 in super rare instance) tabs at once. I also had a look at the post regarding utilization with i5 vs i7 vs i9. Any suggestions?

Does it really matter AMD vs Intel for this Chrome capture box? AMD has no quicksync but not sure how much of a factor that is anyway. Brute processing power seems to get the job done. I wonder if adding a GTX 1050 or the like (or better) would offer improvement with the existing Celeron? Or, is better CPU the answer. Again I would have to shop and don't want to waste money unless I was sure it would work. I know we are all learning and probably no concrete answers. Thanks

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Fyi i have a decent pc and chrome capture freezes on nbc channels and was not reliable at all. Ive tried it on my macbook pro that is pretty beefy as well as my windows machine. It works awesome until it doesnt. Save behavior on both platforms.

I just mention this before you go down the road of investing in new hardware. It may not be fully baked yet. Both of my machines i tried it on were more powerful than the beelink.

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Are you running it headless by chance? Intel QSV won't engage on windows 10 unless you use a dummy plug and have the Intel Media SDK installed. (Pre-12th gen intel)

No, I was just running it on a monitor, and thought connected to that would be same as dummy plug. I do have an extra dummy plug available.

Interesting. The person using the Beelink i thought mentioned having weeks of error free recording. There are a lot of factors, including provider. Appreciate the input.

I just checked cpu benchmark for Ryzen 5800H in the Beelink and it is up there pretty high for both single thread and multi thread. Not sure what effect the Ryzen GPU plays also.

I'm running a headless, Win 11 Pro PC with an i7-8700, GTX1050, and a 4K DP dongle. Using Fubo as the source, this set up has been very solid for me. I would see the occasional freezing on NBC sources, so changed them all to Fubo and have not seen that issue since. Having the old GTX1050 in there takes a lot of load off the CPU. I've had no issues with 4 streams going on this hardware. This setup has recorded an MLB game just about every day, without issue, since late June.

Anyone with spectrum, what is the strategy for removing the black bars without manually fooling with it?

Also is there a way to make the video capture way less megabit. Most channels are 720p 25 mbit is overkill

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25Mbps is your download speed for HLS Remote, not the bitrate.

Bitrate can be set in the code. There was discussion earlier:

So why is the feed not working great? Can I give the chrome browser more priority? I am getting buffer issues. And what about the black bars due to spectrum not being full screen?

I think the source is 1080i - 30fps, is that why ffmpeg is acting up when streaming? Should I set it to 720p? Apparently main.js is min 60fps, when some channels are by default 30fps

how do I run this manually?

Follow the link at the top of this thread to the github page. After you setup the ability to run node, you can run the main.js file by typing "node main.js". The main.js file can be edited with a text editor. So, you can add those commands to accelerate encode/decode. Personally, I'm running a main.js file with these additions. Not sure they have made an impact, but they certainly have not hurt my setup.

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I'm assuming you have the CC4C machine running at a resolution greater than 1080p?

ok I plugged into higher resolution so no bars, but still having playback problems. do you have any stuttering?