Well, let's hope there's a checkbox to disable the feature for folks who don't have the hardware to pull it off. Or not.
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- What streaming device are you using?
After a quick survey of the devices being used and talked about, I decided on the Onn 4k Pro and LinkPi ENC1-V3 combination
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Why?
Mostly because there are other people using them and therefore some experience to draw from -
What did you try before?
I used CC4C and PrismCast, but I couldn't get either of them to work acceptably reliably -
What makes it better?
When CNN started encrypting, I essentially wanted 24x7 recording, so hardware seemed like the best solution. The thing that's better is the reliability, once the glitches were worked out -
What sucks about it?
I had to deal with the CNN app crashing about every 8 hours or so. I needed to schedule a process on my media server to kill and restart CNN every 6 hours. -
What middleware are you using?
I started with ADBTuner, but it turns out that I don't need it (yet) since this is only for CNN. The source definition in Channels is pointed directly at the encoder's output.
The only channels I really need the cable card for are local news and such and I can get most of them with OTA hardware. Everything else is currently available via TVE. I am recording one program on MS Now using CC4C. IT failed again last night... The 5 channel LinkPi is on the expensive side, so I'll be checking out cheaper solutions once I get completely familiar with this tech, and as more sources abandon TVE.
I actually have three of the ENC1-V3s and highly regret buying them.
I ended up getting two ENC5-V2 units. One to really use, and one to kind of play with. There are a little bit more, but to be honest, you do need more capacity sometimes, especially around that prime time hour. You can really run out of tuners. If you are okay with just two tuners, one recording and one live, then they are fine. But if you need three or four tuners potentially, then I would highly suggest getting an ENC5 unit. It is less expensive in the end.
I don't want to hijack this thread any more, so if you have anything else to say about PyCaptions, please follow up here: Synchronized Closed Captions for Channels - #3 by jay343
Incidentally, I ran into a wall with Intel GPU support. The underlying tech, Ctranslate2, doesn't support Intel at all. I may look for a workaround, but don't hold your breath. Meanwhile, check out my post about hardware and performance in the link above.
It is possible to get seamless 5.1 with both the Magewell PRO (pcie) and the magewell eco (m.2). The system hosting the card has to be linux based using this wrapper.
Cheapish Magewell Pro duals. You would probably have to 3d print a backplate though. This seller might have the stl file.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/377298512881?
You have the option of running it directly in ah4c using a command or you can set it up so that it streams the feed over the network. This way you can feed it into adbtuner. There is also the option of just using ah4c and using @bnhf 's method of sending the feed from ah4c to adbtuner.
Your video sizes would depend on the quality you set in the wrapper.
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I dropped FIOS for DTV Stream a few months back. Prior to that I loved CDVR being the front end for all my TV. I only integrated my HDHR and Pluto, but I converted the house over to AppleTVs and no cable boxes.
Now... CDVR still covers Pluto and a few channels from other FAST providers via FAST Channels. It still works better for me than navigating Pluto's app. It also pulls in the few TVE stations available. When I want 'cable TV' I go the DTV app. With ATVs everywhere, it's not bad. I don't have to switch inputs on any TVS, just switch apps.
I'd love to integrate DTV back into the mix so it's one interface again. If I used an ADB based solution I'd need at least two streams if not three and it looks pretty expensive and time consuming to get setup. The geek in my thinks it might be fun, but I also don't have much time to fiddle with it as I used to.
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Left cablecard for ADBTuner 3 years ago and it's been working well ever since: Highly recommend LinkPi ENC5V2 + YTTV; I'm using 3 x FireTV 4K Max sticks + ethernet OTG adapters + 2 Onn TV HD sticks (via WiFi) - FireTV can keep ADB enabled with OTG ethernet, but Onn TV cannot - just have to accept it's 2.0 audio - there's a lot of other options out there which is a bit overwhelming, but ADBTuner is relatively easy and works well - I also have Prismcast working well on my Unraid Server, but video quality is not as good as the ENC5V2, so it's just an experiment right now - as a backup, I use the YTTV app with their cloud DVR - oh BTW also have an antenna with HDHR for locals too
As promised in an earlier post, here's a less expensive (as compared to a PoE-powered rackmount), compact way to build a five tuner LinkPi-based setup.
This uses a well-built seven port USB 3.0 hub for power, some short USB A to right angle micro-B cables (to keep voltage drops low), and some right-angle HDMI adapters.
The streaming sticks are FireStick 4K Max (Gen 2) (currently 20% off with trade-in), as they support Wi-Fi 6, and have a great form factor for a compact build like this.
Due to the proximity of the FireSticks, I would highly recommend the router or AP they're connected to support both 5GHz and Wi-Fi 6 (which has been specifically designed for this kind of high density WiFi, among other things).
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I don't love that this is wifi, but I can't not be impressed with what this setup can do, vs the footprint.
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I feel the same. My rackmount setup will continue to be my daily driver, but this is handy for me for development. I had Multiview running on an iPad for hours-and-hours with all four connections to this little build, and it worked just fine. For those that don't have the space, infrastructure or budget for a PoE-based rackmount build -- I believe this is a workable alternative.
I've had a nearly identical setup, with just three FireStick 4K Max devices running for years in a remote location. In that case, I used a TP-Link smart power strip instead of a USB hub for power. With that power strip, everything can be power-cycled individually (remotely using a containerized HA). The sticks are installed in every other port on the LinkPi in that installation, for whatever benefit that may give the WiFi connections.
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I kind of just drive my wife crazy. I should set up a little development rig. 
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What streaming device are you using?
I got a old firetv 4k max and an onn puck connected to a linkpi and a usb encoder respectively. The usb encoder is connected to the linkpi so that gives me an extra tuner. Everything is piled up and connected through a wifi router and a poe.
https://community-assets.getchannels.com/optimized/3X/e/f/efe79de4134b064257fe2050e4f4a13c85708d82_2_375x500.jpeg -
Why?
Price and also due to the fact that I can connect a cheap usb tuner to get an extra tuner. I don't really record much stuff and I watch a lot of sports live and I got usenet/torrents/real debrid so this is really to watch sports. -
What did you try before?
I tried CC4C and underground IPTV options and I found both of them to be buggy and very uncooperative with the Channels environment especially the latter. Recordings didn't work and on top of that, the PQ wasn't worth it on top of the crazy buffering I experienced -
What makes it better?
You don't to rely on your computer to run it which frees up resources and also theres a lot less buffering to deal with -
What sucks about it?
Obviously, the more tuners you need, the more hardware you'll need to get but I'm content with I got even as TVE options are shrinking. Theres enough content for me on FAST, and all the bridges and HDHR as well to go by. -
What middleware are you using?
ADBTuner tho I have used ah4c before regularly (and testing the CC feature now tho I don't think I really need it since I can get subs for the program I record via HDHR or FAST or even through OpenSubtitles)
- TV Plan price
I got YTTV Sports only pack with 4K for about 63 bucks after tax. Of course, I'm always on a lookout to get all my sports teams on the cheap. I've pondering about going to slingtv. Its all about price for me on that front. I'm out of market and the endgame is to watch all Red Bulls, Giants, Yankees, Knicks, Man Utd and Rangers games (or at least about 90% of them). I also have Real Debrid, usenet, torbox, Paramount free via Walmart, AppleTV via Prime, Prime itself, HBO Max for nothing (since they forgot to downgrade me
), Netflix free via T-Mobile, MLB.tv via T-Mobile and I plan to get NBA LP in the fall.
- How much maintenance is there? Is it set and forget and reliable?
Not much maintenance on the hardware side of things bar the occasional lockup because one of the containers went rouge and I have to hard reboot the system once in a bluemoon but thats about it. On the software side, same thing. It's really just the streaming service side that may need some attention as I continue to be cautious with my money
- How do you power all these at scale?
Again using a TPLink Omada Poe and also a TPLink Wifi router. The wifi router is just for me to run an adblocker and also give me extra ethernet inputs if I need them. - How do you organize all of the physical objects?
Got my tower rack thingy. Not as sexy as @bnhf's or @mackid1993's but its good enough. - How much do the devices cost?
Not much. Around 20-40 bucks depending on what you need. If you need more space on the drive, consider getting a beefier onn device or firetv. Alternatively, you can probably use a usb drive you need more space as apps take up space and usually these devices are bloaty AF and you can't remove all of the bloat. Obviously, something to think about if you want to run @babsonnexus' adbtuner native configs. If you're trying to use the OTT/Cable provider app directly, then it doesn't really matter. - How fast is it from a channel change to a tuned channel?
Eh...depends on the app and the configs. Maybe 30 seconds max
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Maybe 8-10 seconds? per bnhf
This is a deal killer for me, I was pursuing Bobby Vaughn's setup, but i can't put up with this.
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BTW, for everyone, and I'm sure most know this.
The $58 Gemini DTV box from Walmart works great, its a regular Google tv box with the Google Play Store etc, AND if you install CHDVR on it all the buttons work, including FFWD, Pause, REW, Channel numbers buttons, if you have a need for that with you custom channels with Channel numbers assigned (tvg-chno="06") or as they come 6003 etc.
You can get a PoE ethernet adapter for the FireStick - kills 2 birds with one stone: Amazon.com: UCTRONICS Upgraded Ethernet and Power for Raspberry Pi Zero, Micro USB to Ethernet/PoE Adapter for Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, Google Mini and More, IEEE 802.3af Compliant : Electronics
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I noticed you didn't include software solutions, like PrismCast.
When my Xfinity cablecard or HDHR Prime no longer works, that's what I plan on using (assuming the dev still supports it). No additional hardware required (other than my existing M4 Mac Mini to run it).
Because the topic was specifically about hdmi encoders.
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There is actually quite an interesting development going on with ah4c currently and Fast Channels. I thought I just mention that here. I haven't personally tested it myself, but there's a bridge that gets installed on the Android box that's being used and it connects to Fast Channels. It seems that it can therefore integrate Fast Channels with HDMI encoders and also tune a few apps a little bit more reliably, such as Philo for example.
Also, just in terms of recent developments, I was able to integrate AI-generated closed captions with ah4c. If that helps anyone migrating over from CableCard, who's used to closed captioning, they're not perfect because they are generated by a Parakeet model. I actually added a few models as options in ah4c to choose from depending on your specific hardware constraints. Regardless, they're slipstreamed in as regular closed captions and appear in channels as regular closed captions, which is kind of nice.
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I don't post much, so apologies for the length. It will be clear if you read this but my focus is live sports.
What streaming device are you using?
- 4 x Fire TV Stick 4K Max (all Ethernet connected). I also have 4 x Onn sticks, but the ADB connections weren't stable for me after a reboot - or at least that's what I think was happening. I gave up on them early and moved to the Fire Sticks which work well for me.
- Orivision EH1304 (4-port HDMI encoder)
I'll be adding more tuners and another encoder soon (WayPonDEV Link Pi ENC5-V2) to build out a second, more "generic streaming" solution with and maybe more YouTube TV tuners. Ideally I can use deep links to add custom sources with updated Channels guide data for the stragglers I want in Channels (Prime, Peacock). I'd like to add the ESPN app too, since it carries some feeds that aren't in YouTube TV and I have learned that the ESPN app doesn't play political commercials like YouTube TV does (constantly) which is a win in my household. I'm playing around with FruitDeepLinks and will maybe look at PrismCast but I have no firm ideas of what phase 2 will look like.
Why?
TVE worked well for me. It was a hassle when things stopped working or needed to be re-authenticated or re-scanned, but it was nice to be able to tune any number of sources and have someone else maintain it. Its mostly-dead state pushed me to the apps for a while, and that's when the problems became obvious.
All the usual streaming-app annoyances were there, but the breaking point was hitting skip-back after missing a play in a live game and getting a "disabled" message. I've seen pause not work in regional sports network apps, no way to record anything at all, and so on. If I tried to time-shift, I would still be forced to watch the commercials with some apps. That's the kind of control I'd rather not live with, so I set out to fix it.
What did you try before?
Mostly Chrome capture work. I also spent some time with EPlusTV and never got what I wanted. The software-only solutions weren't a fit for me, mostly due to fragility or missing functionality. I bounced around never finding much that would work for me and I avoided the encoder setup just given the investment and my lack of knowledge.
What makes it better?
It's consistent and stable. I can use tooling to pull the m3u streams, and in a worst case I can pick up a Fire Stick remote, open YouTube TV manually, and send that stream down to an encoder source. That works great.
What sucks about it?
- The infrastructure required to support it. I run a fairly extensive lab and network built around Proxmox, macOS, and Linux with a UniFi backbone. I enjoy that and I like the flexibility, and I also use it for learning since I work in the industry; the intersection of networking and video is genuinely interesting to me. But it's a lot to stand up.
- The fragility of the foundation. If ADB goes away on Android, or the YouTube TV deep links change, this fairly pricey investment becomes a lot less useful. That would be frustrating.
What middleware are you using?
2 instances of ADBTuner and a custom front-end to the tuners. I needed a second instance of ADBTuner to support my horrifically terrible regional sports network (RSN) provider's app which is not available in YouTube TV. I use a custom config for the RSN app and it works well actually. The custom font-end allows me to switch tuners 1-4 how I like and if I want the RSN app, I can reserve tuner 1 for it or all 4 can be used for YouTube TV on heavy football days.
The other stuff is just Channels API work - TeamID lookup, an easier college football recording interface that works great for my needs, and a basic Fire Stick remote web interface to control the Fire Sticks in case I am not home and something breaks. I can use my VPN to get in and fix things if necessary.
- TV plan price: Not an issue for me. I'll always have a TV plan, though I don't watch news or the usual cable channels - it's really just the sports package I'm after.
- How much maintenance is there? Is it set and forget? It's work to build, but it's been very stable since I finished. Not quite set-and-forget, but close. That said, I'd generally prefer to pay someone for what I want rather than build and maintain it myself.
- How do you power all these at scale? With a $600+/mo electricity bill. (That's the whole lab, not just the tuners - but the lab is why the tuners are possible.)
- How do you organize all of the physical objects? In a fugly rack.
- How much do the devices cost? My rough investment for the Orivision encoder plus 4 Fire Sticks with Ethernet was $615. Add on the Kasa power strip, more switch ports, the Onn sticks I don't use, and I'm likely pushing $900 or so.
- How fast is it from a channel change to a tuned channel? Not fast - but I don't care. I use Channels to set up a recording for any sporting event I want, so by the time I tune in, it's already recording and I can jump straight to live. Multi-view is nice too though I will say the switch from an encoder source to an OTA source comes with significant volume challenges.
Maintenance is a biggie, especially since this setup scales. If a device is finicky and you have to fix logins a lot, and you have FIVE of them, that's gonna be awful.
Answer: it's not great. I'd prefer not to do any of this, and if I'm being honest, I'll probably succumb to the streaming apps eventually. The first time I have that one bad day where everything breaks and all I want is to watch the game will be the day I very likely just give in. If you guys went full ElfHosted and hosted this as a service, I'd happily pay a monthly premium to get out of the business 
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Great summary, aligns with what I said before. These custom setups are not for the faint of heart and often break, especially if you use remote control of native apps or even just deeplinks. And most of this crowd work(ed) in the industry, wrote software and did sysadmin or networks.
I don't know if there is a turnkey way to handle this, there's so many variables across all of the services.
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I'm going to insert a bit of a PSA here, as there's been something of a game-changer I've been using for the last week. The foundation is the same as what we've been illuminating in this thread, but at the same time, it feels different.
If you're a current (or willing future) user of DTV Stream, Sling or Philo, FastChannels now has both HDMI Capture and ah4c (multi-tuner support) that acts like tve (with similar or faster tuning speeds), but is not limited to some subset of the channels you subscribe to.
Yes, we're talking about an encoder-based solution, though in this case you have the choice of hardware or virtual encoder approaches. You can start simple, with a capture card and streaming stick, and expand that with more of the same -- or make the jump to a network-based hardware encoder.
Here's an example, where I have the US Open on the "big" TV, the kitchen, and the primary bedroom. In addition, I have four other channels running in CDVR Multiview on an iPad. Each tuned in ~4 seconds, and what you're seeing is mix of sources using a couple of different encoders, and a couple of Capture Cards that are doing their thing in a Proxmox LXC running Channels DVR:
Candidly, if you have reasonable technology skills, and they're combined with a splash of enthusiasm for having all of your content in a single app -- this is all very achievable. I'll add, that if you choose your components with some care, and spend the time to understand the concepts -- a setup like this can be put together with very little maintenance required.
CDVR server reusing streams, so 5 tuners can feed multiple TVs and Multiview:
Tight integration between FastChannels and ah4c:
iPad Multiview with Closed Captions in each view:
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