Direct link to a channel in browser?

[trakz]

Does Channels expose a direct link to a given guide channel?

Something that would allow an HTTP link and when opened the channel would start playing?

[racameron]

You mean, something like http://X.X.X.X:8089/devices/ANY/channels/###/stream.mpg? (Replace X.X.X.X with the IP address of your DVR server, and ### with the channel number.)

This will give you a direct stream of a channel as Channels sees it. For more information, check this thread:

Streams URL

I have the following work flow: TVE->TVHEADEND->TVRProxy->Plex. The server that hosts the DVR Channels application has a nvidia P2000 for transcoding. DVR Channel streams are accessible through the .m3u feed. Is there an http/hls feed that Plex could ingest directly?

[trakz]

@racameron

like http://X.X.X.X:8089/devices/ANY/channels/###/stream.mpg

Yeah, but I'd like the browser to start a player (versus downloading the video feed itself)

[racameron]

If you follow the linked thread, there is also a reference to the HLS version of the channel. Whether your browser handles HLS is up to your browser.

[trakz]

Right so there's two existing URLs:

http://X.X.X.X:8089/devices/ANY/channels/###/stream.mpg
http://X.X.X.X:8089/devices/ANY/channels/###/hls

I guess what I'm wondering is there something like:

http://X.X.X.X:8089/devices/ANY/channels/###/stream.html

Where one doesn't need to worry about the direct play aspects, and can still leverage a direct link.

[racameron]

No, there is not an endpoint of that sort that I am aware of. Channels is generally meant to used as a headless server, and the primary means of viewing are the apps.

[trakz]

Looks like this may be coming soon:

Is there a URL that will open a specific channel in full screen?

We neeeeed this. I’ll work on this soon.

[maddox]

with the latest prerelease you can now load a full screen player for live playback of a channel with this url:

/admin/channels/$channelnumber/full

[trakz]

Wow! Works perfectly! Exactly what we were asking for... brilliant!! Thank you.

[trakz]

Now we just need:

http://x.x.x.x:8089/admin/channels/###/full?autorun

I'll happily endlessly ask for useful features

[maddox]

Players don’t auto run in browsers these days. It’s turned off at the browser level.

You can thank every crappy news and social site.

[trakz]

Ugh... that sucks.

I wonder if there's a way to programmatically generate a mouse click at the center point of the window in JS.

Probably way more hassle than it's worth.

Thanks again, the feature is plenty good enough for the vast majority of use-cases.

[muzicman0]

@maddox

with the latest prerelease you can now load a full screen player for live playback of a channel with this url:

/admin/channels/$channelnumber/full

It doesn't actually go full screen for me. The video is sized like it is full screen, but there are player controls around it, and I have to click the full screen icon to make it go full screen. Is this by design? I am using Edge if it matters.

[racameron]

@muzicman0

Is this by design?

I believe it's a browser limitation.

And seriously, other than this niche request, who in their right mind wants a web page to hijack their screen and launch itself full screen?

Remember, the developers view the web UI as a management interface, not a user-facing client.

[muzicman0]

@racameron

I believe it's a browser limitation.

And seriously, other than this niche request, who in their right mind wants a web page to hijack their screen and launch itself full screen?

Remember, the developers view the web UI as a management interface, not a user-facing client.

If it's a limitation, then that is fine.

I am not running these web players on the server, they are on various PC's whose sole function is to playback TV.

And seriously, while this may not be your use case, it doesn't mean the request is any less valid. There are plenty of reasons to want this.

[trakz]

It's amazing to me that there are users of Channels who go out of their way to jump to the defense of the developers. Especially since the dev's are nothing but responsive!

Rather than work to marginalize requests and justify why the system cannot do something, take a moment to understand the ask and offer solutions.

If you want full screen and you're using Chrome, it's actually doable with the hls endpoint and this browser extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/native-hls-playback/emnphkkblegpebimobpbekeedfgemhof

[muzicman0]

@trakz

I wonder if there's a way to programmatically generate a mouse click at the center point of the window in JS.

You can easily do this with AutoHotKey.

[Channels2021]

I doubt I would want this feature to automatically go full screen, but I do wish the devs, and to a lesser extent the community here, would take the PC playback more seriously. It has been the only way I watch over the last several months.

Nearly every other web player offers the ability to control basic functions like skip forward and skip back with keyboard controls. I am sure they could fix that simply. Also, the virtual channels show up in the web guide but don't play? No support for collections either.

I do thank @maddox especially for this new feature! It is very handy and hopefully a sign of things to come for us "web UI as a management interface, not a user-facing client" outcasts.

[cyoungers]

I can't get this to work. Running version 2021.08.24.2219

Pointed browser to http://192.168.1.221:8089/admin/channels/$6000/full

Looks like it tries to display but nothing. Log entry is:

2021/08/26 14:55:05.868488 [ERR] Failed to start stream for ch$6000: Channel not found
2021/08/26 14:55:05.958055 [HLS] Couldn't generate stream playlist for ch$6000-dANY-ip192.168.1.1: Channel not found
2021/08/26 14:55:05.958119 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch$6000-dANY-ip192.168.1.1

[cyoungers]

Ooops. Embarrasing. I saw the dollar sign. Took that out and it works.