Direct Play, Direct Stream, Transcoding

Channels DVR Server
#1

Hi,

On the info for Channels DVR it says 'Channels and Channels DVR Server do not require transcoding, transcoding is disabled while you are at home'

So if at home and watching on various devices will it always be direct play or will it automatically switch to direct stream if can't do direct play, or is it always direct stream?

What happens if multiple devices are watching the same channel?

I'm using a HDHomerun Quatro Connect (UK) and have the DVR on a linux based system

Is there also I way to check if it needs to transcode that it is using my nvidia gfx card

thanks

#2

Not sure what the difference between direct play and direct stream is.

Transcoding is not used at home ever, unless you go explicitly set Settings > Playback > Streaming Quality > Home Streaming to something other than Original

UPDATED: Qs about Imported Local Content: Transcoding, and Playlists
#3

You can also use Tuner Sharing, which pushes the stream through the server, which allows other clients to use the same stream, which means you're only using a single tuner for multiple clients.

Without Tuner Sharing

2 clients play NBC: Both clients directly stream from the HDHomeRun utilizing 1 tuner each: 2 tuners used.

With Tuner Sharing

2 clients play NBC: Both clients stream through Channels DVR Server sharing the same stream that comes from the HDHomeRun: 1 tuner used.

#4

See if Hardware option is visible and selected on the web settings page under Transcoder

#5

this will explain the difference - plex direct play, direct stream, transcode

if a player like emby or plex can't do direct play (usually caused by the container and audio format) it will remux the audio, so the playback becomes direct stream. emby can't do direct play of the livetv and even plex has some issues, so they both fallback to stream, they transcode if two or more devices are viewing the same channel

channels-dvr doesn't say whether it is a direct-play or if it is converting to direct-stream due to the audio, so looking to see why your app works on the channels that their software won't on the same devices.

also, yes hardware is enabled under transcoder

#6

Channels app always uses direct play in home.

1 Like
#7

thanks,

so how can your app do it but plex and emby can't (emby being the worse of the two and it just fails)

#8

I don't know, I didn't write those apps.

3 Likes
#9

lol :smiley:

so if there are audio sync issues on some channels, is that down to the channel that is broadcasting or could it be the device doing the playback (ie using nvidia shield tv 2015 Pro and 2019 Pro)?

#10

Is the audio out of sync in the official HDHR app?

#11

hi,

yes it does sometimes on certain channels, but then later it could be fine on the same channel

i'm also doing some testing to see what the audio is like on a recorded file, by copying it to the device for playback using mx player pro

#12

it will transcode all the time is you use the browser interface to play things though.
that is not meant to be the front end/client type use but to be a admin interface.

2 Likes
#13

@speedingcheetah I don't use the browser interface for playback, i have specific devices as mentioned in my post further up

#14

i was just pointing out that what they say about it "never" transcodes when at home is wrong. Some users have had issues where they want to use the browser interface as a client, since Emby or Plex has full featured web based clients, and find out their server hardware is transcoding.

#15

Your broad statements about Emby/Plex not being able to direct play is incorrect. My Emby liveTV direct plays everything unless I tell it not to. Are you perhaps thinking about the ability to pause live TV?

#16

no, i'm not on about pausing live tv

what model of hdhomerun are you using? which country? which channels? are you viewing the stats for nerds and enabled the diagnostic settings in the options.

I'm on about that Emby cannot do direct play properly on the nvidia shield tv 2015 pro and nvidia shield tv 2019 pro and instead it will only do direct stream. if enabled the diagnostics and set to direct stream and disable direct play, you will see it starts as direct-play and then will say it's direct-stream but if you leave on direct play and disable the copy stream it fails 97%+ of the time (you will just get spinning circle). This is because it can't cope with the AAC_LATM audio properly.

There is a big discussion about this at the moment on their forums and their advice is to use direct stream to remux the audio and disable direct play.

On Plex if it can't direct play it will automatically switch to direct-stream (but it says on the app it is direct play, but if check plex dashboard it shows it is remuxing on the fly), this is something that emby can't do when you have direct play enabled, but Plex works a lot better for tv but does have an issue on a few channels every now and then.

but channels dvr on the same network, same devices works

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#17

Can you post a link to the Emby forum thread please?

#18

here is the post direct play issue

#19

Okay thanks for that. I am up to speed on your issue. I think.
Sounds like it's an issue with the audio stream used in the UK.

Some things come to mind - I've seen similar issues quite a long time ago. What is the setup for your Shields? Like are they connected directly to your viewing device? Is there any audio receiver in the mix?

How are your audio settings configured within each Shield? Are the viewing devices capable of producing those shield audio settings? IE: 2 CH, 5.1 CH, 7.1 CH.

As I mentioned I saw similar issues with lack of direct play, audio sync etc on my 2015 Shield turns out there was an incompatible audio setting that I probably played with at some point?

So I recommend checking these types of things if you haven't already. Make sure any and all your cabling is also up to specs for what you are trying to do.

As I stated earlier I see none of these remux/direct stream/transcode issues at all (In the U.S. here) everything direct plays unless I choose otherwise.

Don't approach it just as - well channels does it why can't Emby or Plex do it.

Channels is great at a lot of things as are a lot of the other media servers out there.

I know you are frustrated with the long time frame you have had dealing with the issue.

#20

@kanipek it has to be something to do with the audio/video streams as depending on the stream being played and the audio it will direct play, otherwise it fails, but channels dvr works. this is what i was trying to determine reason why one app works and another doesn't.

My setup is as follows
Ubuntu 20.04.2 PC
Intel i5-4460 @3.2Ghz (4 cores) with 16gb ram and GeForce GTX 750 Ti
15gb Storage

DVR Apps on server
Plex
Emby
HDHR
Channels DVR

Playback devices
Nvidia Shield TV 2015 Pro connected directly to LG 43" TV
Nvidia Shield TV 2019 Pro connected through Marantz NR1711 to LG 55" TV

Shield audio is set to auto and so is display

Swapped devices over and tried direct to TV's. Have also tested Emby on Samsung Tab S6, Apple TV 4K and Xbox One X and all have some form of issue with Emby.

Only my Samsung Tab S6 is not hardwired, everything else is through 1GB switches.

I'm in the process of slowly replacing any older network cables, but most I use are Cat 6 SFTP.

Through both Emby and Plex I can play my backed up media with full audio passthrough, without issues and this includes upto and including Dolby Atmos

@kanipek these are videos i've just uploaded, same channels but two different applications playing on the Shield TV 2015 Pro

Link to Videos