HDMI for Channels

[tmm1]

There are a lot of HDMI IP encoders available on Amazon these days, under brand names like URayCoder and iseevy

These have been discussed a bit in the past here:

@tmm1

According to Build your own Slingbox Alternative/Replacement DIY , the URayCoder HDMI encoders work well. They offer both MPEGTS and HLS, so it would be easy to hook up to Custom Channels.

https://amzn.to/3SWso5n

I picked one up to try it out, and it works quite well. You can choose between H264/H265, select the bitrate and a lot of other options. It exposes a simple url http://x.x.x.x/0.ts which can be fed directly into a Custom Channel for streaming into Channels DVR.

There are even models available with 4 HDMI inputs: https://www.szuray.com/h-pd-115.html

@boukmandutty has been using a few of these with Android TV devices attached to record from YouTube TV. By enabling ADB on the Android TV devices, they can be controlled to tune into specific channels automatically.

I've put together a little helper program here that can be used with Channels DVR:

GitHub - tmm1/androidhdmi-for-channels: androidhdmi-for-channels

This is a work in progress, but if anyone is interested in trying something similar the pieces are all available and work pretty well together.

[trakz]

Would be awesome to have a LineageOS based device that Channels could "tune" against. (https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid-c4/)? In theory you could run multiple devices and effectively have as many tuners as you want.

[tmm1]

The Onn 4K is available at Walmart for $19.98

You could buy four of those today and set them up with a 4ch URayCoder for four tuners.

[trakz]

I think lots of folks would be willing to pay for Channels dev's to officially support Android based app tuning. Basically this is DIY TVE with the added benefit of "If it's got an app, Channels can record it"

[phongzie]

Are we getting ready for the demise of TVE?

[Fofer]

This is awesome and inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

[sdust]

Not very practical though. What's the TCO for 2 ATSC 3.0 tuners?

[Edwin_Perez]

This reminds me of my SageTV days when if you wanted to record say 4 channels you would need 4 Comcast boxes with an IRBlaster to change the channels on the boxes .... You would need a case-load of these HDMI devices.

We used to do ths with WMC ... to Record DRM

WMC Live TV Tuner - SageTV Community

[phongzie]

The HDMI device has 4 channels. You'd need one of these and 4 cheap Android boxes with HDMI out. Pretty clever. I might have to look into this when Spectrum DRMs the channels on my cablecard and TVE loses too many channels.

[trakz]

I don't get this comment, none of the channels being recorded here are available over ATSC3.0?

For an equivalent capability you'd need a Prime and..... actually, Prime won't do this - it's all DRM.

Go buy this and 4 of these, and you've got a 4 tuner solution that if it has an App, channels can record it - independent of DRM, for ~$500. I know lots of folks who'd find that both practical and compelling considering the price differential to a basic cable streaming plan will pay for itself (over time)

EDIT: Cheaper - HDMI for Channels - #44 by boukmandutty

[sok]

I’m looking for similar solutions for Xfinity STB (HDMI) to IP encoder or VeCOAX and how do I control the cable box using Custom Channel, using IR Blaster?

[Fofer]

@phongzie

The HDMI device has 4 channels. You'd need one of these and 4 cheap Android boxes with HDMI out. Pretty clever.

For 4 streams you would also need the 4K Plus plan on your subscription, as without it, YouTube TV will only stream concurrently to 3 devices.

With the 4K Plus plan you’d be able to have unlimited streams but only on your own home LAN.

[Edwin_Perez]

If you are using ChannelsDVR it will always appear as if you are on your home Lan even while away from home. ... I would assume or am I wrong.

[tmm1]

@sok

how do I control the cable box using Custom Channel, using IR Blaster?

There was some discussion on this thread:

Another wild idea: Out-of-network IR blaster control

This one may sound crazy at first, but hear me out... I purchased an inexpensive 720p/60hz HDMI-to-IPTV adapter that can be configured for unicast or multicast/RTP mode. I plan to create a custom M3U and attach a TiVo cable card dvr to the adapter. And Boom! Channels now can receive the TiVo video output. This will be most interesting when traveling and away from home, and there are probably other cool use cases here that others can think of outside of a TiVo box. Problem: How to send the IR c…

And some recommendations here: Build your own Slingbox Alternative/Replacement DIY

[trakz]

That's correct, but it would require some careful configuration of Channels to ensure it was always true. Think always "tuner sharing", for this source.

[Edwin_Perez]

Those of us that come from SageTV have been using HDMI for a long time to bypass DRM. I guess everything comes back into fashion.

[trakz]

Ugh, IR is so flakey. This is where enabling adb on the Android box and allowing Channels to configure to the channel will bring you guys $$$$

[hancox]

I tinker a lot, and can see the value in a “TVE failsafe”, but I’ll sit this one out

1. cost of even a 1 port device is pretty rich
2. Google has a bad depreciation habit, so relying on ADB gives me pause.

[Edwin_Perez]

I agree I just downsized my PC footprint to return to the days of having devices hooked up to an encoder is not for me that is going backwards.

But others might find this to be a great solution.

[Zogg44]

I've done this using EventGhost to drive a USB-UIRT, and I think it can control an IR-Blaster as well. EG can also receive network commands so it's easy to send commands with curl or wget such as the desired channel number. Development on EG looks like it's dead but the most recent version works well enough.

In fact, I'm doing this now using an Intel NUC with the Spectrum web player, to "tune" a channel, and the output goes to an H.264/IP encoder similar to what's mentioned in this thread. I use a script to tail the log file to parse out my custom channel numbers and to stop the browser playback. It's a bit crude but it works well enough to give me back my NBC channels.