NEW: Android TV app for Channels DVR (experimental)

Would it be possible to use keyboard inputs for some of these functions? I use FLIRC on all my Shield TVs to supplement basic keys for other apps.

New user here. Just signed up for Beta service a couple of days ago. Nice job guys! I have a nVidia sheild on every TV in my house. So far, this service is the most promising Iā€™ve seen. Iā€™ve been pretty dissatisfied with DVR solutions to date:

-HD Homerun DVR project (weak UI that there is no intention to change, snail pace progress, DRM looking less and less likely)
-Plex LiveTV/DVR (UI in infancy and clunky, although if they get on it, it could be pretty powerful cross platform solution)
-Google Live Channels DVR (promising UI, but not a whole home solution).

However, even in itā€™s Beta form and observing steady progress on the iOS/tvOS front, my gut says Channels DVR may be the horse to bet on for Android. Iā€™m convinced that for my household, a grid guide is still going to be necessary to placate the family. As a FIOS subscriber, DRM is less important than I thought it would be, Iā€™m finally looking at real options other than HD Homerun DVR, so I want to add my encouragement to the Channels team to progress this project.

While this app is more PoC like, given the limitations of the 4 hr limitations of the guide, hopefully now that iOS DVR integration is released, the Channels Dev team can make some progress on Android. I have a feeling that there are lots of Android folks who have grown frustrated with the lack of progress by silicondust.

Iā€™ve noticed a couple of buggy things (like getting stuck with no favorite channels). Iā€™ll play a little further and document them. Is it safe to assume that posting here is most efficient way for issue reporting?

4 Likes

Or starting a new thread. @tmm1 and @maddox seem to read everything regardless of where itā€™s posted.

That Latest tab life.

2 Likes

A post was merged into an existing topic: NEW: Channels DVR backend for Nvidia SHIELD

Been toying with this experimental a bit further.

First, equipment

Client - Nvidia Shield
DVR Backend - OS X 10.11.6

On pretty much any 1080i mpeg2 channel, de-interlacing is pretty rough. Also seems like there stretches of viewing where frame rates seem to get ā€œslowā€ and playback gets choppy. This is not a network issue as house is fully wired ethernet and can stream blu ray rips all over it (same mac as backend for Plex).

I first tried a different shield as the DVR backend, and observed the same behavior. I also tried watching the exact same channel on my iPad and the de-interlacing issues werenā€™t there.

Is de-interlacing quality a known issue at this point?

Whatā€™s your resolution set to on the Shield? I leave mine at 1080p / YCbCr 444 BT.709 @ 59.96Hz because the 4k upscaling is crap and then makes everything else look like even more crap. Not to mention their color conversion from BT.709 to BT.2020 is also off, so the colors are messed up if you leave it at the default with BT.2020ā€¦

Surprised to hear that as I have not seen any issues playing 1080i on my shield. The h/w decoder has a deinterlacer thatā€™s pretty good.

Actually starting to think that itā€™s not a deinterlacing issue. If I tune to a channel, sometimes Iā€™ll see the stutters or what looks like bad deinterlacing on a scrolling ticker. However, if I pause the live stream a few seconds and resume, it all straightens out.

I just replicated one of those situations and submitted the logs. Will PM with IP address.

Using 2nd edition nvidia shield with stock remote. The little rim of the circle button at the top has the ability to click up down left right. No matter which way it is clicked it brings up the overlay that has the pause move forward and move backward options.
My question is if it is possible to make the forward and backwards click automatically move fwd or backwards (30sec/10sec) without having to bring the overlay up and manually move it to the button. Right now itā€™s 3 clicks to skip forward. Thinking of how the Apple TV has the 30sec click forward if you click the right side of the remote. Would make it much faster to skip and rewind.

1 Like

I bought the 2017 Shield to test Channels front end app and other TV apps and must say Channels is the king in this category of apps. Even in its experimental/beta phase it is far superior than other mature apps out there. I would not mind paying a premium for the final public release to support the development team. Thank you for the great work and providing us options.

1 Like

Do other video apps like YouTube and Netflix etc work like this? We are using the stock system video overlay widget and most of the behaviors are built-in.

Plex has the skip, but it does seem the regular apps like YouTube work like channelsā€¦if using the stock that makes sense then. No problem, just thought Iā€™d ask :slight_smile:

Channels on Android TV has been quiet with no recent update. Are there any upcoming updates?

Development is on pause for now while work on some other things. But it will pick back up eventually.

Weā€™ve proved that playing back video works to our high expectations, so itā€™ll be worth integrating all of our other features eventually.

After experimenting with Channels DVR on Android TV for a while, I agree that live tv and recording playback is great besides minor tweaks mentioned above. The interface is much nicer than other alternatives. However until the other features are integrated into the software, I am putting my subscription on pause for now. I hope that Ill be back soon.

Channels on the shield is awesome - is there by chance any time frame on being able to add the ability to start/set recordings from inside the app itself like is possible on ATV and the web?

Weā€™re focusing on iOS/tvOS and the DVR engine again, so the Android TV app wonā€™t see any updates until this winter.

Is it possible to get DD 5.1 bitstream instead of PCM 5.1, I just got a Samsung Atmos sound bar and believe it or not it doesnā€™t support PCM 5.1, canā€™t flipping believe it for the money I paid.

Iā€™m going to be buying a Sony 4K TV (probably next week) that has Android TV on it. Iā€™ve been considering ditching the Apple TV and/or not upgrading to the 4K Apple TV since the TV/Film app selection in the UK is terrible. But that would mean using the Android TV version of Channels. Whatā€™s missing compared with tvOS? I see the 4-hour guide limitation and inability to schedule recordings. Anything else?