New Customer Testing Service -- Issues

Channels DVR Server
#1

Per title, I'm a new Channels Plus customer using the 30 days to test the service. I'm sure you're going to need logs, but I have no idea what/which/where or required conditions of logs.

My 'Issues':

  1. DVR Recording are anywhere from useless to mildly corrupted. (none have been without some type of pixelation, stuttering, etc. (watching on any device/client/player and also VLC)

  2. Everything is being recording at very low bit-rates <4 MB/s

Questions:
Is there a Windows 10 App or a better Web Guide available. (The web guide is pretty bad)

My Setup:

In Case It Matters:

SageTV64 Bit
OpenDCT64
Ceton Infinitv 4
2) Hauppauge WinTV-Quad
Recording to an SSD

OS: windows Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
10.0.17763 Build 17763

CPU: 12 cores / Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz

RAM: 31.87 GB 69.0% free

Channel DVR Server Version: 2019.06.29.0350

Provider: Verizon FiOS, W/Gig Internet Service

#2

What are you trying to record? From the beginning Channels has been about working with SiliconDust HDHomeRun tuners, which aren't mentioned in your hardware. When you use unsupported hardware, you can expect mixed results at best.

#3

I was interested in using the 'new' TVE Features. I'm I wrong in thinking these was a viable solution?

The only reason I included (and even said In Case It Matters:) the hardware was in case it somehow could/would cause a problem.

#4

In that case, it may have been beneficial to add that you were testing the TVE experience only. However, please note that TVE is currently in beta and not ready for general release yet.

As I understand it, bitrates are set upon initial channel creation and cannot yet be modified. Whether this is determined by the provider's maximum listed bitrate (I believe), or is simply a matter of how your computer initially connects when authorizing a channel, I don't know; the developers have indicated a later implementation will allow for selecting differing bitrates after creation, simulation to the newly added "rescan" to check for reauthorization.

With regards to the Windows experience: Channels was first developed for tvOS, and later iOS; that's where most of the developers' initial effort was spent. They have also stated there aren't any immediate plans for a Windows client. If a first-class Windows experience is what you are looking for, NextPVR is a Windows-centric DVR that may better suit your needs.

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#5

You can view the Channels DVR log by clicking Log in the upper right of the Channels DVR web UI (next to your username).
That will show about the last 1500 lines of the log.
To see more lines, add ?n=# where # is how many lines you want.

Example:
http://127.0.0.1:8089/log?n=50000 will show the last 50,000 lines.

To see the statistics for your TVE recordings, search for lines that start with date/time stamp [MTS] Statistics for..

Example:
2019/06/28 00:01:02 [MTS] Statistics for "TV/The Carbonaro Effect Inside Carbonaro/The Carbonaro Effect Inside Carbonaro S01E11 2018-07-26 Dead Man Walking 2019-06-27-2331.mpg": skipped=0 unhandled_packets=0 discontinuity_detected=0 transport_errors=0 invalid_pts=0 invalid_dts=0 saw_pcr=true saw_pmt=true highest_pts=1787.718767

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#6

Just an FYI

The thread discussing TVE Beta is over here

1 Like
#7

As a Channels DVR user you can utilize the free Channels DVR client apps available for:

IOS- iPad, iPhone
TvOS- Apple TV 4/4K
Android
Fire TV

Any of these native client apps will offer a fuller experience (better guide, etc.) than web UI. Just make sure that you add the free Channels “DVR” app...as there are paid versions of those same Channels apps for non DVR subscribers.

1 Like
#8

Welcome!

This is unexpected. Some examples of channels/shows along with the MTS log entry for that recording will be helpful.

We are recording the streams in the original bitrates available. They generally range from 4-8mbps depending on the channel. Note that these are progressive h264 streams rather than the interlaced mpeg2 streams that come from your Ceton, so you can't compare bitrates directly. A 4mbps h264 stream should be comparable to an 8mbps mpeg2 stream in terms of quality, and getting content in 1080p instead of 1080i means there's twice as much spatial resolution encoded in each video frame.

Perhaps you can provide more specific examples of where you are seeing poor video quality.

Can you be more specific about what you feel the web guide is lacking?

As others have mentioned, the web UI is more of an administrative utility and not meant for full time use. Our iOS, tvOS, Android and FireTV apps provide the best user experience.

1 Like
#9

Thanks everyone for the replies. If an admin can move this thread to the TVE area that would be great.

@tmm1

I will get some examples and cuts together that will hopefully help show the quality difference and recording issues.

The funny thing is I'm current checking out a recording from ESPN2 today and while not quite the quality of the Ceton, It's good and without any damage, and it's 6 249 kb/s So this very well could be a channel issue.

My use-case for Channels DVR is probably not typical. I'm only using C-DVR as a DVR for those channels that are not 0x00 (Copy Free) on FiOS, and for little more "tuner" breathing room.

I use Plex for client playback, and SageTV (which has pretty nice guide features) as my primary DVR.

I have 2 big problems with the web guide. The time scale is not fixed for scrolling, and doesn't appear to be adjustable (can only see a limited time span window).

More search functions would be helpful.