Can I link PlayOn Desktop to Channels DVR? That version has the advantage of a Lifetime License available.
Not automatically, but adding PlayOn desktop recordings isn’t hard.
Just have it save its recordings to a folder that you have set to import. It should be easy. Or set it’s recordings directory as an import.
Here’s docs on importing local content.
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I don't understand PlayOn. If I subscribe, for instance, to Netflix, why would I record when I can already watch anytime I want? Also, doesn't Netflix already allow downloads?
I suppose a good use for this is to download a bunch of stuff during a free trial to say something like Hulu. Or download a bunch of stuff you want off Netflix one month and unsubscribe after that.
I'm using a 5 credit PlayOn Cloud trial to test it out. I noticed it will download from BBC iPlayer so that is one cool feature since I'm geo restricted from easily watching on that service.
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Netflix routinely removes shows from its catalogue. We happened to watch some show (I forget the name), and the next day, it was gone.
And to my knowledge, the downloading only applies to devices like phones and tablets (e.g. iPads, Pixel phones, etc,). One cannot download a show on say AppleTV (which is terribly annoying as sometimes I wish to skip certain scenes or parts of an intro without having to wait for the video to load).
Also, only certain shows are available to download (not sure what is Netflix's criteria to determine that).
Downloads also seem to be of lesser quality than streaming. On the iPad, the downloaded show looks fuzzier. PlayOn I think only does 720 P, so I am unsure how much better or worse it is.
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I have PlayOn running on a PC and saving files to a USB drive. I have Channels running on a Raspberry Pi with its own USB drive. When I go into channels settings and imports--it seems that I can only see folders in the USB attached to my Raspberry Pi server. How would I get channels to see my Playon recordings housed on another drive/PC?
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Save your PlayOn in the Pi USB. Before using the cloud I had it saving on my server movies directory.
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Make sure you move Playon recordings to a directory that Channels is able to import.
preferably in a Movie and TV directory.
Yes, Playon desktop only downloads 720p. It doesn't look great to me on a large screen.
However, they just released the ability to download content in 1080 from their cloud service for 3 credits (vs 1 credit for the 720 version).
Also you will only get stereo audio, no 5.1 like you would directly from Netflix or Amazon, etc.
I like the service because I can have all my content in one app.
I have playon desktop & dont see them adding 1080p recording since they are doing it with their cloud version & desktop is 1 yearly fee where as you have to keep purchasing credits based on how much you record. I am curious can you store your cloud recordings on your desktop?
Yes, you can. There is a free app you can download to do it. You can even set it up to auto download to that desktop if it's always on.
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@jasonmcroy so if you are able to download the recording to a desktop, does that mean you can keep the file you recorded? I store all my media to view at later times.
Yes, once it's downloaded it is yours.
They have apps too for Android and iPhone and you can download directly to those devices as well. But since I use Emby to serve all my media around I just download them to my computer, run some of them through MCEBuddy if they have commercials and rename them and move them to my NAS where I keep all my Movies and TV Shows
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That's what I do also. I save all my media. Thanks for the info. I may try it. Since I use channels to record most of my media, I'm not using playon as much. Just a backup to what shows I have an issue with.
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I did an SMB share instead--and this works great. I can see all Playon recordings in Channels now.
I quickly setup PlayOn with Channels DVR yesterday. Here's the overview:
I used the PlayOn Cloud android mobile app to make it easy to choose seasons / episodes to record while watching TV. Then I connected Channels DVR Server to PlayOn as one of my content sources. Every 2 hours, Channels downloads any new recordings into the 'DVR>PlayOn>TV>' directory. You can also immediately download any new recordings by "Sync" the PlayOn Source.
Quality: you can choose 720P or 1080i (cloud app, this costs extra)
Audio: 2.0 only - NO 5.1 at all 
UX: the shows appear just like they were recorded by Channels DVR thus all of the shows we are currently watching are in one UX
Pro: you don't need extra PlayOn cloud storage since Channels downloads recordings for you
Con: it takes a while for episode to start to record & then 25+ mins to record a 43 min show
Once you set up the directories for local content on your PlayOn folders, is there a way to have Channels analyze the files for commercials?
You don’t have to set anything up. PlayOn works automatically.
You don’t add the PlayOn directories to local content. You add directories of your own video files.
Could you describe what you did?
If you use PlayOn Cloud to record, it already marks the commercials. When they get downloaded into Channels it uses the commercial markings already in the recording.
If you used PlayOn Desktop to record and you imported them, then you would use the Options dropdown next to one of them and select Redetect Commercials.
I'm referring to the desktop version since I don't use the cloud. I assumed that I would have to set up my Playon output folders as Local Content for Channels. Would be nice to have an option for the commercial detection to trigger when new content is imported.