TVs with built in Android TV (TCL, Hisense)

mhartman · October 30, 2020, 8:41pm

Is anyone successfully using Channels on TVs with Android TV built into their TV? I purchased a TCL (https://www.tcl.com/us/en/products/home-theater/3-series/tcl-40-class-3-series-fhd-led-android-smart-tv-40s330) and the Channels app will not play antenna/live TV stations unless using the software decoder. The software decoder introduces noticeable judder/choppy playback on TVE viewing but it does solve the antenna/live TV playback issue.

@tmm1 I submitted DVR and player diagnostics.The HDHomeRun app plays live stations just fine.

tmm1 · October 30, 2020, 8:47pm

Please set Home Streaming Quality to Original

mhartman · October 30, 2020, 8:54pm

It was Original and it does not play. I changed the Home Streaming Quality to 1080p for testing and it does play fine.

racameron · October 30, 2020, 9:03pm

No MPEG-2 decoder?

tmm1 · October 30, 2020, 9:05pm

I'm uploading a beta which may or may not help. The decoder is reporting successful initialization but never returns any video frames..

pdaphone · October 30, 2020, 9:14pm

FYI, it runs fine on my two Sony X900 Android TVs.

mhartman · October 30, 2020, 9:49pm

@tmm1 Confirming build 10.23.2051 is the beta you are referring to?

It did not work and I uploaded another set of diagnostics.

tmm1 · October 30, 2020, 9:59pm

No that's 7 days old. The new APK is 10.30.2109

mhartman · October 30, 2020, 10:01pm

10.30.2109 installed. Same issue. Diagnostics uploaded.

tmm1 · October 30, 2020, 10:04pm

That should work. Click update beta?

mhartman · October 30, 2020, 10:05pm

Did the beta update again. Issue remains.

mhartman · October 31, 2020, 12:41am

Update- the video will begin playing but it is intermittent. For example, I went to play digital channel 4.1 and it played, then changed to 5.1 and it didn't play. Went back to 4.1 and it did not play. It is a spinning circle on the timeline bar.

Linksys7 · October 31, 2020, 5:42am

I bought a Hisense 40" android TV and had nothing but trouble with it as far as android goes. It was slow Hardware wise and the WiFi was crap. I hooked up wired internet and the TV was still slow. So I gave in and hooked my Nvidia android tv to it and it run great, with wired internet. I have My computer with Channels server running on it and its wired too. So My link speed to the server is 1 Gigabyte, no video issues or TV issues anymore.

jator · November 6, 2020, 11:06pm

Was about to post the below when the forum said this thread may match which it looks like it might. Can anyone confirm if this has been fixed:

I picked up this TV from Target today hoping I could use the built in Android TV to power my living room and move my Shield to another TV. However, setting up the TV, I have succesfully loaded my normal apps (Netflix, Plex, Channels), and all seem to work except Channels.

I have Channels loaded and it sees the server. However, when I click on a channel, I get the timeline bar and it looks like it is in the process of loading, but then just stays on the black screen while the time bar slowly creeps forward.

Any suggestions on what to try. And if it includes me sending diagnostic info, can someone point me to the proper Wiki on how to do that with a TV?

Thanks.

tmm1 · November 6, 2020, 11:27pm

Try changing Settings > Playback > Advanced > Video Decoder: Software

jator · November 7, 2020, 12:42am

Choppy playback, but does work. Not viable for use though.

Macnbaish · November 7, 2020, 3:32am

This means the hardware decoder of the TV isn’t going to work, and the CPU isn’t powerful enough to handle the software decoding, so unfortunately it’s likely not going to work as you hoped.

jator · November 7, 2020, 12:20pm

I was afraid of that. Now the internal debate on use with a box or return and see what comes out for a more powerful TV at some point.

racameron · November 7, 2020, 5:14pm

If the option is between using a TV's built-in "smart" platform, or choosing a separate streaming box/stick, history has taught us that you should always choose the latter.

TV manufacturers have an extremely poor record on this front. Their devices are often underpowered, and rarely receive continued updates and/or security patches. Sometimes you may find a manufacturer that provides acceptable support (like Sony sometimes does), but for the most part, you're better off with a separate dedicated device.

ycavan · November 8, 2020, 5:02am

We own both Sony & Hisense Android TV's in our household & haven't had any issues with playback. One of our TVs is hardwired and the others are on the 802.11 ac wifi.

Right now, our main server is a core i7 laptop w/ 32 gigs of ram connected to a USB 3.0 RAID. During this holiday season, I've seen upwards of 6-8 recordings while watching live tv or recordings with no hiccups.