TVs with built in Android TV (TCL, Hisense)

I just bought the 40” TCL with Android TV and tested both wired and wireless for Channels. It doesn’t work for either - very choppy.

It’s not an issue with Channels, it’s just a cheap tv with cheap internals. I have a higher end Sony with Android TV and it works fine.

As others have mentioned, you’re much better off buying a dedicated streaming box/stick.

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After further testing, it does appear that it’s an issue with Channels on the TCL TV.

I downloaded the HD Homerun app and Plex, both stream live tv just fine.

Can anyone else confirm this?

I also noticed that Channels takes almost 30-40 (loading screen) seconds to load when first starting. All other devices I use Channels on usually load in less than 5 seconds. Once the app is open, it runs fine navigating the menus and scrolling.

Just recently bought a TCL 43" AndroidTV TV for a family member. Channels loaded, and worked, but tuning a channel took a really long time. Hard connected to a switch connected to a switch, connected to a router.

Likely hardware decoder issue

Sorry to revive this old thread, but I have a TCL 55S546, ethernet connected running the latest version of Channels.

I have a 4K HDHomerun and have found that the TV stutters heavily when playing most channels, but it nearly flat out refuses to play ATSC 3.0 channels. I've tried using the software, hybrid and hardware and all have the same choppy results. ATSC 1.0 works, but can still be a choppy mess sometimes. I've also tried various TVEverywhere channels and IPTV channels and all still have the same mess.

The odd thing is that I also have Emby running the same HDHomerun and it plays all the channels without issue. No stutters on anything.

Emby is probably transcoding the Audio.

Is this not an option for Channels?

Tvs are generally underpowered and usually not a good option for a performance. I bought a sony high end bravia tv and was really excited that I could do everything i wanted with android tv. I put up with it for about 3 days and then bought an appletv. Best thing i ever did....

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Emby is smarter if your Client Cannot play the content it will automatically switch to transcoding.

Gotcha, understood. I have several Google TVs and most are working without issue, it's only this issue. I have several Shields and Apple TVs I could throw on it, but the big gotcha is that this is an outdoor TV and I'd rather not leave a more expensive box to sit outside in the heat.