Use embedded thumbnails for personal videos

#1

Hi all,

I’m importing personal videos into Channels DVR (specifically YouTube downloads). The files are MP4s with the original YouTube thumbnail embedded as cover art.

Outside of Channels (Finder, VLC, QuickTime, etc.), the embedded thumbnail displays correctly. However, Channels appears to ignore embedded artwork entirely and instead generates thumbnails from extracted video frames, which often results in random or poor-quality posters for this type of content.

I wanted to ask two things:
1. Is there currently any way to force Channels to use embedded artwork / cover art for personal videos instead of generated frame thumbnails?
I’ve tested embedded metadata and sidecar images and haven’t found a way to make Channels pick them up.
2. If not, could this be considered a feature request?
Even an optional setting like:
• “Prefer embedded artwork for personal videos”
• or “Use embedded cover art when available, otherwise fall back to frame thumbnails”

This would be especially useful for:
• YouTube content
• Personal clips
• Imported media that already has intentional poster art

I understand the consistency benefits of frame-based thumbnails, but having an override for personal media would significantly improve usability without affecting recordings or TV content.

Thanks for considering, and happy to provide sample files if helpful.

#2

I have the same issue.
Was looking at using Channels instead of Plex but if I can't fix this issue and have my embedded thumbnails from my personal videos I won't. That's something that Plex does automatically

#3

Thanks for the reply, as I was hoping to get more traction from my post. I’m surprised more people aren’t affected by this. It would appear that the devs planned on eventually supporting this as an upcoming feature, however it has either been pushed back or canceled altogether. I know there are some solutions to this such as running a YouTuber docker (youtubr3), however that creates additional issues and hoops to jump through. What I’m really looking for is a native solution, as I think others would appreciate this as well…