Watching Videos from Channels on Roku

Channels DVR Server
#1

From what I've seen and read, there is no Channels app on Roku and, apparently, one reason why is because a Roku does not have enough CPU power to handle those videos. I know I can watch Channels videos on Apple TV with the Channels app or with other apps. (Currently I'm using UMS as a media server and 8Player Pro as a viewer on Apple TV. This solution lets me watch the videos and use Autoplay as well - something the Channels app does not have.)

I added Roku's own app for viewing local videos. It let me access my Channels videos through UMS. It also recognized my HDHomeRun as a media server. I tested this with video from the HDHomeRun, as well as my Channels videos and videos from ripped DVDs. In all cases, the audio was intermittent. It'd continually cut in and out, roughly once each second.

Is there any combination of software I can use to view a stream from HDHomeRun or to see my videos from Channels on Roku? Or is it just an issue with Roku not recognizing the needed codecs or not having the computing power?

Considering that the high end Roku is 1/3 the price of a low end Apple TV, and that I'm going to be working with 4 TVs (2 in my house, 2 in the guest house), It'd be nice if I didn't have to shell out for an Apple TV for each TV so I could watch a live stream from the HDHomeRun or recorded videos from Channels.

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#2

The Roku doesn't work well and we have decided not to invest in it at this time.

If you're looking for an affordable device that works well, the Amazon FireTV Stick 4K has a very fast CPU and is often on sale.

#3

Thank you. I had totally forgotten about Amazon. (I forget why I ruled it out when I was first looking for devices, but that would work fine for at least one TV and, if I end up adding any more TVs, that'd work fine for them, too.)

Can I take it that, along with Channels not investing time in Roku, that there are no known third party solutions that work well for watching Channels videos on Roku?

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#4

There is only one video player available on the Roku, and that's the built-in video player. All apps have to use that player. It is impossible to write or run your own video code on any Roku device.

We wrote a simple app a while ago that you can try (https://my.roku.com/add/CHANNELSDVR) but it is not under active development any more.

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#5

Thank you.

I'll add it and see how it works.

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#6

I have ChannelsDVR and Plex on a 2014 Mac Mini. They play well together. Plex is setup to just serve video. Nothing else like LiveTV/DVR, audio, podcasts, etc. I have two HDHomeRun Extends set to transcode before ChannelsDVR records.

These recordings play well via Plex with the Plex Roku client. I just setup a TV library that points to the ChannelsDVR/TV directory and another Movie library that points to the ChannelsDVR/Movies library.

I haven't tried watching something in Plex while Channels is recording. And I turned the thumbnail generation off in Plex for these libraries. Works much better than Plex's own DVR functionality.

Basically Plex is more mature for organizing and serving video. ChannelsDVR is way more mature and fleshed out DVR product in my view.

Doesn't give you a solution for Live TV though.

Edit: Plex also gives you multi-user capability. But I would shy away from having Plex delete files as this will not update Channels and would create a mess.

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#7

@CAWallace: With two HDHomeRun devices, what handles deciding which one to use when recording a show? I have a Quatro and there are times 3 tuners are in use. I've thought about getting another one, but I'm concerned about the two confusing Channels or even me when I want to watch something and don't know which tuners on which devices are in use. (If I try to watch TV live on an HDHomeRun and all the tuners are in use, does it give me a warning or just switch channels while Channels is using it to record something?)

I'm doing something similar to what you're doing, but I'm using UMS (Universal Media Server) instead of Plex for several reasons. (One reason is because Plex uses pages or data from the Plex website and, being out in the boonies, storms can block the satellite signal. Another is because UMS has an "autoplay" mode that will continue playing videos in a folder until it reaches the end and Plex will play 3 videos and stop.)

I have to agree that Channels is a much more mature DVR. I can't remember just what it was, but I gave up on the Plex DVR very quickly and, soon after, gave up on it as a server.

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#8

Both Channels app and DVR work automatically with multiple hdhomerun. You don't have to do anything- if you have two QUATROs it will act as if you had one hdhomerun with eight tuners.

#9

Thanks for sharing this again! Somehow it was deleted off my roku...I added it back as it does just enough of what I want it to do. I appreciate it.

#10

Wow! That's cool!

Maybe this is off topic, but if I use the HDHomeRun app on my computer or mobile device, is it smart enough to warn me before changing the channel on a tuner that's in use by Channels (or by any other program)?

In other words, if I'm on my iPad and I have a HDHR Quatro and Channels is recording on 4 channels, and I run my HDHR app on my iPad, will it warn me before changing a channel so I don't mess up a recording or someone else watching from another device?

#11

If all the tuners are busy then both Channels and other HDHR apps will fail and tell you that no tuners are available.

#12

Thank you. I didn't want to try that when I was recording something - just in case!

(Although, now that I think about it, I could have just set it to record 4 shows I didn't care about and tested it then.)

#13

Thank you for the link to the old simple Roku app. This app has played every Channels DVR recording I have tried on my TCL Roku TV (Model 49S405) running Roku software version 9.2.0 build 4129.

My alternative is to watch my Channels recordings in the Plex app.

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