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Serving up Saorview HD

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  • 10-01-2018 12:15pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 103 ✭✭


    Hi everyone,

    What setup would you folks recommend for a Saorview and Freesat server? My objective is to combine saorview and freesat onto a home server and use that to distribute TV around the house as well as accessing it remotely on a phone or tablet via the Internet.

    I've used DVBViewer before for freesat and have successfully streamed SD channels over the internet to my tablet but Saorview HD is going to be a lot trickier to stream as its HD.

    I would like to use a small device like a Raspberry Pi 3 as the server. I have reasonably fast upload speeds on my Eir service but don't want to clog it either with hard to watch HD via Internet. I'm thinking of tvheadend but not sure if transcoding Saorview HD using that and a Pi 3 would work.


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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭PabloAndRoy


    Wagon360 wrote: »
    Hi everyone,

    What setup would you folks recommend for a Saorview and Freesat server? My objective is to combine saorview and freesat onto a home server and use that to distribute TV around the house as well as accessing it remotely on a phone or tablet via the Internet.

    I've used DVBViewer before for freesat and have successfully streamed SD channels over the internet to my tablet but Saorview HD is going to be a lot trickier to stream as its HD.

    I would like to use a small device like a Raspberry Pi 3 as the server. I have reasonably fast upload speeds on my Eir service but don't want to clog it either with hard to watch HD via Internet. I'm thinking of tvheadend but not sure if transcoding Saorview HD using that and a Pi 3 would work.

    I am running tvheadend on a Pi 2 and have accessed this from various spots around the world with a bit of port forwarding and DDNS. I do have a 30Mbps uplink mind.

    Be aware that tvheadend on the Pi3 does not support live DVB transcoding adequately. If you have 15Mbps up speeds you won't need transcoding.

    If you need transcoding on the fly you will need something more powerful than the Pi 3...


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    Wagon360 wrote: »
    Hi everyone,

    What setup would you folks recommend for a Saorview and Freesat server? My objective is to combine saorview and freesat onto a home server and use that to distribute TV around the house as well as accessing it remotely on a phone or tablet via the Internet.

    I've used DVBViewer before for freesat and have successfully streamed SD channels over the internet to my tablet but Saorview HD is going to be a lot trickier to stream as its HD.

    I would like to use a small device like a Raspberry Pi 3 as the server. I have reasonably fast upload speeds on my Eir service but don't want to clog it either with hard to watch HD via Internet. I'm thinking of tvheadend but not sure if transcoding Saorview HD using that and a Pi 3 would work.

    Would you also be doing recording and getting the unit to act as a DVR with features such as series link.
    Trying to figure out same myself.

    Vibox seems an option as an out of box unit.
    Don't think Plex DVR works in Ireland does it ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭PabloAndRoy


    john_doe. wrote: »
    Would you also be doing recording and getting the unit to act as a DVR with features such as series link.
    Trying to figure out same myself.

    Vibox seems an option as an out of box unit.
    Don't think Plex DVR works in Ireland does it ?

    I use tvheadend for series link type recordings. It works fine, but I have had some issues accessing this remotely. I never looked into getting it working remotely as I rarely use it that way, but I think the issue is related to the profile used for recordings.

    On tvheadend, Series Link is called "timer recordings" and is driven by the EPG. You can set up all sorts of rules regarding duplicates, channel restrictions, days of week etc. You can even set rules using regex type expressions.

    I am not familiar with Vibox and I never saw a need for Plex DVR when it is possible to roll your own.

    Our own system works so well remotely that I have three households (in-laws) running off the same system driven out of my attic.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    I use tvheadend for series link type recordings. It works fine, but I have had some issues accessing this remotely. I never looked into getting it working remotely as I rarely use it that way, but I think the issue is related to the profile used for recordings.

    On tvheadend, Series Link is called "timer recordings" and is driven by the EPG. You can set up all sorts of rules regarding duplicates, channel restrictions, days of week etc. You can even set rules using regex type expressions.

    I am not familiar with Vibox and I never saw a need for Plex DVR when it is possible to roll your own.

    Our own system works so well remotely that I have three households (in-laws) running off the same system driven out of my attic.

    wondering ...... do you limit the bandwidth to each remote connection?

    (I wish I had your connection speed :))


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    I use tvheadend for series link type recordings. It works fine, but I have had some issues accessing this remotely. I never looked into getting it working remotely as I rarely use it that way, but I think the issue is related to the profile used for recordings.

    On tvheadend, Series Link is called "timer recordings" and is driven by the EPG. You can set up all sorts of rules regarding duplicates, channel restrictions, days of week etc. You can even set rules using regex type expressions.

    I am not familiar with Vibox and I never saw a need for Plex DVR when it is possible to roll your own.

    Our own system works so well remotely that I have three households (in-laws) running off the same system driven out of my attic.

    So do you have usb tuners in the pi then ?
    Also do other rooms in the house access the live streams or just the recorded shows - the vibox seems to serve up the live streams


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  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    So do you have usb tuners in the pi then ?
    Also do other rooms in the house access the live streams or just the recorded shows - the vibox seems to serve up the live streams

    What is this Vibox you refer to? Something from this company?
    https://www.vibox.co.uk/


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    What is this Vibox you refer to? Something from this company?
    https://www.vibox.co.uk/

    Apologies Vbox

    http://www.vboxcomm.com

    It's a gateway server that can push tv around the house or to remote devices.

    More here:
    https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057604382


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    Apologies Vbox

    http://www.vboxcomm.com

    It's a gateway server that can push tv around the house or to remote devices.

    More here:
    https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057604382

    Ah yes!
    Not a very positive report in that thread though ;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    Ah yes!
    Not a very positive report in that thread though ;)

    https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057690820/4

    Ya this thread is on boards as well.
    I'd like to build a solution that can:

    record satellite and saorview by series link
    Pull the recordings into Plex
    Be able to watch these recordings anwhere in house.
    Be able to connect to the box like that Vbox does in each room to watch live TV via a network cable would be nice too.
    Have clients in the house that could access the recording from the box and also on these clients have ability to watch Netflix and rte player etc.

    Mainly what I seek is the ability to have a PVR that I can dump into Plex.
    Have an icore7 HP sitting around that I could use.

    Any advice ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057690820/4

    Ya this thread is on boards as well.
    I'd like to build a solution that can:

    record satellite and saorview by series link
    Pull the recordings into Plex
    Be able to watch these recordings anwhere in house.
    Be able to connect to the box like that Vbox does in each room to watch live TV via a network cable would be nice too.
    Have clients in the house that could access the recording from the box and also on these clients have ability to watch Netflix and rte player etc.

    Mainly what I seek is the ability to have a PVR that I can dump into Plex.
    Have an icore7 HP sitting around that I could use.

    Any advice ?

    I do most of what you have listed, except like PabloAndRoy I do not use Plex and never have.

    I use tvheadend running in LibreElec on lightweight hardware as a backend server for Live TV channels and recordings and any other media I wish to store.

    Clients at TVs mostly run LibreElec also and can access all Saorview TV channels and any Satellite channel provided a Sat tuner is available, as well as all the stored media.
    Access to Netflix is dependent on the client device .... I do not have a Netflix subscription.

    All PCs, laptops, tablets and even phones can also access the same material.

    So, with your stipulation of using Plex I cannot really comment as I know nothing about it, sorry ;)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    I do most of what you have listed, except like PabloAndRoy I do not use Plex and never have.

    I use tvheadend running in LibreElec on lightweight hardware as a backend server for Live TV channels and recordings and any other media I wish to store.

    Clients at TVs mostly run LibreElec also and can access all Saorview TV channels and any Satellite channel provided a Sat tuner is available, as well as all the stored media.
    Access to Netflix is dependent on the client device .... I do not have a Netflix subscription.

    All PCs, laptops, tablets and even phones can also access the same material.

    So, with your stipulation of using Plex I cannot really comment as I know nothing about it, sorry ;)

    Thanks getting to under this better now , like idea of central server.
    How do you find the usage in general.channel switching , any lags or missed recordings.
    Would an icore7 handle hd recordings and streamings?
    I tried this year's back and found everything clunky, that was ten years ago mind.
    Went through various xmbc versions never took to it then settled on Plex which I loved
    The htpc scene has moved it seems into Kodi ( or xmbc as I knew it). Satellite recordings also seem to be done via dedicated units with tuners as oppose to servers.

    I still like the idea of servers and the setup you descibe - gives ultimate control.
    Seen in the past the latest and greatest Linux box comes out then it gathers dust in another year.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    Thanks getting to under this better now , like idea of central server.
    How do you find the usage in general.channel switching , any lags or missed recordings.
    Would an icore7 handle hd recordings and streamings?
    I tried this year's back and found everything clunky, that was ten years ago mind.
    Went through various xmbc versions never took to it then settled on Plex which I loved
    The htpc scene has moved it seems into Kodi ( or xmbc as I knew it). Satellite recordings also seem to be done via dedicated units with tuners as oppose to servers.

    I still like the idea of servers and the setup you descibe - gives ultimate control.
    Seen in the past the latest and greatest Linux box comes out then it gathers dust in another year.

    Believe it or not this backend server does not need to have anything like the i7 power.

    I have been using an old Dell Dimension 5150 which has a P4 dual core and a couple of GBs of RAM.
    It has been running for a few years without problems .... has a couple of PCI-e tuner cards (each dual tuner).
    This is the PC .... :)
    https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/dell/dimension_5150/219250/specs/

    There are very VERY low resources needed to tune, pass the selected channel to the client, and record as well as populate the EPG etc etc.
    It has no trouble with a couple of UHD demo satellite channels either.

    On the other hand if you wish to display UHD channels on the TV, then the client device needs to be capable of doing so.
    That is where the majority of resources are required.

    I am in the process of transitioning from the old P4 to a €40 Android TV box running LibreElec as the server. This is using USB DVB-T dongles (~ €10 each as well as a SAT>IP gateway device with 4 tuners (Telestar Digibit R1)

    So far test are working well ..... I have yet to really test this set up with multiple recordings, but there is no problem providing 5 concurrent Live TV channels (mix of HD & SD)

    If you require more than this .... such as transcoding or such .... then the server would require more resources.

    My only reason for testing the transition from the P4 is space!
    It is a full sized PC case, but extremely quiet.
    The new set up would be considerably smaller.
    In truth I think the P4 might even be better suited than the new hardware.
    It costs little to test so am taking my time with it. :D

    The channel switching is more dependent on the client device than the server, in my experience. After that it will depend on the tuners.

    On the matter of recording I would refer to PabloAndRoy's post above.
    He does a lot more recording than I do.
    I have never had a failed recording that I recollect.

    One other matter that I would mention is that you need a reasonably good wired LAN.
    Depending on wireless for distribution is likely to be frustrating.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭PabloAndRoy


    john_doe. wrote: »
    So do you have usb tuners in the pi then ?
    Also do other rooms in the house access the live streams or just the recorded shows - the vibox seems to serve up the live streams

    I have 2 x USB DVB-T tuners connected via a powered hub to the Pi. This covers Saorview. I also have the Digibox R1 on my LAN which connected to a Quad LNB covering my Astra 28E needs (I use a Freesat Bouquet in tvheadend).

    Yes, this provides live streams to any client connected to the network (this is the whole point of tvheadend) and also centralised recordings (I have a 1TB usb hard drive connected directly to the Pi for this). Using this if I set up a recording from any client (or from an app on my phone), that recording can be accessed from all connected clients.

    If you select a live programme that is currently being recorded you get a "would you like to view from the start?" message.

    Tvheadend also provides (backend driven) timeshift for the live streams... pause, rewind etc... You can set this up so that it starts up every time you select a live stream but this uses double the data throughput for every livestream and for me on the Pi this was restricting the number of simultaneous live streams that the Pi could deliver. So I have it set that it just starts to work the first time i hit Pause. I have tested this for 5 simultaneous HD streams to various clients around the house.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭PabloAndRoy



    ...

    One other matter that I would mention is that you need a reasonably good wired LAN.
    Depending on wireless for distribution is likely to be frustrating.

    YMMV, but all of my clients are connected via WiFi.

    It really depends on your set up in your location, Wifi might suffice. The Digibit R1 however only has ethernet 100 Mbps, so wifi is not an option.

    A friend of mine uses a Homeplug solution to get around wifi issues that he has in his house.

    So its not true to say that you 100% need wired network, but it might be the case depending on your own situation.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭PabloAndRoy


    john_doe. wrote: »

    Would an icore7 handle hd recordings and streamings?

    Like Johnboy said you don't need anything like an i7.

    I run up to 5 HD streams on a Pi 2. There is not a lot of compute power needed. The Pi is basically just passing the streams around and not doing any compute tasks on the data itself.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    I like to compare the backend server to an old-style traffic cop directing traffic standing in the middle of a busy junction.

    Just directing streams where they are meant to go and not much else else. :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 974 ✭✭✭Remouad


    Where do you guys get you epg data from?

    Any recommenation on DVB-T tuners? USB or low profile pci-e

    I have a TBS-6981 in my server.
    Haven't done much with it besides set it up and test to see if it's working but now we have more than one tv in the house it'd be nice to have everything centralised.

    7 day epg is essential. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭PabloAndRoy


    Remouad wrote: »
    Where do you guys get you epg data from?

    Any recommenation on DVB-T tuners? USB or low profile pci-e

    I have a TBS-6981 in my server.
    Haven't done much with it besides set it up and test to see if it's working but now we have more than one tv in the house it'd be nice to have everything centralised.

    7 day epg is essential. :)

    EPG comes from OTA via the tuners (terrestrial & satellite), so not over internet. Tvheadend has epg grabber modules for EIT DVB Grabber (Saorview) / Freesat / Open TV (Sky UK) ... these are run daily in the back end and are all 7 day in the back end. The client side Kodi PVR has a setting for how much of the data you want synched.

    USB is a lot cheaper (less than 10Euro per stick) ... find them on eBay, search for RTL2832U. You need 2 of these for 100% coverage on Saorview (one per mux).


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Remouad wrote: »
    Where do you guys get you epg data from?

    Any recommenation on DVB-T tuners? USB or low profile pci-e

    I have a TBS-6981 in my server.
    Haven't done much with it besides set it up and test to see if it's working but now we have more than one tv in the house it'd be nice to have everything centralised.

    7 day epg is essential. :)

    I have a TBS 6281 in the Dell along with a dual DVB-S TBS card.
    As I said I am changing to the Digibit R1 (DVB-S) and RTL2832 (DVB-T) USB sticks.
    The TBS is solid and works very well.

    If you intend to keep a server box with PCI-e slots for the DVB-S card then you could consider using a TBS DVB-T card also.
    This has worked well for me for a few years .... I am changing for space reasons to get rid of the PC box.


  • Registered Users Posts: 974 ✭✭✭Remouad


    EPG comes from OTA via the tuners (terrestrial & satellite), so not over internet. Tvheadend has epg grabber modules for EIT DVB Grabber (Saorview) / Freesat / Open TV (Sky UK) ... these are run daily in the back end and are all 7 day in the back end. The client side Kodi PVR has a setting for how much of the data you want synched.

    USB is a lot cheaper (less than 10Euro per stick) ... find them on eBay, search for RTL2832U. You need 2 of these for 100% coverage on Saorview (one per mux).
    I have a TBS 6281 in the Dell along with a dual DVB-S TBS card.
    As I said I am changing to the Digibit R1 (DVB-S) and RTL2832 (DVB-T) USB sticks.
    The TBS is solid and works very well.

    If you intend to keep a server box with PCI-e slots for the DVB-S card then you could consider using a TBS DVB-T card also.
    This has worked well for me for a few years .... I am changing for space reasons to get rid of the PC box.

    Thanks for the advice guys. I've used Nextpvr and only ever got back the "Now and Next" programmes from the tuner

    Good to see you're both recommending the same USB tuners. :)
    Looks like they don't use coax though. Have the aerial on the roof so should make use of that.

    Definitely keeping the server. it's a HP N40L.
    Small form factor and sits in the attic so Happy with it as is.
    So looks like the TBS card is the best way to go.:)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    Remouad wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice guys. I've used Nextpvr and only ever got back the "Now and Next" programmes from the tuner

    Good to see you're both recommending the same USB tuners. :)
    Looks like they don't use coax though. Have the aerial on the roof so should make use of that.

    Definitely keeping the server. it's a HP N40L.
    Small form factor and sits in the attic so Happy with it as is.
    So looks like the TBS card is the best way to go.:)


    Ah the same as me
    I have a HP N40L from years back , it's on its last legs though , something went on motherboard and it's down to one stick of ram , tried various ram combos and had to pull out the graphics card. Since then its happily running on a 4gb stick and serving up plex.

    I bought an i7 HP machine with a beefy CPU as I wanted to use it for CCTV and blue Iris.

    Now I'm thinking of using that machine to do:
    TV headend PVR and distribution to clients around house.
    Plex Server
    CCTV recording

    So while the i7 is Overkill it will be doing other tasks.

    Like the idea of a PCIe card for the tuners as be nice to have one contained unit without usb sticks coming out of PC.

    Have two quick questions:
    What PCIe cards would be worth looking at .
    What do you guys use for your clients.

    For my Clients I'll try to get them to do :
    Playback from tvheadend server
    Plex client
    Netflix
    Rte Player etc
    Possibly access CCTV feeds

    Great thread by way , glad to see HTPC is live and kicking and appreciate trouble of detailed posts


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Remouad wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice guys. I've used Nextpvr and only ever got back the "Now and Next" programmes from the tuner

    Good to see you're both recommending the same USB tuners. :)
    Looks like they don't use coax though. Have the aerial on the roof so should make use of that.

    Not sure what you mean by that .... but if it is the connector on the device you mean then some do have an RF socket to take a standar aerial plug ....

    https://www.ebay.ie/itm/DVB-T-RTL-SDR-Realtek-RTL2832U-R820T-Tuner-USB-Receiver-Dongle-PAL-IEC-In-I3L0/322965157620?hash=item4b323936f4:g:cNwAAOSwc2FaRQv3
    Definitely keeping the server. it's a HP N40L.
    Small form factor and sits in the attic so Happy with it as is.
    So looks like the TBS card is the best way to go.:)

    A big advantage in TBS over other cards like Blackgold is the availability of Linux drivers, which means you can, should you wish, change operating system.


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    Not sure what you mean by that .... but if it is the connector on the device you mean then some do have an RF socket to take a standar aerial plug ....

    https://www.ebay.ie/itm/DVB-T-RTL-SDR-Realtek-RTL2832U-R820T-Tuner-USB-Receiver-Dongle-PAL-IEC-In-I3L0/322965157620?hash=item4b323936f4:g:cNwAAOSwc2FaRQv3



    A big advantage in TBS over other cards like Blackgold is the availability of Linux drivers, which means you can, should you wish, change operating system.

    Looking at the TBS cards now in Amazon

    Have two free PCIe x1 slots in the PC + one x16.
    Sussing out a card to match with assumption that need least two DVB t tuners for the saorview muxes and two satellite tuners .
    4 of each would be nice and prob cover all long term needs - but probably Overkill.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    Looking at the TBS cards now in Amazon

    Have two free PCIe x1 slots in the PC + one x16.
    Sussing out a card to match with assumption that need least two DVB t tuners for the saorview muxes and two satellite tuners .
    4 of each would be nice and prob cover all long term needs - but probably Overkill.

    4 DVB-T tuners would be no advantage unless you can receive the UK Freeview muxes.
    The two tuners will provide all Saorview channels concurrently if required.
    The TBS card will happily use the PCI-e x 1 slot

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/TBS-6281-SE-Terrestrial-Low-profile-DVB-T2/dp/B01B7TDIKQ


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    4 DVB-T tuners would be no advantage unless you can receive the UK Freeview muxes.
    The two tuners will provide all Saorview channels concurrently if required.
    The TBS card will happily use the PCI-e x 1 slot

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/TBS-6281-SE-Terrestrial-Low-profile-DVB-T2/dp/B01B7TDIKQ

    Thanks ok. Is satellite the same as in a one port card can provide concurrent access or would a quad card there be required if 4 users wanted to watch 4 separate live streams.
    Also one of the previous annoyance I had with over the air satellite was that frequencys would change for the channels and would have to re-tune. Does TV headend automatically take cares of this or is it necessary to manually edit the channels in the event of a frequency change.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    Thanks ok. Is satellite the same as in a one port card can provide concurrent access or would a quad card there be required if 4 users wanted to watch 4 separate live streams.

    Each tuner can provide concurrent access to multiple users of all the channels on that frequency ..... be it mux (DVB-T) or transponder (DVB-S).

    So if the 4 streams were all on the one transponder then only one tuner would be needed.
    Also one of the previous annoyance I had with over the air satellite was that frequencys would change for the channels and would have to re-tune. Does TV headend automatically take cares of this or is it necessary to manually edit the channels in the event of a frequency change.

    It is a manual edit.

    It does not seem like it should be a huge undertaking to incorporate such an auto tune function into tvheadend, to be hones ...... says he who knows nothing about how to do it :D:D

    I check irregularly by listing everything by name and usually spot any change easily.


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    Each tuner can provide concurrent access to multiple users of all the channels on that frequency ..... be it mux (DVB-T) or transponder (DVB-S).

    So if the 4 streams were all on the one transponder then only one tuner would be needed.



    It is a manual edit.

    It does not seem like it should be a huge undertaking to incorporate such an auto tune function into tvheadend, to be hones ...... says he who knows nothing about how to do it :D:D

    I check irregularly by listing everything by name and usually spot any change easily.

    Ya it probably is one of the advantages of a freesat box from UK , it auto updates itselfs.
    Thinking of situation where a series link is done would be pain if frequency jumped.

    One thing with this set up though is that if frequency changed, the edit I assume can be done on the server i.e you don't need to go to each Kodi box to update frequency.
    This would be advantage to having bunch of satellite boxes round house where you would have to update each if there was a frequency chnage.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Yes - there are no tuners needed in the client boxes so the only place to edit the channels is the server box.

    Unfortunately you cannot get a Freesat set up integrated with DVB-T.


  • Registered Users Posts: 643 ✭✭✭john_doe.


    Yes - there are no tuners needed in the client boxes so the only place to edit the channels is the server box.

    Unfortunately you cannot get a Freesat set up integrated with DVB-T.

    There is one other thing I wonder and it's on the client side.

    Libreelec seems to be the main client folks use but I really need to be able to use payed neflix sub and use a Plex client and go to web browser for rte player etc.

    Netflix work around seems to be buggy on libreelec and seen a lot of people say not to run something like Ubuntu on htpc.

    Therefore I was looking at a client with a bit more oomph than a pi3 , would something like an Nvidia shield work for this.
    I've seen I think that you used a Nuc before , did you run Linux on it.?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 13,991 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    john_doe. wrote: »
    There is one other thing I wonder and it's on the client side.

    Libreelec seems to be the main client folks use but I really need to be able to use payed neflix sub and use a Plex client and go to web browser for rte player etc.

    Netflix work around seems to be buggy on libreelec and seen a lot of people say not to run something like Ubuntu on htpc.

    Therefore I was looking at a client with a bit more oomph than a pi3 , would something like an Nvidia shield work for this.
    I've seen I think that you used a Nuc before , did you run Linux on it.?

    As I do not have a Netflix account I have not done any tests using it.

    You say you really need to use a Plex client ..... sorry cannot help as I have never used it and know little about it. I never liked how they hold back functionality until you pay.

    There is a series of Android TV boxes that could be suitable for your client side.
    The one I am testing (Tanix T3-mini) has Kodi, as well as a Netflix player and a browser. It also connects to the Google play store (or whatever its called ... my first Android device :) )

    I have installed 3player and RTE Player to this while testing. I don't use them - just wanted to have a look :)

    I am not suggesting the Tx3-mini as the client solution, just pointing out that something like it might cover your needs.

    Yes I used a NUC as a client .... it was waaaaay over-speccd for a client so have withdrawn it and replaced by a Tanix T3-mini. That is the least used TV in the house and things seem to be working well there. (It might be a 720 rather than 1080 TV - not sure now)
    I ran LibreElec on the NUC.

    Note: I ran LE on all devices I possibly could as that kept the maintenance down to a minimum, as well as Kodi being used everywhere meant each client was immediately familiar.

    My mission at present is to get devices that perform as I need, but cost as little as possible.
    When a TV channel was played, I saw no difference on screen between a cheap Android box (~€40) and a NUC (~€250). Probably a better TV or different media would have shown up a difference.

    So my attitude is, presently, that I do not wish to allocate over-speccd hardware to either server or client, when a low spec device will do the job just as well.

    If you want 4K capability then the client needs to be capable of displaying it. Mine are not. A much higher spec device would be required as a client for such use.

    I have read good things about the Nvidia Shield .... but it does not fit into my scheme ....... Just Enough Hardware for my Needs ;)


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