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Post by Ex_Vintage on May 19, 2019 20:32:59 GMT -5
I have been DVR'ing OTA broadcasts with my PC for many years. My antenna is connected to a Hauppage tuner card in my PC with HDMI coming from the PC to my receiver. I have been using NextPVR to manage the DVR duties with Schedules direct for a programming directory. I get many HD channels and can passthrough 5 .1 sound to my 5.1 sound system. The picture and sound quality are excellent. I have been looking into an OTA network player / DVR so I can distribute the signal to additional TV's in my house. I have looked at AirTV, TiVo Bolt, HDHomeRun and Tablo. The issue seems to be that all have some level of reduced video and audio quality. Is there anything out there that can, in essence replace my "old" system with a more up to date digital version and not reduce the OTA broadcast quality? Any expertise appreciated.
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Post by doc1963 on May 19, 2019 22:48:02 GMT -5
I have been DVR'ing OTA broadcasts with my PC for many years. My antenna is connected to a Hauppage tuner card in my PC with HDMI coming from the PC to my receiver. I have been using NextPVR to manage the DVR duties with Schedules direct for a programming directory. I get many HD channels and can passthrough 5 .1 sound to my 5.1 sound system. The picture and sound quality are excellent. I have been looking into an OTA network player / DVR so I can distribute the signal to additional TV's in my house. I have looked at AirTV, TiVo Bolt, HDHomeRun and Tablo. The issue seems to be that all have some level of reduced video and audio quality. Is there anything out there that can, in essence replace my "old" system with a more up to date digital version and not reduce the OTA broadcast quality? Any expertise appreciated. The TiVo Bolt accepts the standard “off the air” MPEG-2 data stream and decodes it “as is”. There’s no transcoding required and no degradation of quality whatsoever. You can choose to have the Bolt do the deinterlacing and/or upscaling, or pass the resolutions untouched and allow your display to do the work. All recordings are also stored in their native MPEG-2 format. The Bolt is your both tuner and DVR. You can add Tivo Mini(s) as “client” extensions to your other TVs. The Mini borrows tuners from the Bolt, but also has the same built in streaming capabilities of the Bolt. Since the Bolt has a built in hard drive, there are no “add on” DVR costs. It’s the only true “all in one” solution that doesn’t need to transcode the original signal. All Mini clients have full access to any recordings made on the Bolt. In addition, the Mini(s) have full interaction with the Bolt and can also schedule recordings from the client. The TiVo system does have higher up front costs versus plugging a USB tuner into a PC and using Plex to transcode to a Roku. But IMO it is the best solution if video quality, easy setup, zero maintenance and overall system streamlining and dependability are your highest priorities. I have a TiVo Bolt and three TiVo Mini clients and couldn’t be more pleased with the setup. In over four years of use, I’ve rarely experienced a problem and have never had to call support. A 4 tuner OTA TiVo Bolt with a 1TB internal drive will set you back $250. A TiVo service plan is required and gives you your guide data, continual system updates (which occur transparently to the user - no interaction is required) and other featured benefits. There are three ways to get your service plan. You can do monthly at $6.99 (a one year commitment is required), annually at $69.99 or “all in” (lifetime) at $249.99. Each TiVo Mini is $179.99 which includes lifetime service. No additional service plan is required for a TiVo Mini. Another good option is the HDHomerun. The 4 tuner Quatro costs around $140, but you’ll still need a decoding device. In this case, either an AppleTV or an Nvidia Shield are good choices. However, only the Shield can accept raw MPEG-2 data without transcoding. The AppleTV requires an app like “Channels” ($24.99) or Plex (with a Plex Pass subscription) to accept, deinterlace, and transcode MPEG-2 to H.264. Then, once transcoded, there’s no option for resolution pass-through. The video is upscaled to whatever resolution is preset. The Shield can accept and process MPEG-2 without transcoding, but deinterlacing and scaling (which are still required);are handled by your choice of software app. The Shield has a native “Live TV” app, but also has the “Channels” app along with the free HDHomerun app as well as Plex, Kodi and Embly. The resulting picture quality does look different from each. My preference for either the ATV or the Shield is the Channels app. To me, it gives the best results and is written to work exclusively with the HDHomerun line of tuners. In any case, outside of the Tivo, additional add-on packages are required (at widely differing costs) to gain full DVR functionality. I’ve used (and continue to use) all of the above and have also used the Tablo. The Tablo is my least favorite and do not recommend it. All things considered, my suggestion would be.... TiVo. EDIT: One additional “pro” for the TiVo ecosystem is the ease of networking between the Bolt and the Mini clients. If you already have coax (cable TV) outlets in your rooms, then you have all you need to establish a MOCA network already in place. Simply run an Internet drop to your Bolt (for steaming capabilities and communication to the TiVo mothership), then get a MOCA compatible two way coax splitter, connect a POE filter to the input side of the splitter and then your antenna cable to the POE filter. Then, on the two port “output” side of the splitter, connect one coax cable to the Bolt and the other to your coax wall jack. Then, go into the Bolt’s network settings and choose “use this device to establish a MOCA network” and you’re done. Connect the TiVo Mini(s) in each of your satellite locations to the coax wall jacks and your network is complete.
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Post by Loop 7 on May 19, 2019 23:17:07 GMT -5
I use PLEX's DVR capabilities. Playback is easy using PLEX apps for Apple TV, Roku etc.
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Post by thrillcat on May 20, 2019 8:22:30 GMT -5
I also just set up a Plex server this spring and have been using the DVR functionality on my AppleTVs throughout the house. The only playback limitation is the network capability. I've had no problems playing back full quality recordings without transcoding.
Another advantage is, once you have set up the equipment (which you already have) and pay the 1-time Plex Lifetime fee ($120), there are no more monthly fees for guides or services. So, in essence, the overall cost is less than most of the hardware available. There is a Plex app available for most televisions these days, so you likely won't even have to purchase more devices for the other displays.
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Post by tom9933 on May 20, 2019 8:31:15 GMT -5
I'll also add a vote for plex with HDHomeRun and direct play capable boxes like the Shield. The only DVR complaint I have today is that they don't give you an easy way to mix guide data. IE if you are all locals or all cable its fine but when you want to mix the two it gets ugly. I've read that Emby does this better but I don't have any personal experience with it.
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Post by MusicHead on May 20, 2019 14:42:26 GMT -5
I have been using Plex on a Roku for many years, streaming what I record on a PC with a Hauppauge OTA card, through Windows Media Center.
However, with the announced demise of Win7, next year I will probably replace the PC with a Win10 one.
At that point, Windows Media Center won't be part of the picture anymore. The HDHomeRun and Plex path sounded like a viable alternative, glad to read that it works well indeed.
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Post by geeqner on May 20, 2019 16:19:47 GMT -5
Can you get a "Plex App" for most of the newer "Smart" TVs? (avoiding the need for a separate "box" alltogether?)
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Post by MusicHead on May 20, 2019 16:31:12 GMT -5
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Post by tom9933 on May 20, 2019 20:19:34 GMT -5
Can you get a "Plex App" for most of the newer "Smart" TVs? (avoiding the need for a separate "box" alltogether?) You can and it will work fine for TV shows, but for movies the TV apps are typically limited to the compressed audio formats. Now in theory a new TV with the upgraded pass thru (eARC) should fix that, but that's only on the latest models...
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2019 10:10:49 GMT -5
Some very good info, folks, Thx.
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Post by thrillcat on May 21, 2019 10:32:23 GMT -5
Can you get a "Plex App" for most of the newer "Smart" TVs? (avoiding the need for a separate "box" alltogether?) You can and it will work fine for TV shows, but for movies the TV apps are typically limited to the compressed audio formats. Now in theory a new TV with the upgraded pass thru (eARC) should fix that, but that's only on the latest models... And, just to note, the original question was about DVR for OTA, which won't have any uncompressed audio formats for the foreseeable future, so the OP won't need more than a TV app, though they may wish to eventually move to higher quality streaming devices in the future if they decide to use PLEX for more than DVR functionality.
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Post by petew on May 21, 2019 18:22:43 GMT -5
Another vote for Plex. I'm using a SiliconDust tuner and Apple TV for the settop boxes. I also use Plex to play my ripped DVD's and BluRay discs. Before Plex I tried Kodi (but no Apple TV client, so ran on an Amazon Fire box and Raspberry Pi). I never could get a good picture on interlaced sources. Plex just works and is mostly trouble free.
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Post by Ex_Vintage on May 21, 2019 20:21:29 GMT -5
Hey, thanks for all the great feedback. I have done a little research on Plex and it seems to meet my needs just fine. I have 2 smart TV's that have the Plex App installed. The $120 is small change for activating the DVR capability, accessing apps for IOS and Android devices and the OTA EPG (program guide). I will probably have to upgrade my router (802.11g) to either 11n or 11ac. I will report back after I change over. PS. Too bad Plex is not compatible with Bluesound Node 2i. It looks like it handles the audio formats I am interested in and the BluOs apps are OK for the phones, but suck for Windows.
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