Apple TV Beta 7.5.1 (21540) New Detect Ads option

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.20.1.3252
Player Version#: 7.5.1.25140

I received an email for a new Apple TV Beta with the following description.

NEW:

  • Option to detect ads on DVR recordings and allow skipping right back to your beloved content! Requires PMS 1.19.4.

How does this work? I don’t see an option to detect ads and the ability to skip. Am I misunderstanding the new option? It looks like there should be an option to detect ads and then skip them similar to Detect Intro. But the only option I see is detect ads and delete them. Any info on this new option would be appreciated.

2

I’m wondering what this is, too.

3

Can we get more info on how this new option works? I don’t see anything in the latest Apple TV Beta app that relates to this new option. So not sure what we’re testing.

1 Like
4

More info will be coming soon, but I’d suggest making sure you’re on 1.20 or newer and checking your DVR settings. You may need to restart your server first. :wink:

5

The restart did the trick. Eager to try this out.

6

Yes restarting the server did the trick. Also looking forward to testing this. Thank you for the info.

7

No worries! Hope you enjoy it :slight_smile: With 1.20+ it should be able to analyse your past recordings too.

8

This doesn’t appear to be working. I’ve recorded 2 shows and I can see the commercial markers in the recording xml file. But I don’t see any options to skip when a commercial starts. Is there a setting I’m missing?

9

You may need to restart the Apple TV app for it to pick up the change. Force quit it, and then open it again.

10

I actually removed the app and restarted the Apple TV. Reinstalled the Beta app but no indicator appears to skip a commercial when it starts. I skipped thru the video to get to the different commercial breaks but nothing appears to skip. So should there be a skip pop-up like the skip intro?

11

Yeah, it should appear exactly like Skip Intro.

12

Ah, I think I see the issue. Give me a bit, and I’ll get back to you.

13

Try now :crossed_fingers:

14

Yes it’s working now. I’m surprised you were able to fix it without a new version of the app. But so far I like it.

I know you stated more info is coming. But I’m curious to know if you’re creating the commercial markers based on comskip edl or similar to how you do skip intro.

Thanks for the quick fix. This is a great new feature for Plex DVR.

1 Like
15

Magic :wink: I’m not really in a position to discuss much technically, but the detection is similar to how we were previously removing commercials, but now it’s non-destructive. :slight_smile:

4 Likes
16

“Skip Intro” is a great feature, but it was exciting because it implied lots of other great possibilities.

Seeing this come true is great. I don’t even use TV/PVR, but anything that works like an EDL is so much better than destructively editing files.

1 Like
17

I still can’t find this feature. Plex is removing about 70-80% of my commercials. One 30 minute show is displaying as 19 mins. Another is at 25 minutes. Most (not all) of the commercials seem to have been deleted from the file… all just as it always has been. I was using Detect and Delete.

Now I’ll test using Disabled.

18

You need to be on PMS 1.20+ and use the Detect and mark for skip option. If you were previously using Detect and Delete, we won’t override what you’d previously selected.

19

Does the skip commercials work for existing library even if it wasn’t recorded by Plex?

20

It should do, yes. Under the Manage Library -> Edit -> Advanced section in Plex Web, you can Enable ad detection. However, this will take time, and is not instantaneous.