Oh come on. Legal issues and licensing can’t be this complex. It’s been 2 years. If real work was occurring, you could have finished the legal work to buy the Dolby corporation at this point. This has crossed over to absurd and Plex should be embarrassed.
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Kansas City ACTS 3.0 Stations:
104.1 WDAF
105.1 KCTV
109.1 KMBC
119.1 KCPT
129.1 KCWE
138.1 KMCI
141.1 KSHB
162.1 KSMO
Hopefully we can get the sound issue solve soon. The picture is awesome, but without sound… 
Is there a link that describes the legal issues, is odd that I can use HDhomerun on my phone and computer and everything works well.
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I would like to see this too. we have a low power station that converted over to ATSC 3.0 on one of the RF frequencies they own. they are sending out 3 programs in 720p HEVC video with AAC audio. Those programs are a copy of their religion channel, and also a copy of WHTM ABC 27 & WITF PBS 33.
I can view them with the HDhomerun app and Plex. I was able to map to get guide data. I just can’t seem to get plex to choose those 3.0 channels to record. the advantage of that would be a smaller file size because of the HEVC codec used vs MPEG2 of ATSC 1.0
Once the functionality if officially in FFmpeg this issue will go away.
I would put a bet on this is what Plex is waiting for. The cheap route.
I’ll take that bet! Plex licenses other things from Dolby even though free versions exist.
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I’ve commented on someone saying the same thing earlier in the thread. We are not waiting for it to be in ffmpeg, as that is an unlicensed implementation, and we license any codecs that require licenses. Both technical and legal/licensing things need to be resolved here, it’s not about ffmpeg at all.
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How about a tutorial on how licensing works in these sort of big corporation scenarios? I’m guessing it must not be as simple as getting the synchronization, mastering, performance, and mechanical licensing rights to put a song in a movie.
I’d like to know specifically what is going on, because if it seems like Dolby is being absurd, I’m wanting to complain to the FCC and my congressman for allowing something so restrictive to be part of the public broadcast system. If getting legal rights to play AC-4 audio is as difficult and time consuming as you seem to be saying the FCC should have demanded a streamlined and simple system be put into place.
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I’m not at liberty to divulge that, I’m afraid
Is that because of something Dolby demands or just internal policies at Plex?
Do this. Lots of people should do this.
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Well you kind of need to know what to complain about though.
For example, it is my understanding that AC-4 is included in the general Dolby Digital license. If that understanding it correct then licensing shouldn’t cost Plex any more to include AC-4 decoding than it already costs them to include AC-3 decoding. Are they actually licensing AC-3 decoding already? Is the Wikipedia entry on this is wrong? Who knows.
Alternatively, maybe the hold up is Plex wanting to buy pre-written code for AC-4 libraries, or hire Dolby to write a custom plugin for them. If that is the case then the FCC would have a lot harder time getting involved for what is essentially Plex trying to hire out work or negotiate a “bargain”.
Maybe there are aspects I can’t even imagine at the moment.
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AC3 has been license free since March 2017, when the last patent on it expired. We do license EAC3 and TrueHD currently though.
Sometimes, we can write things ourselves, sometimes we have to use code provided by the licensor, it varies a bit, and the entire process is a lot more complicated than people think.
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Well, this is a depressing thread. I’ve had PlexPass since 2013 and kept on seeing the LiveTV & DVR updates. I finally get around to shelling out for a tuner and little did I know that all the sweet new ATSC 3.0 channels in my area would be useless. The ATSC 3.0 towers are much closer so now not only can I not use my new tuner to the fullest, I’m also missing channels as the broadcast towers are too far away.
Regardless of what can or cannot be commented on, a specific timeline, roadmap, or who we should contact that can actually do something is the least that I would expect.
I guess a transition to Emby may be in my future.
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Can you tell us how likely is it that Plex will support ATSC 3.0 in 2023 and is it more likely to be in the first or second half of the year?
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As usual, we don’t provide any ETA, nor do we publicly share our roadmap
Dave, even though I’m disappointed this issue has not been resolved after years of waiting, I do appreciate you replying and commenting on our post. Seems we all want the same thing and we would like to find a way to contribute or help fix the problem. At least someone from plex is aware of how many people are frustrated with this issue (I’m sure there are many more out there)
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I’m sorry but we have no eta and not “at liberty to say” is piss poor customer service. Especially after this long. Obviously you all don’t care. Not calling out Dave in particular but the company.
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This is yet another example of a missed opportunity for the Plex company to communicate with their customers, with a bare minimum of a public statement letting us all know that it ATSC 3 support is temporarily suspended until further notice and their complex reasoning could have been further clarified with this.
I firmly believe they did not do this because they may have a business partnership with Silicon Dust, HDHomeRun’s parent company, and so Plex actually honoring and owning up to their development mishaps means that physical HDHomeRun products, specifically the newer ATSC 3.0 tuners, would not be flying off the shelves had they did so.
On the other hand, by the looks of the markets, it looks as though excuses can only be taken so far.
It will be interesting to say the least where manufacturers are with ATSC 3.0 at CES this year. I wish Silicon Dust also came out with some innovative initiatives themselves but that too is wishful thinking.
Some of us are tired of the lack of transparency.
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Its unfortunate this is still a legal and not a technical issue. Every station in my market now has ATSC 3.0. While I love Plex and I have used it for a decade now, if this issue is not resolved by Football season 2023-2024, I will have to switch platforms (Emby. does look tempting from my research)…
ATSC 3.0 just works so much better than 1.0 it is really the next generation of live TV. So much better than streaming services. I bought the HDHomeRun Tuner as a long term solution for my family and did not think Plex would be the limiting issue. HDHomeRun app is pretty bad too, but the hardware works flawlessly so far.
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This is crazy… Insane we don’t have support for this.
