How many tuners does plex need?

General Discussions
1

Hello guys

I would like to watch plex TV. Of course I need a device which gives me the signal. Now to the question. These module/pcie cards are all specified with tuner. e.g. 4.

  1. if two plexusers watch two different channels, will 2 tuners be used?

  2. if two plexusers watch two identical channels, is only one tuner used?

  3. does Plex also support encrypted transmitters if the module has a corresponding card inserted?

  4. what happens if you want to record something? Will a tuner be used for the recording?

  5. what happens if more Plex users want to watch TV than tuners are available?

Many thanks for reading and possibly your answer.

2

Yes.

No, two will be used.

No, and it’s unlikely that Plex will ever support DRM/encrypted channels in the future.

One tuner will be used for each recording as requested or scheduled.

If no tuners are available, then Plex will not tune Live TV for that user; similarly, if you have scheduled three recordings for the same time period and you only have two tuners, then only two shows will be recorded (based on the set priority). And again, similarly, if you have two tuners and two people are watching Live TV and you have something scheduled to record at that time, no recording will take place.

3

For number 3 just a little clarification…

Most cable carriers encrypted all their channels.

If you have a cable card you will be able to tune to most encrypted channels but ones that have DRM set you will not be able to tune to or record from which is usually HBO and other premium channels.

1 Like
4

is it still possible to see encrypted tv over a workaround/addon? I don’t know exactly how the cards work. They should normally pass the encrypted signal in a clear way or? if so, should plex be able to handle it?

5

Only wmc window media center as far as I know can play HBO and other DRM protected channels.

I don’t believe anything exists for Plex to do that.

6

Will the viewers of the Live TV get any notice that their live viewing is blocking a recording from taking place? If not - can they? This is a feature I was missing from the days of running MythTV. Either that - or can we have an option to flip this? “Recordings take priority over LiveTV” as an option?

7

thats a good question. does anyone have an answer?

8

AFAIK at least if the user who created the recording job, is watching something, he is asked if he’d like to free up the tuner so the recording can proceed or if he wants to cancel the recording.

9

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