Na,… I’ll just ignore your …
Where would that setting be on the plex server?
It’s in the Android app at the bottom of Settings all the way to the right.
I assume you mean under the “Advanced Settings” group then? I don’t see anything with the words “Transcode” or “Interlanced” in my Plex Android settings, running 8.28. I also don’t see any similar settings on a Roku box either.
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Yes, I just installed the app on my HK1Max TV box and after switching to TV mode, the option is indeed NOT there. On a sidenote, the option is there on the FireStick app. So something about the host hardware might be determining whether the option appears or maybe it’s something specific about the FireStick app build.
If you don’t have Transcode interlaced in your Android settings as pictured above then your box doesn’t support it like mine does. I know for a fact that the Firestick 4k has this option.
This means that every single OTA channel you watch WILL TRANSCODE ON THE SERVER and this is a problem for most people because it slams the CPU and causes all sorts of problems.
It takes A LOT of CPU to transcode an interlaced 1080i stream to progressive. Thus the varying degree of success in playing any channel. Some channels OTA are still very low quality but the main ones are 1080i+, even 4K in some areas. Big problem for transcoding.
So if you get skipping, buffering, whatever, and your video is interlaced (which it should be if you really use the quadhd) then the problem is most likely your CPU is the bottleneck.
Not Plex. As I’ve stated numerous times. It works on Roku, just not perfect on Android.
Also, on the Roku this setting does not exist as named on the Android. On the Roku it’s called mpeg2 support and when checkboxing mpeg2 support it accomplishes the same thing. Oh your Roku doesn’t have a checkbox for mpeg2 support in the settings? Buy a newer one then. I know for a fact that the Streaming Stick+ has this option.
If anyone is wondering what the glare is in the picture above… it’s LibreNMS.
You do get that letting the server transcode is a option, right? Especially if there are only limited users in the home. My GTX 960 video card is 5 years old and can transcode two 1080i streams at once without breaking a sweat with basically no impact on CPU usage. My issues were never about the performance and transcoding. My issues have all been about reliability and stability.
For example, in my situation, when a client gets the spinning wheel forever, it is never because the server was too busy. It was due to bugs in the server or client causing the two to not interact properly.
I’m not saying your information would not be useful to some people. But it’s just not relevant to my situation or to what this thread is about. This thread is about the combined impact of all the outstanding bugs at the time it was started and how this was part of long going trend of Plex constantly introducing new regressions and taking months to fix each one, leaving the average Live TV/DVR user without a functioning DVR. Perhaps your comments would be more on topic in the copious threads that already exist for specific problems. But honestly, you seem to have a “hammer thinking everything looks like a nail” kind of thing going on.
If you don’t have Transcode interlaced in your Android settings as pictured above then your box doesn’t support it like mine does. I know for a fact that the Firestick 4k has this option.
This means that every single OTA channel you watch WILL TRANSCODE ON THE SERVER and this is a problem for most people because it slams the CPU and causes all sorts of problems.
That just simply doesn’t seem to be true. I don’t have that setting, but my dashboard shows “Direct Stream” when playing through my Shield. So I think it’s safe to say that transcoding setting isn’t the cause of any issues I’ve experienced.
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I’ll note that it does seem to be transcoding on my Roku though. I’d be tempted to look for that setting you mentioned to disable the transcoding, but my dashboard shows my CPU jumped maybe 1-2% once it started transcoding. So it’s not exactly slamming my CPU either.
Looks like Plex is starting to fix the Live TV bugs in their Android beta releases from the post I made a few days ago. Maybe you’ll get lucky.
- Live TV: ensure future airings load properly in TV guide.
- [TV] Live TV: fix an issue where channels list wouldn’t get fetched correctly.
One bug I talked about a few days ago already fixed. I would get on them if you want anything done. But be polite about it.
Also, make sure you go into the Servers “Codecs” folder and delete everything in there every once and a while. It seems to clear up issues for Live TV with choppy video. There is some sort of incompatibility that seems to pop up every once and a while. Even on the Roku device.
Another big problem with the forums is many people don’t have multiple platforms to test against. I have Android and Roku. I can say the Roku client works very good so I know the Android client has lots of problems. But I will continue to use my Roku until the problems are fixed. Do I wish to use Android? Yes, definitely. But I know better than to not have a fall back for anything technology related. It helps with diagnosis too.
As one person said here they just want it to work, well, I don’t think that will ever happen across all platforms. If you’re looking for an end all be all either 1) sub to cable or 2) have backup platforms to use. Wether this means buying a Roku, Apple TV etc… or using a whole other streaming app alltogether eg: emby, jellyfin.
I use a 4 tuner ceton cable card for my TV and have very little issues with it using the Android TV app. Sure it is not perfect but works for what I need it for and I have been using it a couple of years now.
I’m running HD home run connects from a Windows server. This used to work , I used to be able to watch a recording from the beginning and fast forward over the commercials while it still recording. But I used to use Windows Media center with serverwmc, Kodi at the TV.
I switched to Android boxes after Windows Media center stopped guide service and I bought a Plex pass. I set up to remove the commercials and I guess I stopped fast forwarding during the live recording. I’d wait till the show ended so I wouldn’t have the commercials.
Well I just tested it trying to play a live recording from the beginning while it still recording. And when I push the fast forward button one time it shows 30sec it’s going to advance but it doesn’t and then after that it no longer functions. On my Android client. So either this never worked on Android, I can’t remember for certain, but like everybody was saying in the beginning it no longer functions at all. I cannot jump ahead, over a commercial, whatever, when playing a recording that still recording. It don’t even have the dot on the timeline. Even using a mouse I cannot select the timeline it has no seek information at all for the show that still recording.
So I have to agree with the OP the developers have dropped the ball. They’ve dug themselves a hole that they don’t seem to be able to get out of either by choices they made to do other things and left this feature out. Otherwise they would have fixed it by now.
Sounds like this post is more about ranting and raving than trying to get help.
The DVR worked great until recently. Now, I can’t play for very long before it ends with “This session has ended.” I know there is another post for that. I also have a new issue where I have no audio on channel 2.1. All other channels play audio. I went so far as to uninstall and perform a clean install, but same issue. Based on what I see in these forums, there are no plans to address the issues I am experiencing and will be dropping my subscription. I have no need for software that cannot provide me with what I want. AFWIW I don’t feel like I have been scammed all these years. Five dollars a month is not going to break the bank, and I figure you get what you pay for. Almost as bad as complaining about McD’s hamburgers lol. Just quit whining and move on.
I paid for a lifetime pass and Plex abruptly stopped supporting/maintaining Live TV/DVR while creating new problems with every version. I’ve never been able to use it. So yes I’m complaining. I feel like I’ve been defrauded. This thread was never about specific problems. It was about Plex taking our money and not providing anything usable in return. It just isn’t right that new users pay for a Plex Pass thinking they will get Live TV/DVR when they probably won’t depending upon their hardware and what they want to do.
I take it is actually more of a rant and not strictly going by facts.
Skipping through the release announcements for server and various clients… this seems to be a very actively supported feature. Which isn’t saying users cannot have problems… I suppose there’s just so many different setups and regional flavors to deal with that I can imagine it could happen.
Don’t get me wrong – I can see it could be frustrating if it’s not working for your particular setup; certainly there’s been a number of users making a case that they do experience issues.
I can also see how this particular thread can be quite frustrating to the users who actually tried to help sorting out specific issues or giving guidance – when it seemingly isn’t wanted/appreciated.
Now… with almost 60 posts, I wonder where this thread is going or if it’s solely about a good rant?
Well, I’ve contributed to threads that are having specific problems. The problem with Live TV stopping after 3 minutes in the browser since October was only fixed a couple of days ago. I think everyone can agree that’s a very long time for a basic feature of Live TV/DVR to be broken.
There’s still Plex For Windows, Android TV and FireTV apps for me to get back into testing. From recent posts, however, things are not looking promising there, especially with Android which has been extremely problematic since I got the Plex Pass in June 2020.
Ok, if you take my comments or this thread as rant, I can certainly can see that would be fair since you can’t really know my experience with the app from posts.
Basically, this thread was started because of what could fairly be called false advertising. I could live with occasional bugs if Plex acknowledged them and fixed them in anything like a timely manor. But three months without the ability to watch live tv in the browser (and other apps, based on the posts), how is that reasonable? How long do we have to wait to be able to reliably watch an in-progress recording on Android from the beginning? I’ve been waiting since June 2020.
Think about the experience for a new Plex Pass user. They set up the DVR in the browser. Download the guide, display it and try to watch a program. The Live TV session then ends after 3 minutes. How does Plex expect users to react to that kind of crap? And it’s still happening because the PlexWeb bundled in the server is still 4.69.1 which still has the 3 minute problem. Yes, I know there’s an easy fix – but that’s not really the point.
This thread will cease to be relevant (or even fair) if we get back to people having a relatively stable and reliable DVR - that’s really up to Plex. I would definitely ask that this thread be closed at that point.
I am able to record things and watch Live TV so how is it false advertising? Because the DVR is missing one or two features that they absolutely do not say are included and the Android client belongs in a landfill? The rest of the ecosystem works minus the opinion of Apple TV because I am old school that uses mostly open source with the exception of Plex.
Actually, I used the Android platform today to watch a nice high bitrate HEVC 4K HDR movie because the Roku gets too hot and I didn’t have any problems with THAT part of Android.
If you want a client that works great with Live TV you really should just suck it up and buy a cheap Roku. The express version seems to work great for my remote family and that’s all they use is Live TV.
I dunno.
What Plex should really do is open source all this crap and let the community submit bug fixes. Get a lawyer to write up a license that allows Plex to profit off everybody’s contributions to the project and open everything up. Lot’s of successful projects are run this way AKA the Linux Kernel, CentOS Stream, lots of stuff and those companies still make millions. Will some people fork the project? Maybe, depends how the license is written up. Lots of smart things Plex COULD do but if they can’t even have the nerve to change a default quality setting then the future for them holds a hill that steadily gets steeper.
I guess I would refer you to the long running threads:
If you would prefer that I delete the post that you referenced, I will do that.
This post from you in Sept captures pretty well how I feel and is very consistent with the sentiments that I was trying to express in this thread about the players/clients that I use. I just don’t understand all the pushback.
