I don’t have one but if I bought an antenna (like a Mohu) and connected it to my TV would Plex be able to pick it up for the Live TV feature and then I could view my live TV through the Apple TV app?
I loathe the thought of having to change sources on my TV. I’d rather just keep it all on something like the Apple TV.
Also, if someone only wanted to use Plex for Live TV via an app like above would they still need the server running from a computer?
No, you cannot use your TV as a tuner for Plex.
The ATV is not a Plex server, just a Plex client.
You need a Plex server. No server - no Plex.
Ok so to make this all work i’d need…
correct?
Correct.
You can also use a NAS with a strong CPU as Plex server (Intel Core i5 class and better).
Or for smaller media collections there might be a nVidia Shield usable.
Ok. How does space work with the Plex DVR? Where is it stored, how much space, etc? I can’t find the info.
It is stored on hard disks which are either inside the server device
or connected to it (USB, wired network).
Can you specific which hard disks or is it only which ever disk the server is installed on?
As with all computers, you can even have several hard disks.
The data rate of live tv is not that big, so you can use pretty common hard disks which are also used in laptops or desktop PCs.
If the storage space should get scarce in the future, you can often add another hard disk (depending on the case of the server device and the number of connectors) or expand the system by adding a NAS device per network connection.
gotcha. i’ve been researched this and having a hard time finding a solution for NAS or extra computer (ex. Mac mini) that can be dedicated to the server.
I’m not super techy so i’d like a simple solution but like about they all seem to be $400+. All my content is stored on hard drives that are Mac formatted.
Any suggestions as to how i can do this easily and cheaply without having to learn a lot?
Get a netflix subscription. 
No seriously, this will inevitably be a learning experience. If you want a media server that is under your own control, you’ll have to invest some time and money.
If you have a Mac desktop, just install Plex server on it and try it out. The regular media server features are all freely available.
A Plex pass is only required for tv reception and recording and some other goodies.
Yes, I know. I already use plex server but i’d like to find a solution that can free up my computer and stay stationary. Just seems every hardware solution (plex pass services related or not) is very expensive.
Then go for the shield. 200 bucks and worth every penny.
Can you provide me a link? i’m guessing you mean nvidia shield? i thought that was a set top box not a computer and can it read my mac formatted hard drives where all my content is?
Google is your friend, yes it is Nvidia Shield. If you attach the drive it will be reformated as exfat so you would need to backup the data somewhere. But to be honest I wouldn’t connect the drive directly since then it is difficult to add new content to it since the drive is not shared over the network of I am correct. So you would still need some kind of NAS for your files which is not ideal for you if I think about it again 
I don’t want to reformat the drives because I do want to add new content.
So again… i need a solution that can read a Mac formatted drive.
Perhaps a second hand Mac mini? They work quite well as a server, and are relatively inexpensive. Alternatively, you could probably get a little NUC, and use linux on it to read / write those drives.
I haven’t been able to find one under $300 that would be powerful enough. Any suggestions of where to look?
about the NUC. you’re talking greek to me…
Intel NUC are small sized computers which are often used in home theatre environment. I would also suggest staying in the apple environment. Apple always does things differently than the rest which makes it difficult to leave them for the standard user (this is no coincidence).
If I were you I wouldn’t buy something cheap because this will cause issues later if one of your devices will require transcoding.
You could use an Nvidia Shield as your plex client AND server. Add an HDHomerun Extend as your antenna, and you’ve got a setup without a computer. The HDHomerun Extend will give you 2 streams of over the air (antenna) throughout your house, and it’ll transcode the streams for you without the use of a computer. You’d then use your Nvidia Shield as your server and your client. The HDHomerun Extend is $174.99, and the Nvidia Shield is $200.00. You can pick both of these up second hand on eBay for a much better price though.
I would then use an empty hard drive and transfer all of my content to the empty one, format the mac drive to something else, and then transfer the content back to the newly formatted drive so it’s no longer using the mac format. Your mac would still be able to add content to the newly formatted drive.
Thanks for all the input everyone. Looks like if I ever do this it needs to be a mac mini. Any idea which models can get the job done for 1080p transcoding?
