UK Plex DVR reliable yet?

General Discussions Plex Features
1

Hi UK plex user here… I am looking to implement Plex DVR with a HDHomeRun Connect. This would be my first venture with a DVR, so looking for a little assurance that all is working in the UK as it should?

I have been following the below forum post… as far as I know the issues reported have not been fixed or investigated by plex devs.

thanks in advance

2

Nope - don’t try just yet. The experience is far from smooth. I’m using an Ubuntu server for PMS, an nVidia Shield to playback and an HDHomeRun for capturing TV. The following ruin the experience that a good DVR should provide:

  • Microstutters on some channels.
  • Can’t watch a video that is part way through recording, until the recording has finished (although you can pause live TV now)
  • Playback issues when skipping - takes a long time to skip forward in the video and if you press too many times, simply stops playing.
  • Experience issues with the EPG. For example if there is a show just about to start on Channel 4 that you want to watch live, you can’t pick it, as that tries to record it (and if it starts recording, you have to wait for it to finish before you can watch it).
    Instead you have to play the game of guess what show is currently on Channel 4, as the EPG helpfully doesn’t show which channel any of the current programs are on.
  • The EPG tries to move away from a broadcast culture where channels and times are important, to an on-demand culture where you just say what you want to watch. Sadly this doesn’t really work out, and it just tramples on the user experience that most DVRs have fine tuned over the years.
  • Sometimes Plex will crash while watching a TV channel and doesn’t seem to free up the channel from the HDHomeRun, once you’ve exhausted all channels you can no longer watch anything until a reboot.

I’d recommend spending your money on a Humax or something else purpose built for the job until Plex is a little more mature in this space!

3

No. not even close. so many issues i had to have a laugh when they announced it was out of beta

Currently can’t get anything to record as it always gets stuck on 100% complete. Just counted…according to plex i have 18 concurrent recording going at the moment from my hdhomerun connect :slight_smile:

4

And no dvb subtitle support: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/282096/pms-1-8-1-does-not-capture-any-uk-subtitles-on-any-programme-yet-the-hdhomerun-software-does

And inability to playback certain uk content: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/284669/shield-tv-and-plex-web-app-cannot-playback-this-recording-3-issues-found

5

Thank you all for taking the time out to respond… sounds like there is some way to go before I can implement fully on the family as a full time setup.

Hope these issues get resolved soon, as it sounds like it could be the solution I am looking for in the long run.

6

It’s not just me experiencing problems then. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’m sticking with MCE7 for TV for the time being.

7

I am holding out too… it’s not worth tying in the goodness to Home Assistant until the family can get good use of it.

8

The stutter can be solved by using handbrake and reencoding the .ts file to MP4 or MKV

9

Is anyone else having problems with the aspect ratios on DVR recordings? I’m running on Nvidia shield t.v. with the recommended haupage usb tuner.

10

Anyone got any good alternatives. I’m trying to get Freesat into Plex and have a Triax Tss 400.

Has anyone tried DVBlogic and DVBlink Plex Client?

11

I havent tried Plex DVR extensively (its not useful without grid guide for family) but that list posted by @Ben and Gemma sounds terrible. WTF ? How can anyone replace Freeview/Freesat setup box with that ?

@umiq88 said:
Anyone got any good alternatives. I’m trying to get Freesat into Plex and have a Triax Tss 400.

Has anyone tried DVBlogic and DVBlink Plex Client?

DVBLink backend is rock solid. I’ve once had backend up for 3 months without single failed recording or weak signal or anything. I’m on version 5.5 ( which is a version behind the current 6.0) but I only care about their backend (they cant design frontend if their lives depended on it)

As a frontend I use MCE7 - which is just amazing anytime i look at something like Emby/Kodi/Plex (uff) it boggles my mind that Microsoft did not build upon it. MCE7 is frigging 8 years old and no one from HTPC apps has done it as good as Microsoft if you care about Live TV and DVR.

12

@wally007 said:
I havent tried Plex DVR extensively (its not useful without grid guide for family) but that list posted by @Ben and Gemma sounds terrible. WTF ? How can anyone replace Freeview/Freesat setup box with that ?

@umiq88 said:
Anyone got any good alternatives. I’m trying to get Freesat into Plex and have a Triax Tss 400.

Has anyone tried DVBlogic and DVBlink Plex Client?

DVBLink backend is rock solid. I’ve once had backend up for 3 months without single failed recording or weak signal or anything. I’m on version 5.5 ( which is a version behind the current 6.0) but I only care about their backend (they cant design frontend if their lives depended on it)

As a frontend I use MCE7 - which is just amazing anytime i look at something like Emby/Kodi/Plex (uff) it boggles my mind that Microsoft did not build upon it. MCE7 is frigging 8 years old and no one from HTPC apps has done it as good as Microsoft if you care about Live TV and DVR.

Once recording in MCE7 is done, MCEBuddy picks it up, remuxes it, adds metadata ( from EPG !!! - something apparently Plex is unable to grasp ) and renames it so Plex recognizes it and adds it to the library.