Still slated for “end of Q1 2018” but at this point I highly doubt it. *I’m not a Plex developer or even remotely associated with their inner-workings. I’m just a dude using their product. My high level of doubt is based on current experience. You can find plenty of threads with people griping about new whiz-bang features like VR when there are basics that are failing.
I’m seriously considering using the HDHomeRun software for DVR. Not only does Plex get buggy, but it sometimes has trouble tuning channels. When I have these issues I immediately open up the HDHomeRun software and there’s no issue tuning the same channel.
I’ve been testing Plex and Emby, and I’m still having trouble deciding which way to go. I think if Plex could get the TV grid stuff working, I’d go this route. Emby having a limitation on premiere connected devices is what is turning me away from that product. If anyone can give a hint of a timeline for the grid feature, I’d be all ears.
Plex is an absolutely great product compared to the ones i have used overt the years. Awesome job guys/gals. We are also on the verge of cord cutting, just waiting on the EPG. I’m sure its harder than is seems or it would have already been released. Plex take your time and get it right on your first release of the feature!!
At this point it seems more like someone had a grand plan to “change the paradigm” and “completely change how we interact with live television” that didn’t survive contact with the public. The whole notion that presenting information in a grid would be a defensible patent is pretty weak. It really seems more like someone is hoping that people “just need time to get used to it” and will suddenly realize how amazing it is. I found my way here through about five other threads filled with excuses, delays and pronouncements that never materialize. The one I found the most interesting though is from this thread:
Most notably, when kino says “The developer who was assigned to this had to be moved to another project.”
So, “the developer”, as in the sole person assigned to implementing the feature that their users have specifically requested as a fix to the current crippled/unusable system, was “moved to another project”. How long was nobody working on this? How many, if any, are actually working on it now?
That should at least make people wonder how much they actually want to implement a grid view. The whole thing has a very Windows 8, “you’ll see we were right all along” type of feeling to it. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but what works for static, on-demand content doesn’t work for scheduled programs that often don’t air when they’re supposed to, or run longer than intended. It’s time to eat crow and give everyone back the start button.
I too was hunting and looking for a grid style or even just a way to select a channel (NBC is my family’s main channel) and watch. But I couldn’t find it so I turned to a web search and found this forum. Windows Media Center was and still is the best non provider DVR/PVR solution, alas like many of Microsofts products they stop innovating on them and just kill them…so sad
Imagine my thrill when PLEX started incorporating live TV, but the show only TV “guide” is not very useful or Segway-ish to other features that could be baked in. Allow me to provide some ideas/constructive criticism
Keep what you have, add a link to the channel that opens a different window that offers displays (graphical or text its up to you) of the shows and their future times/dates
Whats your guide feed like? Are you using schedules direct or the free one thats starts with an “R” can’t think of the name. Is that a limiting factor in incorporating such things? Anyway, ONWARDS!!!
“Browse by” TV Shows, Movies, Music…Holy crap lets add CHANNEL! Noooo, it can’t be done(in the voice of Eddie Izard) In the browse by Channel (or sub it down into TV) just put a list or icons/graphics.
So I guess my point is no you don’t have to grid everything, which for the record I don’t believe a grid is patented, but you can still get the information your customers want and need into PLEX.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to responses.
@jomamasfat said:
It really seems more like someone is hoping that people “just need time to get used to it” and will suddenly realize how amazing it is.
That is the motto Plex lives it’s life by.
Unfortunately.
@jusbo20 said:
I too was hunting and looking for a grid style or even just a way to select a channel (NBC is my family’s main channel) and watch. But I couldn’t find it so I turned to a web search and found this forum. Windows Media Center was and still is the best non provider DVR/PVR solution, alas like many of Microsofts products they stop innovating on them and just kill them…so sad
Yah, they should offer a list view as a option. The current icons have wrong Mode trimming Landscape to Portrait for current layout and looks very messy.
@jusbo20 said:
I too was hunting and looking for a grid style or even just a way to select a channel (NBC is my family’s main channel) and watch. But I couldn’t find it so I turned to a web search and found this forum. Windows Media Center was and still is the best non provider DVR/PVR solution, alas like many of Microsofts products they stop innovating on them and just kill them…so sad
Do you mean this?
That’s wonderful, thanks for the tip! What’s sad is that it took me 45 minutes of reading through every post before I was able to locate this method of sorting/filtering. THAT’S because there is nothing intuitive about this portion of the interface, and there’s no way of knowing that something is buried in the menus unless you keep clicking around, seemingly at random.
Now, if there was a way to disable the arbitrarily-chosen images of every program so that it didn’t take 60 seconds for each page to load before allowing you to move to the next screen, we will be getting someplace.
Oh, and to the people that tried to claim that a grid-view is patented and that is why it was never offered previously? wrong answer. There are some parts that might fall under copyright/trademark/patent protection, but not a generic grid. A grid is nothing but a series of cells laid out in spreadsheet form with the top row and side column locked into position. If Plex’s legal counsel advised them against creating a grid because of potential copyright/trademark/patent violations, then perhaps they should obtain counsel that specializes in I.P. with regards to computer software. Someone could copyright the specific code, or trademark the colors and imagery, but could not obtain a design patent (because a channel grid isn’t physically manufactured) or a utility patent (because a generic grid can’t be protected by a utility patent and neither can information already in the public domain). I realize that this is a bit of an oversimplification, but it’s the reason that television programming guides have been available in newspapers and magazines since the beginning of TV, available on the TV since the 1970’s, and available on the World Wide Web since its inception.
If you start from scratch developing a program guide displayed in a grid form then there are no Intellectual Property concerns.
Oh, and for the record, I do actually like the rest of the Plex program, I am a Plex Pass subscriber, and I enjoy having the imagery of posters on my movies. I just prefer that my broadcast television experience be the same as it has been for the past 45 years ever since CATV was introduced. Apparently, I’m not alone in this.
@tntpc2 said:
The first quarter of 2018 has come to an end. **Why can we still not tune by channel name??? **
You can sort by channel as above
Thank you I have seen that “work-around” but it’s still so annoying and not acceptable as a permanent solution.
So it is not permanent? It is not a workaround and i believe this is a process and a more direct method will prevail. As for annoying I do not agree, poor stance.
@jusbo20 said:
I too was hunting and looking for a grid style or even just a way to select a channel (NBC is my family’s main channel) and watch. But I couldn’t find it so I turned to a web search and found this forum. Windows Media Center was and still is the best non provider DVR/PVR solution, alas like many of Microsofts products they stop innovating on them and just kill them…so sad
Do you mean this?
That’s wonderful, thanks for the tip! What’s sad is that it took me 45 minutes of reading through every post before I was able to locate this method of sorting/filtering. THAT’S because there is nothing intuitive about this portion of the interface, and there’s no way of knowing that something is buried in the menus unless you keep clicking around, seemingly at random.
Now, if there was a way to disable the arbitrarily-chosen images of every program so that it didn’t take 60 seconds for each page to load before allowing you to move to the next screen, we will be getting someplace.
Oh, and to the people that tried to claim that a grid-view is patented and that is why it was never offered previously? wrong answer. There are some parts that might fall under copyright/trademark/patent protection, but not a generic grid. A grid is nothing but a series of cells laid out in spreadsheet form with the top row and side column locked into position. If Plex’s legal counsel advised them against creating a grid because of potential copyright/trademark/patent violations, then perhaps they should obtain counsel that specializes in I.P. with regards to computer software. Someone could copyright the specific code, or trademark the colors and imagery, but could not obtain a design patent (because a channel grid isn’t physically manufactured) or a utility patent (because a generic grid can’t be protected by a utility patent and neither can information already in the public domain). I realize that this is a bit of an oversimplification, but it’s the reason that television programming guides have been available in newspapers and magazines since the beginning of TV, available on the TV since the 1970’s, and available on the World Wide Web since its inception.
If you start from scratch developing a program guide displayed in a grid form then there are no Intellectual Property concerns.
Oh, and for the record, I do actually like the rest of the Plex program, I am a Plex Pass subscriber, and I enjoy having the imagery of posters on my movies. I just prefer that my broadcast television experience be the same as it has been for the past 45 years ever since CATV was introduced. Apparently, I’m not alone in this.
Thanks for the post I wish I knew about this earlier it does make using the DVR TV easier. I just wish you had more options of organizing the grid, then maybe it would be a little more palatable for more people.
Until they decide “the developer” needs to be “moved to another project”, or they decide they have to refocus on getting on more devices, or decide to prioritize the “adding some new functionality to enhance the user experience for DVR” part of their statement, or (insert excuse)…
Maybe they should have formalized an interface with NextPVR instead of going out on their own. I was using NextPVR with great success to create recordings I could watch via PLEX but then I wanted LiveTV so I did the PLEX trial and shut off my NextPVR. I’m now at a decision point as my PLEX Pass trial is ending…
