Diving back in to HTPC (well, a server) world...

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rb99

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#2924254 9-Jun-2022 13:53

You'd need a subscription for Emby, but it does iptv directly or via a plugin, like NextPVR. You can try it for a month for $5US.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

JimmyH

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#2932267 20-Jun-2022 16:03

davidcole:

A decent streaming box, however, will have apps for all the channels on FTV anyway, and the need to record something drops to near 0.

Yes and no.

I currently watch next to no FTA TV - my aerial actually broke ages ago (something like 2+ years), and I watch so little that I haven't bothered to get it fixed. I still have a satellite feed but, aside from the noon press conferences during COVID lockdown, I watch less than an hour a month. I also watch little on the streaming apps. The reason is ads, which I loathe. They interrupt programmes and destroy the whole experience for me. Even having to stop to fast forward every 7-8 minutes is enough to ruin the immersion and mood for me, so I don't bother.

It was already irritating when FTA TV was the only option. Now that I have ad-free streaming options I see no reason to subject myself to shouty and annoying marketers when I'm trying to relax, so I don't.

I have a bit of a project on my "when I get around to it" list, involving setting up a PVR to record TV. If I can do that, and successfully seamlessly remove ads from recordings then there is every prospect that I might actually watch some of the programming again. My main media platform is Jellyfin, already running on adequate server hardware (repurposed i5 Haswell box with spare PCI clots). From what I can see Jellyfin integrates pretty well with NextPVR, and NextPVR seems to support Comskip. I also have a USB tuner somewhere, that I could use for the experiment, assuming I eventually get the aerial fixed.

A recording solution that strips ads before I watch would be nice if I can make it work, and superior to the streaming apps. Plus, not everything is streamable.

wazza15

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#2932297 20-Jun-2022 19:00

Check out getchannels.com, if you have an Apple TV and HDHomeRun tuner. Really good for Live TV, EPG, real-time add skipping, DVR and streaming channels. Its also well supported with an active community and NZ support.

fe31nz

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#2932339 20-Jun-2022 22:47

JimmyH:

I have a bit of a project on my "when I get around to it" list, involving setting up a PVR to record TV. If I can do that, and successfully seamlessly remove ads from recordings then there is every prospect that I might actually watch some of the programming again. My main media platform is Jellyfin, already running on adequate server hardware (repurposed i5 Haswell box with spare PCI clots). From what I can see Jellyfin integrates pretty well with NextPVR, and NextPVR seems to support Comskip. I also have a USB tuner somewhere, that I could use for the experiment, assuming I eventually get the aerial fixed.

A recording solution that strips ads before I watch would be nice if I can make it work, and superior to the streaming apps. Plus, not everything is streamable.

In New Zealand, the ads are not nearly as readily identifiable as they are in some other parts of the world. The commercial skip processing in MythTV does not work well, and I have disabled it as it is not useful here for either FTA or Sky. I have never used Comskip in NextPVR, but I would expect it would have the same problems as it is based on the MythTV code (with some further tweaks from the version they based it on). It would be worth trying out if you already have the necessary hardware, but I would not buy anything expecting it to work.

That said, automatic skipping of the ads is quite unnecessary if you have good manual skip abilities as in MythTV. It takes me only moments to skip a set of ads using the IR remote arrow buttons and consequently I never watch ads at all. All my TV is FTA or Sky recordings - I would not want to stream if I had to watch any ads and do not watch live TV for the same reason.

antant

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#2932395 21-Jun-2022 09:37

fe31nz:

JimmyH:

I have a bit of a project on my "when I get around to it" list, involving setting up a PVR to record TV. If I can do that, and successfully seamlessly remove ads from recordings then there is every prospect that I might actually watch some of the programming again. My main media platform is Jellyfin, already running on adequate server hardware (repurposed i5 Haswell box with spare PCI clots). From what I can see Jellyfin integrates pretty well with NextPVR, and NextPVR seems to support Comskip. I also have a USB tuner somewhere, that I could use for the experiment, assuming I eventually get the aerial fixed.

A recording solution that strips ads before I watch would be nice if I can make it work, and superior to the streaming apps. Plus, not everything is streamable.

In New Zealand, the ads are not nearly as readily identifiable as they are in some other parts of the world. The commercial skip processing in MythTV does not work well, and I have disabled it as it is not useful here for either FTA or Sky. I have never used Comskip in NextPVR, but I would expect it would have the same problems as it is based on the MythTV code (with some further tweaks from the version they based it on). It would be worth trying out if you already have the necessary hardware, but I would not buy anything expecting it to work.

That said, automatic skipping of the ads is quite unnecessary if you have good manual skip abilities as in MythTV. It takes me only moments to skip a set of ads using the IR remote arrow buttons and consequently I never watch ads at all. All my TV is FTA or Sky recordings - I would not want to stream if I had to watch any ads and do not watch live TV for the same reason.

I've actually found Comskip in NextPVR pretty good. Generally cuts out almost all of the ads ... does sometimes mistakenly chop out bits of a programme if the format is similar to an ad, but you can always skip back to watch it. I have a feeling I did a little bit of tweaking to get it working as desired, but that was a few years ago now, so can't recall exactly.

Azzura

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#2932407 21-Jun-2022 10:14

Feels weird to hear comskip mentioned. I was using it back say around 2005 or 2006 I think---with BeyondTV---- to scan shows for commercials.

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davidcole

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#2932408 21-Jun-2022 10:15

I assume all these comskip solutions, actually have to chop the video sections out? I remember in teh days of using nextpvr/comskip myself it was smart enough to leave the video whole, but nextpvr would skip an ads section. And so the raw video wasn't altered, incase it did get it wrong.

Interesting to see it hasn't changed all that much, I remember doing this about 5 years ago before I got out of HTPCs. was ok for about 80% of content.

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