[Dumyat]

Hi Martin,
Just to let you know I had an update dialog appear for the NextPVR addon for 6.0.5, but when I updated the Text based Genre setting has gone.
As a result, my genres have reverted back to how they were previously.
I presume the removal of the setting was not intentional?
In the meantime, I've gone back to 6.0.3 and everything is good again.
Thanks

[emveepee]

That is expected as I posted it wasn't really 6.0.3  you really want to test from the PR https://jenkins.kodi.tv/blue/organizatio.../artifacts

Martin

[Dumyat]

Ahh, Ok. Just the update notification appeared on the screen just as I had finished watching something, so presumed it was just the next regular update as the version number changed to 6.0.5.
No worries though. I've downloaded using the above link you posted and all is good still.
Thanks again.

[emveepee]

I also noticed that when tried using the IPTV option with a M3U file I created from my VU+/E2 device, channel opening and switches were very slow in 'Real-Time' mode and even slower in 'Time-Shift' mode. Additionally, some of these channel streams include a 2nd audio NAR track and I was unable to change the audio track. I have tried the same channel list using the IPTV client and was able to change the audio track, so this might be something to look at in NextPVR.

I thought of something looking at another issues last night.  Are the m3u links to a ts stream or an m3u8 file?  If so and if NextPVR doesn't find the ts/m3u8 extension inn the URL it uses the HEAD command and if that isn't supported by the server then it will transcode which would explain a delay and potentially lost tracks.

Sometimes it is as simple as appending a parameter like ?.ts or &.ts to the URL to fake out NextPVR, since the server will typically ignore unused parameters.

Martin

[Dumyat]

 

I thought of something looking at another issues last night.  Are the m3u links to a ts stream or an m3u8 file?  If so and if NextPVR doesn't find the ts/m3u8 extension inn the URL it uses the HEAD command and if that isn't supported by the server then it will transcode which would explain a delay and potentially lost tracks.

Sometimes it is as simple as appending a parameter like ?.ts or &.ts to the URL to fake out NextPVR, since the server will typically ignore unused parameters.

Martin

Hi Martin,
Apologies, for the delay in replying as I didn't see your until today.
The channel List that I can download from my E2 device is in M3U8 Format.
Have just downloaded my main Entertainment Group and following details are included:-

tvg-chno, tvg-logo, tvg-id, tvg-name, and then the channel stream details underneath, which following this format:-
http://192.xxx.x.xx:8001/1:0:19:22C5:80D...0000:0:0:0:
http://192.xxx.x.xx:8001/1:0:19:1B1C:802...0000:0:0:0:

At the very top underneath #EXTM3U it is has #EXTVLCOPT--http-reconnect=true.
#EXTVLCOPT is also listed for each channel, but I didn't include these details in the M3U8 I created to use with when testing with NextPVR (Mainly because I didn't know exactly what it was or if it was needed).

I downloaded the latest server last week and tested the few IPTV channels I had left in my current config.
Channels were still quite slow to open, but previously the HD Channels I had created just wouldn't play period. This time, they did attempt to play but were marred with a constant buffer, ie 2 secs of playback, then maybe 4 secs of buffering and so on. Standard Definition channels played without issue, but as I say were still slow to open and change channel.

With regard to the slow channel openings and switches when using Timeshift Mode for both my Tuner card channels and these IPTV channels, I'm currently using the default decoder settings and I did wonder if that might have some bearing on the situation or if changing any of these settings would be at the expense of the super fast channel switches I'm getting currently using real time mode. These are my current settings:-


A couple of other things I've noticed.
Since upgrading the server last week, I'm seeing quite regular picture distortion/picture break-up for my tuner card channels. I normally only get such behaviour due to poor atmospheric conditions, but weather has not been particularly adverse recently.
Also, for some of my channels I'm not getting any Audio Channel data returned on my OSD. At first, I thought it was just the HD channels affected, but also seems to affect a couple of my standard definition as well. Not a huge problem....Was more curious what might be causing the issue and if there was something I wasn't doing in my config?
Cheers

[emveepee]

First the NextPVR settings don't impact Kodi.

For the IPTV URL's the question is whether the stream is ts or m3u8 and not the format of the playlist.  I suggest they look like ts streams so maybe trying appending a ?.ts to the URL or &.ts if that doesn't work

If you are having trouble with the the tuner streams I suggest posting your zipped backend logs on the NextPVR forum. 

NextPVR sends the raw ts streams from the tuner to Kodi not sure why the audio channel is off.  If you want a Kodi debug log would show us if ffmpeg is getting the audio channel or not.

Martin

[Dumyat]

First the NextPVR settings don't impact Kodi.

For the IPTV URL's the question is whether the stream is ts or m3u8 and not the format of the playlist.  I suggest they look like ts streams so maybe trying appending a ?.ts to the URL or &.ts if that doesn't work

If you are having trouble with the the tuner streams I suggest posting your zipped backend logs on the NextPVR forum. 

NextPVR sends the raw ts streams from the tuner to Kodi not sure why the audio channel is off.  If you want a Kodi debug log would show us if ffmpeg is getting the audio channel or not.

Martin

Adding ?.ts certainly yielded better playback performance in Kodi, with several seconds of continuous playback before video stutter/buffering.
Playback using the Edge browser resulted in even better playback performance, but still stutters/buffers eventually.
Channel openings and switches were still very slow, even using real-time mode in Kodi.
Probably better to stick with using my tuner card channels.

[emveepee]

Unless your box is slow to deliver data or you have network issues there is no reason that it should be slower than a tuner.  Logs would show what is going on.

Martin

[Dumyat]

I wouldn't know, although I am limited to using a rather old and tired Win 7 PC just now.
I'll gladly provide some logs, but as I said I'm very likely to continue with the tuner card channels anyway.
Thanks

[emveepee]

No problem, I am just winding up work on the changes to Matrix and want to make sure it isn't something that can be improved.   Your PC is probably much faster than the RPi's and other Arm devices that serve TV to Kodi.

Martin

[Dumyat]

Unless your box is slow to deliver data or you have network issues there is no reason that it should be slower than a tuner.  Logs would show what is going on.

Martin

Hi Martin,
Just wanted to resurrect this old post to provide some new feedback.
Installed the latest update of the NextPVR client a few days ago and noticed my m3u8 channel list now works really well.
Channel switches are very snappy and quick, even with timeshift enabled. Previously, it was taking between 7-10 secs to change channel.
Whilst channels don't seem to open as quickly as when switching, they are definitely a lot faster than the previous version.
Whatever was updated on the latest version has certainly had a positive effect on the user experience.. 
Many thanks for all yours and subs continued efforts.

[emveepee]

Thanks, but I would have had nothing to do with this change. I suspect that maybe you just went into sending and changed the default prebuffer to the recommended 1 or 0 seconds.  It could have been higher if you upgraded from NextPVR V4 and didn't pay attention.

Martin

[Dumyat]

Hmmmm....I don't know then.
The last time I tried opening these channels on my guide was maybe 3-4 weeks ago and was displaying the same previous behaviour. After latest update I got last week sometime, I tried channels again and noticed a very significant change in performance.
Pre-buffer is set at 1, which I'm pretty sure I haven't ever changed. I've never used V4, only V5.
I did clear my browser cache last week, as I was having problems accessing the edit facilities on the TVDB site with my account. Clearing the cache solved that problem.
Maybe clearing the cache also had some bearing on the change in performance with what I was seeing on NextPVR.....I couldn't tell you, since I'm no expert in this respect.
Bottom line seems to be the latest update I had and change in performance is purely coincidental....

[emveepee]

I thought of another possibility.  In 5.2 @sub3 sub did make some changes determining if an m3u source needed to be transcoded.  It is possible that your streams now direct play.

Martin