Channels DVR + DRM

[StraightThruTheHeart]

I want to use TVE but I got to pay $80\year

Channels is best in class. The interface is very well done. If you want changes, go over to their forum and ask for them. Try selling them on your ideas. They can be receptive.

You get what they pay for.

[breezytm]

I can never understand why some people think what is acceptable to them must be acceptable to everyone. As if what they eat make everyone else ... you see where this is going.

You are entitled to be satisfied with half bake projects and I don't. Oh, wait I think I know why that is. Yes, it is because we are two completely different people with different desires.

By the way, I bought PlexPass I think $70 in 2013 to support the project. And Emby Premiere for like $30 when they switch from Mediabrowser 2 to Mediabrowser 3. Before the subscription I also used to donate. I used to be a huge community contributor for both projects. So don't assume. You know what happens when you do that.

What you were ranting about was that every DVR project should be forced to work together instead of doing their own thing... and on top of it, you wanted them to do so at a loss of profit, making their companies unsustainable. That might not have been your intention, but that is the natural result of what you were advocating for.

I never liked WMC, and I don't want to use anything like that. I hate the interface used by cable companies on their own boxes. In my mind live TV is a delivery system, not something to dictate how and when I watch TV. Can you see how not everyone agrees, and why different companies will take different approaches?

The real reason any of this is a PITA is because of DRM and the companies that push it. A system designed to punish customers who play by the rules, but does little to stop the pirates. Cable companies also use things like DRM and CableCARD to make it hard to even make competing hardware, despite the fact that CableCARD was meant to do the opposite. If you want to see real progress in this space, that is where people need to focus their attention on. Imagine what we could do if we didn't have to spend so much time on stupid DRM.

Right. WMC has the best rewind & fast forward. Very intuitive UI. Grid guide. Something that every is very much familiar with. The only thing it was missing was a webpage allowing access to content over the web. It was missing an app and someone made one. It was perfect for the TV screen.

Well WMC couldn't be all that bad otherwise people here on this forum would be demanding a grid guide so bad.

I don't want companies to give me free stuff. I just don't want to pay each one for bare minimum. If you combine all these companies effort what is that you do get that you couldn't already get for free? I can use Plex Live TV or I can use TVH. The only difference is simplicity. All I am saying how about they work together to get a solid solution and the Live TV on their system could have been a plugin. That's all.

[NedS]

Because it's really, really hard. It's also expensive (unless you just flat out don't pay people..). A Channels developer has stated in this thread that they looked at what it would take to support DRM recordings, and it was too much for them (and that's fair, it's a massive investment). Silicondust isn't going to just give away what we've done to support DRM recording to Channels or Plex, because then we would not get those customers for our DVR service. Everybody is in business for themselves. This is not a family. We are on friendly terms, but there's a reasonable limit to that relationship. No one is willing to forgo their paycheck so that you can get your specific ideal media player a little bit faster.

This is not a bad thing. Competition breads creativity and innovation. It also brings prices down for customers when there are multiple options. This is why even in the open source world, where it's not about money or business, you will still find different groups exploring their own ideas and solutions. A monolithic product culture is bad.

[bruiserker]

Those of us who abhor your interface are SOL.

[bruiserker]

Well WMC couldn't be all that bad otherwise people here on this forum would be demanding a grid guide so bad.

I'm using WMC and will continue to use WMC because it is still the best at recording and providing a grid guide. I also use Plex for when I'm on the road, and because it has a grid guide as well.

[breezytm]

That is exactly what you, myself and many others think. I don’t know why people are trying to down play WMC as if it wasn’t thus far the best DVR solution we ever had. ATV Channels app being second. I gave them a review on what I believe they should do next and it has gotten a lot of attention. If they do them it would be a game changer. Being able to go on a webpage and surf for contents to record is great. I like it. But majority of households don’t care for Sillicondust guide style. I know that for a fact. They want a gride style guide that can be hovered over, select the record button on the remote and record. Sounds quite simple to me. Let’s not even mention the small guide and the full guide option WMC has while the video keeps playing on the background. Last but not least a rewind and fast forward that makes sense. Not 10 seconds skip.

[NedS]

Those of us who abhor your interface are SOL.

We support Android TV Live Channels, including DRM support. Off hand I don't know if it's possible to ever do DRM recordings through that interface (I would have to ask our developers, I don't know the full extend of how Live Channels DVR works), but we always try to give customers options whenever we can. Everything not DRM protected already has a lot of options, far more than our competitors who would rather you use their specific app. The very nature of DRM basically S's us all, as far as what we are legally able to do with DRM-protected video.