Why is KODI so much better than SageTV at ________ ?

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by Bagal

I'm curious as to what devices people are running Kodi on?

The other issue I had with Kodi is that each client has to be configured individually including scrapping metadata and fanart, has that been improved at all? i.e. can you have a central store? (other than maintaining .nfo files etc with your content)

You can use MySQL on a central server but I have been testing Emby as a central Library and it seems to work pretty well. The one issue with Emby is that all your TV recording and movies need to be on the same drive for it to work well. MySQL worked fine as well but is complex and unnecessary.

Even just letting each client maintain its own library works fine. Us the plugin to auto update the Library and clean it.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

I am probably going to go to Kodi with the HDHR DVR as a back end. I have tried the Kodi DVR integration with NextPVR in the past and it really just kinda sucks. I ended up using the custom NextPVR app in its place.

I really just want the Recorded TV shows to show up in the Kodi Library where I can watch them. SageTV does not format the Library in a way that makes it a workable Kodi solution.

For the few times that I want to schedule or watch Live TV I can use the HDHR DVR app or the NextPVR apps. Neither are as good as SageTV but for as often as I would use them they work just fine.

OOORRR... just use SageTV.. ;-)

[dgeezer]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

OOORRR... just use SageTV.. ;-)

And so I did.

After my comment above about "in progress recordings" I decided to give SageTV a try for the Rio Olynpics. With lots of fast forwarding, rewinding
and comskipped commercials it has worked flawlessly. With the android miniclient it is just another app on the Shield TV.

The idea of having everything in one app sounds good, but in reality using SageTV for TV, Netflix for Netflix, Plex or Emby for movies and music and etc. etc. may actually be easier for the family to understand.

I know it's not the intended install but, to get SageTV uo and running quickly I installed it on a Chromebox running Linux Mint 18. This is based on ubuntu 16.04. All i had to do was download Sagewisdom's script. Open a terminal and run the chmod command and then run the script. No problems so far at all.

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

OOORRR... just use SageTV.. ;-)

I am in the process of dropping DirecTV and replacing it with PlayStation Vue. So I just need OTA recording that I can play back on an extender like device. Right now I am using the FireTV because it is cheap and works for all the services I want to use and can side load Kodi and the SageTV Mini Client.

If I could find a way for the SageTV recording to appear in the Kodi TV Library I would probably keep SageTV. The other SageTV issue I have right now is that OTA (mpeg2) recording do not play in the Mini client on the FireTV.

I want to retire the HTPCs and replace them with cheap FireTV or AndroidTV boxes. As it stands now I am just about the only one in the house using SageTV. The family has slowly moved to using only Online services like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon etc. Just added PlayStation Vue which has a crap interface but is $60 a month cheaper than DirecTV and delivers the misc channels I need. So at this point I just need network OTA recording on a device that also has apps for all the other services. I have really given up on a one interface to have it all in one place solution like SageTV.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

If I could find a way for the SageTV recording to appear in the Kodi TV Library I would probably keep SageTV.

You could use PluckyHD's renamer for Sage recordings. If you move them from the recordings folder to an import folder that both Kodi and Sage can see after renaming, the recording file will be scrubbed from Sage's DB, but the renamed one will be imported back in as new. Interface-wise, it will be as though nothing happened in Sage. At that point, both Kodi and Sage would see the renamed file and you could watch in either program.

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

You could use PluckyHD's renamer for Sage recordings. If you move them from the recordings folder to an import folder that both Kodi and Sage can see after renaming, the recording file will be scrubbed from Sage's DB, but the renamed one will be imported back in as new. Interface-wise, it will be as though nothing happened in Sage. At that point, both Kodi and Sage would see the renamed file and you could watch in either program.

I have not been able to get the new renamer to work. I have been using the Phoenix renamer and it works ok but news and live sports never show up in Kodi. I put a fair amount of work into editing the exception xml to be able to get the shows to show up correctly but there still seem to be more issues than I would like with unmatched shows never making it into Kodi.

I was using the SageTV Kodi plugin for awhile but the Java8 update seems to have broke it and it is no longer supported. I am not willing to downgrade Java for an unsupported plugin as I expect the issues will just get worse over time.

[Skirge01]

What scraper are you using for news or sports in Kodi?

[bialio]

Good discussion here. I've always thought the WALL approach was less usable than lists - but as has been rightly pointed out Lists are OUT right now.

I haven't seen PLEX mentioned much in this thread - is this crowd more or less going to gravitate towards Kodi over Plex? I like some of what I've seen in Plex...

[Fuzzy]

Kodi doesn't provide me any functionality I don't have via SageTV, or my XBoxOne. Plex, on the other hand, is what brings my Sage system worldwide.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by bialio

Good discussion here. I've always thought the WALL approach was less usable than lists - but as has been rightly pointed out Lists are OUT right now.

Just because something is currently out of style, doesn't mean that what's "in" is right. Looking at you Pokemon Go, Hoverboard, Sagging Pants, Visible Boxers, "Bae", Emoji, Snapchat, etc.

I haven't seen PLEX mentioned much in this thread - is this crowd more or less going to gravitate towards Kodi over Plex? I like some of what I've seen in Plex...

I avoid Plex primarily because it has a subscription fee. I don't care how good it is, I'm not adding another monthly bill; no SaaS in this household.

[stanger89]

Lists don't make for near as good of screenshots, but they are definitely more usable.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

I avoid Plex primarily because it has a subscription fee. I don't care how good it is, I'm not adding another monthly bill; no SaaS in this household.

I only paid a one time fee (want to say $5) for the android app. That one $5 purchase let me install plex on my phone and tablets. That's all I've ever paid and I have the server running, my android devices connecting and I also have roku 3s scattered throughout the house that didn't cost me any extra. What's a monthly sub get you? Oh, the ability to sync media locally on your devices, I think, right?

[KarylFStein]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

I avoid Plex primarily because it has a subscription fee. I don't care how good it is, I'm not adding another monthly bill; no SaaS in this household.

I use Emby. I did pay for the lifetime license just to support the development, but didn't need to as I don't use the paid features. The main reason I moved to it from Plex is it exposes the web interface without needing a Plex login and lets me use my own certificate for SSL.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by Slugger

What's a monthly sub get you? Oh, the ability to sync media locally on your devices, I think, right?

Here's the list:
https://www.plex.tv/features/plex-pass/

[panteragstk]

I got a lifetime plexpass when it first came out just to support the product. No way would I pay a monthly fee to host my own media (I realize there is more to it, but that's the gist).

I love plex. Plex on my shield isn't all that great compared to the windows app, but it works most of the time. HD audio is one sticking point.

Kodi has a plex plugin that lets me use both and kodi supports HD audio on the shield better than plex.

However, I'd love to see a plex plugin for sage that let me use either gemstone views or phoenix views (can't wait for v3 BTW) and I'd be happy.

As for lists vs walls. I use a list (TV explorer) for TV and wall view for movies. For some reason the wall view works better for movies. Can't stand it for TV.

I still use Sage My Movies (defunct) for how nice the wall view is, but sage's playback of HD movie files is very lacking on a PC client. I have to use an external player which works, but adds complexity to the setup. If something goes wrong I'm the only one that can really fix it.

All of these things is what I like the most about the shield. If I want movies, I use the plex app, netflix, hulu, etc.

If I want my TV recordings I go to sage. I still prefer the PC clients for things like UI speed, audio passthrough, controlling my theater, etc, but as far as user experience goes the single UI for every app is best.

If I had plex accessible from sage and HD playon, I'd be set for my PC clients.

[SHS]

SageTV is still my DVR but for media I perf Emby

[Rob]

I was happy with Sage until the Google thing caused me to look at alternatives. I am still happy with Sage and Phoenix version 1, but needed to look for a backup plan. I like wall view, so I like Plex Home Theater. It looks good for movies and it looks good for TV shows. Aside from live sports, we watch movies and TV shows that we buy (probably 95% of what we watch). Plex is great for that.

[nyplayer]

My main dvr is now the HDHomerun DVR on my NAS ... I only use SageTV to record my 5 DRM channels using WMC Live TV Tuner with Opendct.. I use Shield TV as Clients ... and one acts as Plex Server.

I Use SPMC instead of KODI because it is optimized for the Shield ... with PLEXBMC plugin. HdHomerun View on my Shields has replaced my Cable Boxes.

To View on Demand I use TV2GO App on my Shields... I also have Amazon Video on my Shields. Once HDHomerun DVR does DRM ... I plan on shutting down my Sage Server and Sage Test environment.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

However, I'd love to see a plex plugin for sage that let me use either gemstone views or phoenix views (can't wait for v3 BTW) and I'd be happy.

You mean like this
https://github.com/stuckless/sagetv-...x-plex-channel

I have a lifetime subscription as well, mainly because I thought I would actually use it. I built this channel, because plex has no concept of "views". Basically you get TV and Movies in the way they want to show it, and that's it. After building this plugin I immediately abandoned it since Plex is horrible from a channel/dev perspective.

I would personally spend the time/effort building a tight integration between SageTV and Plex or SageTV and Kodi, if either of those apps had a decent way to organize content. Plex on the Shield is about 5 clicks or more to just to watching a show (not counting the fact I have to search for the show)... which is horrible. I have kodi installed but I didn't see any options in there about organizing views, so my guess is that it doesn't support it either.

I hear Emby "might" add a smart playlist feature that could be reworked as a smart view where you can customize the contents of the view. When/if that happens I might consider doing an integration with Emby, but, when I look at Emby, it seems like Plex in that it's a subscription model.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by stuckless

You mean like this
https://github.com/stuckless/sagetv-...x-plex-channel

I have a lifetime subscription as well, mainly because I thought I would actually use it. I built this channel, because plex has no concept of "views". Basically you get TV and Movies in the way they want to show it, and that's it. After building this plugin I immediately abandoned it since Plex is horrible from a channel/dev perspective.

I would personally spend the time/effort building a tight integration between SageTV and Plex or SageTV and Kodi, if either of those apps had a decent way to organize content. Plex on the Shield is about 5 clicks or more to just to watching a show (not counting the fact I have to search for the show)... which is horrible. I have kodi installed but I didn't see any options in there about organizing views, so my guess is that it doesn't support it either.

I hear Emby "might" add a smart playlist feature that could be reworked as a smart view where you can customize the contents of the view. When/if that happens I might consider doing an integration with Emby, but, when I look at Emby, it seems like Plex in that it's a subscription model.

Funny thing is I'm actually talking about the opposite. I want sage to talk to Plex kind of like the way sage talked to my moves. I want to be able to stay in the sagetv interface and play a movie, but let Plex manage the media for the simple fact that I've already got Plex doing what I want when it comes to movies.

My PC sagetv clients were never all that good at playing back movies, but the more I use my shield (thanks to you BTW) the more I love it. I still use my HTPC in the theater to control the projector and receiver, but if the shield could do that job I would have no need of PC clients.

Having said all that, my current TV plugin with sage seems to be dead since it wasn't migrated after google code went away. I'm hoping phoenix 3 or the new gemstone can take its place. The main thing I like about TV Explorer is that there are very few clicks to get what you want. That is the main reason it is so much better than Kodi or Plex for TV. Too many clicks drive me crazy.