Plex as a replacement for WMC?

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jwckauman

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Plex as a replacement for WMC?

#1

Post by jwckauman » Sat Jun 03, 2017 2:21 pm

I just saw news that Plex can do Live TV/DVR now. Given that you can run the Plex server on Windows 10 (unlike WMC), and the Plex client runs on anything (including XBOX), could this be a replacement for those of us that use WMC with XBOX 360 extenders to our TV's?

http://gizmodo.com/plex-just-killed-my- ... 1795679132

Thoughts?

NOTE: my Win 8.1/WMC solution is still working fine but I have to keep my XBOX 360 devices around and hope they don't die anytime soon. At first I wasn't happy about having to keep a dedicated Win 8.1 PC around, but it's actually worked out better in some ways. If my son reboots our main PC, it doesn't interrupt WMC from recording/streaming.

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Scallica

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#2

Post by Scallica » Sat Jun 03, 2017 10:00 pm

jwckauman wrote:I just saw news that Plex can do Live TV/DVR now. Given that you can run the Plex server on Windows 10 (unlike WMC), and the Plex client runs on anything (including XBOX), could this be a replacement for those of us that use WMC with XBOX 360 extenders to our TV's?
"Watching Live TV is available for supported devices. It is not currently possible to pause or time-shift while watching Live TV." :thumbdown:
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dkm

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#3

Post by dkm » Sat Jun 03, 2017 10:06 pm

Does it play protected content, like things flagged Copy Once? If it doesn't, then it's no different than Emby's or Kodi's live TV offerings. (Actually, since it can't time-shift, it's worse)

SiliconDust's DVR system is closest to WMC, in that can play protected content live. But the last time I checked, it did not playback recorded protected content. They also have an unusual guide design to get around the Rovi patent on interactive grids. With continued development going into it, I'd expect that SiliconDust solution to get as close to a modern WMC replacement that we're going to get. My hope is that once the Rovi patent expires (soon), that they'll quickly implement a more traditional guide. I'd love for them to support Ceton cards, but as I'm sure the software's driving force is to sell more HomeRun boxes, that'll never happen.

The big reason why these Live TV / DVR solutions don't replace WMC is due to the DRM license fees. It's immense, and to be honest, not really a great business decision to implement as the market for it is small. I think the only reason why SD was able to do it was because of the Kickstarter they did for their DVR. Plex may be able to put up the $, but the question is if enough people would pay additional fees to unlock that functionality.

For a lot of the protected content in my area (Premium Channels, and the occasional FX movie), I can now view that content through the content provider's app or website (HBOGO, etc). As more of the protected content that I want to watch is moved to other accessible areas, I personally can probably move to a non-WMC solution. It's just that it'll take effort, and I'm happy with what I have now.

In the end, whether or not Plex can be a replacement to WMC depends on your setup and subscription. If you're already using Plex for other things, and you don't have any protected channels or content, it's a great option. Unfortunately it's not a drop-in or direct replacement, feature for feature, to WMC and that's why it will not work for all of us.

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Scallica

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#4

Post by Scallica » Sat Jun 03, 2017 11:37 pm

dkm wrote:Does it play protected content, like things flagged Copy Once?

The big reason why these Live TV / DVR solutions don't replace WMC is due to the DRM license fees. It's immense, and to be honest, not really a great business decision to implement as the market for it is small.
DRM protected content (copy-once channels) is not supported.

Any OCUR setup has to be approved by CableLabs. The only OCUR/DRM setup approved by Cablelabs at this time is Microsoft's PlayReady. Licensing fees start at $50,000.

More information can be found here: http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 011#p60011
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Slion

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#5

Post by Slion » Sun Jun 04, 2017 6:26 pm

Try MediaPortal.

sbaeder

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#6

Post by sbaeder » Mon Jun 05, 2017 2:49 am

Really, all they "added" was support for more tuners...Nothing really new...

rantanamo

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#7

Post by rantanamo » Thu Jun 08, 2017 9:09 am

surprised there has been almost no talk about Android TVs system here

Bryan

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#8

Post by Bryan » Thu Jun 08, 2017 12:13 pm

I'd be curious if anyone has moved from WMC to Plex. I'm entirely OTA with an HDHR, so DRM isn't an issue. I assume I'd have to convert my existing recordings (which I've considered doing with MCEBuddy anyway) but the idea of using something like my Xbox One for everything sounds nice, as well as an easy way to serve anything to any device in the house.

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