Sticking with Win7 WMC

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Vistaar

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#21

Post by Vistaar » Thu Feb 13, 2020 4:53 pm

My apologies to the OP of this thread for instigating so much discussion about not sticking with WMC. My general point was only that what works well for U.S. cable subscribers might not be a particularly good plan for most of the human race.
prsa01 wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2020 3:56 pm I'm going to do a bunch of reading about nextPVR but if you have any particular links, tips, quickstart guide, or whatever for people used to the WMC interface that would be great!

Any short cuts if I'm already creating an XMLTV/mxf

Also, did you do much comparison between that, mediaportal, and Emby? Please share any thoughts or good comparisons you found.
NextPVR Forums are not hard to find. Assuming you are American, you would need to install an AC3 audio decoder such as LAV unless you plan to use Kodi as a front end, which has its own decoder. (Most of the world does not use AC3, but I think DVB-S also uses the format.) NextPVR is currently on the brink of releasing a new cross-platform version 5, which will require .NET Core.

Only WMC requires EPG data in Microsoft's MXF format. Does NextPVR have native support for Schedules Direct? Yes. Could it use EPG123's MXF output? No.

I have never used MediaPortal, but it would be next on my list if I became dissatisfied with NextPVR. It is open source and still strictly for Windows. Emby is not free, and is cross-platform.

Ken H

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#22

Post by Ken H » Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:46 am

jec6613 wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:14 pm You know, I wouldn't stick with 7 Media Center, I'd at least jump to 8.1 - the upgrades in performance are huge.
Like what?

dmurrow

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#23

Post by dmurrow » Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:40 pm

For those who can’t get OTA, get the Locast streaming app from locast.org.
Its free, but they suggest a $5 donation a month. We get all the Seattle area channels. Time to dump comcast for us.


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jec6613

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#24

Post by jec6613 » Sun Feb 23, 2020 3:49 am

Ken H wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:46 am
jec6613 wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:14 pm You know, I wouldn't stick with 7 Media Center, I'd at least jump to 8.1 - the upgrades in performance are huge.
Like what?
The OS uses less RAM and has a more streamlined startup, the WMC interface itself uses a newer WDDM model and is much faster, reboots and the like are quicker, it's just overall a zippier operating system. Not to mention if you need to have a web browser, or run a variety of add-ons such as My Movies, the I/O performance is immediately faster, as are any network operations using SMB3. Which shouldn't be at all surprising given it's a almost five years and two versions newer!

Ken H

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#25

Post by Ken H » Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:35 am

jec6613 wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 3:49 am
Ken H wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:46 am
jec6613 wrote: Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:14 pm You know, I wouldn't stick with 7 Media Center, I'd at least jump to 8.1 - the upgrades in performance are huge.
Like what?
The OS uses less RAM and has a more streamlined startup, the WMC interface itself uses a newer WDDM model and is much faster, reboots and the like are quicker, it's just overall a zippier operating system. Not to mention if you need to have a web browser, or run a variety of add-ons such as My Movies, the I/O performance is immediately faster, as are any network operations using SMB3. Which shouldn't be at all surprising given it's a almost five years and two versions newer!
I run only WMC in 7. My PC is always on unless I do a planned restart and if I do that I'm doing it at a time when I'm in no hurry. For WMC, there is no advantage going to 8/8.1.

stuartm

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#26

Post by stuartm » Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:57 am

I agree, there has never been any performance problem for me running WMC under win 7. I don't think the tasks WMC performs are all that demanding on the OS so for just running WMC (which is all I do, except for occasionally streaming a video in the browser) I don't see any real benefits in going to 8.1

brixx99

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#27

Post by brixx99 » Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:59 am

dmurrow wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:40 pm For those who can’t get OTA, get the Locast streaming app from locast.org.
Its free, but they suggest a $5 donation a month. We get all the Seattle area channels. Time to dump comcast for us.


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I'm a long time WMC user that has been looking for a way to cut the enormous cable costs. I have an old Windows 7 PC dedicated to WMC and movie watching. I finally found a way to watch all my local TV stations (Seattle area). Locast.org has all our local broadcasts live on their website. For me, $5.00 a month is saving well over $100 a month with cable costs, boxes and cable card rental.

My current issue is how can I get the locast website connected to WMC so that I can record shows for watching in the future (and more importantly, so I can use MCEBuddy to edit out commercials). I have a great set up with MCEBuddy that removes commercials, reduces the size of the recording, and puts them in a folder by series and episode. I'd like to find a way to do this with Locast, but it appears I have to find a way to have WMC record the show for this to work.

I'm looking for any suggestions or ideas if this can be done or is being done.

mercalia

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#28

Post by mercalia » Thu May 19, 2022 11:20 am

Vistaar wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 7:38 pm You left out the most important positive point of all:

- If any of your cable channels are flagged as "copy once," then your only other option is Tivo because only Microsoft paid fees to Cable Labs of America in connection with DRM.

Of course most of the world's TV viewers are getting by with over-the-air channels, including growing numbers of American cord cutters like me. (If free TV gets too boring, we can always turn to Netflix and similar services.) For OTA, WMC is only one among many software options, and quite possibly not the best. WMC's disadvantages include:

- Cannot scan for VHF channels because it always relied on setup data from Microsoft which will no longer be available.
- No native support for free in-band EPG data in ATSC countries, and in-band EPG may no longer work in DVB countries without setup data from Microsoft.
- Will never be updated to support ATSC 3.0 (or HEVC channels in DVB countries), so converter boxes will be required to record such channels with WMC.
The UK is ok for in band EPG data as far as standard def tv is concerned. MC as such wont see any hidef material without assistance. Nothing in fact is needed from MS to get UK TV on WMC

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