Pi4 and best possible low-power setup?

[TheRealRoland]

So, been browsing a bit through the forum, and i think i'd like some advice on what the best low power usage setup would be, when using RPis.

I have an 8gb Pi4, and i think i have a Pi3 somewhere gathering some dust.

So far i've tried:
- run nextpvr on the pi4, using the web UI HDMI-ed into the tv. Seems to be going ok. Some UI usability issues that have been solved in third-party players like kodi
- run kodi on the Pi4. Even without nextpvr in the background, it seems to be a bit too slow, showing some lag and stutter when selecting menu items. So i don't know how this would improve if i run the pvr frontend through kodi to talk to the backend on that same Pi4

What would be the easiest way to get a less-laggy kodi (or other system) to run, and have nextpvr serve as the backend? Should i get another pi4, and run kodi on it, connecting it to the backend pi4 running nextpvr?

Ideas? Let me know :-)

BTW: am retiring an old laptop that was running mythtv 0.27... Finally getting rid of that energy hog!

R.

[mvallevand]

Try Kodi on your RPi3 with LibreElec and see if your opinion changes. Stick with the Estuary skin.

Martin

[ceejayemm]

I can confirm that running NPVR (Version: 5.0.9.201026) and Comskip (via postprocessing.sh with --playnice option) on RPi 4B (4GB memory) with LibreElec (v9.2.6) on a separate RPi 3B works just fine for me with no obvious problems. Both Pi machines are on the same wired network but in different parts of my home. I use Schedules Direct for the (UK) TV Guide via a HDHomeRun Quatro tuner. I have stuck with the default setup, other than folder locations, on both machines but like the Transparency skin on LibreElec. I also occasionally setup recordings via Edge Chrome from my Windows 10 PC but don't watch anything via this route as others have mentioned the RPi4B is not up to providing the necessary 'oomph' to display the video stream properly.

Hope this helps.

Chris