Mitigating ATSC reception blips - client streaming

[SickBoy]

Is there any common set of ideas for dealing with ATSC OTA channels that don't have *perfect* reception, when it comes to streaming live TV to a NPVR client computer?

For recordings - this AM I got a postprocessing script worked out to run VideoRedo's stream fix automatically to resolve timeline issues. That seems to work relatively well. Playback still has blips in reception but it doesn't disrupt the navigation of the file & play/pause.

Some channels - the ones with good reception on my current antenna alignment - seem to livestream nearly without issues at all. Others - where the reception isn't perfect - seem to freeze after experiencing too many signal interruptions within a certain amount of time.

Right now I'm only running one client, which is a TV and is also directly connected to the antenna - so with some channels I know it's just a better idea to skip straight to using the TV rather than going through NPVR. I'd like to add at least one network client in a spot where I won't be able to connect to antenna, so I'd like to resolve this (as best I can) before committing the financial resources to acquiring hardware for the new client.

[SickBoy]

And yes, "climbing up on the roof to try realigning the antenna" is on my to-do list.

[Reddwarf]

Freeze during playback of slightly bad recordings are often related to the video decoder, some decoders are better to handle errors in the video stream than others. What decodes(s) are you using?

[SickBoy]

Lav

[mvallevand]

NextPVR client mode isn't good for me with errors in wifi or signal data it expects close to perfect streams. I use XBMC on my Windows client and it solved most glitches.

Martin

[Reddwarf]

Lav

LAV video decoder is not recommended for video, I'd recommend to download SAF and PM hoborg to get the unlocked version, then use Cyberlink decoder.

[ccihon]

I could not avoid stream timeline issues, especially with atsc 720p content from some stations, until I stopped selecting "npvr" as the selected software in the Silicondust setup utility. It is counter-intuitive I know, but choose "other atsc"or whatever they call the generic stream profile.

[dgeezer]

I've struggled with trying to get good astc reception for some time now...

I've got two groups of transmitters that are about 135 degrees apart. One set of transmitters is about 7 miles from my house and the other is about 40 miles away. I finally ended up with 2 separate antennas in my attic. One antenna is aimed south and the other Northwest. Each one feeds into a separate hdhomerun. I have the sources combined in Npvr so this is seamless to the system. This is probably overkill for most people, but it has fixed my problem. My wife didn't want an outside antenna, plus it was much easier to get the alignment right sitting in the attic with the hdhomerun app on my tablet rather than up on a ladder outside.

[SickBoy]

I could not avoid stream timeline issues, especially with atsc 720p content from some stations, until I stopped selecting "npvr" as the selected software in the Silicondust setup utility. It is counter-intuitive I know, but choose "other atsc"or whatever they call the generic stream profile.

This seemed to help a bit. I also switched my live TV buffer directory off my system drive (SSD) to a platter drive.... somehow this also helped. Weird.

[scJohn]

I can not comment on 'Live' TV to a client but as far a playing back less than perfect ts files I can.

My top 3 software for playing back imperfect ts files are:
Windows Media Player - I have yet seen this program freeze on playback.
Plex (Samsung app) - this app will freeze but the resume is accurate about 97% of the time. I would expect their HTPC client to work just as well.
OPPO 93. This can play thru just about anything but there is no resume support so you have to FF from the beginning.