Best client?

[leaded1]

I'm currently watching NPVR recordings on our main TV using the fantastic integration with my old A100 NMT. I'm going to add another tv to the mix in a month or so and I was wondering I how the current crop of Kodi based clients stack up to the NMT. I'm thinking of going with something like the RPi 2.
Thanks for any ideas you may have,
leaded

[mvallevand]

I'm currently watching NPVR recordings on our main TV using the fantastic integration with my old A100 NMT. I'm going to add another tv to the mix in a month or so and I was wondering I how the current crop of Kodi based clients stack up to the NMT. I'm thinking of going with something like the RPi 2.
Thanks for any ideas you may have,
leaded

Here is a good thread http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=94268 Typically I find people aren't always looking for the best client they are looking for the cheapest. If you have DRM needs don't overlook cheap Windows boxes.

Martin

[leaded1]

Perfect, that's exactly the kind of write up I've been looking for. In general performance, is the NPVR kodi experience, especially using the x-newa web client, comparable to the NMT client? Also, when people on the kodi forums talk about clients striuggling with live TV, would those concerns also apply to playback of recorded NPVR .ts files?
Thanks, I really appreciate your help!

[BrettB]

In general performance, is the NPVR kodi experience, especially using the x-newa web client, comparable to the NMT client? Also, when people on the kodi forums talk about clients striuggling with live TV, would those concerns also apply to playback of recorded NPVR .ts files?

My NMT died about a month ago, so I began trying OpenElec on my RPi 2 with the x-newa web client. And I've been really pretty satisfied with the setup! (I did purchase the hardware MPEG2 license.) With the exception of about 4 things (only 1 major item--the color buttons on the remote don't work), it really looks and feels pretty much like the NMT experience did. It has been acceptable for me. (Note: I basically only record and playback later, so I can't speak to the performance/issues with live TV.)

[stustunz]

rpi plays great h264 type files rpi2 plays the content the same as rpi but is much faster (PC is still the best client for npvr but kodi/rpi2 is a close second) kodi on a rpi2 is better than a pc in many ways as it just works without all the fine tuning crap you have to do with a pc
but isnt as good at mpeg which is what i think you have in the USA

[leaded1]

Again, thanks! There's nothing like hearing from folks who are doing exactly what I would use one of these for. Seems like the rpi2 is kind of a no brainier. For 50$us, and the possibility for doing other things with it, it seems like a safe choice to pick one up and just start playing with it.
Thanks,
Leaded

[mvallevand]

For 50$us, and the possibility for doing other things with it, it seems like a safe choice to pick one up and just start playing with it.

That's why the RPi2 will usually "win" these decisions, not because they are the best. I'd recommend that you spend a bit more and buy a RPi2 kit. Before spending anything you can always install Kodi on an x86 PC or laptop to see if it is for you.

In comparison with the NMT web client mode is a little slower than the NMT but not much. Sub and I, tweaked things to pass smaller chucks of data and screens are rendered with RAM and h/w decoding. That feature isn't in Kodi, so we transfer an image which I have to save and load from disk/flash. Once SageTV is open source I will look into a client that works better for NextPVR and SageTV but it probably won't be a RPi2 if the frame buffer doesn't cooperate. If you want speed there is the Kodi PVR interface which I personally hate.

Regarding live tv the only reason you read about that is that is what Kodi users typically use their PVR for. I think the problem is most boxes don't handle 1080i mpeg2 (or h264) well The deinterlacing techniques on the RPi2 are comparable to the NMT. The two biggest differences with live tv with web client and the NMT are :

- I don't find navigating live tv useful on Kodi
- sub has ignored my requests to add epg-mode to the streaming protocol

I disagree with stustunz I prefer Kodi as a NextPVR x86 client. NextPVR is great on the backend but over the LAN there are some annoying speed issues and NextPVR just isn't cut out for wifi.

Martin

[stustunz]

the reason i prefer npvr x86 client is only because comskip (black makers showing where adds are)and the menus flow ,like i said there is nothing in it.
i agree if you want wifi dont use npvr x86 client, although i do have laptop running fine if wifi is full strength.
the kodi built in pvr addon is absolute crap.