FFmpeg settings for HDMI Encoder device.

[boukmandutty]

I am using a hdmi encoder device (BM1000 type) as an extra tuner to capture tv from an android box (I hate commercials). I have everything work well in terms of changing the channels and viewing both in the client and in kodi. The problem is that this option gives me me a whole lot of stutter on both clients, and ramps up my server (i53330s cpu):

start C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\testtuner.bat %1

"C:\Program Files\NextPVR\Other\ffmpeg.exe" -i http://192.168.1.177/0.ts -vcodec h264 -acodec aac -f mpegts -

And this one without the audio and video options gives me smooth play but lots of pixelation:

start C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\testtuner.bat %1

"C:\Program Files\NextPVR\Other\ffmpeg.exe" -i http://192.168.1.177/0.ts  -f mpegts -

I have a spare haswell cpu and motherboard lying around that I think I might upgrade to but I wanted to check to make sure this was an issue of cpu horsepower before bothering.

[sub]

You’ll need to supply logs.

[mvallevand]

Typically output from these HDMI devices don't need transcoding if you choose an h264/aac stream. Why are you bothering with ffmpeg?

Martin

[mvallevand]

Here is what I suggest

Code:

<extras>
  <channel name="{channel-name}" output="url">
    <command>cmd</command>
    <args>/c ""C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\bm1000.bat" {channel}"</args>
  </channel>
</extras>

bm1000.bat

Code:

@echo off
call C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\testtuner.bat %1
echo http://192.168.1.177/0.ts

Martin

[boukmandutty]

My logs are attached.

Bear with me for thinking I had to use ffmpeg with this device. I am just starting out with npvr and only got it working by looking through the  suggestions given to others.

I tired the following as suggested above:

For my Extra device:

Code:

<extras>
<channel name="FXHD" number="753" output="192.168.1.177/0.ts"> 
    <command>cmd</command>
    <args>/c ""C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\npvrtune_test.bat" {channel}"</args>
</channel>
</extras>

I tried just using output="url" here as well but it reported that no device was found.

For npvrtune_test.bat, as suggested:

Code:

@echo off
call C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\testtuner.bat %1
echo 192.168.1.177/0.ts

I watch the result of trying to tune both with the client and in vlc at the same time. Nothing happens and the output in the recording directory remains at 0 bytes

The Extra seems to only work if I do not include the "output="url" portion and if I use the same problematic code in the npvrtune_test.bat:

Code:

@echo off
start C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\testtuner.bat %1
"C:\Program Files\NextPVR\Other\ffmpeg.exe" -i http://192.168.1.177/0.ts -vcodec h264 -acodec aac -f mpegts -

This as you point out is redundant since I don't need to transcode with the device.

[mvallevand]

Using your files instead of my samples you want to use this line exactly in the xml file, no replacement

<channel name="{channel-name}" output="url">

Delete the extra (hold the ctrl key on the device list) and readd after making the change.

You also didn't copy my batch file you need to include the http://

You can test the batch file before going to NextPVR

cmd /c ""C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\npvrtune_test.bat" 753"

and it should return your url.

I leave it to you to test your blaster batch file.


Martin

[boukmandutty]

Using your files instead of my samples you want to use this line exactly in the xml file, no replacement

  <channel name="{channel-name}" output="url">

Delete the extra (hold the ctrl key on the device list) and readd after making the change.

You also didn't copy my batch file you need to include the http://

You can test the batch file before going to NextPVR 

cmd /c ""C:\Users\Public\NPVR-data\scripts\npvrtune_test.bat" 753"

and it should return your url.

I leave it to you to test your blaster batch file.



Martin

That worked perfectly. Using your files as given helped me to see the mistake I made in trying to adapt them. The only thing is that the "call" command in the bm1000.bat did not work for me for some reason. I have been trying to figure out why that command doesn't work for me from yesterday. I had to change it to "start".

My blaster file is the  crude work of a newbie but works with near precision. Here is a sample in case it helps anyone else who might need to capture in a similar fashion to get around those dreaded commercials some of these live tv apps pack in their cloud recordings or just to keep those recordings archived on their own devices and not on the cloud:

Code:

@echo off

set "myvar=%1"
set "myvar2=192.168.1.131"
if "%myvar%"=="" set /p "myvar=Enter Value: " || set "myvar=Default Value"
goto %myvar%

:805
rem IFC
C:/platform-tools/adb.exe -s %myvar2% shell am force-stop (a certain app); sleep 1; am start -n (that same app); sleep 10; input keyevent DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT DPAD_RIGHT; input keyevent DPAD_CENTER
exit
:end

[mvallevand]

Glad you got it. Pretty complex tuning file if you need goto %myvar% for each channel you configure, hopefully you won't have many and the apps don't change UI often. I prefer comskip.

Martin

[boukmandutty]

Glad you got it.  Pretty complex tuning file if  you need goto %myvar% for each channel you configure, hopefully you won't have many and the apps don't change UI often.  I prefer comskip.

Martin

I actually have quite a number of channels actually, but not the unnecessary 200+ that comes with some cable packages. 

What the script does for me is to emulate button presses  to take me where the channels are and tunes to the one requested. I find that after I configured the first the rest were really not that hard to do. The tricky part is the timing to give the app time to load its UI.

I think my approach could weather changes in UI once there is a guide feature included in the app or a favorites section where the channels are listed... at least I hope...

The other option is figuring what command to issue via adb to the android system to launch an app and tune a channel. I actually figured out how to do that with the hdhomerun app but I  cut the cord.

[mvallevand]

I followed your posts on the SageTV forum and was curious how well it worked. I might try it here for fun one day.

Martin