Timeshift performance vs Simple IPTV client

[is7s]

I'm comparing these two setups on a Firestick 4K:

• Kodi 19 + Simple IPTV client addon with timeshift enabled
  
• NextPVR Mac Server + Kodi 19 + NextPVR client addon with timeshift enabled
  

Switching channels seems to be much faster and smoother when Simple IPTV is enabled as the backend instead of NextPVR.

Knowing that both clients use the Kodi Inputstream FFmpeg Direct plugin for timeshift, why is there a significant difference between the two? Also, Real time works perfectly with the NextPVR client so it doesn't seem like a server issue.

[mvallevand]

Kodi pvr.nextpvr only use the inputstream.ffmpegdirect when you want to use server side transcoding which is rare. Normal server-side timeshift is quite different. Check your Kodi settings for timeshift to reduce the buffer time as much as possible without picture breakup, 0 or 1 might be good enough for IPTV.

IPTVSimple will probably be a second or two faster because it has no sharing or recording capabilities to worry about. If you want more information, send Kodi debug and NextPVR logs.

Martin

[is7s]

Thanks Martin.

It's more like 5-10 seconds difference than just a second or two. What makes me wonder is that the Real time mode in pvr.nextpvr is as fast as IPTVSimple. I tried reducing the buffering to 0, but it didn't make a difference.

Are you referring to the NextPVR server logs? Or are there specific logs for pvr.nextpvr?

[mvallevand]

I need both the zipped NextPVR server logs and the debug Kodi log.

Martin

[is7s]

Here are the logs.

[mvallevand]

I did notice that you are trying to watch while loading channels. Do things improve after the channels load? A big mistake in general is to try and load too many channels from NextPVR that you never watch.

For analysis I want the full Kodi debug log This is a snippet of the standard log.. You can copy it to a paste site like paste.kodi.tv

Martin

[is7s]

I'm just scrolling through the channels and trying to replicate what I would do with any TV. I usually wait for the channel to load before immediately switching, but I've included a pattern (the last one in the log) where I just keep on switching without waiting.

The full log: https://paste.kodi.tv/ocalivoteq

[mvallevand]

If fast channel changes are important don't use timeshift with NextPVR or use IPTV Simple which is closer to native streaming.

That log is better because the channels are loaded, but I see a potential issue in data delivery (no server log this time) where 4 seconds went by with no data transfer. Delivery from the host might be bursty, and sub has told me he skips the first few blocks which IPTV Simples doesn't do.

Code:

2021-05-26 17:14:06.461 T:25480   DEBUG <general>: AddOnLog: pvr.nextpvr: CT channel.stream.info 4381116 1127 0 1127
...
2021-05-26 17:14:06.475 T:25485   DEBUG <general>: Thread FileCache start, auto delete: false
2021-05-26 17:14:10.110 T:25480   DEBUG <general>: AddOnLog: pvr.nextpvr: seek length(4381116)
2021-05-26 17:14:10.197 T:25480   DEBUG <general>: AddOnLog: pvr.nextpvr: CT channel.stream.info 4743116 5160 0 5160

Martin

[sub]

and sub has told me he skips the first few blocks which IPTV Simples doesn't do.

I wouldnt think it's anything to do with this. NextPVR is basically saying, if the service provides more than 20 seconds of buffering, we'll start at 20 seconds from live rather than the beginning of the buffer. All web players do the same with live m3u streams. ie, preferring to stay closer to live.

NextPVR should be sending data to Kodi just as quick as realtime mode, so in theory timeshift could be just as fast. I certainly remember I was impressed with the Kodi channel change times when the current timeshift stuff was first implement - it was changing channels in like a second. Maybe something in kodi has changed along the way to make it slower?

[is7s]

NextPVR should be sending data to Kodi just as quick as realtime mode, so in theory timeshift could be just as fast. I certainly remember I was impressed with the Kodi channel change times when the current timeshift stuff was first implement - it was changing channels in like a second. Maybe something in kodi has changed along the way to make it slower?

Do you mean something changed in Kodi itself not pvr.nextpvr? Why would it not affect IPTV Simple client?