Change data quality to a lower

[tvviewer]

Hi

Nextpvr is awesome, many thanks must go to the developers. I use Nextpvr with Kodi as frontend on a VPN. The network is 4G that has limited data usage account. The tv part works great. When i watch cable tv on the client with Kodi, i assume that the data bitrate is the default and highest of the cable tv capability. When watching for hours, lots of data is comsumed on the 4G data usage account.
I would like to know how to limit the bitrate / size of data that travels from the nextpvr server to the client. I know there is a config.xml and that has lots of numbers. What should be changed to accomplish the goal?

EDIT: It could be the streaming-bitrate that is needed to be changed. The recordings stored on the disk should still be full quality.

thx
tvviewer

[mvallevand]

For Live TV in Kodi, there is a client transcode streaming option that lets you specify the resolution and on the server you set the bit rate for that resolution. Transcoding is server-side.

Similarly there are options to transcode recordings after they finish, plus you can script that yourself

Martin

[tvviewer]

For Live TV in Kodi, there is a client transcode streaming option that lets you specify the resolution and on the server you set the bit rate for that resolution.  Transcoding is server-side.

Similarly there are options to transcode recordings after they finish, plus you can script that yourself

Martin

If config.xml in "C:\Users\Public\NPVR-Data" should be edited , would it be the section of streamingprofiles that should be changed?
"
  <StreamingProfiles>
    <Profile name="1080p">
      <VideoBitrate>8000</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>192</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="720p">
      <VideoBitrate>4000</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>192</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="576p">
      <VideoBitrate>2000</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>128</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="504p">
      <VideoBitrate>1700</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>128</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="480p">
      <VideoBitrate>1500</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>128</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="360p">
      <VideoBitrate>750</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>128</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="240p">
      <VideoBitrate>460</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>128</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
    <Profile name="144p">
      <VideoBitrate>100</VideoBitrate>
      <AudioBitrate>128</AudioBitrate>
      <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
    </Profile>
  </StreamingProfiles>
"

E.g. for the 1080p:
"
<Profile name="1080p">

      <VideoBitrate>6000</VideoBitrate>

"
Similarly for the 720p section?
Would that work?

[mvallevand]

Probably but I use the gear on the setting page to change them. Kodi pvr.nextpvr only lets you pick one regardless of the source.

Martin

[tvviewer]

Probably but I use the gear on the setting page to change them.  Kodi pvr.nextpvr only lets you pick one regardless of the source.

Martin

I tried to e.g. for the 1080p to set as
:
"
<Profile name="1080p">

      <VideoBitrate>500</VideoBitrate>

"
The network display for the ethernet in task manager still shows lots of data being transferred - so far i cannot see less data being transferred. If i have luck with setting a very low bitrate then the data transferred should go down a lot.
I set videobitrate back to 8000 and save.

I go to transcoder setting in http://localhost:8866/settings.html#
I change the preferred streaming profile from default to 1080p but cannot see that less data is transferred.
I set to default again. The setting wheel cannot be clicked.
I remove check in "avoid transcoding where possible" - cannot see it changed much.

Not having luck so far with making a difference. Other ideas?

[sub]

Have you enabled transcoded playback in Kodi (in the addon settings)? By default the Kodi addon is asking for the full stream. You need to explicitly tell it to use transcoded streams instead. The settings you're tweaking above will make no difference when kodi is using the full stream.

[mvallevand]

Your test might not be a good one. Don't forget 1080i to 1080p roughly doubles the number of frames being sent.

Martin

[tvviewer]

Have you enabled transcoded playback in Kodi (in the addon settings)? By default the Kodi addon is asking for the full stream. You need to explicitly tell it to use transcoded streams instead. The settings you're tweaking above will make no difference when kodi is using the full stream.

This makes a noticeable difference. But the motion is no longer smooth. It is quite jerky and for e.g. sport coverage that is no good.
EDIT: and with 2 clients running simultaniously there are frame and audio fallouts all the time. This does not work at all.

[mvallevand]

Your 1080p up-coversion takes a beefy server or h/w transcoding. Upload your zipped NextPVR logs and we can check.

Martin

[sub]

This makes a noticeable difference. But the motion is no longer smooth. It is quite jerky and for e.g. sport coverage that is no good.
EDIT: and with 2 clients running simultaniously there are frame and audio fallouts all the time. This does not work at all.

The reality is you typically need quite a beefy server if you're going to be transcoding content in real time, and more so if you're going to be doing it for multiple clients simultaneously.

Smoothness and quality will come down to your machine being able to keep up, and an appropriate bitrate for the type of content you're dealing with.

The experience will never be as good as playing the native streams, but it's there as an option for the situations where it's needed.