HDHomeRun - any advantage for MP with model that has transcoding? (1 Viewer)

[vdo]

SiliconDust has HDHomeRun Connect (HDHR4-2US) and HDHomeRun Extend (HDTC-2US) with one of the differences being that the HDHomeRun Extend has transcoding capabilities.

I was wondering if there was any advantage for MediaPortal in getting the HDHomeRun model that has transcoding? Does MediaPortal always perform its own transcoding or would using the HDHomeRun Extend relieve MediaPortal of that?

 

[mm1352000]

Hello vdo

I was wondering if there was any advantage for MediaPortal in getting the HDHomeRun model that has transcoding?

For MediaPortal? In my opinion, the answer is no... unless the hardware on which you intend to install MediaPortal is very low spec and incapable of playing the original/raw stream... but in that case the hardware may struggle to run MediaPortal anyway.

Please keep in mind that when I refer to MediaPortal I'm talking about software that only runs on Windows (ie. usually a PC of some kind). If you're thinking about receiving TV on phones, tablets and other non-Windows devices then I think you may need to clarify your intentions.

Does MediaPortal always perform its own transcoding or would using the HDHomeRun Extend relieve MediaPortal of that?

First, MediaPortal itself is not able to transcode at all. There are extensions that are able to transcode and stream (eg. MPExtended) but as far as I'm aware they would not be able to benefit from the HDHR's transcoding. Reason being: they don't directly interact with the HDHR, so they can't control which transcoding profile is used. Further, any transcoding performed by the HDHR would apply to all front-ends/streams, which may or may not be desirable.

Regards,
mm

 

[vdo]

OK, thank you for your response. Yes, I was referring to just running MediaPortal on Windows on a PC that was plenty capable of playing streams and running Media Portal.

I am not needing transcoding for any other reason or any of the other differences in the HDHomeRun extend model, so your answer allows me to save a significant amount of money, so thanks again