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<blockquote data-quote="mm1352000" data-source="post: 768144" data-attributes="member: 82144"><p>Hi Mike</p><p></p><p>Welcome, and I hope you find MediaPortal to your liking. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p>Just a few quick comments from a different perspective in the hope that they might be useful to you...</p><p></p><p></p><p>You need to have codecs to get videos and TV to play. Without codecs, video and TV won't work. Recorded TV is no different from any other video (except that it was "created" by TV Server), so *yes* you need codecs to play recorded TV shows. If you're able to watch live TV then you should be able to watch the recordings too.</p><p></p><p></p><p>That is a million dollar question. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p>Let's talk about availability first.</p><p></p><p>Most people already have some codecs installed on their system. If you were using Windows 7 then you'd have some Microsoft codecs (which are pretty reasonable). Other media software like Arcsoft TMT, PowerDVD, WinDVD, DivX... they all install codecs that are *usually* usable in MediaPortal (I say usually because Cyberlink have become scrooges and prevent you using their codecs in 3rd party software like MediaPortal). ATI and NVidia software sometimes installs codecs. In general, many media/video playback related applications will install codecs.</p><p></p><p>As if that wasn't enough, there are tons of codecs like FFDShow, AC3Filter, LAV, CoreAVC... available to download. Many for free; there is a free codec for almost any media format known to man. Just visit <a href="http://www.free-codecs.com" target="_blank">free-codecs.com</a> and you'll see what I mean. Some people have created bundles of codecs like klite, Shark, SAF... sometimes they do more damage than good because codec packs can interfere with eachother.</p><p></p><p>Finally, as Ray has said, MP also comes with some basic codecs. They don't work with all formats (in particular, the video codec doesn't support h.264 video), but they're a reasonable starting point for people that aren't technically minded.</p><p></p><p>Okay, moving on from availability...</p><p>Some codecs are better than others. By better I mean they can decode more formats, produce higher quality output, and support hardware accelerated decoding (DxVA - ie. using your video card to decode the video, which frees up your CPU to do other things). The first thing (decoding more formats) may not matter too much. As long as you have codecs for MPEG 2 and h.264 video, and MPEG, AC3 and AAC audio you should be sweet. The second thing is reasonably subjective - personally I don't worry too much about quality these days as long as the video works since most codecs are very good at what they do. Hardware acceleration is definitely important for h.264 video though. A couple of years ago there were only a handful of codecs that supported it. Now there are many. Some like FFDShow DxVA are free.</p><p></p><p>So which should you choose?</p><p>In my opinion, whatever is most convenient and whatever works. If you have a large collection of internet downloads in various formats or you're not technically minded then a codec pack like <a href="https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/codecs-331/saf-v6-00-based-lavf-95635/" target="_blank">SAF</a> is recommended. Free, does the job well, excellent support... can't ask for much more. It is probably a good option for XP, otherwise the Microsoft video codec coupled with AC3Filter or similar is probably a good combination too.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm not so well versed in my US guide data source knowledge, but I am aware of a few alternatives. Namely <a href="http://www.schedulesdirect.org/" target="_blank">SchedulesDirect</a>, and <a href="http://mc2xml.my3gb.com/" target="_blank">mc2xml</a>. From what I read, SchedulesDirect is probably the most "polished" and user friendly option, however it does cost money. mc2xml is a free (I *think*) way to grab and convert Microsoft's listings into a format (XMLTV) that TV Server can work with. There is an excellent walkthrough for XMLTV setup in our wiki --><a href="http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/141_Configuration/TV-Server_Configuration/13_Plugins/XmlTv" target="_blank">here</a><--. Further than that I probably can't be much help.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Thank you for the compliment and the feedback! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p>I agree that the docs group (with help from the wider team and community) do a *fantastic* job. Do remember that you can contribute to the wiki, so if you notice anything that is missing or that would have aided your setup experience then please help us out in that area. It would be *much* appreciated.</p><p></p><p>mm</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mm1352000, post: 768144, member: 82144"] Hi Mike Welcome, and I hope you find MediaPortal to your liking. :) Just a few quick comments from a different perspective in the hope that they might be useful to you... You need to have codecs to get videos and TV to play. Without codecs, video and TV won't work. Recorded TV is no different from any other video (except that it was "created" by TV Server), so *yes* you need codecs to play recorded TV shows. If you're able to watch live TV then you should be able to watch the recordings too. That is a million dollar question. :D Let's talk about availability first. Most people already have some codecs installed on their system. If you were using Windows 7 then you'd have some Microsoft codecs (which are pretty reasonable). Other media software like Arcsoft TMT, PowerDVD, WinDVD, DivX... they all install codecs that are *usually* usable in MediaPortal (I say usually because Cyberlink have become scrooges and prevent you using their codecs in 3rd party software like MediaPortal). ATI and NVidia software sometimes installs codecs. In general, many media/video playback related applications will install codecs. As if that wasn't enough, there are tons of codecs like FFDShow, AC3Filter, LAV, CoreAVC... available to download. Many for free; there is a free codec for almost any media format known to man. Just visit [URL="www.free-codecs.com"]free-codecs.com[/URL] and you'll see what I mean. Some people have created bundles of codecs like klite, Shark, SAF... sometimes they do more damage than good because codec packs can interfere with eachother. Finally, as Ray has said, MP also comes with some basic codecs. They don't work with all formats (in particular, the video codec doesn't support h.264 video), but they're a reasonable starting point for people that aren't technically minded. Okay, moving on from availability... Some codecs are better than others. By better I mean they can decode more formats, produce higher quality output, and support hardware accelerated decoding (DxVA - ie. using your video card to decode the video, which frees up your CPU to do other things). The first thing (decoding more formats) may not matter too much. As long as you have codecs for MPEG 2 and h.264 video, and MPEG, AC3 and AAC audio you should be sweet. The second thing is reasonably subjective - personally I don't worry too much about quality these days as long as the video works since most codecs are very good at what they do. Hardware acceleration is definitely important for h.264 video though. A couple of years ago there were only a handful of codecs that supported it. Now there are many. Some like FFDShow DxVA are free. So which should you choose? In my opinion, whatever is most convenient and whatever works. If you have a large collection of internet downloads in various formats or you're not technically minded then a codec pack like [URL="https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/codecs-331/saf-v6-00-based-lavf-95635/"]SAF[/URL] is recommended. Free, does the job well, excellent support... can't ask for much more. It is probably a good option for XP, otherwise the Microsoft video codec coupled with AC3Filter or similar is probably a good combination too. I'm not so well versed in my US guide data source knowledge, but I am aware of a few alternatives. Namely [URL="www.schedulesdirect.org/"]SchedulesDirect[/URL], and [URL="http://mc2xml.my3gb.com/"]mc2xml[/URL]. From what I read, SchedulesDirect is probably the most "polished" and user friendly option, however it does cost money. mc2xml is a free (I *think*) way to grab and convert Microsoft's listings into a format (XMLTV) that TV Server can work with. There is an excellent walkthrough for XMLTV setup in our wiki -->[URL="http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_MEDIAPORTAL_1/141_Configuration/TV-Server_Configuration/13_Plugins/XmlTv"]here[/URL]<--. Further than that I probably can't be much help. Thank you for the compliment and the feedback! :) I agree that the docs group (with help from the wider team and community) do a *fantastic* job. Do remember that you can contribute to the wiki, so if you notice anything that is missing or that would have aided your setup experience then please help us out in that area. It would be *much* appreciated. mm [/QUOTE]
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