Streaming/transcoding MP2 vs MP1? (1 Viewer)

[chemoul]

I posted this in the newcomer forum some time ago but didn’t get a response. Not a fan of double posting but reposting here in case there is better visibility.



I've recently installed MP2 and Kodi on a Firestick to try and stream recorded OTA TV over Wifi.
Quality is good, but not great (interlacing issues, some artifacts - I posted this in a separate thread).

In terms of streaming from Mediaportal (inc transcoding, also based on available network bandwidth) to other devices on the Wifi network, is it better to use MP1 or MP2? I originally selected MP2 because the version comparison lists MP2 as having "excellent" multi client support, but I don't seem to be able to find any information on streaming/transcoding in the MP2 wiki, whereas there is some information for MP1?

Also, which version does offer better support and integration with other "TV frontends" to access the content, such as Kodi - MP1 or 2?

Thank you for your advice.

 

[CyberSimian]

In terms of streaming from Mediaportal (inc transcoding, also based on available network bandwidth) to other devices on the Wifi network, is it better to use MP1 or MP2?

As I understand it, neither MP1 nor MP2 offer any transcoding in the base product. By "transcoding" I mean performing "on the fly" conversion of a file on the server in order to:

• Change the file's data format from a form that uses inefficient compression to a datastream that preserves visual quality but uses more efficient compression, the goal being to reduce the load on the network connection without impacting visual quality.
• Convert the file's data format from a format that is not supported by the client to format that is supported by the client.

If you search for "transcode" in the Wiki, you will find some hits for MP1, but these refer to MP1 extensions. There is an important distinction between an MP1 extension and the MP1 base product:

The MP1 development team does not maintain MP1 extensions.

MP1 extensions are written by enthusiastic users who want a capability that is not offered by the base product. Those users create the extensions and then maintain them. When after a few years they lose interest or move on to other things, there is usually no one sufficiently interested to take over maintenance of the extension. So the extension limps on for a few years until some change causes it to stop working. This is a sad state of affairs, but is inevitable with open-source volunteer software.

For MP1, the Wiki lists "GmaWebservice" and "MPExtended" as offering remote access, but the former has already been discontinued. I have not used the latter, so I don't know whether it still works. You could try reading the info available (in the Wiki and relevant forum thread), and if it seems that it might do what you want, install MP1 and see if MPExtended will install and work.

Also, which version does offer better support and integration with other "TV frontends" to access the content, such as Kodi - MP1 or 2?

The MP server communicates with MP clients by means of its defined data protocols. The MP server does not explicitly support other TV frontends. It is up to enthusiastic users of those TV frontends to write interface modules that mimic an MP client. I believe that Kodi has such an interface module. I am not aware of other TV frontends that have such modules (but that does not mean that there aren't any).

I suspect that this is not the answer that you wanted, and I am happy to be corrected if any of what I have said above is incorrect (especially with regard to MP2, which I have not used). But as Walter Cronkite was fond of saying "That's the way it is".

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[chemoul]

thanks for your comprehensive response and apologies for the very delayed reply.
I was under the impression that MPExtended was essentially discontinued as well?

 

[CyberSimian]

I was under the impression that MPExtended was essentially discontinued as well?

There seems to be some current activity on MPExtended, but I don't know how relevant it is to your particular requirements. Look at the threads in the MPExtended section of this web site.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[ajs]

I was under the impression that MPExtended was essentially discontinued as well?

I'm not sure if Kodi knows how to work with MPExtended, as far as I know, Kodi has his own plugin for working with MP1 or MP2 TVServer, and this plugin simply takes the TV stream as it is from the server and displays it in Kodi .
Because TV server is the same for MP1 and MP2, then the result will be the same.