Television setting vs TV-Server configuration? (1 Viewer)

[anony]

I'm not clear on how TV works in MediaPortal. Why is there a "television" setting in MediaPortal's configuration, and a separate TV-Server configuration -- I guess the TV-Server can be used when there are multiple clients? How do you configure MediaPortal to use/watch the TV-Server instead of using its own settings?

 

[globaldonkey]

Mediaportal basically has two TV Engines. TVE-2 is the internal non-server version of the engine. TVE-3 is the server version, which can run as either single seat (server and client on one machine) or as multi-seat where the client and server are separate. See here for a more detailed comparison of the two:

TV-Server/overview - MediaPortal Manual Documentation

You choose whether to install TVE-2 (classic TV Engine) or TVE-3 (TV Server) at installation time.

If you install classic TV Engine (TVE-2), all TV configuration is inside MediaPortal. There is no separate TV Server to configure.

If you install TV Server (TVE-3), the TV Settings inside Mediaportal are there to configure the client side, ie the codecs the client will use to play TV, and most importantly, the IP address or hostname of the server (which can be the same machine if it is single seat). TV Server configuration settings configure the server, which includes the configuration of the TV cards and channels among other things.

The important thing is that just because you only have one HTPC machine, doesn't mean you should use the inbuilt TV Engine. That is "old technology", and as you can see from the above link, TV Server has many more features and capabilities, and is not solely intended for multi-seat installation. Don't let the server / client terminology confuse you into thinking they must be on different machines. There are some more configuration steps with TV server, but it is worth the effort.

 

[anony]

I chose the one click install and don't seem to recall getting the choice for either TVE-2 or TVE-3. How do I change this setting after installation?

 

[globaldonkey]

You will need to re-install. Read the installation guides in the Wiki

MediaPortalTools/Installation_Guides_Menu - MediaPortal Manual Documentation

 

[anony]

I tried reinstalling MP as a client, but it's not getting TV still even though I've set up the server previously. Is there a setting where I can specify which TV server to use?