# Streaming from Tivo to a laptop



## az1097

I posted this question in the "Tivo Help Center", perhaps I Should've done it here instead, so hear it goes: How can I stream from a Premiere or a Roamio to a laptop rather to an IOS or Android device?


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## just4fn44

you can't unless you stream thru a slingbox


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## az1097

just4fn44 said:


> you can't unless you stream thru a slingbox


Are there any disadvantages using a Slingbox instead of a Tivo Stream?


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## dbtom

I was just able to do this using the TiVo App and DuOS for Android emulation. Seems to work pretty well. I'm using a Surface Pro 2 running Windows 8.1. The program costs $10 but its a lot cheaper than buying another laptop. 

I also have a Slingbox. Primary advantage of the TiVo app is much better controls. Slingbox tends to stream with better quality for me even in home.


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## passname22

you should stream from IOs/android and PC for FREE. why are you charging extra for Pc after customers bought tivo stream. YOu can stream live tv using slingtv, pay $20 for bunch of channels and you don't have to pay for cable box or tivo. TIVO if u want customers to stay. Allow live TV streaming from our tivo box.


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## jrtroo

passname22 said:


> you should stream from IOs/android and PC for FREE. why are you charging extra for Pc after customers bought tivo stream. YOu can stream live tv using slingtv, pay $20 for bunch of channels and you don't have to pay for cable box or tivo. TIVO if u want customers to stay. Allow live TV streaming from our tivo box.


What the heck are you talking about?

You can stream from a Tivo to iOS and Android. That is included with the stream device.

The sling suggestion was to get it to devices which are not supported by Tivo, like a windows laptop.


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## passname22

jrtroo said:


> What the heck are you talking about?
> 
> You can stream from a Tivo to iOS and Android. That is included with the stream device.
> 
> The sling suggestion was to get it to devices which are not supported by Tivo, like a windows laptop.


that was my point, you can stream tivo using computer but they charge software for it. I'm just saying it should be free. They should use HTML5 so we can stream without downloading any application. I want to stream live tv when I go on vacation.


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## jrtroo

Who is "they"?

Tivo will let you copy to a PC (when the flags are not set) using their own and user-created software, but does not provide streaming to a PC. At all, even with a fee.

So, you can stream on vacation to the requisite devices, Android/iOS, that is it. However, you may want to look at the Amazon fire thread, as it seems that may work well for your needs.

If you want features from a slingbox, then get one. It's a different service than tivos.


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## SugarBowl

dbtom said:


> I was just able to do this using the TiVo App and DuOS for Android emulation. Seems to work pretty well. I'm using a Surface Pro 2 running Windows 8.1. The program costs $10 but its a lot cheaper than buying another laptop.
> 
> I also have a Slingbox. Primary advantage of the TiVo app is much better controls. Slingbox tends to stream with better quality for me even in home.


I'm about to try this. There is a 30 day trial to see if it works. Any tricks to get it to work ?
http://www.amiduos.com/


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## SugarBowl

Wow! DuOS works pretty well. I was able to stream copy protected shows from the Tivo to my win 8 laptop. 

Some of the text in the tivo app is a little hard to read when in portrait mode, but landscape mode fixed it. 

DuOS was telling me that i needed to remove the HyperV feature for better performance. And by better, they mean anything other than a blank screen. I was getting nothing but a blank screen until i uninstalled HyperV.


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## dbtom

Yeah, DuOS works shockingly well for me. I had tried BlueStacks in the past and the performance was terrible. DuOS makes me think that Microsoft will probably build something like this into the OS in the future. I paid the $10. Well worth it.


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## HarperVision

Very cool! Is there anything similar to this, but for iOS apps so I can use the download feature in the TiVo app? (I know I can just download directly, but I want a smaller, streamable file that will be created by the TiVo Stream from a remote location.....long story  )


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## Arcady

HarperVision said:


> Very cool! Is there anything similar to this, but for iOS apps so I can use the download feature in the TiVo app? (I know I can just download directly, but I want a smaller, streamable file that will be created by the TiVo Stream from a remote location.....long story  )


If you are an Apple Developer, you can get an iOS simulator, but it only runs on Macs. I don't know of any way to run iOS apps in Windows.


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## HarperVision

Thanks Arcady.  I tried DuOS and for some reason whenever I would go into the My Shows and To Do folders it would only allow me to see the first folder in the list, in my case Vikings which was being recorded, and it was already expanded out showing all the episodes. Normally I have folders set so I would have to click on it to expand it. It wouldn't allow me to go any further down I to the list. I could only go as far down as I could see on screen, so I couldn't see or try any other shows. I did try playing one of the Viking episodes but the video was abysmal, stuttering and fuzzy, looking like it was only about 128Kbps or something. Any ideas? Are there any settings I can play with?

I was able to accomplish what the OP was asking for though. I just downloaded the TiVo-to-Go plugin for Plex and ran that on my PC and was able to stream directly from my TiVo Roamio+ and surprisingly also from my remote Roamio+ located in Philly using the public IP there along with my MAK. So this also answers and helps me with a big issue I've been working on with my normally used Slingbox! :up: I don't know why no one suggested this here or in the many times I brought it up in other threads. It does EXACTLY what I've been trying to accomplish! I'm able to sustain 8+Mbps streams using TTG Plex plugin from Philly whereas when I try to use my Slingbox 350, it maxes out at 3.1Mbps. Further proof that Comcast is throttling Slingbox streams if you ask me. Another cool side benefit is that I can now stream to my Rokus too.


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## SugarBowl

HarperVision said:


> Thanks Arcady.  I tried DuOS and for some reason whenever I would go into the My Shows and To Do folders it would only allow me to see the first folder in the list, in my case Vikings which was being recorded, and it was already expanded out showing all the episodes. Normally I have folders set so I would have to click on it to expand it. It wouldn't allow me to go any further down I to the list. I could only go as far down as I could see on screen, so I couldn't see or try any other shows. I did try playing one of the Viking episodes but the video was abysmal, stuttering and fuzzy, looking like it was only about 128Kbps or something. Any ideas? Are there any settings I can play with?


have you tried DuOS recently? Maybe there were bugs with older versions ? I just installed it on 4 machines with success.

Some of my notes and issues..

1 - the tivo app requires a wifi connection, so if you're on an ethernet wired desktop, you need to run the DuOS config tool, go to advanced, and select Simulate Network.

2 - On 1 machine, I get some warnings at DuOS startup about my graphics driver being out of date (DuOS still works fine)

3 - on another machine, it keeps telling me i need to enable virtualization in the bios. I have done that, but it keeps complaining (DuOS still works fine)

4 - on my dell venue 8 pro touch tablet, the video playback is dropping frames.

5 - play with the config tool and change the screen size, maybe that will fix your issues of only seeing 1 folder.

6 - increase the ram in the config tool


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## HarperVision

SugarBowl said:


> have you tried DuOS recently? Maybe there were bugs with older versions ? I just installed it on 4 machines with success. Some of my notes and issues.. 1 - the tivo app requires a wifi connection, so if you're on an ethernet wired desktop, you need to run the DuOS config tool, go to advanced, and select Simulate Network. 2 - On 1 machine, I get some warnings at DuOS startup about my graphics driver being out of date (DuOS still works fine) 3 - on another machine, it keeps telling me i need to enable virtualization in the bios. I have done that, but it keeps complaining (DuOS still works fine) 4 - on my dell venue 8 pro touch tablet, the video playback is dropping frames. 5 - play with the config tool and change the screen size, maybe that will fix your issues of only seeing 1 folder. 6 - increase the ram in the config tool


I just tried it last night with a fresh install.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try when I get a chance.


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## dianebrat

HarperVision said:


> Thanks Arcady.  I tried DuOS and for some reason whenever I would go into the My Shows and To Do folders it would only allow me to see the first folder in the list, in my case Vikings which was being recorded, and it was already expanded out showing all the episodes.
> 
> I was able to accomplish what the OP was asking for though. * I just downloaded the TiVo-to-Go plugin for Plex *and ran that on my PC and was able to stream directly from my TiVo Roamio+ and surprisingly also from my remote Roamio+ located in Philly using the public IP there along with my MAK. So this also answers and helps me with a big issue I've been working on with my normally used Slingbox! :up: I don't know why no one suggested this here or in the many times I brought it up in other threads. It does EXACTLY what I've been trying to accomplish! I'm able to sustain 8+Mbps streams using TTG Plex plugin from Philly whereas when I try to use my Slingbox 350, it maxes out at 3.1Mbps. Further proof that Comcast is throttling Slingbox streams if you ask me. Another cool side benefit is that I can now stream to my Rokus too.


I have the same issue with folders being open on DuoOS and haven't been able to get by that, it could be a deal breaker in my book, but the streaming is pretty nice for what I'd do with it.

Talk to me more about the TTG Plex plugin.. I'm intrigued and the links I found weren't helpful


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## Gadfly

I installed DuOS but I can't install the zip file that would install the Google Play (I download the file and then when I right click, it says the file cannot be opened).

so I am stuck. I am hesitant to try Tivo from Amazon Store. should I?


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## Arcady

I just tried this thing. I am running Windows 7 Pro on a MacBook Air, connected via WiFi.

The vanilla install of DuOS let me go to the Amazon app store and get the TiVo app. The app ran, but I could not get it to set up streaming correctly, no matter what I tried.

I went and got the Google Apps and installed the zip file. When I opened the Google play store, it told me the TiVo app was already installed, so I didn't bother to download again from there. I ran the TiVo app and it set up streaming correctly on the first try. The first show I tried to play buffered in a few seconds and plays great.

Notes:
Running a touch-based OS on a laptop without a touchscreen sucks.

The TiVo app wants to run in portrait mode even though the whole OS is in landscape mode. Fortunately, it switches to landscape when you play a show. I can't figure out how to tell the app what orientation the "tablet" is in.

The android version of the TiVo app sucks compared to the iOS app.



Gadfly said:


> I installed DuOS but I can't install the zip file that would install the Google Play (I download the file and then when I right click, it says the file cannot be opened).


Did you right-click and select "Apply to DuOS" from Windows? Worked for me.


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## HarperVision

dianebrat said:


> I have the same issue with folders being open on DuoOS and haven't been able to get by that, it could be a deal breaker in my book, but the streaming is pretty nice for what I'd do with it. Talk to me more about the TTG Plex plugin.. I'm intrigued and the links I found weren't helpful


I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling duos because i mucked up settings and figured it may help the folder and streaming issue too. Well as I watched it uninstall, it started to also uninstall programs my my pc!  I sat and watched shortcut icons start disappearing from my desktop! What would make it do that? I guess I'll have to do a system restore.

When I reinstalled though, it did fix the folder viewing issue and helped the streaming a little. I think there's also maybe an incompatibility or setting between Android/DuOS and my PC/Windows 7 Pro. Any ideas?

For the TTG Plex Plugin, I just did this after the server was installed:

https://github.com/tivoguy/TiVoToGo.bundle/blob/master/README.md


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## HarperVision

Arcady said:


> I just tried this thing. I am running Windows 7 Pro on a MacBook Air, connected via WiFi. The vanilla install of DuOS let me go to the Amazon app store and get the TiVo app. The app ran, but I could not get it to set up streaming correctly, no matter what I tried. I went and got the Google Apps and installed the zip file. When I opened the Google play store, it told me the TiVo app was already installed, so I didn't bother to download again from there. I ran the TiVo app and it set up streaming correctly on the first try. The first show I tried to play buffered in a few seconds and plays great. Notes: Running a touch-based OS on a laptop without a touchscreen sucks. The TiVo app wants to run in portrait mode even though the whole OS is in landscape mode. Fortunately, it switches to landscape when you play a show. I can't figure out how to tell the app what orientation the "tablet" is in. The android version of the TiVo app sucks compared to the iOS app. Did you right-click and select "Apply to DuOS" from Windows? Worked for me.


I had the same issue before I reinstalled DuOS. But after I did it gave me a landscape app. There's also an orientation circle icon in the upper left corner you can try. I'm not really sure which fixed it though.

I also accidentally installed the Amazon TiVo app at first and it didn't work right. So I uninstalled the Amazon app and then did the Google Play version and it worked well except for the streaming issues I'm still dealing with.

It's almost 4:30am.....go to bed young man!


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## Arcady

HarperVision said:


> I had the same issue before I reinstalled DuOS. But after I did it gave me a landscape app. There's also an orientation circle icon in the upper left corner you can try. I'm not really sure which fixed it though.
> 
> I also accidentally installed the Amazon TiVo app at first and it didn't work right. So I uninstalled the Amazon app and then did the Google Play version and it worked well except for the streaming issues I'm still dealing with.
> 
> It's almost 4:30am.....go to bed young man!


I just uninstalled the app and reinstalled from the Google store. Now it works properly in landscape mode. It's almost like the one from the Amazon store was the phone version or something.

Thanks for the tip. (Going to bed now...)


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## h2oskierc

I I stalled DuOS on my notebook, rebooted my computer and bam, no more functional boot drive... I have a SSD, and it was locked once I hit reboot. So far haven't had any luck unlocking it, so looks like I get to reformat and reinstall everything...

Could have been some other quirk, but I am thinking that DuOS did it.


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## SugarBowl

Arcady said:


> I just uninstalled the app and reinstalled from the Google store. Now it works properly in landscape mode. It's almost like the one from the Amazon store was the phone version or something.
> 
> Thanks for the tip. (Going to bed now...)


hmmm.. I thought the amazon store and the google play store had the same app. But you're right.. The amazon store app looks more like a phone format. The google version looks like the iOS ipad app.


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## SugarBowl

For those that are only seeing 1 folder, are you holding the primary mouse button down and scrolling down the list?


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## HarperVision

h2oskierc said:


> I I stalled DuOS on my notebook, rebooted my computer and bam, no more functional boot drive... I have a SSD, and it was locked once I hit reboot. So far haven't had any luck unlocking it, so looks like I get to reformat and reinstall everything... Could have been some other quirk, but I am thinking that DuOS did it.


Yeah, it must be messing with the root files or something. When I tried uninstalling my DuOS to get it back to factory default, it deleted a crap ton of programs from my PC!



SugarBowl said:


> For those that are only seeing 1 folder, are you holding the primary mouse button down and scrolling down the list?


I'm not able to test it because I reinstalled everything and its working now. I'm not going to go back to the broken version to test it.


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## Gadfly

Arcady said:


> <snip>
> Did you right-click and select "Apply to DuOS" from Windows? Worked for me.


You are right. that was the problem. I didn't know I have to do it from Windows.

Now I am getting an error about "unauthorized modification to your android blah blah" when I try to play back a show.

Plus not being able to go pass the first folder.

Edit: I was setting Duos to run in root mode. once I got rid of that, I restarted Duos and managed to play back a show! The issue with seeing only the first folder is still there.

Edit 2: The other folders are there too! what I needed to do was to scroll down. for some reason it opens the first by default.


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## HarperVision

Deleted: Mistaken post


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## bradleys

I installed this and it works great... But you can sure tell the android app is WAY behind the IOS app in design! The new one is supposed to arrive at the end of the month - hopefully...

For those with the folder problem: once you open / expand a folder it doesn't close until you open another folder. This is identical behavior as earlier IOS versions.


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## JBDragon

I run Media Center on my PC and have for around 3 years. Moving to TIVO in a few months and ending Media Center with a Windows 10 Upgrade, I'm trying to find a solution to continue watching on the PC using TIVO.

Now using DuOS and the Android TIVO App is one solution, and I'm trying that, but the Android App is not as good as the iOS version. It's not Ideal to run a virtual Android Machine. Why is there not a native Windows App? I hope there will be a Native Windows 10 App that will run on Windows PC or even a Windows 10 tablet or phone. One App that runs on any windows. That's the whole point of Windows 10 right? 

I don't want to download a program. I like the Streaming interface with the better TIVO control. The iOS Tivo App is much better. Lets have a Windows version that is at least as good as the iOS version. Hell Be like Sling and charge for the Apps for All I care. I'd pay $9.99 for a nice Native Windows App. Free is better, but something needs to be done to get App Development rolling along faster.

The last piece of course for Cable cutters like myself would be Native PLEX support!!! That would make TIVO the #1 Box for just about anything and everything. If Search support was added into PLEX also when looking for something besides Netflix and Amazon, etc, even better.


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## slowbiscuit

Because Tivo doesn't want to make it easy for PC users to watch anything remotely. The usual reason speculated is that they have to bend over for their Content Overlords.

You do know that Plex support is coming on June 8 (to the Tivo), and that you can use a Plex app called TivoToGo to use Plex remotely to watch your Tivo shows on a PC right?

The other option is to get a Mini and a Slingbox and use Sling remotely.


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## JBDragon

Why there isn't a Windows version of their streaming software? I have a old slingback pro, I can dig up and connect to a tivo mini, but it just seems silly and not really the best solution. I guess I'm going to have to do it. I have to wait for a very few minor parts to get here, like a set of cables to plug it into my slingbox. 

In have tried Duos on my high end PC and using the tivo app that way and it lags and the resolution sucks. Not sure why that is. Then I thought maybe my Amazon Fire tv stick plugged into the hdmi in port on my pc, but it won't output unless you're using the built in graphics and I'm using a high end video card. Then I though plug it into the free hdmi port on my monitor. That kind of worked, but no audio, so that was a waste of time. So now I'm back to this slingbox runaround.

It is great that PLEX is coming to tivo early next month. Many things about tivo is great, and then there's some glaring holes. Why you can stream onto a Windows laptop, or a surface or a desktop and limit it to the iPad when I have our Android. I'd rather watch on a 24" widescreen then on a small almost 10" iPad screen if I can. Using the pc app to download it's dumb. It's a huge missing piece of the puzzle. Hopefully my Slingbox Pro still works. It's been years since last used.


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## SugarBowl

JBDragon said:


> Why there isn't a Windows version of their streaming software? I have a old slingback pro, I can dig up and connect to a tivo mini, but it just seems silly and not really the best solution. I guess I'm going to have to do it. I have to wait for a very few minor parts to get here, like a set of cables to plug it into my slingbox.
> 
> In have tried Duos on my high end PC and using the tivo app that way and it lags and the resolution sucks. Not sure why that is. Then I thought maybe my Amazon Fire tv stick plugged into the hdmi in port on my pc, but it won't output unless you're using the built in graphics and I'm using a high end video card. Then I though plug it into the free hdmi port on my monitor. That kind of worked, but no audio, so that was a waste of time. So now I'm back to this slingbox runaround.
> 
> It is great that PLEX is coming to tivo early next month. Many things about tivo is great, and then there's some glaring holes. Why you can stream onto a Windows laptop, or a surface or a desktop and limit it to the iPad when I have our Android. I'd rather watch on a 24" widescreen then on a small almost 10" iPad screen if I can. Using the pc app to download it's dumb. It's a huge missing piece of the puzzle. Hopefully my Slingbox Pro still works. It's been years since last used.


Did you install the google play store and get the latest Tivo app from there?

The last time I checked, the amazon app store had a horrible, old version of the TiVo app.


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## JBDragon

I have the Amazon version, but I'll go try the version on Google play when I get a chance and see how it works.


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## mwecksell

online.tivo.com

It works now. (Ah, the solution to all problems with Tivo - just wait a few years...)


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## bradleys

mwecksell said:


> online.tivo.com
> 
> It works now. (Ah, the solution to all problems with Tivo - just wait a few years...)


Well, once they implement OOH streaming, then let's talk.


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## aaronwt

az1097 said:


> I posted this question in the "Tivo Help Center", perhaps I Should've done it here instead, so hear it goes: How can I stream from a Premiere or a Roamio to a laptop rather to an IOS or Android device?


It works now from the Premiere with a TiVo stream. In hoime at least. I just tried streaming from my Premiere, Roamio BAsic, and Roamio Pro from three different browser windows and it worked very well.


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## justen_m

aaronwt said:


> It works now from the Premiere with a TiVo stream. In hoime at least. I just tried streaming from my Premiere, Roamio BAsic, and Roamio Pro from three different browser windows and it worked very well.


How do you do this? Are you saying you are streaming from a Roamio directly to a browser on a PC? What browser? When I enter my Roamio Plus's ip addr (https://ipaddr/) and log in with username=tivo password=mak, I get my Now Playing list, and I can download them via MPEG-TS or PS, but I don't see any way to stream them instead. I'm using the latest stable Chrome on Linux (43.0.2357.124 (64-bit) on Ubuntu 15.04). I tried Firefox (38.0) and got the same result. Do I need IE? I've got Windows installed too (dual-boot machine). [edit] That box also has Tivo Desktop 2.8.2 installed and working in Windows -- I wanted to test it with Windows 10.

I use kmttg and pyTivo, but that is file transfers in one direction or the other. Streaming would be preferable in many, even most, cases.

Thanks.


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## pfiagra

http://online.tivo.com


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## aaronwt

I was using the Chrome Browser(in Windows 8.1) when I tried this.


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## justen_m

pfiagra said:


> http://online.tivo.com


When I connected in Linux (Ubuntu 15.04), it said...

TiVo Online
!Unsupported Operating System

To watch shows on this site, please use Windows 8, 7, XP, Vista, or Mac OSX 10.6+.

So I just have Chrome say it is Firefox for Windows, and now it works for Linux. I had to do the same for Netflix. Streams perfectly from my Roamio Plus to Chrome on my Linux boxes. Cool. How have I gone this long without even being aware of this website?

I know when I try to stream shows to the Android app on my HP Touchpad, now running Android 4.4.2 instead of WebOS, I can't, because it claims I have a modified device. Which, obviously, I do. <shrug> Now that I can stream to my netbook, my Touchpad doesn't really matter.

Thanks again!


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## pfiagra

justen_m said:


> How have I gone this long without even being aware of this website?


You didn't; it just debuted this week.


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## justen_m

pfiagra said:


> You didn't; it just debuted this week.


 LOL. I _just_ received an email from Tivo announcing Tivo Online, with the http://online.tivo.com link, plus iHeartRadio and Plex.

Is there an FAQ as to how this works? Or a specific thread for this? If I stream from my Roamio to a local PC, the data doesn't go from Roamio, out to tivo.com, and back to me, does it? Based on data rates on the receive end when I stream, it appears to exceed my 3Mbit/s upload max, with speed varying from 1 to 10Mbit/s or so. Occasional peaks around 15Mbit/s, but average is... 7.7Mbit/s. What happens if I try and stream from outside my LAN, say public wi-fi somewhere, library, Burger King, etc. Does that work?

The email only mentions viewing shows on your laptop from any room in your home. So I am guessing NO to my last question. [edit] Works fine with the latest Chrome in Windows 10. Didn't even get the warning about an unsupported OS.


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## m_jonis

I just tried it, OK, I had requested this feature, but:
1) Apparently doesn't work OOH (no watching when I'm in Mexico-haha)
2) The quality (if I make the little 4x3" window full screen) did NOT look like HD at all, IMO. I get a sharper picture on my Asus 10" tablet, IMO. But maybe I did something wrong or didn't tweak a setting (I couldn't see a setting to up the resolution).


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## justen_m

m_jonis said:


> I just tried it, OK, I had requested this feature, but:
> 1) Apparently doesn't work OOH (no watching when I'm in Mexico-haha)
> 2) The quality (if I make the little 4x3" window full screen) did NOT look like HD at all, IMO. I get a sharper picture on my Asus 10" tablet, IMO. But maybe I did something wrong or didn't tweak a setting (I couldn't see a setting to up the resolution).


My video quality isn't any different than if I were to transfer the program from my Tivo to PC via kmttg. What bandwidth are you seeing on the receiving side when viewing videos? Is your TiVo connected via wired ethernet? Wireless? MOCA? In the past, with other issues (like Netflix streaming), the TiVo connection to the LAN seemed to have an affect. Is your receiving PC getting data ~8Mbps? Or less? Any chance the receiving PC is CPU bound (unlikely if your PC isn't a slow antique)?


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## m_jonis

justen_m said:


> My video quality isn't any different than if I were to transfer the program from my Tivo to PC via kmttg. What bandwidth are you seeing on the receiving side when viewing videos? Is your TiVo connected via wired ethernet? Wireless? MOCA? In the past, with other issues (like Netflix streaming), the TiVo connection to the LAN seemed to have an affect. Is your receiving PC getting data ~8Mbps? Or less? Any chance the receiving PC is CPU bound (unlikely if your PC isn't a slow antique)?


Not sure how to check the bandwidth. The Tivo Premiere XL is on wired ethernet (cat5e, gigabit switch). I was watching on my Core i7 laptop (4 GB RAM, SSD hard drive) in Firefox. Laptop was on Wireless 5 Ghz. I can transfer actual files just fine.

The playback wasn't pixellated or anything, it just didn't look "HD" quality compared to what I see on my Android devices.

I didn't see a "quality" indicator like you with Stream and Android.

I'd say it looked more like watching YouTube at 480 vs. 720p or 1080p


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## justen_m

m_jonis said:


> Not sure how to check the bandwidth. The Tivo Premiere XL is on wired ethernet (cat5e, gigabit switch). I was watching on my Core i7 laptop (4 GB RAM, SSD hard drive) in Firefox. Laptop was on Wireless 5 Ghz. I can transfer actual files just fine.


Ok, so I think that eliminates hardware/connectivity as the source of the problem. I have Win 10. The easiest way to check bandwidth is just fire up the task manager and click on ethernet. There is a line on the graph that shows average throughput, I think. With Win 7, I don't think the "average" line is there, but you should be able to look at the graph and make a guestimate.



> The playback wasn't pixellated or anything, it just didn't look "HD" quality compared to what I see on my Android devices.


Possibly just a screen size/resolution issue? Don't know. I tried streaming on an ancient 6.50-year-old 1024x600 netbook, but it was choppy because it was CPU bound..



> I didn't see a "quality" indicator like you with Stream and Android.


 Android streaming doesn't work with my only Android device (modified kernel), but HD on a 9" screen is definitely different than on my 22".



> I'd say it looked more like watching YouTube at 480 vs. 720p or 1080p


 It looks different than if you download the show to your computer via kmttg, pyTivo, or TiVo desktop and play it with a media player? I don't know how that would be possible. Anybody able to educate me, or have other ideas on how do diagnose? I just learned about online.tivo.com this morning and have been playing catchup trying to educate myself.

Sorry, I'm an engineer, and love problem solving. This is weird. I don't have the hardware/licences to fully explore this on my own. Seriously, I am unable to reproduce any of the problems. Makes it difficult to analyze.


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## HarperVision

justen_m said:


> Ok, so I think that eliminates hardware/connectivity as the source of the problem. I have Win 10. The easiest way to check bandwidth is just fire up the task manager and click on ethernet. There is a line on the graph that shows average throughput, I think. With Win 7, I don't think the "average" line is there, but you should be able to look at the graph and make a guestimate. Possibly just a screen size/resolution issue? Don't know. I tried streaming on an ancient 6.50-year-old 1024x600 netbook, but it was choppy because it was CPU bound.. Android streaming doesn't work with my only Android device (modified kernel), but HD on a 9" screen is definitely different than on my 22". It looks different than if you download the show to your computer via kmttg, pyTivo, or TiVo desktop and play it with a media player? I don't know how that would be possible. Anybody able to educate me, or have other ideas on how do diagnose? I just learned about online.tivo.com this morning and have been playing catchup trying to educate myself. Sorry, I'm an engineer, and love problem solving. This is weird. I don't have the hardware/licences to fully explore this on my own. Seriously, I am unable to reproduce any of the problems. Makes it difficult to analyze.


When you transfer to the PC it's the native MPEG-2 transport stream video in full resolution whereas when it's streamed to the web browser it's transcoded using the TiVo Stream device which introduces some compression artifacts. The video stream you're watching in the web browser is the same one that the mobile apps use.

I don't see how you can't see a difference? I noticed the edge artifacts, lack of depth and mosquito noise almost immediately.


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## aaronwt

m_jonis said:


> I just tried it, OK, I had requested this feature, but:
> 1) Apparently doesn't work OOH (no watching when I'm in Mexico-haha)
> 2) The quality (if I make the little 4x3" window full screen) did NOT look like HD at all, IMO. I get a sharper picture on my Asus 10" tablet, IMO. But maybe I did something wrong or didn't tweak a setting (I couldn't see a setting to up the resolution).


The content is going through the TiVo stream. When I looked at the Stream sysinfo screen in my web browser it showed that the video was being sent as 1920x540P.

EDIT: I just looked at it again. Maybe I mis-remembered what I saw. It shows "encoding: 1280x720 H.264 High Level 4.1 VBR"

And then it shows "Picture Scaling: 540P"


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## m_jonis

HarperVision said:


> When you transfer to the PC it's the native MPEG-2 transport stream video in full resolution whereas when it's streamed to the web browser it's transcoded using the TiVo Stream device which introduces some compression artifacts. The video stream you're watching in the web browser is the same one that the mobile apps use.
> 
> I don't see how you can't see a difference? I noticed the edge artifacts, lack of depth and mosquito noise almost immediately.


Ah, OK, so I'm not alone. Yes, STREAMING is different than downloading. Downloaded stuff is just fine.

I was just confused as to why Streaming to PC looked worse than Streaming to my Android devices. But I see the next post so maybe I can see what resolution/etc. is being sent to the PC.

I'm not sure if the Stream to PC is via the Tivo Stream or not (I'm assuming it is), since I don't have a Roamio.


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## HarperVision

m_jonis said:


> ........ I'm not sure if the Stream to PC is via the Tivo Stream or not (I'm assuming it is), since I don't have a Roamio.


It is via the Stream. If you don't have one either built into your Roamio or stand alone in your system then you can't stream to your web browser.


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