IT has to do with what is going on when requesting a channel on particular clients.
Roku for example:
Select live tv channel
request is sent back to tablo
tablo tunes channel
tablo starts recording channel into buffer
tablo starts transcoding and creating the HLS segments used for client playback
tablo sends the stream back to roku
roku displays it.
The order of steps might be wrong there and i may have left some out but you get the idea.
That being said if you tune to a channel on a tuner not being used, and then try and access that stream from another device by selecting “liveTV” tablo and client will usually start playing the stream in about 2 seconds. Keep in mind that is only if tablo has already been “tuned” to that station previously
I appreciate the explanation. Too bad there isn’t a “Just Live” mode on either device.
Thanks to this forum, I am really leaning toward adding a Tablo but don’t want to commit until I check out (eliminate) the Channel Master. I’d like the next purchase to be the last for a while. (Cordcutting startup expenses add up - antennas, hard drives, upgrading Rokus, etc.) I know it’s worth it though.
Yeah, sometimes its nice to just surf. A lot of folks will split their line and go direct to the TV when you need this.
I know there were some conversations on other threads about the channel master with mixed reviews. Last i heard they were complaining about bugs and the fact that it can only hook up to one TV.
@terryowen I’ve never found a PVR solution with desirable real-time channel changing capabilities… I find that navigating the channel guide and selecting the show to watch, to be acceptable… And so much better than the similar experience I recall from cable providers.
I’m just saying, for live TV, change the input mode on the TV and let the TV tune the channels directly. I split my antenna feed to Tablo and my TV and life just is better with a purpose built device… Doing it’s purpose.
I’ll probably get a splitter but I’m at the edge of the antenna range, so will likely need the preamp too. At least I can stop worrying about the channel-changing time now.
It looks like I’ll be getting a Tablo soon - hopefully before the fall shows start. :-)
I’ve been a STV1 user for over a year now. The device has been relatively stable for months now. But issues during the Super Bowl lead me to give up on the device as soon as there was another device available to replace it. Enter Tablo. I still run both right now. STV1 records some shows and Tablo records all others. Tablo also is the go to device for live tv.
When my STV1 device is working it really is similar to Tablo. I prefer the android and browser of tablo more but the two are not that different that I would say I hate simple tv’s UIs. Both Roku channels are very similar (though I get the feeling Tablo will make their’s better way sooner than simple tv will). Recording quality between the two seems the same/similar. Viewing recordings/live tv remotely seems similar.Basically there isn’t a big difference (when comparing a working STV1 to Tablo)…except one nasty thing
Tablo’s tuners are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the tuner on my STV1. If you’re familiar with broadcast tv in the Chicago area then you’d know that the broadcast signals have always sucked. And I live ~30 miles SW of the broadcast tower(s)…which make it even worse. Both my tablo and STV1 are using the same antenna, same amplifier and same splitter and Tablo picks up nearly twice and many channels as the STV1. And those channels that the two share…tablo is more stable in my experience.
So I keep bringing up “…when STV1 is working…”. Simple tv relies on their own servers to facilitate communicate from the STV device and whatever app/channel/browser accessing it. When that server connection is…having issues…your experience will suffer. Like how I missed the first 20 min of the Super Bowl with a house full of people. I was tuned to the channel before the game. We were watching the pregame. All was fine. Then when the game was scheduled to start…we lost the connection. The boards reported plenty of people with similar issues. I suspect the simple tv servers were overloaded with people all needing that communication initiated from devices to apps at the same time.
Tablo, in theory, will not have that problem. Well, it shouldn’t when viewing locally. If every user were attempting to view remotely I suspect tablo at the same time I suspect tablo “might” have a similar problem. After all, wouldn’t tablo have to have server to faciliate the initial communication from device to remote app? Of course…I might be making things up.
STV1, when working, is not bad. Tablo, when working (and it has been very stable for me since week #2 for me), is a better experience. For me anyways
I’ve lived in the north, west, and nw suburbs. They’ve all had much better reception than the south, sw, and se suburbs (including nw IN). In fact Janesville WI was better picking up Chicago stations than Joliet when I was there 20 years ago.
FYI: my antenna is my attic and both my tablo and stv1 share the same antenna. I get two vastly different channel listings for both. A good tuner makes a world of difference and the tablo device apparently has a good one
I appreciate the explanation. Too bad there isn't a "Just Live" mode on either device. :-)
Thanks to this forum, I am really leaning toward adding a Tablo but don’t want to commit until I check out (eliminate) the Channel Master. I’d like the next purchase to be the last for a while. (Cordcutting startup expenses add up - antennas, hard drives, upgrading Rokus, etc.) I know it’s worth it though.
I was also looking at the channel master, but the thing doesn’t do is broadcast to other televisions or devices. That was the deal-breaker for me. The channel master is HDMI to a single TV set much like a Blu-ray player. The network connection to the channel master device is only used for guide access.
I’ve heard you couple pair the channel master to sling box to get recordings and such to other devices. Not sure how that would work, and it adds to the overall cost, but it “could” make the channel master viable when other devices are concerned
