Plex Live TV Now available to watch and record – Improve your Plex Media Server Today

Record live TV on your Plex Media Server NAS – Huge news from Plex

Plex and NAS are two subjects that have grown closer and closer every day. With so much of our media becoming digital and everyone needing a place for it all to live, Plex has become the leading resource for many looking to centralise their media in one place, yet have it accessible from every device in the home and over the internet. However one area in which it failed to compete with it’s rivals in digital TV and cable television is simple day to day access. All media has to be already digitally downloaded from a store or online source, watched live via broadcast (such as Fox, BBC and more) or you have to pay for digital subscription service to stream the media. THAT ENDS NOW!

    

With the recently update to Plex, you can now attach a digital tuner to your NAS (loads available and all via USB), to you NVidia Shield or even your bespoke PC home built NAS, connect your Aerial or cable service as you would a TV and boom – that’s it! You can now not only watch the typical TV that you would normally watch, but you can record the TV (as you would TiVo, Skybox or other set top box) and then you have it forever! Likewise you can also stream the Live TV accessible from your home, directly to your Android or Apple mobile device over the internet. No more relying on catch up services after the event. If you want to watch everything from the Macy’s day parade live to watching Eastenders and the Queen’s speech, LIVE, from your mobile phone, you can!

What are the limitations? It cannot be that easy to watch and record Live TV on my Plex Media Server

 That is indeed correct. At the moment Plex Live TV (such an imaginative title.. you can smell the sarcasm) is ONLY available in BETA and also only for Plex Pass subscribers. What that means in real terms is that a free plex account will not be sufficient to access the Live TV facility and you will have to pay for the subscription. This is still SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than most TV services that include the ability to stream and record, with the monthly package at £3.99 a month, a year subscription at £31.99 currently and £94.99 for the lifetime access package (offer on at the moment).

Also as the service is in Beta, you can expect the occasional hiccup whilst bugs are worked out due to mass user access.  However these are few and far between and we are assured that any any bugs and glitches are going to be more to do with your hardware than the software, as this service is more of an upgrade to existing Plex services than a whole different software system. Think of Plex Live TV as consolidating your whole media setup of Live TV and all your personal content. Speaking as someone with a Tivo that is filled to the brim with content that is almost impossible to remove, the idea of taht same content living on my Plex Media server alongside my purchased retail movies, boxsets and more is a very attractive facility indeed. Given the rising costs of digital TV packages and streaming services starting at 9.99 a month, you can see why Plex have introduced this feature.

What else should I know about Plex Live TV on my NAS, NVidia Shield or FreeNAS?

First and foremost streaming to mobile devices, like any streaming of bigger media via Plex, may well require transcoding for smooth running. You cannot expect HD 24Hour News to be any different than your 1080p copy of Guardians of the Galaxy – streaming that smoothly to your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S8 will need your Plex Media Server to have transcoding resources. You will need a machine with at least a dual core x86 CPU, above 1.6GHz and 2GB of DDR3 Memory.

Likewise Live TV requires Plex Media Server v1.7.2 or newer and you must set up the DVR in your server. Lastly the mobile Apps from supporting Plex Live TV are , Nvidia Shield Plex App, Android TV and iOS Plex Apps, with more to follow as soon as full stability is confirmed by the end of June, Plex should be ready to support Live TV on Apple TV and Android mobile. The rest is BETA restrictions that we are sure will be lifted closer to full release:

• Live TV viewing cannot currently be shared. Only the Plex Media Server owner account can currently watch live TV
• You cannot pause or time-shift (e.g. rewind) the stream. We’re working to support this functionality soon.
• Flinging or casting playback to another Plex app is not currently supported.
• You cannot initiate a recording of what you’re currently watching in the client. If you wish to start recording, you’ll need to stop live playback and then start recording.

Where shall I buy my Plex Media Server NAS for Live TV?

As always, if you have a question about NAS or need help sorting your first Plex Media Server, contact the guys the NAS Experts. They will provide all the technical advice you need, as well as building your NAS solution from the ground up, check your drives (any bad sectors and more), configure your RAID and ship you a ready to go NAS with Plex installed and ready to go! Click to find out more.

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