Over the years, Plex has grown from a relatively simple home media server into an all-in-one entertainment powerhouse. Notable feature additions include streaming personalized news, the ability to operate entirely in the cloud instead of on your server, and a full-fledged DVR. Now that DVR has gotten even more powerful, adding a new feature to automatically remove commercials, which was spotted by Cord Cutters News.
The feature was added in an update the Plex team pushed out over the weekend. While most of the update was focused on fixing bugs, this new feature was also included. You'll need to manually enable the feature by heading into your Plex DVR settings and finding the option, labeled "Remove Commercials."
You may not want to turn the feature on immediately without looking into reports from other users. The description in the settings warns that while the feature will attempt to automatically locate and remove commercials, this could potentially take a long time and cause high CPU usage. If you're running your Plex server on a powerful computer, this may not be an issue, but if you're running it on an old laptop, you might want to hold off.
Source: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/plex-dvr-removes-commercials/
(Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:36PM (6 children)
How does this program determine what is a commercial, and what is desired content? As an extreme example, will you be able to record this movie [imdb.com] with that feature enabled?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:22PM (4 children)
I was expecting something more like http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/ [imdb.com] but then you've got abstract issues like http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/ [imdb.com]
A semi serious answer is more than a decade ago mythtv relied on commercials being exactly 30 seconds long in a big bunch with a couple minutes of addictive content in between. So if its 7 minutes into the show and there's a black frame both now and precisely 30 seconds from now...
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:08PM
Myth TV evolved, and found additional ways to detect commercials. I've not run it in several years, but it got so it was pretty good.
Back then it was a separate pass over each recording which could take longer than it took to record it.
Seems a lot like fighting spam.
I've since mostly moved to sources that don't have commercials, but for the recorded commercial tv I still use I've found I'm better at double/triple fast forward followed by the 30seconds back button.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by aclarke on Friday December 01 2017, @12:27PM (2 children)
I used MythTV for several years to record OTA. It was great for its time. It learned what we liked and didn't like, and was always recording what it thought we'd most like, deleting the stuff we hadn't watched that it thought we might like less. It automatically skipped the commercials correctly almost all the time.
I only stopped using it when I finally got HD. That of course was encrypted, and I started downloading my shows instead so I could time-shift. I justified that as I was paying for cable. Then I thought, "why am I paying for cable when I never actually watched it", so I cancelled cable.
This is off-topic, but if cable had just offered me unencrypted HD, I'd have kept paying for it a lot longer.
(Score: 2) by aclarke on Friday December 01 2017, @12:28PM
Correction: I recorded satellite TV with MythTV, not OTA. Not that anyone cares, but I'm a pedant for veracity.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Sunday December 03 2017, @02:38AM
With the move to encrypted basic service, you don't even get unencrypted non-HD anymore from cable, although my HDHomerun connected to an antenna gets perfectly good unencrypted digital.
But yeah the whole thing is kind of a moot point with the lack of content on the motivation side and I want/need free shipping from Amazon so I get prime which comes with more stuff than I can watch for "free" streaming.
I have the mythtv frontend and backend of my dreams from the early 00s, but now I rarely use it...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Friday December 01 2017, @05:29AM
There's lots of tricks that are pretty effective for most things - for example there usually a few blank frames of "dead air" separating commercials from the main show, volume tends to increase during commercials, etc.
Of course every case has its corners, and you will occasionally get "misfires" because of it. Which is why it would be really nice if these sorts of schemes just flagged the commercial boundaries so they could be automatically skipped during playback, rather than deleting them altogether. Then if there were any problems you could jump back into the last "commercial" to watch whatever was skipped.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:43PM (4 children)
And, I don't have to pay a subscription fee to use it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:16PM
More than a decade ago. And it worked nearly perfectly.
The irony is there's nothing really new on TV in the last decade so I've mostly stopped watching. My wife still watches Survivor and The Amazing Race.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:58PM
I was never bold enough to enable it, especially in the UK where it may not detect as well as in the US, however one feature I always used was "skip forwards 120 seconds" and "skip back 5 seconds". Adverts were almost exactly 240 seconds long, so "next next back" was fine for me.
I haven't watched adverted TV (rather than boxsets on netflix/amazon and of course advertless - not dogless - bbc) for several years though, so I no longer own a DVR of any kind (or an aerial to connect it to)
(Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Thursday November 30 2017, @10:31PM
(Score: 3, Informative) by edIII on Friday December 01 2017, @01:12AM
I've had it for years through piracy, which is truly the superior product. I receive:
Should I list all the detractions of the incumbents and monopolies? Anything but piracy is basically grabbing your ankles for some control freaks somewhere.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 4, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:54PM (6 children)
You might laugh but there are enough people who enjoy reading junk mail to keep big companies operating.
"Do you know why direct mail offers always say 'BUY NOW! DON'T DELAY!'?" -- Dave Johnson [seeingtheforest.com]
"No. Why?" -- Me
"Because it works."
It's known as a call to action. Business websites are advised to place a call to action near the top of every page on their website. My own call to action [soggy.jobs] solicits donations. Before that it solicited inlinks.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:05PM (3 children)
Let's try …
MODERATE THIS POST UP! DON'T DELAY!
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:31PM (1 child)
Modded down because I'm one of those people who will do the opposite of what advertisers and pressure groups say :D Not a dig at you personally.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Thursday November 30 2017, @09:12PM
Interesting=2, Overrated=3, Total=5
Turns out you're not the only one. Poor chap.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:40PM
HOLY CRAP! IT WORKED!
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:56PM (1 child)
I occasionally go through the emails my spam filter traps. I tell myself it’s to catch any false positives. And I do find the occasional one. But really it’s to read all the ridiculous and unintentionally funny spam messages.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday December 01 2017, @12:39AM
http://www.example/com/help-me-I'm-trapped-inside-a-web-browser [www.example]
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by crafoo on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:33PM (11 children)
Stop watching TV. Admit it, there isn't anything on. You use it to burn away time because you're too unmotivated or tired to do anything else. Watch a youtube instructional or technology video instead. Metal working, gardening, flowers and nature, a yoga video, anything. Removing TV is a lot like removing soda pop. When it's gone you will wonder how you ever lived with the poison.
(Score: 4, Touché) by etherscythe on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:48PM
Aw, not you [theonion.com] again.
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday November 30 2017, @09:35PM (7 children)
Admit it, there isn't anything on.
Yes, there is. Game of Thrones is excellent and well worth watching. However, it doesn't have any commercials.....
(However, it requires a subscription to HBO, so I recommend finding "alternative sources" to view it.)
Watch a youtube instructional or technology video instead.
This isn't bad advice (except for the yoga bit; do some real exercise instead), but YouTube has commercials too, so you're going to get some poison there too.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 30 2017, @10:53PM
Those seem to be adequately handled by my various add-ons: I don't see any of them.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:09PM
I would. Not available on its own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday December 01 2017, @06:21AM (2 children)
Actually yoga has much to recommend it since it develops flexibility and (to a lesser degree) core strength, both of which do a great deal to protect you from injuries large and small, not to mention mitigating the unpleasant stiffening and joint-pain of age - one of those things that becomes much more difficult to battle once it appears.
Granted, it won't burn calories like aerobics (though dieting is generally a lot more effective for losing weight), nor will it build muscle mass like strength training (though most people have little use for more strength than they develop naturally). So if your goal in exercising is substantial cosmetic changes, yoga probably isn't the best choice. For general health though, short and long-term, it's surprisingly effective. And it does tend to promote good muscle tone and graceful movement, which can make whatever you do have look a lot better. I've even heard it recommended by weight-trainers because it helps maintain the full range of motion for enlarging muscles, which can otherwise end up restricting your range of motion.
Plus, it's really amusing the first time you absentmindedly lay in your own lap as you squeeze under the table to retrieve something you've dropped - and then think "What the $#@! did I just do?"
And then there's the potential psychological / spiritual benefits, though I'm dubious as to whether it offers much more in that respect than a convenient opportunity and excuse to meditate.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Saturday December 02 2017, @02:34PM (1 child)
I agree with you on most of your yoga points. Flexibility is a real nice thing to develop. It doesn't have to be extreme either, just a good amount of flexibility makes life easier. I also think combining it with strength training is excellent for many of the same reasons. Your argument that, "just the strength you develop naturally" I think is invalid. Someone could try to make the same argument about flexibility. It's very nice to build a moderate amount of useful strength - not isolating muscles to "get big", but doing the big 3 or 4: dead lift, overhead press, squats, maybe some rows. Being able to grab a workbench and carry it up stairs without much strain feels pretty good.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday December 04 2017, @12:44AM
Fair enough. Though it is wise to be aware that it's quite easy to build up strength well in excess of what tendons and especially cartilage can handle. Espescially since cartilage damage may not be at all obvious until it's been accumulating for many years.
I think one of my favorite suggestions for moderate strength building was - avoid gratuitous "labor-saving" devices that only reduce physical exertion and not effort/attention, and make a habit of occasionally lifting and carrying around heavy objects every day. It take surprisingly little "above-and-beyond" exertion to develop pleasantly "excessive" strength.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 01 2017, @01:08PM
Shameless (US version) > $your-favorite-show
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Friday December 01 2017, @06:17PM
Obligatory MGDMT comic [thepunchlineismachismo.com]
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:03PM
News. But, yeah, if you're in US, it's useless as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday December 01 2017, @05:00PM
I disagree. YouTube is in my experience just as bad as TV. The problem isn't entirely the content, it's the *endless stream* of content. Which YouTube is *very* good at providing, probably better than traditional TV. Netflix would be far better than YouTube IMO because you have to actually *pick something*, even if you pick trash. And a series on there generally isn't just a bunch of disconnected segments like YouTube videos; you have to actually focus and pay attention if you want to know what's going on. You can't just come home, turn on the screen, and leave it running in the background until you go to sleep. Sure, Star Talk Radio or PBS Spacetime or EEVBlog are far more educational and interesting than Family Guy or whatever reality shows are on these days, but if you get hooked on those you could sink hundreds of hours into them before you run out of content -- and meanwhile they're still making more. And when you do finally run out, YouTube is just gonna give you a ton of suggestions of similar content so you can just keep on going.
IME the problem isn't watching trash, it's when you spend all your time halfway watching anything. Because then everything else you do is half-assed.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @10:05PM
So I cut the cord a couple years back. Some of our media is on my NAS, some on netflix etc. On Turkey Day I switched over to one of my OTA stations so the kids could see the parade. When they cut to commercial break my oldest kid (~3.5 years) said "Daddy - I don't like this show, change it back."
If I have to explain to my kids what ads are I must be doing something right.