Plex's new live TV service is a tool that would-be cord cutters considering a PlayStation Vue or YouTube TV subscription might shrug off as unnecessary.
After all, Plex Live TV, unveiled on Thursday, doesn't offer any actual TV channels. It's also tied to Plex, a fairly niche service popular among the type of enthusiast who has a vast collection of offline movies and shows and a server or two to beam them to any TV in his or her house.
But Plex Live TV has something to offer everyone, assuming they have the requisite $5-per-month Plex Pass subscription. For people who are looking to eliminate their cable bill and switch to a streaming TV service, Plex can fill in the gaps when combined with an antenna and TV tuner, since some streaming providers are limited in the amount of local stations they can offer.
At launch, it works with any Android TV-powered TV or entertainment box, including the Nvidia Shield . Not only is the Shield capable of acting as both a Plex server and a Plex client, but as of Thursday it also supports USB TV tuners via version 5.2 of its software, according to Nvidia. That means you can watch and record shows via Plex Live TV on the Shield, as well as use it to beam them to any iOS device with the Plex app. Plex says support for Apple TV and Android mobile devices will arrive in the next few weeks.
As for available content, pretty much any station you can get over the air or via a cable card will work with Plex Live TV. That includes NTSC content in the North American region, as well as broadcasts intended for international markets, according to Plex. And all of it will work with the Plex DVR and show up in the Plex interface, from where you can set future recordings and browse suggested episodes based on your viewing history or shows you already own.
And it is the suggestions that are likely to be Plex Live TV's killer feature, at least for long-time Plex users with huge libraries. They'll appreciate the ability to easily fill in missing episodes of shows in their collections for free via over-the-air broadcasts or their cable cards.
In preparation for Live TV, Plex also beefed up its DVR service to handle overlapping recordings on the same channel, and added support for more TV tuners (though not every tuner on the expanded list works with Shield, so you'll want to check with Plex and Nvidia before you buy a specific model).
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