MediaPortal is only the last link in a chain from tuner hardware -> tuner driver -> low-level OS -> MS BDA framework -> DirectShow -> MediaPortal. What's in question is the magnitude of the delay. I should also say: there will always be a delay due to processing. To you 8 seconds is significant with the greatest respect, to me 8 seconds is irrelevant. Frankly, I don't see things ever changing due to both the difficulty and a lack of perceived benefit. Nothing is impossible, but certain aspects of the architectural design do make it difficult. I'd rather have a real, live TV stream and accept the fact that I'd lose a few seconds if I decide to start timeshifting - than have timeshifting forced upon me, and never actually have a live Melville

However it would be nice to have the option. I understand that this would result in the loss of the instantaneous ability to pause the steam with zero content loss (as a timeshift buffer would have to be set up following the user pressing the pause button - taking time). However, could anyone tell me whether MediaPortal is capable of simply acting as a TV tuner, and serving out the stream DIRECTLY - avoiding a mandatory timeshift buffer file? Please correct me if I have made any erroneous assumptions about the program's behaviour. In my book, a timeshifted 8 seconds, via a buffer file, is not actually live TV. Result: neighbours launch their fireworks, while my own TV hasn't yet reached midnight.

When watching the so-called 'live' TV countdown, the TV stream is delayed by up to 8 seconds. A good example would be when watching the countdown to the New Year. This is quite noticeable when watching TV timed to certain live events. However it appears (and please correct me if I'm wrong), that the system first creates the timeshift buffer file, and only then serves out the stream from the 'live point' - via the file? This takes some time to set up. I understand that when a stream is opened, a temporary timeshift buffer file is created, allowing the viewer to pause the stream. My best guess is that this is due to timeshifting. One thing I notice, however: when I watch live TV, it isn't actually live. Thank you for the work done so far on developing this software. Since WMP was disabled for Windows 10, I needed a suitable replacement - and found success using Kodi as a front-end, with MediaPortal as a back-end TV server.

Kodi vs mediaportal live tv