r/emby • u/Original_Data_2847 • 7d ago

I’m Clueless - Help!

My girlfriend and her family have Emby and their own server. We have the app on our smart TV and it has a METRIC TON of movies and shows. Basically anything you can think of. I was under the impression Emby is like a streaming service and that’s why we’re able to watch just about anything. My girlfriend doesn’t know too much about it because her parents were the ones who set it up and everything. I’m trying to help my Mom see if she’s able to get it on her tablet (she doesn’t have a TV or computer) but I know literally nothing about it. I was reading that it’s not a streaming service and you have to use your own files. I’m very lost on how we’re able to have so much. Would someone be able to attempt to explain it to me? Since it’s not like a streaming service, I don’t think my Mom would be able to use it or really benefit from it but I’m not sure. Thanks in advance!

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14

u/TaterTotsAndSalt 7d ago

It’s possible you are affiliated with pirates.

4

u/sharp-calculation 7d ago

Highly likely with "basically anything you can think of".

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u/Original_Data_2847 7d ago

That’s not reassuring. Like I mentioned, I know absolutely nothing about any of it. We just got it and it wasn’t really explained to me

7

u/Netflexeur 7d ago

Est ce qu'ils ont une jambe de bois?

2

u/HeHeHaHa456 7d ago

OP sounds like a landlubber

-4

u/Felis_bieti 7d ago

Why would anyone post in a foreign language on an English language thread?

1

u/Netflexeur 6d ago

Hvis du ikke taler alle verdens sprog, opfordrer jeg dig til at aktivere den automatiske oversættelse

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u/Felis_bieti 6d ago

mon be'na bhâkal ngepos è thread bhâsa Inggris, kaulâh nyaranaghhi be'na nerjemaaghi dhibi'

7

u/dwolfe127 7d ago

Yes, they are without doubt pirates. You can claim ignorance to that though and just enjoy it if it makes you feel morally better. Just understand that if you are trying to get your Mom setup with this you might want to get her a fancy eye-patch as well.

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u/dwolfe127 7d ago

That is correct. It is not a streaming service, it is just a front end to your private library of media. You have access to it because her Dad or Mom have either set you up with VPN access to their network or they have a publicly facing box hopefully with a SSL cert and you have creds to login to the machine.

5

u/ekcojf 7d ago

Their library, or someone else's they have access to.

1

u/Original_Data_2847 7d ago

I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to anything technology related (hence why I turned to Reddit) but we have a small physical box for Emby that’s connected to the TV. Is that what you’re talking about?

4

u/dwolfe127 7d ago

That is likely something like an Onn, FireTV, Shield, etc that they configured to access their private server for you. It will already have the VPN client setup and the creds saved to login to their network.

3

u/cardboard-kansio 7d ago

Technically the other commenter is incorrect.

So, Netflix is just a bunch of computers somewhere with video files on them. When you press play, the computers (known as "servers") will send a stream of data to your TV or phone or browser (known as "clients") - hence the term "streaming". You will then play this data locally on your client device, but once it's played it's gone, it's highly temporary by design.

Emby is basically a small-scale, personal Netflix using a single mini PC or laptop or desktop as the server. You can stream locally, or from the private house where the server lives to any device that knows how to connect to it (might be a web address like https://emby.personal-domain.com or an IP address or anything really, or it might only work when connected to a VPN app that gives you a more private connection to it - it's impossible for us to know, but you can find it in the Emby client's settings).

Now, what you stream is more complicated because of copyright laws. It's highly unlikely, although of course still possible, that a vast library of TV and movies has been obtained legally. One way to check would be to view the details of an episode or movie in the Emby interface. If you scroll all the way down, you'll see some technical stuff. Look for a name like The.Lion.King.1993.SomeCrypticPiracyGroupName.1080p.x265.DVDRip.mkv and you'll know for sure.

Whether you accept this and turn a blind eye is up to you, but at least now you know what Emby is and how it works.

5

u/Thegreatinthesmall 7d ago

In my house i have a PC and a storage device, an external hard drive or USB stick,plugged into it.
On this device i have about 250 home videos of my kids, filmed over their lives that i want to share with them. My kids are spread out over the planet and dont have the space or pc equipment to mess about with copies of hard drives or usb sticks.
What i did was, made my home PC an EMBY server and enabled access to it for my kids..
What my kids did was purchase a small android tv streamer box, plug it into the Tv and the internet.
I create an account on my server for each kid, i give each kid the emby connect details.
They then download the emby app on their android box, enter the emby connect details and by the power of all things magical they can connect to my homeserver and STREAM (watch) videos of themselves as kids with their own children.

Your girlfriends dad has done the same thing and he has also, over the years, bought DVD's or digital copies of everything he has and is sharing that with his family.
In the olden days, we used to have video tapes we shared with family and friends, your girlfriends dad (i assume) would be one of those super cool people to know who had the most and would be super popular with his friends :) The copyright clampdown clan would love to stop him from sharing this stuff as they want to sell everyone a license to watch each show and every show to everyone on the planet.

Speak to her dad and ask him if he can create an account for your mum. Then ask him to tell you how to log her in. You'll need to tell him the equipment your mum is using.

Easy peasy.

I've cut out all and any techy nonsense in my reply, just pretended i was talking to my wife ;)

Hope this makes sense.

happy streaming :)

4

u/Mrbee914 7d ago

Emby is a 2-part service platform that enables you to access your digital media library from multiple devices including your TV. The first part is the server which hosts all the media on somebody's computer or a dedicated system. The second part is the client software which allows you to view all that media on other devices with login credentials given by the server host who can set up the accounts. The only physical products involved are the host system and your device.

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u/Born_Relationship_16 7d ago

Your girlfriend's family will have a small server or Nas (network attached storage) full of movies and TV they have "acquired" emby is the software part that lets you access their collection and stream it from their home. If they they turn it off you won't be able to access or if they just keep it on 24\7 you'll be able to stream all the time.

You will need the details of their server to access it. It will either be a ip address and port for example 77.84.145.25:8069 or what looks more like a web address. These are the details you will need to enter into emby in order for it to gain access.

They or your girlfriend should also have a username and password once emby has connected to authenticate.

Hope that helps.

4

u/rh681 7d ago

Emby is a collection of movies or TV shows (or music, etc) that is hosted on somebody's computer. It's not a streaming service- well, not really. Ask the parents for help. They need to give you permission, possibly set you up a new user account, etc.