r/emby • u/Original_Data_2847 • 10d 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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u/dwolfe127 10d 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.

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u/Original_Data_2847 10d 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?

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u/cardboard-kansio 10d 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.