What the player can play
Formats
| Kind | What the player takes |
|---|---|
| Addresses | Files on your computer, ordinary web links (http and https), HLS (.m3u8) streams including those encrypted with AES-128, MPEG-DASH manifests, multicast television over UDP or RTP (udp:// and rtp:// addresses, as some internet providers carry their own channels), Stalker portal channels, and internet radio stations with their song titles. |
| Containers | Transport stream (TS), MP4, Matroska (MKV), AVI, and plain audio for radio. |
| Picture | H.264, HEVC (H.265), MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VP9 and AV1. |
| Sound | AAC, MP3 and MPEG audio, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus (AC-3 and E-AC-3), and DTS. |
| Subtitles | Text subtitles in MP4 and Matroska files (SubRip, and SSA/ASS shown as plain text), SubRip and WebVTT files beside a film, the picture subtitles and teletext subtitles European broadcasters send, and PGS and VobSub subtitles from Blu-ray and DVD rips in Matroska files. |
Decoders
- The player uses the decoders built into Windows. When Windows has no decoder for a track, the player names it ("Windows cannot decode this", for example "HEVC: no decoder on this computer") and plays the rest of the stream.
- On a live channel whose sound track does not decode, the player moves to the next sound track that does, and says so. When none of them does, it says "None of this channel's sound tracks decodes on this computer" and goes on showing the picture. The track notices mark such a track "not decodable here".
rtsp, rtmp, srt and mms addresses cannot be opened, and the player says so. Neither can streams protected with DRM.
User agents and referers
Some providers only hand a stream to a player that gives the right name or referer. Where the playlist says so, the player does. The name the player gives otherwise is set under "Playing and recording" on the User agents settings page (an expert page).
Choosing a picture size
An HLS or DASH stream often comes in several sizes. The player takes the best one that fits "Picture to take when a stream offers a choice" on the Picture settings page: Best available, or 2160, 1080, 720 or 480 lines at most. The choice is made when the stream opens and kept while it plays; the player does not switch sizes by itself during playback.
When a stream drops
When a live channel stops, or a film breaks off with an error, the player picks it up again by itself, up to six times, waiting a little longer each time (from one second up to thirty). The last picture stays on screen while it does, and a film carries on from where it was. A portal channel is asked for a fresh address. If it still does not come back, the player says the stream could not be played, and why.
Picture and sound settings
These settings pages, under Player in Settings, change how things are watched. The player reads them again when you close the Settings window, and some take effect from the next channel or film you open.
Picture
- Decode video on the graphics card when it can: on unless you turn it off. If the graphics card fails to decode a stream, the player moves to the processor from the next picture on, for as long as the player is open, and the report says why.
- Smooth out interlaced pictures (deinterlace): on unless you turn it off. Broadcast television is often interlaced and combs on anything that moves; a progressive picture is left alone.
- Picture to take when a stream offers a choice.
- Brightness, Contrast and Gamma.
Sound
- Sound output: System default, or a sound device of your choice.
- Preferred sound language.
- Always fold surround sound down to stereo. Without it, surround sound plays as surround where the sound card takes it, and is folded to stereo where it does not.
- Send Dolby Digital and DTS to the receiver undecoded: for a home cinema receiver that decodes them itself. Where the sound card will not take them, they are decoded here as usual.
- Even out how loud channels are: measures how loud each channel is, the way broadcasters do, and evens it out slowly, about a decibel a second, so quiet passages are not pumped up.
- Lift quiet sound to (100 is unchanged): up to 400, for a stream that was mastered too quietly. Loud passages are held at full level rather than crackling.
- The equaliser's shape, and whether it is on.
Subtitles
- Preferred subtitle language, and how subtitles look.
Playback (expert)
- Sound gathered before playing, Gathered again after a gap, Sound card buffer and Pictures read ahead: how much is buffered, so a pause on the network is not heard.
- Give up opening after (s): how long a stream may take to start.
- Live TV kept for pausing (MB, 0 is off): the pause buffer.
- Play the next episode when one ends.
Playback is an expert page: tick "Show expert settings" under Settings > Common to see it.
Something does not play
- The stream details: tick "Show developer tools" under Settings > Common, and a card at the top right of the picture shows what is playing - the picture's format, size, frame rate and whether it is interlaced, whether the graphics card decodes it, the sound's format, channels and language, whether surround is folded to stereo or sent on to a receiver, how much is buffered, the pause buffer, how many pictures were shown and dropped, the speed it arrives at, and where it comes from. D hides and shows it. It is not shown in the small window.
- L shows the engine log over the picture: what was opened, what was in it, which decoder took what, and why a stream ended.
- E saves a report with all of that, the settings and the version, as a text file named "Player report" with the date and time, in a folder called ERD-Playlist Studio in your Documents folder. It is copied to the clipboard as well, ready to paste into a message. Passwords are taken out of the stream's address.
- For a longer record, turn on "Write a log" and "Playing: what was opened, what was in it, how it went" on the Logging settings page.
Frequently asked questions
What does ERD-Playlist Studio do?
ERD-Playlist Studio builds and looks after IPTV playlists. Open a playlist from a file or from your provider, tidy it up, check which channels still work, match it to a TV guide, and watch, record and download what is on it.
What do I need to run ERD-Playlist Studio?
- Windows 10 or later.
- A 64-bit PC (x64), a Windows on Arm PC (arm64) or a 32-bit PC (x86).
- Administrator rights to install.
- Windows' own media support.
The player says "Windows cannot decode this". What can I do?
The player uses the decoders built into Windows. The "N" editions of Windows ship without Windows' own media support: there the studio starts and works, but the player says "Windows cannot decode this" until you add the Media Feature Pack from Windows' Optional features. When Windows has no decoder for a single track, the player names it (for example "HEVC: no decoder on this computer") and plays the rest of the stream.
Where can a playlist come from?
A file you have (M3U, Smart IPTV, Enigma/Dreambox bouquets, XSPF, ASX, WPL or PLS), an address from your provider, an Xtream Codes account, a Stalker (Ministra) portal, the free channels of iptv-org or radio stations from radio-browser.info.
Which formats can I save and export to?
Save and Save As write M3U (.m3u or .m3u8), Smart IPTV, Enigma/Dreambox, ASX, WPL, PLS or XSPF. Export also writes the ticked groups as an HTML, CSV, JSON, Markdown or XML report. Files are written as UTF-8 text.
Can I undo changes to a playlist?
Yes. Every change to a playlist can be undone with Undo (Ctrl+Z) and done again with Redo (Ctrl+Y), each playlist keeping its own history. Bigger jobs, such as an import, a find and replace or a sort, are one step each. Locking is not an undo step.
How do I find out which channels still work?
Run Stream > Stream Checker... It tries every stream of All Groups or one group and marks each with a green star (online) or a red one (offline). It then reads up to 50 of the streams that answered, and a stream that is not what it says gets a violet star. Delete offline streams removes what was found offline, and can be undone.
What do the coloured stars mean?
Grey: not changed. Blue: changed. Green: online. Red: offline. Violet: not what it says it is. An orange star before a name marks a favourite; a red star after a name marks a locked stream.
How do I merge my provider's new playlist into my own?
Use Tools > Playlist Health Center.. and choose Compare with a provider playlist and apply selected changes. You see every stream the other playlist Added, Removed or Modified, all ticked; untick what you want to keep as it is and press Next to apply the rest. Tick Save as provider profile to keep comparing with that source on a schedule.
How do I keep a playlist up to date with my provider automatically?
Set up a provider profile with Tools > Provider Profiles... While the studio is open it looks every minute for enabled profiles that are due, and brings them up to date in the background. Profiles can also be brought up to date with the studio closed, with M3UEditorCLI sync_all --due-only in Task Scheduler.
Can a provider profile empty my playlist by mistake?
No. When the provider sends back an empty playlist while your target has streams in it, the run stops rather than emptying your playlist. Before any change is made, a snapshot of the target is kept, and the new playlist is only put in place once it has been read back and found sound.
How do I restore an earlier version of a playlist?
Before the Playlist Health Center or a provider profile changes a playlist, the studio saves a copy of it as it was. The last ten are kept for each playlist. Tools > Restore snapshot.. lists them, newest first; the one you pick opens as a separate playlist called Restored- followed by the name.
How do I match my channels to a TV guide?
A guide finds a channel by its tvg-id. Choose an EPG code set (SmartIPTV, BaZnGa or DiamondTV) under Settings > TV guide, then use Tools > Assign EPG Codes.. to write the best match into tvg-id for all groups or one group. The TV Guide ID editor (the "..." beside tvg-id) does the same for one stream.
The TV Guide shows data for only a few of my channels. Why?
The status bar says how many of the playlist's channels the guide actually has data for. A low number usually means the channels' tvg-id tags do not match the guide.
All the times in the guide are an hour out. How do I fix that?
Set Settings > Guide alignment > Guide time offset (minutes, may be negative). Guide alignment is an expert page: tick Show expert settings under Settings > Common to see it. For a single channel, right-click its name in the guide and choose Guide offset.
Can I pause live TV?
Yes. Press Space to pause a live channel; the player keeps recording it into a buffer on disk, so you can carry on where you paused. The size of the buffer is "Live TV kept for pausing (MB, 0 is off)" on the Playback settings page, 512 MB unless you change it.
Can I watch a programme that has already been on?
When your provider keeps catch-up for a channel and the TV Guide knows what is on, Backspace offers the programme on now from its start, and going back past the pause buffer offers the programme at that moment. Press Y to switch.
Which streams can the player not play?
rtsp, rtmp, srt and mms addresses cannot be opened, and the player says so. Neither can streams protected with DRM.
Can I play a stream on my television?
Yes, with Send to TV. It finds Chromecasts, Google TVs and televisions with Google Cast built in, AirPlay receivers such as an Apple TV, and DLNA televisions and players on your network. To put a whole playlist on a television running the Smart IPTV app, use Tools > Send to Smart IPTV...
Can I record while the studio is closed?
Yes. With "RecordingCLI run" going in the background, bookings are recorded and downloads carry on while the studio is closed, and the two hand the work back and forth by themselves. Series rules need the studio, because it reads the guide.
Will my computer wake up for a recording?
While recordings are booked or running, the studio keeps the computer from going to sleep, and sets it to wake up a minute before the next booking. If Windows will not allow either, you are told when you book, so you can leave the computer on or turn on wake timers in the Windows power plan.
What happens when my provider only allows a few connections?
The studio asks the provider (Xtream Codes accounts say) and holds a recording or download back until a connection is free rather than having it refused. When more recordings are due than there are connections, the one with the higher Priority goes first.
Can Kodi, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin use my playlist's films and series?
Yes. Tools > STRM Library.. writes the playlist's films and series as a library of small .strm files that Kodi, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin can list and play without anything being downloaded, with .nfo files if you like. Downloads can also carry an .nfo file beside them.
Do I need accounts for film details and subtitles?
TMDB and TVDB both need a free account of your own; put the keys under Settings > Databases. No key ships with the studio, and a database with no key is simply not asked. Keys are stored encrypted for your Windows account. Subtitles come from OpenSubtitles.com with your own OpenSubtitles API key under Settings > Subtitle search; with no key nothing is fetched, and a user name and password are optional. CDDB and MusicBrainz need no account.
Is my Trakt password stored in the studio?
No. Connect.. under Settings > Trakt shows a code to type on Trakt's website; your Trakt password is never asked for.
How can I lock channels from children?
Right-click a group or streams and choose Lock, and set a code under Settings > Parental lock. From then on, watching a locked stream, sending it to a TV, or recording or downloading it asks for the code first. The lock is written into the playlist file; the code is kept on this computer only and never written into a playlist.
Which languages does ERD-Playlist Studio speak?
Fifteen: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Polish, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Romanian and Swedish. Choose one under Settings > Common > Language and press OK; the whole program changes at once, without restarting.
Can I open two playlists in separate windows?
Yes. Untick "Allow only one instance" under Settings > Instances (an expert page). With more than one window open, the first one looks after the recording schedule, the unattended refresh of your provider profiles, the download queue and the AI assistant connection. Only that window records and downloads, so nothing is done twice.
Can I use ERD-Playlist Studio from scripts?
Yes. M3UEditorCLI works on playlists and RecordingCLI on recordings and downloads. Both answer in JSON on standard output, and several commands can go on one line. "help" after either tool's name lists everything it can do.
Can an AI assistant work with my playlists?
An AI assistant that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can read and edit your playlists, book recordings and look after your downloads: either on the playlist open in the studio (Settings > AI assistants, off by default, only programs on this computer can connect), or on any playlist file with M3UEditorCLI mcp.
Is a licence key needed?
Yes. ERD-Playlist Studio needs a valid licence key to run. Enter it with Help > Activate License..; the command line tools use the same key. Please do not share your key: a key that is shared can be revoked.
Are updates checked to be genuine?
Yes. Before anything is offered, the answer from the update server is checked to be genuine, and the downloaded installer is checked against it before it runs. An update can never take you back to an older version, and your settings are kept.
What does uninstalling leave behind?
The uninstaller leaves your own things where they are: your settings, caches and kept guides, recording schedule and download queue, logs, earlier versions of your playlists, and every recording and download. To start completely afresh, delete the program's folder in your local application data folder and in your Documents folder.