You can not sit in front of the TV hoping for your favorite show to pop up. You probably have other stuff to do and a limited time for watching TV.
That’s why broadcasters use a Teletext form of an informatory system called EPG to inform their viewers which channel shows what and at what specific time.
What is EPG? Which IPTV players can manually import an EPG? How to add EPG to the IPTV player? I will answer these questions and more in this guide.
What is EPG?
EPG stands for Electronic Program Guide. Each channel has a separate EPG which helps you figure out what are the upcoming TV programs when they start and how long will each show be plus a paragraph (usually) of the content description.
On satellite, it is automatic and you can see it in a brief form below the channel name when you are just opening a new channel and in full detail when you click the EPG button on the remote controller.
However, with IPTV it is a bit different. It depends on whether the provider has equipped their service with EPG, are you going to use a third-party source for it, or if your player app supports EPG.
For instance, if you are running the IPTV service on a PC using a VLC player, there is no way -at least not at the moment- you can run or receive EPG on that.
How to extract EPG from M3U links?
Assuming the m3u link has EPG embedded, you can extract an XMLTV format EPG link from the m3u link. It’s simple, let’s say our m3u link is the one below:
http://otviptv.com:40000/get.php?username=otviptv&password=123456&type=m3u&output=ts
This delivers video and audio so you can run a stream through it but by changing “get.php” to xmltv.php and removing “&type=m3u&output=ts” you’ll have yourself an EPG link just like this:
http://otviptv.com:40000/xmltv.php?username=otviptv&password=123456
So this is how you make an EPG link out of an m3u link. Now you can place this link in the EPG field of your player app to have it available on all channels.
Which IPTV players can be manually added with an EPG?
- Perfect Player
- GSE Smart IPTV
- Smart IPTV
- Kodi
How To add EPG Guide On GSE Smart IPTV
GSE is a complete user-defined Advanced IPTV solution for live and VOD streams. With a built-in powerful player that supports most formats such as M3U with options.
Step 1: Open GSE and in the top left corner click on the 3 lines to bring up the menu and click on “EPG program guide”.
Step 2: Click the “+” in the downright corner and Select“Add Remote EPG source”.
Step 3: On “EPG name” add any word and then enter the “EPG source link” address provided by your IPTV distributor and click “Add” as a final step.
Now reboot the Application and the TV guides will be added to your channels list. Please note, by using M3U with options as your script, there is no need to add a separate link for EPG to your IPTV player since it has all the data such as EPG and Picons inside it.
Here you can see how to install GSE Smart IPTV on your device and how to use OTV IPTV on GSE Smart IPTV.
How to add EPG on Perfect Player?
Perfect Player is an Android application that simulates a set-top box that can be used for streaming IPTV channels on your favorite devices such as tablets, smartphones, and Smart TVs.
Please note, that this application doesn’t include any IPTV channels. In order to add IPTV channels, you must add your own m3u playlists inside the settings section.
Perfect Player is available on Android, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.
Step 1: After starting the Perfect Player, click on “Settings“.
Step 2: Now select “General“.
Step 3: Now select “EPG URL or file path” enter your EPG URL provided by your IPTV distributor and select “OK”.
You can add more than one EPG URL here.
Step 4: Now restart the Application and wait for your channels to load.
That’s all. Your ‘EPG‘ should then be displayed with your list of channels.
Here you can see install Perfect Player and set up IPTV.
How To Upload EPG Guide On Smart IPTV?
[1] Install the Smart IPTV app on your device.
[2] Launch the Smart IPTV app and note the Mac address that appears on the screen.
[3] From your web browser, go to https://siptv.app/mylist/.
[4] Enter the Mac address followed by M3U URL or M3U file.
[5] Also, enter the EPG URL in the required tab.
[6] Click on Send to upload the playlist to the given Mac address device.
Note: If you don’t have an EPG guide URL, then you can check Detect EPG box, and this will probably find the matching EPG for your IPTV service.
[7] Now, you can watch IPTV with EPG Guide in it.
Here you can see How to use OTV IPTV on Smart IPTV.
Note: If the playlist is not updated, restart the app on your device.
If you’re using the OTV IPTV service, you won’t have to do anything to get 7 days of free EPG on 95% of live channels.
FAQ
What is the EPG on IPTV?
EPG (Electronic Program Guide) for thousands of TV channels collected from different sources.
What is a EPG file?
EPG TV program file formats: XMLTV, JTV, DRE-EPG TV program
XMLTV – format based on XML – the format is designed to describe TV programs in a structured form. This file is used by digital TV operators as a basic template. The format allows you to expand your options to suit your business needs.
What does it mean EPG is not available?
No EPG available indicates that your service provider does not provide EPG information. Incorrect EPG display may be caused by poor signal reception.
Conclusion
With this guide, you learn what an EPG guide is and how to use it with your IPTV player. Without an EPG, it is difficult to keep track of the programs and content being broadcast on a live TV channel. Therefore, the best way is to purchase an IPTV service with an EPG (such as OTVIPTV).