[Xlash]

<span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>project : personal video recorder (pvr)</span>

first, sorry for my poor english.

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>project name (new!: </span> tv2lan

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>what it it? </span> it will be a box which makes it possible to stream like television. you will then be able to pause, move back a few minutes, jump commercial breaks and especially record live-tv on the recieving-end (xbox, pc, mac). (there is already high-end systems being sold for this).  rather than a video tape recorder, the data is recorded on the hard disk (buffer memory).

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>goals: </span> integrated a software solution into xbmc and in xbox to allow these functionalities of interactive television.  from the material point of view, two solutions are considered at present, see below.

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>required functionnalities + importance degree: </span>
pause                                                                                           (critical)
fast rewind (5 secs-1 min)                              (critical)
jumb back (up to 30 min)                                                                   (high)
skip commercials break                                                                     (low)
record live tv                                                                              (critical)
encode video data to xvid or divx                                                     (medium)
audio encoding to mp3                                                                   (medium)
integrated to xbmc as itv       (high)
pc free                                                  (medium, high difficulty)
remote channel selection      (high)
nice apperance                                                                (medium)

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>what is the solution ?</span>

the xbox is connected on the lan. the coaxial entry of television is connected on an apparatus which will seek the frequency band of the necessary station (selected remotely), digitizes it and transmits it out on udp package on the lan.  the xbox, via xbmc, will be able to activate and close this numerisator, to choose the station to be listened, to read the stream and to display it.  xbmc and its new module itv, to be conceived thereafter, will manage all the functionalities to be established.

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>basic concept : </span>


<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>what is the schedule ?</span>
for the moment, the startup of the project depends on its popularity.  i will wait until the end august to recruit people and to possibly be able to test project 2 (simple).  once this stage reached, if the request for a numerisator is large, i will try to seek if this product exists, how much it costs, and how to integrate this solution into our project.

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>briefly : </span>
july- august: - startup of the project
    - training of the team
    - design beginning of the software and analyzes feasibility of the various options
    - test of option 2

september - seek and design the numerisator for the solution #1
- improvement of the software, addition of functionality
- recording optimization (encoding of quality and effective)

october-december ? - dependently of the difficulty of buying, of assembling, or of designing the numerisator, evaluation of advance.
  - xbox software (via xbmc) and pc (releases)

due date : 31 december 2004 or before!

<span style='font-size:15pt;line-height:100%'>[i]actual team[i]</span>

xlash (splash911 on x-s)    - network & hardware & electronic & telecommunications
shadownet - software & data acquisition

this project raises great challenges which we will not be able to take up alone.  if you are interested by this project, a part, or that you know what already exists, we await your collaboration for finally supplementing the center of entertainment which xbox occupies in a family room! we don't have any xbox software development yet, but we will need any help as offered.

official forum is in french on xboxstyle.com. active threads are on gueux.net, on byopvr.com, xbox-scene.com and on xboxmediacenter.de

thanks to the xbox homebrew scene, and again sorry for my poor english!

[floink]

sounds great from what i can tell my question is why not team up with the mediaportal project to get this functionality through there? i might not fully understand your intent here so my question might be totally off. but by doing so there are lots of benefits to be gained like fex tv-guide with scheduling and already working recording and timeshifting functionalities. and last but not least frodo is the lead dev on that project.... who else has a better view of the capabilities of xbmc working together with a networked tv-pc?
/floink

[Xlash]

thanks for pointing that out. i'll check it out and see what is the easiest thing to do and what will offer the more functionnalities.

to answer your question, the goal is to have a xbox tivo without a pc, for analog television (not digital (yet)). so scheduling would be another thing to do if needed, i like the idea of timed programming too. i'll add those ideas to the main project forum, which will soon be billingual on xboxstyle.com

[jmarshall]

how do you plan on doing the tv/video input without a pc?

[Gamester17]

if you need a sponsor or cooperate backer for the numerisator i can put you in contact with friendtech who i'm sure would be interested
(friendtech told me before they were looking into something similar with no-pc approach, they too have electronic-engineering resources/skills)
i'am understanding your intentions about the numerisator correct i'm i not? you plan to engineer a standalone box similar to dreambox/dbox2?
(edit: to clarify; by "similar to dreambox/dbox2" i mean capability to pick up tv and stream over network, i didn't mean decode-satellite-tv).

if your only doing the pc=>xbox side instead then think integration with mediaportal either via a ccxstream-server or even better upnp be best.

ps! would it not be better if we move this topic into the development or hardware-forum since you are coding/building it yourself? are you not?

[t029248]

this sounds great, i’m really looking /waiting for a device working together with xbmc so i can trash my vcr which i only use as tv tuner since it switching channels faster then my tv.

a pvr / tivo with xbmc, a wonderful initiative. i you are deciding to put build a hardware device for this. i hope it’s going to be small enough to fit in the xbcase for instance.  well i can’t wait to find out more, and to test drive!!!!

i also hope there will be sufficient information available in english?

[Xlash]

gamester17, that would be awesome!

you understand correctly. i want to engineer a device which will let the xbox run as a tivo with the proper software on it. i want it pc-free as a stand alone upgrade. i mean capability to pick up tv and stream over network and not decode satellite or digital tv encoded signal. it will be useful for those who have analog tv coming throught rf cable. (coaxial)

*even more, that "digitalisor" would be useful for pc without graphical card which captures tv. (which can help getting funds for resale)

t029248, exactly! the xbox will replace entirely a vcr! (the only thing left would be the boot up for delayed recording) don't worry for the english information. because xboxstyle.com aren't billingual yet, i will use mainly that xbmc forum for development info, and x-s too.

finally, fell free to move the topic gamester17 to the best forum you think, either to the development or hardware. maybe i'll talk with friendtech first about the hardware before opening a open forum on it. and btw, my goal is that an normal xbox can use it (i don't have a "updated" xbox cpu anyway ;-) and shadownet too. )

[Xlash]

as some guys on another dvr hardware forum point me out, their are some tv2usb adaptor available for under 70$.

it is working with usb 1.1, so it is suppose to be fast enough for the xbox. (usb 1.1 is 12 mbps i think...)

anyway, at first sight, the main problem would be on the software side. if the code of their window software isn't availaible, we won't be going anywhere. i might try to talk to those business to see about that. i am still wondering if there is a "digitalisor" for sell, how many modded xboxers would be interested, and for now much. we might think about that sooner that we originally tought...

i'll soon try to open a billingual forum on xboxstyle.com or anyehre else to keep track officially about that project. (right now i keep track in 5 forums ;-) (x-s, xboxstyle, gueux.net, dvr, and xbmc!

[Gamester17]

capability to pick up tv and stream over network. it will be useful for those who have analog tv coming throught rf cable. (coaxial)

i'm not an engineer but would it not be technicaly easier (and cheaper too) to build a dvb-t>network box than rf-analog>network?
dvb-t (terrestrial digital-tv) is already digitalized and mpeg-encoded so all you would be doing to convert the media from air to network.
still would like to see rf-analog (as the town i live in don't get dvb-t yet) but dvb-t going to replace analog-tv soon in many countries.
edit: maybe start with dvb-t box then add (or make separate box with) rf-analog capabilities, or make and sell several different models?

that "digitalisor" would be useful for pc without graphical card which captures tv. (which can help getting funds for resale)

agree, from that point it has a lot of potential for others than xbox-owners, ...like contect more than one to a pc and use as vdr-server.
edit: think from a commersial and/or open source perspective best way of achieving this would code/keep a os-independant library for it.

because xboxstyle.com aren't billingual yet, i will use mainly that xbmc forum for development info, and x-s too.

if you like to see more people involved in your/this project then you will have to only use english, make it the projects native language

ps! ask xantium of xbox-scene.com to post a project-announcement. (oh, and forget about the usb tv-turner route, it's a dead end).  
(adding a few keywords for searchers since moved forums: tv tuner pvr dvr digital video recording record television dvb-s dvb-t rf ).

[Hullebulle]

hmm maybe an existing usb device is an option?
http://pvrusb.sourceforge.net/

[Xlash]

thanks for your reply. the french community hasn't join the project as fast as the english community. english will now be the native language of the project, i agree.


i don't have digital tv yet. it would be easier, i know it's all going that way, but tv furnishers already sell their tivo. i prefer aiming at something more specific : replacing a damn old vcr!

about that usb tv-tuner, someone at x-s pointed a device which take rca or s-video (and stereo rca) and output it to usb 1.1.that leads us to a modulator which take the coaxial in, modulated to rca (maybe with channel selection). i'll be sure to check on the availability of the software and drivers.

http://www.usbgear.com/usb_monitors_and_kvm.html


i will check what is easier first. the lan device will sure be marketable, and aiming at pc users too. (with many pcs). on the other side, the usb encoder is already small, there are somes already available, as hulle bulle point it out, those usb drivers (open source linux) for the hauppauge can be the easiest way too (no modulator needed) achieve our goal.

i already 3 days ago asked xantium for a news help. i haven't heard from him. what about friendtech? can you link them to me? they can surely help designed (if needed) and manufactured a device, maybe the ambitious tv2lan.

have a great day.

for an overview of the different topics in other forum, click here

[Xlash]

thanks gamester17 for the contacts. update to come tonight (i also have to work!

[jiz_king]

xlash:

the current (realtime) usb1 tv encoders are pretty awful resolution and framerate. worse than a vcr i fear.

maybe a usb2 to lan converter would be worth a thought (high speed external drives, video encoders etc. etc.)

good luck.

[Gamester17]

please, before you even consider (waste time) on the usb approach please read this this topic thead (click url link) discussion :verysad:
(if you read those threads from beginnig to end you'll understand that for pvr; usb+xbox_linux=ok hifty: usb+xdk_xbmc=no-way)
note! the issue with usb is not with the quality of video, but from how hard it will be code drivers and low-level access/calls :evil:

[jj5768]

just a short mention of the nebula digitv card.. its a digital reciever, and can run as a server delivering either a channel or ts stream to a port... it also can be run via a web interface, with tv guide and setting for recordings...


http://www.nebula-electronics.com/

i really would love to see some sort of simple intergration - perhaps just the web interface who knows...

download the software to have a look anyway..