2012-08-23, 21:25
http://www.ntktv.com/
NTKTV is a java-based service that allows you to stream live TV (with 1 hour delay from realtime) from Japan. It has a free version, and I think you can get premium channel access as well.
That is a picture of it's interface.
The program works by downloading a partial .asf file, putting it in the temp files folder, opening Windows Media Player, and have it playback the file while the NTKTV java program continues to download it.
NTKTV is nice and all, but it requires a bit of user interaction to continue to the next segment (I have to minimize WMP, go back to the program, double-click the next segment, wait for it to start playing in WMP, then fullscreen it again). I would love to automate such a process, but I'm not 100% sure how to go about doing this. I also have a dedicated media computer (replaced my TV).
I currently only use NTKTV on Windows, but it does "work" on Linux (work to the point of actually downloading the video, but VLC doesn't properly play the file; explained a bit more later).
The video file is downloaded to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows 8 (probably the same place for Vista+), and happens to be named TBS01_20120824_0200.asf (TBS being the channel, not sure about 01, 2012/08/24 being the date, and 0200 being 2:00 24-hour clock style). If the program is kept open, and a new segment is played, the video files remain in the temp folder. If the program is closed, the videos are deleted.
Windows Media Player seems to be directly called, regardless of what program is set to handle .asf files. I don't know if this is hardcoded somewhere or not (I looked through the
.class files for the app and found no reference to .asf or WMP). WMP and VLC seem to handle opening of files differently as well. Opening the file while it is downloading with WMP will result in WMP playing the file until the download stops (as intended). VLC will only play up until however much is downloaded at the moment of opening, regardless if more is downloading.
A possible idea I had was to share my temp folder on my actual desktop over Network, and then manually select video files with NTKTV. And then, xbmc could possibly scan this folder every 30-40 minutes or so for new videos, and then automatically play them back in sequential order by filename once the previous video ends (the 0200 part I mentioned earlier will increase up till 2300, then go to 0000, and back through). This would basically only require me to queue up videos as they complete downloading.
The main thing is, I have no idea what xbmc can do in regards to that above solution. Would xbmc happen to be able to scan a network folder at timed intervals, automatically add new files into a playlist, and then play said playlist continuously without intervention?
Another idea I had was to simply bypass the java program altogether, and stream from a direct URL instead. Problem is, I've had no luck in figuring out how to get access to direct video files. If someone could figure this out, here's the URL: http://61.172.249.113:8080/jptv24vod/TBS01.xml
NTKTV is a java-based service that allows you to stream live TV (with 1 hour delay from realtime) from Japan. It has a free version, and I think you can get premium channel access as well.
That is a picture of it's interface.
The program works by downloading a partial .asf file, putting it in the temp files folder, opening Windows Media Player, and have it playback the file while the NTKTV java program continues to download it.
NTKTV is nice and all, but it requires a bit of user interaction to continue to the next segment (I have to minimize WMP, go back to the program, double-click the next segment, wait for it to start playing in WMP, then fullscreen it again). I would love to automate such a process, but I'm not 100% sure how to go about doing this. I also have a dedicated media computer (replaced my TV).
I currently only use NTKTV on Windows, but it does "work" on Linux (work to the point of actually downloading the video, but VLC doesn't properly play the file; explained a bit more later).
The video file is downloaded to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows 8 (probably the same place for Vista+), and happens to be named TBS01_20120824_0200.asf (TBS being the channel, not sure about 01, 2012/08/24 being the date, and 0200 being 2:00 24-hour clock style). If the program is kept open, and a new segment is played, the video files remain in the temp folder. If the program is closed, the videos are deleted.
Windows Media Player seems to be directly called, regardless of what program is set to handle .asf files. I don't know if this is hardcoded somewhere or not (I looked through the
.class files for the app and found no reference to .asf or WMP). WMP and VLC seem to handle opening of files differently as well. Opening the file while it is downloading with WMP will result in WMP playing the file until the download stops (as intended). VLC will only play up until however much is downloaded at the moment of opening, regardless if more is downloading.
A possible idea I had was to share my temp folder on my actual desktop over Network, and then manually select video files with NTKTV. And then, xbmc could possibly scan this folder every 30-40 minutes or so for new videos, and then automatically play them back in sequential order by filename once the previous video ends (the 0200 part I mentioned earlier will increase up till 2300, then go to 0000, and back through). This would basically only require me to queue up videos as they complete downloading.
The main thing is, I have no idea what xbmc can do in regards to that above solution. Would xbmc happen to be able to scan a network folder at timed intervals, automatically add new files into a playlist, and then play said playlist continuously without intervention?
Another idea I had was to simply bypass the java program altogether, and stream from a direct URL instead. Problem is, I've had no luck in figuring out how to get access to direct video files. If someone could figure this out, here's the URL: http://61.172.249.113:8080/jptv24vod/TBS01.xml