What the heck is the difference between Placeshifter and Client

[bullgates]

What is the functional difference between Sage Placeshifter and Client?

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

[Opus4]

Here are a couple older threads on that topic: here and here.

- Andy

[bullgates]

thanks Opus. SO it seems that Client is more tweakable but doesn't give you the internet streaming option whereas PS does but decoders and other items are not tweakable within PS.

[bullgates]

It would be nice if a description of differences was on the site somewhere. Actually not knowing the difference between the two stopped me from getting either one I purchased sage last night.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by bullgates

SO it seems that Client is more tweakable but doesn't give you the internet streaming option whereas PS does but decoders and other items are not tweakable within PS.

It depends on what you are trying to tweak. Most of the interface is exactly the same; for the most part, only a few setup items differ.

- Andy

[srothwell]

I know they're busy but I wish the folks at Sage would switch ALL the products to the same licensing system.

Specifically, switch SageClient over so it uses the same installable licenses as Extender and placeshifter.

[camus]

I was wondering the same thing. Does placeshifter run on the server then? Does client? Or do they just communicate with it? I doubt I would ever set it up to watch anything outside of my LAN, so is there any other advantage to placeshifter, beyond the transcoding?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by camus

I was wondering the same thing. Does placeshifter run on the server then? Does client? Or do they just communicate with it?

The client runs completely on the remote PC and just interfaces with the SageTV server for access to the database (and to recordings).

The Placeshifter (like the extender) is more complicated. The UI rendering and audio/video decoding are done on the remote client (either PC or MVP), but much of the underlying processing is executed on the server. You'll notice from the Placeshifter UI that it appears to be running on the server.

I doubt I would ever set it up to watch anything outside of my LAN, so is there any other advantage to placeshifter, beyond the transcoding?

No, there's no point to the Placeshifter on a LAN, transcoding is disabled by default on a LAN anyway. The Client is more full featured and extensible than the Placeshifter as well. Really the only reason to get the Placeshifter over Client, is if you want to view from a remote location.

The one question I have though, is how the Linux Placeshifter compares to the Linux SageTV as far as decoding. One of the big advantages of Client over Placeshifter on Windows is the ability to use your favorite MPEG decoders, but on Linux, there are no decoder options. So could the Linux Placeshifter be the Linux client many have wanted?

[Franc]

So where does the config of Placeshifter reside??

I hava a problem when I tried out SageMC and wanted to go back.
It only showed .STV files but I wanted an XML file.
On the server I change Sage.properties or SageClient.properties and change the line manually, but where is this info stored for PlaceShifter?

And also, how does it differentiate between the different servers I have set up?
For instance, I have one for when I am on my LAN and one for when I am 'outside'. They both seem to have their own settings.

I found lines on the server for the 2 Placeshifter users I have set up, but not the line for the STV.

[gplasky]

Look in the "clients" directory in the SageTV directory. You should see folders named with the MAC address of the clients. The properties files will be in there.

Gerry

[Opus4]

Also, sage.properties defines the STV file to be used by a placeshifter user on the miniclient/<username>/stv property.

- Andy

[Franc]

Thanks, I found it

How come Sage doesn't see XMLs after you used an STV?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by Franc

How come Sage doesn't see XMLs after you used an STV?

Because the STV's were writen before Sage went to the XML format STV's. They were coded to only show .stv and stvi.

You have to shut down Sage and change sage.properties or sageclient.properties to the .xml file and restart.

Or, do what I did for an easier workaround. I copied sagetv3.xml and saved it as sagetv3RESET.stv. That way, the older .stv stv's will see an .stv file that it can use. Sage will load the .stv file even though it is really an .xml. I then load a "proper" xml to get back into normal. By doing that, there is no need to shut down Sage to edit the .properties file.

edit: I haven't tried this in the placeshifter, but it does work fine in SageTV and SageClient.

[Franc]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that!

[Silky1]

It doesn't look like I can use a Remote or Wireless keyboard with Placeshifter, is this correct?

I went from a single machine setup to a client/server and wanted to use Placeshifter on the client. I can't find any references to the Remote in the setup. Do I need client for this?

[Opus4]

The Placeshifter client only responds to keystroke style input; it doesn't respond to commands via Windows messages/event codes.

So, to use a remote, I believe you would have to be able to configure its usage such that it ends up sending keystrokes.

- Andy

[jbarr]

Also, unless you decent upload speeds on the server side, video will be very compressed with PlaceShifter, and possibly choppy (you have to rely on the integrity of the Internet connection on both ends.) The trade-off in video quality is, of course, the ability to remotely access your SageTV content.

This is not to say that PlaceShifter is an inferior product, quite the contrary, it offers access that the client cannot, and it offers it with a nice compromise between quality and capability.

Once I get my SageTV HTPC completed, and once I receive the Media Extender and get it working, then, I'll probably look into PlaceShifter...

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by jbarr

Once I get my SageTV HTPC completed, and once I receive the Media Extender and get it working, then, I'll probably look into PlaceShifter...

And, if you have a Media Extender license, you can dual-use that as a Placeshifter license. If you are leaving the house, turn off the media extender, and the license will be available for placeshifter usage.

[Franc]

Interesting....does this work the other way around??

I have a Placeshifter license and am thinking of getting a wireless MVP, but I need PAL so I'd probably need to buy the Hauppauge branded one, which doesn't come with a license obviously.
So would the PS license be used for this?

[Silky1]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

And, if you have a Media Extender license, you can dual-use that as a Placeshifter license. If you are leaving the house, turn off the media extender, and the license will be available for placeshifter usage.

Media Extender is a hardware solution for setting up a client on a TV, correct? I have a small PC I'm using as a local client so this wouldn't work.

But I also experience very choppy playback currently. I assume that this is because I'm connected to a wireless bridge. My plan was to hardwire the client to the main router but it sounds like Placeshifter's playback quality may still be inferior to the Client software?