OpenDCT Java Network Encoder

[Gustovier]

How is this effort progressing thus far? I've been using sage dct w/vlc option enabled for years now and it was working well until over past month or so just became less reliable. Not sure what has changed as Comcast hasn't gone all .264 encoding yet. But I'm thinking of moving to this. Is that advisable at this point ? Will I get continuous recording with this? (I.e.. No need to retune to the same channel just because a new show is coming on)

[wayner]

It would be great to see if someone could figure out a way to be able to get streams from sources such as IP cameras or video streaming web site to show up as a network encoder. There was a plugin (Web Feed Encoder by Michaeldjcox) that did this but it required VLC and I always struggled to get it to work properly.

[Gustovier]

So I started to go through this install process and then realized that OpenDCT is not included in any of the links that were posted. Is this project still happening?

[71_Cuda]

Originally Posted by Gustovier

So I started to go through this install process and then realized that OpenDCT is not included in any of the links that were posted. Is this project still happening?

+1 Is this project still happening? I was looking forward to it. I'm looking for a good solution for my HDHomeRun Prime since a firmware update broke SageDCT and I'm having trouble getting PrimeNetEncoder working.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by 71_Cuda

+1 Is this project still happening? I was looking forward to it. I'm looking for a good solution for my HDHomeRun Prime since a firmware update broke SageDCT and I'm having trouble getting PrimeNetEncoder working.

What firmware upgrade broke SagDCT ... SageDCT works fine with the latest firmware you just have to make sure you have the latest download of SageDCT.

[EnterNoEscape]

Yes, we are still working on things. It's taking a little longer than expected. We still have one outlying issue with the InfiniTV 6 Eth that I really want to resolve before we go beta.

There are more things to be excited about too. While improving the reliability of things, we have also added things like tuner locking for the HDHomeRun and the entire HDHomeRun native communication protocol completely in Java.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by wayner

It would be great to see if someone could figure out a way to be able to get streams from sources such as IP cameras or video streaming web site to show up as a network encoder. There was a plugin (Web Feed Encoder by Michaeldjcox) that did this but it required VLC and I always struggled to get it to work properly.

The initial scope is to create a digital cable tuner that also supports ClearQAM when the DCT doesn't have a CableCARD installed. After that, I want to add a Jetty based web interface for ease of administration and troubleshooting especially on headless devices. Once we get passed that point we can look at adding other things that are not already a part of SageTV and qualify as capture devices. I don't want to do things in any other order because once we start adding more things, without an interface for configuration it's going to get very cumbersome very quickly.

Adding things that are already IP based sources should be fairly trivial and are something I'm interested in too, but I wouldn't get too excited since someone will need to actually implement that and we'd likely need a plugin to create EPG data for the channel.

[EnterNoEscape]

I am pleased to announce that this project is finally available.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=581743

[rerooks]

For the uneducated, can someone please tell me what the pros/cons of this are versus SageDCT? I read the entire thread, but SageDCT has been working for me, and not quite sure what could be done better.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by rerooks

For the uneducated, can someone please tell me what the pros/cons of this are versus SageDCT? I read the entire thread, but SageDCT has been working for me, and not quite sure what could be done better.

See this post:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...1&postcount=14

[skyeclad]

Does Open DCT not require WMC to be installed like SageDCT does? If so, that would open up an easier path to Win10 for me.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by skyeclad

Does Open DCT not require WMC to be installed like SageDCT does? If so, that would open up an easier path to Win10 for me.

SageDCT does not require WMC you must be using a very old version. OpenDCT does not require WMC either.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by rerooks

For the uneducated, can someone please tell me what the pros/cons of this are versus SageDCT? I read the entire thread, but SageDCT has been working for me, and not quite sure what could be done better.

Also see the latest beta release notes:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...&postcount=293

The most noteworthy would be tuner pooling. If you're an HDHomeRun Prime owner and you use your tuners anywhere other than SageTV, this feature may interest you greatly.

Originally Posted by skyeclad

Does Open DCT not require WMC to be installed like SageDCT does? If so, that would open up an easier path to Win10 for me.

I didn't think SageDCT had any requirements like that. OpenDCT as it is today (version 0.4.14) is very much self-contained and only needs Java 1.7+ to be installed to run.

[skyeclad]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

SageDCT does not require WMC you must be using a very old version. OpenDCT does not require WMC either.

Really? I had no idea. I thought WMC was needed to decode the DRM or something. I've been very hesitant about upgrading to Win10 for this reason.

[EnterNoEscape]

I suspect you may be thinking of the very early days when some people were using SageMCTuner. That program would tell WMC to record something and then pull the file from WMC. I'm not sure I remember a time when SageDCT needed WMC to be present.

[Telecore]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

On a related note. A while ago I wrote a rather unpolished C# program for myself that could capture the video playback from WMC. It would resize the WMC window to the desired capture resolution, then record the video and audio. The only drawbacks are the WMC window can't be hidden/covered by another application and you need a decent CPU. I was recently playing with the latest FFmpeg builds and built one myself with the latest Intel QuickSync codecs. I think that could be a way to get around the CPU usage when using high quality for high resolution captures at least for the Intel crowd. On my Ivy bridge processor I could get 4 streams going at the same time and still maintained over 60fps on bluray 1080p content. I have not spent much time on figuring out how to capture hidden windows similar to how Playon does it. I also know you can have multiple WMC windows open and playing at the same time if they are on different profiles, this makes sense since the Xbox is really just a special RDP session and has it's own profile. By having multiple profiles, you can record multiple instances of WMC simultaneously, but that's only if I get around to tackling recording a hidden window. I don't know if there are any legal ramifications to this level of circumvention, but I would assume it falls under analog capture since we are not capturing the original bytes. Also instead of sending a C2R, I was directly manipulating the WMC session. Basically I was telling it to go to live TV and tune a specific channel via Windows Media Center TCPIP Controller. It was very reliable since I could also verify that it tuned into the correct channel, the only thing I could not do was tell it what tuner to use. When you send a C2R to WMC, can you tell it what tuner to use? It doesn't look like that's an option.

I realize that you are probably over-tasked with OpenDCT as it is, but have you considered further efforts on the WMC project described above? This would be ideal from a cost standpoint of only having to rent two cablecards, (or possibly one if WMC and SageTV can co-exist on the same PC), instead of renting STBs + using HD-PVRs). I already have a 2nd DVR = media center PC and could beta test.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Telecore

I realize that you are probably over-tasked with OpenDCT as it is, but have you considered further efforts on the WMC project described above? This would be ideal from a cost standpoint of only having to rent two cablecards, (or possibly one if WMC and SageTV can co-exist on the same PC), instead of renting STBs + using HD-PVRs). I already have a 2nd DVR = media center PC and could beta test.

I want this feature too. I have concluded that it will be way to much to support this as a software screen grabber, plus WMC isn't going to be practical for most people above Windows 7 and it won't help the Linux users at all. What I could provide you is an executable that you can use to tune WMC in combination with another piece of software that allows you to control WMC via TCP/IP. Then you can record the full screen output after stripping the HDCP to an HDMI capture device such as the Colossus. I did something very similar to this with an Xbox 360, but I eventually took the setup down because for whatever reason even with a dedicated NIC to NIC connection, it kept dropping packets at random and the picture was a little dark.

I think it will be more fruitful to look at what's new. What I'm thinking about now is using external capture card with HDMI support like the HD-PVR 2, Colossus, or something else. Maybe the HDHomeRun View app on an android device being controlled with via adb and/or a USB device impersonating a keyboard could be a good candidate.

I really just wish the DRM kept the content in your house somehow without removing any ability to store and play it back.

[Telecore]

That's a very interesting idea - up to 3 low cost android boxes capable of tuning DRM channels from a single HDHR Prime -> with up to 3 HDMI capture devices feeding into the SageTV-PC. That eliminates WMC all together. Please keep us posted if anything develops. I already have an HD-PVR 2 that I am not using due to the live tv problem with HD-300s and I was already considering buying an HDHR Prime anyways, so I can test. By the way OpenDCT 5.2 seems to be working well with no errors for several days - thanks!

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Telecore

That's a very interesting idea - up to 3 low cost android boxes capable of tuning DRM channels from a single HDHR Prime -> with up to 3 HDMI capture devices feeding into the SageTV-PC. That eliminates WMC all together. Please keep us posted if anything develops. I already have an HD-PVR 2 that I am not using due to the live tv problem with HD-300s and I was already considering buying an HDHR Prime anyways, so I can test. By the way OpenDCT 5.2 seems to be working well with no errors for several days - thanks!

Right now I'm waiting that network based HDMI encoder from China. Once I get that I'll starting playing around with what's possible. I've been making a lot of additions for 0.5.3 to allow the use of that kind of device in very flexible ways so that I can play with it immediately when it shows up. 0.5.3 will arrive likely a few days after I have formed an opinion on that device.

It will also come with some compatibility modes for the individuals that want the .ts files to playback in other places than SageTV and some videos that will display in place of the channel if the channel cannot be streamed because of copy protection. I didn't realize I needed that last feature until I showed my wife and she really liked the instant feedback.

[Telecore]

Now that you have the HDMI encoder section working with a STB, any plans to move to an android box/HDHomerun View and HDHomerun Prime?

1 cablecard, $5/month, up to 3 STBs/3 Encoders seems like an optimal solution for DRM channels.