DVBviewer

watty

It's not free and you need to buy CoreAVC too,

But I find it the best integrated Media Centre for XP.

2x DVB-S2 satellite PCI cards and MobiDTV Dual DTT USB stick

GT 210 graphics for CUDA support on CoreAVC and 1080p50 to HDTV.

Good news.

The MHEG5 engine used by some Freeview/freesat setboxes has been licenced and they are testing. "Release Soon"

This will work BBC & RTE MHEG5 text and also BBC or RTE "button" applications.

http://www.dvbviewer.tv/forum/topic/35559-mheg-5-support-we-need-your-help/page__view__findpost__p__327152

tlaavtech

watty wrote: »

It's not free and you need to buy CoreAVC too

I have been using DVBViewer for the last two years and it is fab. It is not free, but it is only €15 for a lifetime of updates, so it is not expensive

Also, I asked if there Picture-in-picture from a full transponder recording, and I had it within a week in one of the many frree sub-programmes that come with DVBViewer!!!

Tech support can be a little un-subtle at times but it certainly is quick, and there are lots of users that can help you in difficulties.

Why do you need to buy CoreAVC? If you install a demo version of PowerDVD you get the codecs from that and they stay active even after the demo expires.

I am using XP at the moment, but I am about to make the move to Win7. I know that there was an issue with the Windows native HD codec - has this improved recently?

tlaavtech

... and since we are on the subject of DVBViewer ...

I don't actually watch live telly much (except for Rugby and F1), and the Recording Service seems somewhat reluctant to update the DTT EPG as efficiently as the SAT EPG. More often than not it only gives me five days EPG, and can have huge gaps in it. If I want the EPG, I need to select a DTT station and restart the softeware, and then it loads the EPG.

Has anyone else found this, or am I missing a setting somewhere?? I think I have every EPG option ticked - but then again that might be the problem :rolleyes:

I am going to ask the question on the DVBViewer forum, but I thought I might ask here first in case I was being a wally as usual!!

watty

CoreAVC can use CUDA.
On HD its 80% to 99% CPU with HD using Mainconcept or PowerDVD and a few others. CoreAVC is 7% to 20%. On SD CoreAVC is 5% to 10%, less than MPEG2!

Using GT210 type graphics at 1920x1080p50
If you want decent SD scaling you need deinterlacing and progressive output. Actual HD quality is slightly better at 1920x1080i 25fps 50Hz as the PC de-interlacing for HD isn't as good as the TV, (or the TV actually displays interlace or progressive, I'd don't know).

I've found on occasion that the DTT EPG starts at dawn, and not "now" when scrolling in OSD Favourites list.


I've only tested DTT on Win7 on my son's laptop. No Win7 desktop, so no sat card tests.
The Media Centre in Win7 is superior to DVBviewer for DTT and has MHEG5.

So on Win7 you might not need DVBviewer.

I've had a couple of niggles with DVbviewer. I'll see if any answers on Forum. I made a WinLIRC DB9 serial to 2.5mm stereo jack adaptor for the remote Tecnotrend eye. I have that running over 8m UTP Cat5e and a 2.5mm stereo jack soldered to 2 pairs at PC end and a 2.5mm stereo socket soldered to the Cat5e at TV end. The Remote works same on WinLIRC or on socket on Sat card and selecting Technotrend in DVBviewer. The WinLIRC "technotrend" is not for built in jack socket on Sat cards but for a USB IR eye.

I'm using this remote. Buttons a bit small.

tlaavtech

I am using an ATI card, on a Core 2 Duo machine (nothing spectacular) and BBCHD is showing between 6 & 11% CPU usage with the Cyberlink codec (and I am burning a DVD at the same time!!)

watty

yes, but I'm using an old Athlon 3700+ AMD 64 with XP pro. (32 bit). Only one Core.

Is that total CPU or 11% per core ?

Also what resolution and de-interlacing are you using?

tlaavtech

watty wrote: »

yes, but I'm using an old Athlon 3700+ AMD 64 with XP pro. (32 bit). Only one Core.

Is that total CPU or 11% per core ?

Also what resolution and de-interlacing are you using?

I am also using XP-32bit Pro. The 11% is total CPU. Resolution is 1080p with deinterlacing. With the Cyberlink codecs, you can enable DXVA which puts the rendering out to the GPU instead of the CPU. The card is an ATI HD4350.

That is in the computer in work. I have a similar set-up at home, but with a slightly better Grachice card (HD5450) and an AMD Athlon processor (5600+ i think) with XP32Pro but going to a 720p projector rather than a 1080p monitor. Not sure of the CPU loading there, but probably similar loading because I can still work on the PC with DVBViewer running in the background.

watty

I had a X1600 card before the GT210 and I tried a X1950 too. Neither could do HD on that PC without dropping frames.

The CoreAVC is not good for the ATI cards. So perhaps choice of Codec outside of Win7 (which just works) is Graphics card related.

mossym

as a tv viewer it is very good, as Watty says, however if you want more than just tv, like movies/tv series front ends, then it falls down compared to some other offerings

would have been nice when mediaportal was having tv issues and changed tv engine architecture if someone had figured out how to integrate dvbviewer into mediaportal. it being a pay for software though that was unlikely

watty

Well, it plays my music, videos and images, Though some settings to change speed on Slide show would be good. All via Remote control and decent OSD. Nice it remembers where you left off on video playback.


I looked a Media Portal. It's evil mess. Will install SQL, and not let you specify existing one. Insists on upgrade to MP11, which IMO is a nasty piece of work compared to MP10 for XP. Media Portal looks to me like a bad copy of the MythTV idea, a Linux solution I've retried periodically over the years and still hate.

On DVBviewer the development folk have tried RTE NL test TS file. Works with the MHEG5 engine
http://www.dvbviewer.tv/forum/topic/35559-mheg-5-support-we-need-your-help/page__view__findpost__p__327485

watty

Demo video of DVBviewer MHEG5
Starts with German Weather demo
using RTE NL test stream about 30 sec in.
BBC interactive about 1min

There will be some not to bad extra charge for the MHEG as a Plugin on the next DVBviewer release.

They are optimistic that DVBviewer is not made obsolete by Windows7. Apparently I have not tested it enough (No way for me to test Sat cards)

Hmm not really - i never ever got the MCE working properly with my technotrend device. And if you tune Multytext (Astra 19.2° - Technisat transponder) it simply crashs. I did not tested BBC on Astra 28°, but well once you got stuck with the dvbviewer, you only try to play with the alternatives in order to see how others "deal" with things. Which means for testing purposes MCE is nice, but recordings and real time jobs are done within the more grown up solution (DVBViewer). Somehow i'm scared how Microsoft is screwing up things like media center applications. MCE looks and behaves completely half-baked, but i would not complain, because this will save the survival of the DVBViewer for the next years for sure.

via http://www.dvbviewer.tv/forum/topic/35559-mheg-5-support-we-need-your-help/page__view__findpost__p__327587

tlaavtech

watty wrote: »

They are optimistic that DVBviewer is not made obsolete by Windows7. Apparently I have not tested it enough (No way for me to test Sat cards)

I have tried media centre, and it is fine for pretending that your PC is a telly, but if you are any way tech savvy at all, it's nice to play with the real numbers and get into the bowels of how the sat stuff works!!

watty

I have 3 PCs with Sat cards, but all XP.

The Win7 is my son's laptop, and he bought the MobiDTV dual DTT USB stick when he saw mine working. It works ok in Win7 MC, inc MHEG5.

The Cyberlink codecs do have DxVA support. I remember testing it using PowerDVD 7.3 on the old HD Ireland test channel in the MPEG-2 trial. I had a NVIDIA 8800GT at the time and with DxVA on the CPU usage was 8% - when off it was at 90%

mossym

watty wrote: »

Well, it plays my music, videos and images, Though some settings to change speed on Slide show would be good. All via Remote control and decent OSD. Nice it remembers where you left off on video playback.


I looked a Media Portal. It's evil mess. Will install SQL, and not let you specify existing one. Insists on upgrade to MP11, which IMO is a nasty piece of work compared to MP10 for XP. Media Portal looks to me like a bad copy of the MythTV idea, a Linux solution I've retried periodically over the years and still hate.

can't say i disagree a lot with that. i used mediaportal for 4 eyars, but eventually moved away to windows 7 mc, and don't regret it. using sql is an unholy mess, many of my issues were due to corrupted databases.

however my point was more that if DVBviewer (which i have used for many years, i bought my first license when itv hd first appeared and was using a stream identifier nothing else could pick up) could integrate some of teh metadata features that mediaportal and windows mediacenter have then it would be the best overall solution. it's eye candy to be sure, but gives such a better experience to the front end. the tv portion of dvbviewer is excellent, it would be excellent if they could just get the media browsing/playing up to par with the other offerings, right now it is functional to be sure, but could be so much better

watty

They have an ideas section on their forum.

At least there seems to be some fairly serious development.

fat-tony

hi watty - I've been away for about a week and you've turned into a DVBviewer evangelist:D

Told you it wasn't half bad, and a decent set of analysis tools to boot!

watty

I've started writing a program to connect to WinLIRC.
Uses Power button to toggle:
Mode A: controls Windows Keyboard and Mouse (using 0.. 9 and keys either side of 0 as phone type text entry if desired, also has popup virtual keyboard). Probably doesn't work in Vista / Win7 as sendkeys doesn't work there. I'll later translate from VB6 to C#

Mode B: simply echos everything except power button to next higher port number, 8766

You then set DVBviewer WinLIRC to use port 8766 instead of 8765

Girder costs money

I'll upload source and installer for people to play with when it's a bit more baked.


It's mostly working. I want to make mouse cursor move faster when you hold down arrow keys longer.


I had the virtual keyboard with full continental symbols already as a simulation for a handheld VOIP/PDA/Game console I was designing for some Taiwanese and an Irish ISP, but they both lost interest.

Alt, Shift, Control, AltGr are all sticky

A physical implementation only needs 8 x 8 = 64 keys as two diodes combine Alt and Ctrl for the 65th AltGr key.
(Try Ctrl Alt 4 and you will see why, there is no AltGr code). The three keyboard LEDs can be controlled by software so that no LEDs = white letters lit and the CAPs NUM and SCROLL lock led signals light the other legends of the keys. If it was a physical keyboard.
I did assemble an actual "proof of concept" touch screen only ARM version with VOIP, browser, email etc on a 4G network and demo it in Ireland and Slovakia. Should I sue Apple?

desaparecidos

watty wrote: »

You then set DVBviewer WinLIRC to use port 8766 instead of 8765

Girder costs money

EventGhost is great for mouse and keyboard emulation, sending remote control presses to programs etc. There's a DVBViewer plugin which will allow you map your remote control to various actions in DVBViewer (I assume this is what you are trying to do from quickly skimming the posts.)

watty

I have the WinLIRC working perfect in DVBviewer.

I just now got my "man in the middle" program working... Some more work needed.

My extra program connects to 8765 and toggles state on seeing the power button.

In "Remote" state it simply passes EVERYTHING as is except the power button code, but on port 8767. You change DVBviewer to connect on Port 8767 instead of default 8765

In "local" state it emulates mouse moving cursor, generating left or right click and Enter or Escape. The "text" button on remote toggles number pad between numeric and "abc" "def" etc modes and uses "sendkeys" to send keypresses to active window (I have not got that bit going yet, but that's a fairly standard thing).

Also Ch- and Ch+ in local mode will change active Window state between "normal" and full screen"



This remote is mapped nicely to DVBviewer via WinLIRC
It also is fine for via the Technotrend PCI card jack socket, but WinLIRC is more flexible. I made a WinLIRC "dongle" with a 2.5mm stereo jack socket instead of IR RX.
updated page http://www.techtir.ie/howto/hdmi-via-cat5-cable (site slow tonight 7th Feb 2011)

EventGhost http://www.eventghost.org/ looks interesting, I'll check it out. My own idea does/will work, but needs some polish for others, also I'd need to redo it in C# without Sendkeys for Win7/Vista!

A quick look at eventGhost suggests it's overkill (Though interesting!) and needs plugin for WinLIRC. A lot of their links are broken with server/application move. What I'm doing seems simpler!