Slingbox video distribution system finally arrives in UK

[Bob Crabtree]

Dixons Store Group (DSG) will initially be the only UK stockist of Slingbox - a video distribution system that lets you watch on a PC a household's satellite or cable TV programmes and turns the whole idea of video over the internet on its head. That's because Slingbox - already well-established in the USA and Canada - also allows you to watch these programmes not just on PCs at home but also anywhere else in the world there's a decent internet connection.

Software supplied with the £180 box is said to be able to control a wide range of Freeview, digital cable and satellite set top boxes - including those from Sky, Homechoice, NTL and Telewest - and also programmes coming in via the Slingbox's own built-in analogue and digital terrestrial TV tuners.

More about this likkle beauty in this HEXUS.headline.

Oh, and comments welcome as always, especially from anyone who's had hands on with Slingbox in the USA or Canada.

[schmunk]

Bob, your 'HEXUS.headline' link's not working.


Product looks interesting, though.

[Bob Crabtree]

Bob, your 'HEXUS.headline' link's not working.

Product looks interesting, though.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Oh, and now that you can actually read the piece, I kind of suspect you'll find it even more interesting!



Shout if you've got any questions, cos I think I've now pretty well got my head around how it all hangs together (and I've downloaded most of the manuals, too).

And, all you Slingbox users in N America - please don't forget to let us have your informed input!

Bob

[Funkstar]

Never payed much attention to these before now, because they were US/Canada only. They do seem to have a decent following on the likes on Engadget though.

So you can stream anything connected to it to other devices. What about 'streaming' (or recording if you like ) it to disk? As it is network connected anyway, can it pull files off a PC or NAS box for playback/display?

I like the red base and back to the device, shame it looks like a giant chocolate bar though...

[directhex]

wow, if only my mythtv machine had been doing this for over a year... -_-

[Bob Crabtree]

wow, if only my mythtv machine had been doing this for over a year... -_-

Let me get this right - you're saying that mythtv lets YOU take whatever's coming into a Sky box, a NTL box and other such boxes and network that around the house and send it out over the internet, too, if you want to watch stuff while you're away from home?

Bob

[Snaga]

So does it let you record? And does it have any sort of EPG? If it does this may have to join little home network.

[Tobeman]

Does this basically stream what the freeview/NTL/Sky box is outputting, or can the set-top box be watching one channel while the Slingbox broadcasts another to your PC?

[Bob Crabtree]

Does this basically stream what the freeview/NTL/Sky box is outputting, or can the set-top box be watching one channel while the Slingbox broadcasts another to your PC?

The Slingbox uses what the broadcast box is putting out. Some of these boxes do have the ability to record one thing while watching another but what the Slingbox is able to display will, I think you'll find, only be what's being sent out from the broadcast box - and that will be whatever is appearing on screen (on would be if the TV set were turned on).

[Bob Crabtree]

So does it let you record? And does it have any sort of EPG? If it does this may have to join little home network.

I've yet to have hands on, but my reading of the downloadable manual - and the Sling forums - is that the Sling software doesn't allow you to record on your PC what you're watching with Sling.

However, if what you are watching is a PVR, which can be controlled by the SlingPlayer software, then you can instruct the PVR to carry out a recording.

I've seen one forum thread where someone has suggested using TechSmith's SnagIt software to do recordings but I have to say I'm highly sceptical about that being practical - even though I know that SnagIt is a very useful program for, for instance, capturing screen action for creating training movies.

[RedPutty]

Let me get this right - you're saying that mythtv lets YOU take whatever's coming into a Sky box, a NTL box and other such boxes and network that around the house and send it out over the internet, too, if you want to watch stuff while you're away from home?

yes, it can.

[Bob Crabtree]

yes, it can.

Sorry, would you care to explain how a bit of software that runs under Linux is able to do this?

How, for instance, does the output coming from a Sky box, a NTL box and other such boxes even get into the Linux PC?

[Funkstar]

Basically the same way as the Slingbox. The most popular method is to use a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR card (either a 150, 350 or 500). These are hardware MPEG-2 cards, but really any analogue capture card with linux drivers will work. Then you use an IR blaster or something similar to pass remote codes from your Myth box to the STB to change the chanel. It does take a few second to change chanel, because of buffers etc. but it can be done.

I think you then use VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) to handle the transcoding/streaming. Not sure how it handles live TV, but it works no problem with programs in your archive.

All OSS and documented a bunch of times, but can be an absolute bugger to get working (i failed misserably to get MythTV working as i wanted, so gave up)

EDIT: Actually with Sky you can use a DVB-S card, Dragon CAM and a Sky subscription card to bypass the whole STB/mpeg-2 capture part of it and control your disk directly with MythTV. Although if sky decide to change any of their encription, this setup will break...for a while.

[Bob Crabtree]

Sounds like a heck of a lot more trouble than most people would want to go to - even ignoring the fact (which kills it in mass market terms) that a Linux OS is needed.

[Funkstar]

oh yeah, for sure. linux software is a whole different world i've still to get my head round enough to use properly.

Although we'll see what Googles Summer Of Code brings us. There is a Windows port of MythTV in the works apparently

[Ane Rice]

Try Webcam Video Capture. It is very good and clean.

I am using it even now, and I don't have a single unpleasent situation with it.

Try it and then you can thank me