Slingbox

[nanook105]

Interesting article:


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...nm/slingbox_dc

[sloanja]

I have been looking at this for several hours.... contemplating its use in my setup.

On one hand, I could use it directly connected to my cable line, and watch anything currently on. Preferably, i would want it connected to the snapstream box so i could watch recorded content from outside my house. The problem is, i don't know if the IR transmitter will work with any IR receiver Snapstream is currently supporting. The perfect solution is for a cable to be made that would connect the Slingbox directly to the Snapstream box for control...

But wait (and on the other hand), doesn't Snapstream stream over the internet already? Yes, it does. But in a WMV format. I record in MPEG. This means i'd have to wait for the re-encode to finish before I could watch my favorite tv show.

I've got two good products, each with their own flaw. I would get the Slingbox in a heartbeat if i could ensure it could control the SS box.

[geoffstewart]

sloanja,

Depending on how often you need to stream over the internet and whether you have the network setup to handle it, you can use videolan to stream udp packets from a running recording in MPEG2 format. I do this all the time. No need to wait for BTV to finish recording.

I use VNC to remotely view my snapstream machine and startup videolan. I load the mpg file that BTV is currently writing to. I setup the streaming options to re-encode and give an IP address and port to stream UDP packets to. Of course, you need to have an IP address that videolan can see. In my case, I have a VPN to the destination computer, but other situations (port forwarding) will work too. It's a bit clunky to get up and running, but for watching sporting events that occur during work hours, I end up doing this.... for me I need only 3 or 4 times a year.

Hope that helps.

geoff

[crush157]

If you are interested in what slingbox does, go get a copy of ORB and install it on your snapstream PC. ORB is free, currently (they used to charge, but now they don't) and it works very well. I have it installed and will be using it to watch recorded TV at my vacation home where I don't need to have cable or sat. ORB only gives you the quality that your DSL/cable modem can send upstream in WMV or Realmedia formats. So, the bigger upstream from your home, the better the quality at the other end, but since most cable and DSL companies limit this, you get about 128 - 400 kbps.

I am amazed at how easy ORB was to install and configure. They are working through issues as every machine is different, but the people using at are happy as they can watch on a remote PC, internet cell phone, wifi PDA, wifi laptops etc.

[crush157]

Originally Posted by sloanja

But wait (and on the other hand), doesn't Snapstream stream over the internet already? Yes, it does. But in a WMV format. I record in MPEG. This means i'd have to wait for the re-encode to finish before I could watch my favorite tv show.

Orb re-encodes MPEG2 to wmv on the fly and it works well.