What can you use to receive and stream satellite TV over a local network?

[anik]

Ok, let's break down the requirements on a list as it appears the AzBox miniMe American Edition meets most of your requirements.

.....

- Stream it or otherwise make it available to computers on the local network.
The built-in web interface allows you to change and view a channel with computers on your local network via their web browser. A link is also provided to view the stream on VLC if desired. Sorry, no MythTV backend support yet at this time but I will add it on our list of enhancement requests. However, as the miniMe was designed to be a frontend and not a backend, this won't be a high priority item.

Well, the issue with that is that nowadays people want to view their content on multiple screens. If XBMC can receive the stream that would work too, provided that recorded programs (not just live streams) can also be accessed and viewed from other computers and devices. In fact I am really more concerned with the ability to watch recordings on other devices than live programming. MythTV just puts everything in a nice common interface, as does XBMC for that matter.

- Preferably can receive multiple streams (at least two) at once.
Multiple computers can view the channel stream at the same time but the maximum amount of clients depends on the channel's bitrate as each extra client adds a certain amount of CPU usage on the device. Once you have too many clients connected, the stream will start breaking up on all computers as the miniMe's processor can't keep up anymore. An interesting feature is that you are able to stream a channel on your computer and view a different channel on your TV at the same time if it's on the same MUX.

What I am really looking for is two independent tuners that can connect to two separate dishes aimed at different satellites, or different transponders on the same satellite. I personally can't think of any circumstance where I would want to watch two different programs from the same MUX at the same time. Receiving the very same stream on two different devices at the same time might be a possibility, though. But as I noted, recording is far more important - it needs to be able to record two different programs at the same time.

Other than the above, everything you mentioned sounds great. But there is one thing you didn't mention - the price! Maybe I am looking in the wrong place but I can only find those receivers at around $220. And in today's market that just seems too high for a single tuner model.

Consider, for example, that today I stumbled across the page for the Amiko Alien2. It appears that it will do most if not all of what the AzBox you mentioned will do, AND it has dual tuners, AND it sells for $214.99. They specifically state that it will stream live satellite to PC including 4:2:2. I don't know how it compares in quality to the AzBox, but from the feature list they appear to be very similar, and the price is similar, but you get dual tuners with the Amiko.

I haven't committed to any solution yet, but I am just saying that unless there is some source offering a much better deal on the AzBox miniMe than anything I found via a quick search, it's probably not something I would jump at, despite it meeting most of my other needs. I appreciate your post and I'm not completely discarding the idea that the miniMe could work as a partial solution, but basically I'd need two of them and even if I could get them for half price, they'd still be using double the power.

I probably shouldn't even mention the fact that while looking at that site I saw they are touting an upcoming new, very small single tuner box for $69 (pre-order price at one of their dealers, which shall remain nameless), but I am pretty sure that one will NOT do 4:2:2, and probably doesn't have some of the other features of the larger models either. And of course I have no idea how the quality of the two brands compare, nor the customer support. But I suspect we are going to see satellite boxes start to shrink in both size and price as newer chips come onto the market.

 

[anik]

I would suggest you use a solid FTA STB (microHD or similar) and then connect it to a capture card on a PC using component or S-video connections. You would then be able to use a program like Hauppauge WinTV Extend (Windows) to control the STB via an IR Blaster. WinTV extend has the added bonus of being able to stream live TV over a LAN or over the Internet (re-encodes the video to save bandwidth). You could then configure WinTV to record programming to a shared drive and access the recordings on any one device.

Alternatively, like Tron suggested, stick a couple of DVB-S2 tuner cards in a PC. Then use a program like NextPVR (also Windows) to stream the live video over your network.

Not using Windows. Strictly Linux and OS X here. But thanks anyway; perhaps your suggestions will be helpful to someone else reading this thread (this also applies to everyone else that posted Windows-based solutions - thanks, but it's been years since I've done anything with Windows).

 

[anik]

What about one of these devices....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Smart-TV-Bo..._Internet_Media_Streamers&hash=item27d4580230

Thanks, looks interesting, first I have heard of that one. Obviously built for the European market. At this point I would say not enough information, and it probably doesn't do 4:2:2. If I were looking for something like that I'd be more inclined to try the $69 unit I mentioned in a post above.

 

[pwrsurge]

Consider, for example, that today I stumbled across the page for the Amiko Alien2. It appears that it will do most if not all of what the AzBox you mentioned will do, AND it has dual tuners, AND it sells for $214.99. They specifically state that it will stream live satellite to PC including 4:2:2. I don't know how it compares in quality to the AzBox, but from the feature list they appear to be very similar, and the price is similar, but you get dual tuners with the Amiko.

Stating that the Amiko supports 4:2:2 is misleading as it's your PC and NOT the STB that's doing the 4:2:2 decoding when streaming to it assuming that you have the correct software codecs installed that support 4:2:2. Any receiver that supports streaming the currently tuned channel will allow you to view 4:2:2 but ONLY on your PC's and NOT on the TV that the STB is connected to. However, AzBox HD receivers supports 4:2:2 decoding natively in hardware so you can view high bitrate 4:2:2 feeds on both your TV AND on your PC at the same time.

Keep in mind that the ability to view 4:2:2 streamed to your PC requires the correct software codecs installed on your PC and the maximum supported bitrate is based on the CPU power of your machine as decoding is done in software and not hardware. You will need quite a powerful PC in order to decode high bitrate 4:2:2 in realtime such as the example you mentioned. For example, my dual core CPU laptop is only able to view standard definition 4:2:2 feeds in realtime without any breakups or lag. Tablets or other portable devices generally will NOT be able to view 4:2:2 content in realtime.

In regards to single v.s. dual tuner, we are currently working on releasing an external USB based tuner in order to upgrade the miniMe to dual tuners which should be available by the end of the year.



Best regards,

 

[anik]

Stating that the Amiko supports 4:2:2 is misleading as it's your PC and NOT the STB that's doing the 4:2:2 decoding when streaming to it assuming that you have the correct software codecs installed that support 4:2:2. Any receiver that supports streaming the currently tuned channel will allow you to view 4:2:2 but ONLY on your PC's and NOT on the TV that the STB is connected to. However, AzBox HD receivers supports 4:2:2 decoding natively in hardware so you can view high bitrate 4:2:2 feeds on both your TV AND on your PC at the same time.

Keep in mind that the ability to view 4:2:2 streamed to your PC requires the correct software codecs installed on your PC and the maximum supported bitrate is based on the CPU power of your machine as decoding is done in software and not hardware. You will need quite a powerful PC in order to decode high bitrate 4:2:2 in realtime such as the example you mentioned. For example, my dual core CPU laptop is only able to view standard definition 4:2:2 feeds in realtime without any breakups or lag. Tablets or other portable devices generally will NOT be able to view 4:2:2 content in realtime.

In regards to single v.s. dual tuner, we are currently working on releasing an external USB based tuner in order to upgrade the miniMe to dual tuners which should be available by the end of the year.

Thank you for that response. Okay, that changes the equation somewhat. So, let me ask this follow-up question:

Let's say you have recorded an hour long program from CBS. Now the program is over and it is sitting on the hard drive. Now say I want to come in from another computer on my network that is not a high-power machine, maybe it's a low-end desktop or a tablet computer, and view that program off the hard drive. Would that work? We are not talking real-time here, we are talking after the show has finished recording. Would I still need a powerful PC to do that, or is the program recorded in a format that can be viewed on most normal devices?

I guess part of what I am asking is, when the program is stored on the hard drive is it in any way transcoded to a format that lower-powered devices can handle. And, if that does not occur during the initial recording, is there a process that runs after the recording is finished that transcodes the program down to something that a normal PC could use? I ask that because when you schedule a program using MythTV, that is one of the options you have available, to automatically transcode the program after the show is finished (I have no idea what software they actually use to do this, because I've never had to do it with an OTA stream).

Just trying to get a handle on what is possible and what is not. On another issue, I was reading comparative reviews on the miniMe vs. the Alien2 and one comment I saw was that the miniMe didn't do blindscan nearly as well as the Alien2. Do you know if anything has been done since those reviews were written to improve the blindscan capability in the miniMe?

 

[Anole]

Instead of a computer for viewing, I use a low cost Western Digital media player.
(WD TV Live Plus)
It was around $70-90, several years ago.
In some tests, I ran high bit rate 4:2:2 through it (Indy Car race).
Worked fine.

 

[Jim S.]

As far as I know, the only DVB STBs that transcode recordings or network streams only work with Dish Network.

 

[Tron]

In general, most semi-modern PCs can play MPEG-2 without problems. MPEG-4 AVC, however, requires either a fast modern processor or a hardware-accelerated video card (and sometimes both).

As Anole mentioned, the WDTV media players do a great job as stand-alone devices.