Re: gnome-dvb-daemon vs boxstard

[Sebastian Pölsterl <sebp k-d-w org>]

Hi Tony,

Am 27.04.2010 20:58, schrieb Tony Houghton:
> <snip>
>
> * The web page doesn't explicitly say that you can watch TV on a
>    separate PC from the server, but I presume that it is possible, and so
>    taken for granted that's the reason it isn't mentioned?
Yes it's possible. All channels can be accessed via rtsp streams, 
recordings are currently not streamed via rtsp. Unfortunately, those 
rtsp streams can only be viewed by other gstreamer-based applications 
because other players don't know the playload type. That's something I 
hope I can fix in the future so you can use whatever player you want.
The reason that's not mentioned on the homepage is that I haven't tested 
it a lot, but it should work in theory.

> * I also want to be able to use the PC as a STB, which means being able to
>    control everything with a remote control without needing a full keyboard
>    and mouse, so channels should be selectable by number as well as name.
>    My code supports LCNs and can get them from the SI for the Freeview and
>    Freesat services I can pick up in the UK, although I don't fully
>    understand Freesat's system and had to "fudge" the correct assignment of
>    numbers to channels which have regional variants.
DBus is used to talk to the daemon, therefore you cannot directly talk 
to it via the network. It may be a worthwhile goal to extend UPnP 
support using Rygel [1]. Watching channels and recordings is already 
working. As Rygel uses gstreamer, too, you could work around the player 
problem I mentioned above using Rygel to expose it to the UPnP world.

> * Freesat's EPG (EIT schedule) is broadcast on non-standard PIDs and the
>    text is Huffman-encoded.
>
> * Does gdd support subtitles?
All the parsing and decoding is not carried out directly in gdd, but 
gstreamer. Therefore, you'd have to patch gstreamer elements. Regarding 
subtitle support, somebody started working on it [2], but it's not 
ported to gstreamer, yet.

> Would the developers be willing to incorporate all of these features? I
> don't mind having to write the code myself as long as I know people are
> willing to accept it into the official package.
Absolutely, your suggestions all sound reasonable to me. I'd be happy to 
accept patches.

If you have further questions please don't hesitate to ask.

[1]: http://live.gnome.org/Rygel
[2]: http://github.com/leio/libdvbsub

--
Greetings,
Sebastian Pölsterl