Roku channel?

[freewheeling]

This is probably a completely off-the-wall question, but I was wondering if there is such a thing as a SageTV "channel" on the Roku player, or if such a thing is even possible?

I have an HD200 but I just got a Roku player for the basement so I could watch it while I'm on the rowing machine. I noticed that I can add a PlayOn channel (although lots of people say you can't do this now), and that the player will play the H264 transport streams produced by SageTV using the Hauppauge HDPVR box. It doesn't exactly play them "well" though. Keeps restarting and stuttering, but I'm not clear on how it works at all.

Are the streams actually being played on my computer server through PlayOn (perhaps using the VLC Player) and then streaming to the Roku, or is the Roku playing the stream itself?

It also occurred to me that the SageTV guys could write some sort of front end "client" for the Roku and sell it like a Placeshifter license? That would be pretty cool, and a better solution than going through PlayOn. Does that idea have any merit?

Thinking about it, this front end client would compete with the HD300 if it worked too well... but it might expand the market which could overcome that limitation.

[cncb]

I think the Roku has very limited format support so it would require a beefy server for all the transcoding (similar to trying to watch high-def on a MediaMVP).

[freewheeling]

So, if I got an hdtv video card, would it work with PlayOn? I'm not clear whether the transcoding goes on before it gets to the Roku or whether the Roku is doing it. I noticed, oddly enough, that I can't play the H264 transport streams using the PlayOn plugin from the HD200. The screen just goes black and nothing happens.

Update: BTW, here's a link to an article about recognizing the Plex server from a Netflix-ready device. The deal is with LG but it could work with Roku as well, and SageTV could, theoretically, do the same thing:

[SomeWhatLost]

silly question, but why not go the other way?

1. ie plug the Roku into sage (through a HDPVR? or something?)
2. get an HDx00 for the basement

and then, you could have Roku goodness everywhere

not sure how you would change channels on the roku though?

[freewheeling]

Originally Posted by SomeWhatLost

silly question, but why not go the other way?

1. ie plug the Roku into sage (through a HDPVR? or something?)
2. get an HDx00 for the basement

and then, you could have Roku goodness everywhere

not sure how you would change channels on the roku though?

Twice the price, for one thing... and I'm not sure how you'd get Roku plugged into Sage since it's a hardware device. Through the HDPVR?? For many of the things that Roku does you can just use the PlayOn plugin, anyway. Not much point in that direction.

Also, I don't much care about controlling the HDPVR recording process from my basement. I only want to play the finished products.

[freewheeling]

Also, Roku has a channel you can set up called "Roksbox" that can play video files on a hard drive. I set up the personal web server using Microsoft IIS 7.5 . I can see the video files OK, but there's some glitch in the system where it won't play. The key is creating an XML index file, and I was thinking that perhaps there's a utility running in Sage that could do that. Something like Batch Metadata Tools? Or maybe I could use the Jetty Server somehow?

[davephan]

Originally Posted by freewheeling

I have an HD200 but I just got a Roku player for the basement so I could watch it while I'm on the rowing machine.

How do you like the Roku? I have relatives that do not have SageTV, but would like to stream Netflix. Maybe the Roku would be a good choice for them. How good is the output quality? Can you pause streams like SageTV? Do you have any buffering problems?

Dave

[freewheeling]

Originally Posted by davephan

How do you like the Roku? I have relatives that do not have SageTV, but would like to stream Netflix. Maybe the Roku would be a good choice for them. How good is the output quality? Can you pause streams like SageTV? Do you have any buffering problems?

Dave

Dave:

The menus for Netflix are better than those for my Samsung Bluray player, and also preferable to those in Playon. It seems to decide whether to use HD quality depending on the strength of the wireless connection, so where it's "excellent" you get HD, and where it's only "good" I get something that's a little grainier (but still OK). I sort of wish I'd spent an extra $20 to get the XD/S box, which has dual band capability and a USB port if you want to play videos off of a drive. So far the Netflix capability is rock solid, and it's easy to search for movies that aren't in your queue yet. If you've ever seen the Plex Netflix plugin, it's like that. You can also pause for a long time without the movie resetting, which is a problem I have with my Bluray Netflix connection.

There are several "private channel" options for playing files via streaming. I've tried the roksbox, but haven't been able to get it to work... and requires setting up a web server with Apache or something like that. Another one called Chanera looks interesting, and the detail on playable streams looks like it will play the h.264 ts streams that the HDPVR produces under SageTV.

They both have a one-time subscription fee, but you can try the channel for 30 days before you buy it. Seems like Sage might be able to do something like that, but the Roku isn't yet DNLA or UPnP compliant (although they plan to make it so in the future).

[SomeWhatLost]

Originally Posted by freewheeling

Twice the price, for one thing...

thats ok, price is no object.... especially when it's not my money...

Originally Posted by freewheeling

For many of the things that Roku does you can just use the PlayOn plugin, anyway. Not much point in that direction.

I have heard Playon's video quality is somewhat lacking... but I have no direct experience...

Originally Posted by freewheeling

Also, I don't much care about controlling the HDPVR recording process from my basement. I only want to play the finished products.

yea, that was the point, you just watch on an HDx00 and have one unified UI for your hole house...

[freewheeling]

Originally Posted by freewheeling

Another one called Chanera looks interesting, and the detail on playable streams looks like it will play the h.264 ts streams that the HDPVR produces under SageTV.

They both have a one-time subscription fee, but you can try the channel for 30 days before you buy it. Seems like Sage might be able to do something like that, but the Roku isn't yet DNLA or UPnP compliant (although they plan to make it so in the future).

Tried Chaneru but the server thing insists on using my iTunes folder, and I can't change it. So, doesn't really work for other folders with videos, in spite of what it seems to imply. Too bad, because it does play the TS folders. Looks like the only thing that has even partially worked is the MyMedia channel in PlayOn. There is a MyMedia channel for Roku, but whether or not it plays *.ts files seems rather sketchy. Maybe I'll give that a shot.

Update: MyMedia doesn't play *.ts files. Looks like I'll probably have to give up on streaming from my own network.

[freewheeling]

Would Media Streaming Services, or SageTCPServicer, or SageTV Remote API Services work to provide a SageTV channel to the Roku?

[trallyus]

I was able to stream my sage tv shows to the roku via the playon.tv software. I added my sage tv recording directory to the MyMedia settings in playon to get it working.

Not sure if this is still available with the roku as they removed alot of the playon compatibility since they made that deal with hulu to get hulu plus on the roku.

If you have not tried playon for roku the manual has a link to click to get playon to work with the roku but I have not tested it since I have 2 legacy playon channels on roku as it is and don't need a 3rd.

Trallyus

[freewheeling]

Originally Posted by davephan

How do you like the Roku? I have relatives that do not have SageTV, but would like to stream Netflix. Maybe the Roku would be a good choice for them. How good is the output quality? Can you pause streams like SageTV? Do you have any buffering problems?

Dave:

I just increased the multicast rate to 12 Mbps and the Roku box now plays Netflix HD content in the basement, without any buffering problems. The router is on the top floor so the signal has to go through two floors, but it still works at 12 Mbps. However, I had to also set the router to "n only" so there are no g devices dragging the speed down. The newest Airport Express router is dual band, so you could put the other devices on the 2.4G band and the Roku and/or Sage HDx00 on the 5G band. That would be pretty sweet.

It also just occurred to me that I have another N series router (Belkin) that I can use as a wireless access point, and can put that on the 2.4 Ghz band, and just use the AEBS on 5 Ghz, so effectively have a dual band setup. I'm going to return the Roku XD and get an XD/S instead, which has simpultaneous dual band capability, so should get great reception everywhere in the house. Cool.

Now, if I can just figure out how to use the Sage Plugins to connect it to my Sage server...