BM1000-HDMI (HDMI Encoder) Review

[wayner]

I think there is a learning capability where you learn the number keys and the enter key as that is pretty much all you need for channel changing. You might want to try the SageTV manual. But I can't remember since I did it a decade ago. There is also a zone feature if you have multiple boxes that you are using with the USB-UIRT but don't worry about that until you get the first one working.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by sflamm

Thanks for the info.

On the .ir files...

1. Can you give me a pointer to how to edit/modify them?

2. I am using a RNG150 (Pace)... anyone have a sample for those?
http://armstrongonewire.com/documents/rng200_manual.pdf
A version of this: http://media2.comcast.net/anon.comca...pacerng110.pdf


Appreciate the help as I transition from firewire tuning...

You can configure the USB-UIRT tuning right in Sage - it can 'learn' your remote codes for each digit, and 'enter'.

[KryptoNyte]

Here's a pretty good thread on USB-UIRT;

https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58109

[peternm22]

I've been looking at the BM3000-HDMI on AliExpress.

They offer free shipping to Canada via either DHL or EMS. Can anyone comment on the duty/customs/brokerage fees for these two options? My impression is that DHL will cost more in brokerage fees. EMS seems to use the postal system and ends up being cheaper (since Canada Post doesn't try to rip you off in brokerage fees like DHL does).

Thoughts?

[sflamm]

Is it possible for someone to provide a mechanism to remotely invoke a tuning plugin that is installed in SageTV?

A REST-like call:

tunerpluginName channel=channel# zone=zone#

In particular would like to use USB-UIRT with OpenDCT on a remote SageTV Server... need a mechanism for sending a remote channel changing command.

Thanks in advance.

[peternm22]

I just had a whole post written about how much trouble I was having with this device. Random white dots appearing on he encoding, audio dropouts, random horizonal lines appearing. Jerky video playback. Just a mess! I changed every setting just to try and narrow it down, and it still wasn't working. It turns out it was just the single channel I was viewing! Haha! Must be a problem with the source.

Device is working well now that I tried other channels. Any recommendations for the following settings?

-GOP: Accepts a range of 5-300
-H.264 Level: I have this set as high profile right now. Other options are baseline or main.
Audio samplerate: 44100 or 48000
Audio encoder: AAC, AAC+, AAC++, or MP3.

Thanks!

[peternm22]

It doesn't look like the full array of picture settings (brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation) are available on the BM3000. Unless I am missing something obvious, I can't find them anywhere (apart from a contrast setting under something called CSC).

See attached for the control panel screenshots.

Is there some type of hidden menu to get to these settings?

[EnterNoEscape]

They should be under advanced. Try enabling CSC.

[peternm22]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

They should be under advanced. Try enabling CSC.

I enabled CSC (and rebooted the device), and contrast is still the only option that shows up there.

I looked through the HTML source on most of the configuration pages and I can't find any reference to the other picture controls.

There is an upgrade firmware page, but it is for strictly uploading a new firmware. There is no update check and no hints about where to get a new firmware. I couldn't find anything on Unisheen's website about upgrading the firmware either.

[EnterNoEscape]

Attached is the source for the web page on my BM-3500.

This line should be of most interest:

http://"+hostip+"/set_adv?csc_enable="+csc_enable+"&csc_luminance="+csc_luminance+"&csc_contrast="+csc_contrast+"&csc_hue="+csc_hue+"&csc_satuature="+csc_satuature

Basically it's saying that if your IP address is 192.168.1.168 (default), the following URL will change all of the values to 50:

http://192.168.1.168/set_adv?csc_luminance=50&csc_contrast=50&csc_hue=50&csc_satuature=50

If this works, you should see something like OK show up in your browser. If it doesn't work you might get a 503 error or something like that. You can also always try asking the vendor for new firmware that has these options. I don't see any reason why it can't support them.

[peternm22]

Thanks for the tips. I tried the URL and I get a single word saying "succeed". I then rebooted the device, and none of the picture settings changed (apart from contrast). I thought that setting them to 50 might not be super obvious visually, so I tried setting them all to 1 (except contrast because I know that works). No change in the picture at all.

I was starting to suspect that that "succeed" was just a generic return value. So I tried http://192.168.1.168/set_adv?blah=2, and sure enough it says "succeed" again.

I poked around the code some more and found that it populates all the data from an XML file: http://192.168.1.168/get_adv I didn't find any hidden values in the XML file, just what's displayed on the webpage.

I'm going to try and email the company and see what they say.

[peternm22]

Just heard back from them, and it looks like I'm out of luck. They said the BM3000 just has the CSC setting (anyone know what CSC even stands for?). I asked about the BM1000 and BM3500 having these settings, and they said they do but there is a limitation in the chip in the BM3000.

Seems really bizarre to me, but I don't think I'm going to get anything else out of them.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by peternm22

Just heard back from them, and it looks like I'm out of luck. They said the BM3000 just has the CSC setting (anyone know what CSC even stands for?). I asked about the BM1000 and BM3500 having these settings, and they said they do but there is a limitation in the chip in the BM3000.

Seems really bizarre to me, but I don't think I'm going to get anything else out of them.

It's interesting that you're the first person to bring this up considering how many others bought the BM3000 model. I guess some people aren't as interested in proper calibration as we are.

[sflamm]

As a workaround - you can adjust the settings on the source to compensate for it...

Haven't had to touch anything myself - looks fine out of the box.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Perfect. I'll be adventurous and order one in the next few days.

tmiranda, did that unit work? You never posted one way or the other, than I could find.

[peternm22]

Originally Posted by sflamm

As a workaround - you can adjust the settings on the source to compensate for it...

Haven't had to touch anything myself - looks fine out of the box.

I don't think source devices usually have these settings. My satellite receivers don't, my Apple TV doesn't, and I'm fairly certain my blu-ray player doesn't either.

Typically these settings are only available on the display device. If I change the settings of the display devices though, it will throw off the colour settings on the SageTV interface and any videos not encoded from the BM3000.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

tmiranda, did that unit work? You never posted one way or the other, than I could find.

I never ordered it.

[Fuzzy]

y'know, I wonder if the firmware on these things is accessible - as in, I wonder if the actual network encoder protocol could be hacked into one. Just a crazy thought.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

y'know, I wonder if the firmware on these things is accessible - as in, I wonder if the actual network encoder protocol could be hacked into one. Just a crazy thought.

There's only one problem with that proposal. From what I can tell there are at least 3 different chips these can have, so someone would need to maintain 3 different firmwares for the community and you'd eventually get the one that looks like it's the right chip for the firmware you are about to use, but it ends up bricking it instead. The only thing I would like to have added to these is any kind of discovery protocol since today the only option is a fully manual process. If you do find firmware that we can chop up, I would still be interested to see what we can do in regards to making it discoverable.

[Fuzzy]

I wonder if instead of an actual firmware change, if the OS is accessible via telnet or ssh, such that an alternative program/script could be loaded and run remotely after the device is up and running in it's own firmware. I do know that this is how the sagetv extenders are turned into squeeze players, without having to replace the firmware in them.