$100 for making a "Movie on Demand" MOD STVi!!

[ARMYB77]

Hello all,
I've been asking for this to be made for a while, now i'm ready to pay/donate for it. Whoever is able to make a working STVi to accomplish this will receive $100 via PayPal. Here are the requirements:

STVi "Movies on Demand"(MOD)
Create a plugin that will fully integrate all the Movie on demand services:
Minimum services:CinemaNow, Movelink, and Netflix with WatchNow abilities.
Additional cool service to add: Vongo
All of these MOD services have RSS capabilities so that part should be easy, you must be able to view all categories, and search for specific movies (listings should be detailed with artwork) Again this is RSS so all the info is there anyways.
You must also be able to add and remove from Que in Nextflix.
When renting Movies from CinemaNow, or Movielink you must be able to complete the order from within SageTV (Like Beyond Media's StudioNow).
Playability must be from within Sage to keep complete remote capabilities. WMP will be needed to play these but it needs to be integrated into sage (it is acceptable to replace Zoomplayer for a WMP Plugin, as long as it's seamless) I know that I've read that it is possible to replace zoomplayer with a media player plugin.
I also want to be able to select the MOD from the Main menu, and then in the submenu select the service.

This STVi must be compatible with SageTV v6.1 and higher.

Other plugins that I want to be able to use are SageMC, and DVD Burning plugin.

You can get a pretty good head start with the Netflix if you look into Media Portal Source code for their plugin. Beyond Media has everything except the Netflix so I know it's possible to do this.

I've been using SageTV for 4 years now, so I would like to stay with it that is why i'm willing to pay for the plugin.

Of course this plugin would onl be able to work with Windows unfortunately.

If there are others that would like to donate to this plugin let me know so we can pay these guys for their hard work.


Cheers!
Armyb77

[bcjenkins]

Interestingly enough.. If you open the default STV there is code in there for a MOD service. Not to hijack your thread, but can you run down the different services? I don't know how much each costs, etc.

B

[traker1001]

My guess is that getting sage stv to work with the DRM and custom software of companies like netflix, movielink, etc.. would be extremely difficult, Otherwise my guess is this would have been done by now, probably for free.

[Spratley]

I don't think I can justify $100, but I'll offer an additional $50. I use both Movielink and Vongo. Movielink or Cinemanow would be a minimum requirement for me. Vongo would be a bonus. If Cinemanow was only offered, I would start using them.

Spratley

[AngelofDeth]

Originally Posted by traker1001

My guess is that getting sage stv to work with the DRM and custom software of companies like netflix, movielink, etc.. would be extremely difficult, Otherwise my guess is this would have been done by now, probably for free.

I doubt the standard sage media player will work, but automatically launching Windows Media Player, and having a Sage "interface" to these services would be nice start to something like this. I don't think you need custom software to actual play the files, they are usually WMV DRM'd files, not sure about the actual downloading/lauching of the files though...

[ARMYB77]

Custom software is not needed, all streams can be launched from WMP. The hardest part is grabbing the stream info from the sites. I've opened movies off of Netflix, just by going to the page with the movie and then clicking View Page Source. You have to make sure that what ever you do Cookies must be carried when using the sites.

Here is where you would grab the stream info from the site:

var WNPlaylistMovies = {"movies":[{"id":"6013221242","title":"Zoolander","streams":[{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=0z9a3TW-kHoDBlQuNt_Wsg23232PqmE7kNytBXDpOSvgulNW3ieodiXItrqABnOYUnvzA4eRIXCIxN-wKWl4fm3KpdaSQqOHJHM.","bitrate":500,"dlid":482323274734,"requiredBandwidth":700},{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=7p8kte2z76723232DmQrBNaFHWKnTkq9rwh97NnS5INmea5y7XlvOHFF6VfrX-k1YhTWl9snd1lVrNWFkNVEmS_BxZzWOp4CP0.","bitrate":1000,"dlid":983232214930,"requiredBandwidth":1400},{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=IjPmmLqAsYKN8MOHZ_F8X232323rLWDH7ARmsOVrKzBkMVILH1QRqyB_s_UyasaMWS2wrRa_F9pc2JqSb9QNMql0zIy3Nh36Namo.","bitrate":1600,"dlid":35232323552,"requiredBandwidth":2240},{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=hxkEBmPf8zfG_2Y6Lf_USDC_khbWQWb322323k4T8t5N4WevkEL71VmOWNAIyjDWJOUDNCVe1zpw_BzS2PPeZ-ChMKTbMO6sV-E.","bitrate":2200,"dlid":88632322071,"requiredBandwidth":3080}]}]};

and here is the complete page code:

<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> <meta name="save" content="history"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/icons/nficon.ico"/> <meta name="description" content="Netflix: Netflix Movie Viewer - Starting at only $4.99/month. Free Trial. Over 75,000 titles on DVD. Free, fast shipping both ways. Free Trial."> <meta name="keywords" content="online movies dvds dvd rental rent movie rental, indian hindi hindu comedy foreign documentary gay dvd club total movie access films video chinese japanese russian netflicks net flix net-flicks net flicks netflex netflixs netfilx netflix wwwnetflix.com netflix netflix.com netflicks net flix netflicks www/netflix.com www.netflicks.com Net Flix net-flicks Net Flicks"> <title>Netflix: Netflix Movie Viewer</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.netflix.com/layout/css/global.css?v=119888" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.netflix.com/layout/css/watchNow.css?v=119888" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.netflix.com/layout/css/media.css?v=119888" /> <style type="text/css"> #historyMarker { behavior: url(#default#saveHistory); } body {behavior: url(http://www.netflix.com/layout/htc/dom_ready.htc?v=119888);} #header,#uma,#uma-lip,#page-title,#main-body,#footer {width:772px} #page-content,#pma {width:734px} .form_button_primary .cb_lf {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/l_off_sec0.gif)} .form_button_primary .cb_rt {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/r_off_sec0.gif)} .form_button_primary .cb_m {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/m_off_sec0.gif)} .form_button_secondary .cb_lf {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/l_off_sec0.gif)} .form_button_secondary .cb_rt {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/r_off_sec0.gif)} .form_button_secondary .cb_m {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/m_off_sec0.gif)} .form_button_on .cb_lf {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/l_sec0.gif)} .form_button_on .cb_rt {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/r_sec0.gif)} .form_button_on .cb_m {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/m_sec0.gif)} .form_button_error .cb_lf {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/l_err.gif)} .form_button_error .cb_rt {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/r_err.gif)} .form_button_error .cb_m {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/m_err.gif)} #wnPlaylist-controls-prev a{background-image: url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/prevButton.png);} #wnPlaylist-controls-next a{background-image: url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/nextButton.png);} #wnPlayer-content .return a{background-image: url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/buttonLeft.png);} #wnPlayer-content .return a span{background-image: url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/buttonRight.png);} #wnPlayer-movieInfo{background-image: url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/info-bg.png);} #wnPlayer-movieInfo h3{background-image: url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/info-topCap.png);} html { background-color: #000; } #page-content { width: 100%; } #wnPlayer-content { text-align: center; } #main-content { margin: 0; padding: 0; } #main-body { width: auto; } #main-body, #pageclose { background-image: none; border: none; background-color: #000; } #wnPlayer-msgs { background: transparent url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/msg-bottomcap.gif) 0 100% no-repeat; } #wnPlayer-msgs h3 { background: transparent url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/msg-header.gif) 0 0 no-repeat; } </style> <script type='text/javascript'>var WNImport = {"BITRATE_TO_BANDWIDTH_FACTOR":1.399999976158142,"GENRE_TAB_INDEX":0,"DETECTOR_CLSID":"clsid:B3E658DF-D425-430C-82C2-D54232323020","UPGRADE_URL":"http://www.netflix.com/WatchNowInstall?msg=3","INSTALL_URL":"http://www.netflix.com/WatchNowInstall?msg=1","COMMON_BITRATES":[500,1000,1600,2200],"BUILD_NUMBER":153,"CLIENT_BANDWIDTH_MIN_KBPS":1024,"PLAYER_CLSID":"clsid:3233-04C0-4378-9A0F-23232397BC","BROWSER_SUPPORTED":true,"DO_LINK_INTERCEPTION":false,"GENRE_TAB_PARAM_NAME":"tabN"}; </script><script type="text/javascript"> window.name = '_nfk'; if (screen.width && screen.width < 750) { document.write("<style type='text/css'> .sb {float:left} #page-content{float:right} .main-body .main-content {margin: 0px 26px 0px 10px;} .sb .text {text-align:left;} </style>");} var PAGE_ROOT = 'http://www.netflix.com/'; var XML_ROOT = 'http://www.netflix.com/XML/U/'; var IMAGE_ROOT = 'http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/'; var BS_MOD = 10; var cinematchEnabled = true; var d_titlecount = '75,000'; var d_membercount = '6 million'; var d_hubcount = '42'; var d_membercounttext = 'more than 6 million'; var d_bobMS = '700'; var w_country = '1'; var static_rd = '20030807'; var nfExT = 'new Image()'; var showCobrandedPriv = 'false'; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/shared.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/DomQuery.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/domutil.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/rollover.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/AxPlayer.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/WatchNowPlayer.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/MovieLists.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.netflix.com/layout/jscript/Playlist.js?v=119888"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/script/WNEvents.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.netflix.com/layout/css/watchNowMovieBlock.css?v=119323888" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://image.netflix.com/us/script/bandwidth_e.js?v=2"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var btnImgs = []; btnImgs.push("http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/l_sec0.gif"); btnImgs.push("http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/m_sec0.gif"); btnImgs.push("http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/buttons/css/r_sec0.gif"); EventDispatcher.addEvent(dom,"ready",function(){ImageLoader.loadImageArray(btnImgs);}); </script> </head> <body class="wnPage" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" bottommargin="0" rightmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> <iframe name="bwdata" src="http://speedtest.ehub.netflix.com/item/SpeedTest?html=1" style="border:0px; width:1px; height:1px; position:absolute, bottom:0px; right:0px;visibility: visible;"></iframe> <iframe name="bwbridge" src="http://www.netflix.com/iframes/bwbridge.html" style="border:0px; width:1px; height:1px; position:absolute, bottom:0px; right:0px;visibility: visible;"></iframe> <div class="main-body" id="main-body"> <div class="main-content" id="main-content"> <div class="page-content" id="page-content"> <a name="afternavigation"></a> <div class="page-title" id="page-title"> <style type=text/css> .sb {background:none} .page-content {background:none} #page-title {width:100%; background:none; border:none;} .main-body {background-image:url(http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/layout/page_titles/bgvignette/PgGrp22_v2.jpg); background-repeat : no-repeat;} </style> <div class="page-title-pma2"> </div></div> <script type="text/javascript"> DebugConsole.enabled = DebugConsole.enabled || false; var WNPlaylistMovies = {"movies":[{"id":"60021242","title":"Zoolander","streams":[{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=VLAhL_y-LUsbFPIX9z9Y5X6jgUDf9zOWxJYpDJD4HtW84RSmBRMM34243UMb5d4Q0ngfXxpXHcmRkUqPghSQrYYip0MUU.","bitrate":500,"dlid":480274734,"requiredBandwidth":700},{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=w_yZHMNmpuFcwoHQWqyoSwEB8Z6waXXUePg45pVw5caKntk6zkb-YO8uc6oIpQN2mG65V3424234j3fD5B7G3-dHzziTY3x0qc.","bitrate":1000,"dlid":981314930,"requiredBandwidth":1400},{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=-IpOApjR9C2vFHWdhFclW4nWR6EEL74U_aUkJ-RakSujpRhPoGI-T08CAq_p7oQBQAA3hzL34243432jSc0UCQ4gh-yutt4LnD0eE.","bitrate":1600,"dlid":35232423552,"requiredBandwidth":2240},{"url":"http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=LihX4_ooctmuw-UEaxWWul8nYPic_OGdanBj-tkUM4vel2M8G9f9I3n42424244SPF9IMs3hYCMlGL_Mn3rOdlmk_ZmNIZwVM.","bitrate":2200,"dlid":886822071,"requiredBandwidth":3080}],"startPos":4}]}; var WNPlayerImport = { BUILD_NUMBER: WNImport.BUILD_NUMBER, PLAYER_CLSID: WNImport.PLAYER_CLSID, DETECTOR_CLSID: WNImport.DETECTOR_CLSID, INSTALL_URL: WNImport.INSTALL_URL.setUrlAttribute("to", "/WatchNowPlayer?movieid=603342323242").setUrlAttribute("from", "http://www.netflix.com/WatchNow"), UPGRADE_URL: WNImport.UPGRADE_URL.setUrlAttribute("to", "/WatchNowPlayer?movieid=6034222321242").setUrlAttribute("from", "http://www.netflix.com/WatchNow"), DOWNLOAD_URL: WNImport.DOWNLOAD_URL, FROM_URL: "http://www.netflix.com/WatchNow", HOME_URL: "http://www.netflix.com/WatchNow?lnkctr=wnSkpInst", MAX_DOWNLOADSPEED_MBPS: 5, movieId: 60021242, firstMovieIdToPlay: 60021242, forceDlid: null, sessionIdBase: "1174224242118" }; var WNPlayerInit = function(event) { WatchNowPlayer.init(true); }; EventDispatcher.addEvent(window, "load", WNPlayerInit); </script> <div id="wnPlayer" class="wnPage"> <div class="header"><h2>Watch Now</h2></div> <div id="wnPlayer-content"> <div id="wnPlayer-msgs"> <h3>Movie Player Message</h3> <div id="wnPlayer-msgs-body"></div> </div> <div id="wnPlayer-area"> <p>Starting the Netflix Watch Now player&hellip;</p> </div> <div id="wnPlayer-movieInfo"> <h3><a href="http://www.netflix.com/WatchNowMovie?movieid=600434242&trkid=1923495">Zoolander</a></h3> </div> <p class="return"><a href="http://www.netflix.com/WatchNow"><span><img class="icon" src="http://cdn-0.nflximg.com/us/pages/wn/player/back.png" alt="Back"> Back to Browsing</span></a></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clearb" id="clearb"> &nbsp; </div> </div> </div> <form id='stateTracker'><div><input type='hidden' id='historyMarker' class='saveHistory'></div></form> <div class="pageclose" id="pageclose"><br></div> <script type="text/javascript">try{window.forceDomReady && window.forceDomReady();}catch(e){}</script> </body></html>

Of course streams are only valid for around 24hours so this one won't work anymore but it is how you do it.

I can launch WMP from a the RUN by doing this:

wmplayer "http://index.ehub.netflix.com/item/?x=VLAhL_y-LUsbFPIX9z9Y5X6jgUDf9zOWxJYpDJD4HtW84RSmBRMM34243UMb5d4Q0ngfXxpXHcmRkUqPghSQrYYip0MUU." /fullscreen

Hope this helps. This can't be that hard, all these services pretty much work the same. Beyond Media was able to figure it out, so I imagine that it can be done. Besides we are up to $150 now with Spratley's $50

Thanks,
Armyb77

[ARMYB77]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Interestingly enough.. If you open the default STV there is code in there for a MOD service. Not to hijack your thread, but can you run down the different services? I don't know how much each costs, etc.

B

The services are as follows: Netflix different packages, they will mail you DVDs that you request based on your plan. They also give you 1 hour of WatchNow time for every dollar you spend on them.
Movielink, and CinemaNow are pretty much the same: Movie are for PPV or to purchase only. Average rental cost of a movie from them is $1.99 to $4.99.

Lastly is Vongo: Vongo is owned by STARZ. For $10 a month they offer a online stream to STARZ content, movies that are playing for that month an so on. They also offer PPV for other movies that are not currently playing on STARZ.

My dream PVR software will have this and Clear-QAM for the HDHomerRun, and the AverMedia M780. Here is everything I want SageTV to do which it mostly does these already.

Multiple Tuner support (Clear-QAM, and Analog) (M780)
Schedule recordings, and playback
Music with detailed information (possible iPOD plugin)
Imported Videos with ISO support for DVDs on my harddrive
MOD services
Burn to disc Software
Commercial Skip.

Cheers!
Armyb77

[Spratley]

I THINK . . .

BeyondTV offers Movielink and Cinemanow support with these custom webpages hosted by the companies.

http://www.cinemanow.com/mc2/

http://www.movielink.com/store/ehome/home/home.jsp

I'd like to know if these are the same links that Win MCE uses or if they were specificly created by the folks at Snap Stream.

Unfortunatly Sagetv doesn't have IE integrated, but I think opening a fullscreen version of IE from within the Sage interface and then linking these web pages would be a good place to start.

Messing around with the Movielink page it looks like it could work, however I couldn't get the code that opens WMP to work, so I had to open it manually. It was all a bit akward, but I think there's potential.

If these pages are specific to BeyondTV, I really don't want to steal their had work, though.

Spratley

[ARMYB77]

Spratley is right! This is a possible solution for Movielink and CinemaNow. Maybe a completely integrated FireFox with the IE Engine installed into SageTV would work. Add both Movielink and CinemaNow as must open in IE Engine. So when you go to the Movielink in SageTV it would simply open up a FireFox within Sage and the info would display.

I think he has something, much of the Netflix is already done, only modification of the Netflix plugin should be needed to add WatchNow capabilities

Cheers,
Armyb77

[ARMYB77]

If these pages are specific to BeyondTV, I really don't want to steal their had work, though.

Spratley

These are not specific to BeyondTV, actually from what i'm seeing they were actually stealing from MCE. Movielink looks to be the easiest to implement. CinemaNow always says that MCE is not running and you will not be able to view content.

Armyb77

[ChePazzo]

do any of these services work with Linux? or is a Windows PC required?

[Spratley]

The DRM solution that both Cinemanow and Movielink use, require Windows. I don't know about the other services mentioned here.

Spratley

[ARMYB77]

Unfortnately this plugin has 2 major hurdles, the first being a lack of a WMP plugin, without a WMP plugin that can play WMV everything stops. The other major hurdle is finding someone that is willing to devote the time to building this plugin. It seems that there are not many developers out there that care enough about this feature to make it.
I did find out that VONGO is now supported in VistaMCE along with CinemaNow, and Movielinks. Netflix is still not Supported. The best support for Netflix is probably with MediaPortal.
So here is what it boils down to. The only reason SageTV will die is because they are not willing to develop the things that the competition already has. How does a company expect to stay in business when it's not trying to stay ahead of the competition? The only reason why I hate MCE is the tuner Limits. All in all it's a lose, lose situation.

The bad thing is that the more my wife plays with Vongo the more see wants it part of Sage, see even said who cares about CinemaNow, and Movielink. Here is what she wants:
Vongo, Netflix, and Napster

oh well
Armyb77

[bcjenkins]

A few points:

1) Sage seems to be doing something with movies on demand. They have a demo built into the stock stv. Just doesn't do anything and it isn't linked to any menus. Open the stv in Studio and take a look.

2) Have you thought about this from the other way? Reach out to Vongo and tell them about SageTV. Maybe they are looking for new market opportunities as well.

Trust me when I say I can appreciate the frustration about a lack of a public roadmap. However, they are a private company with a lot of people wanting in on the market.

• MeedioOS
• Yahoo Go TV
• MS Vista MCE
• GB PVR
• Media Portal
• MythTV
• GAMM (or something like it)

Those are the ones off the top of my head. SageTV had 2 announcements at CES, HD Extenders and some sort of agreement with AMD for a server. They also have to deliver on the commitment of a Mac product as well. If you look at it from that view VOD services haven't bubbled up yet as must have implementation. Whereas you have many folks saying they are willing to buy multiples of HD extenders, an as of yet untapped Mac market and a turnkey server setup geared for SageTV usage. Those three are direct revenue generating projects with huge potential.

All of that said, thanks for reading, I would be willing to pay for add ons to Sage. I think it is a great product, scales well, and the community is first rate. I would pay for this add on too, not sure about 50 or 100, but 10 to 15 no problem.

B

[ARMYB77]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

A few points:

1) Sage seems to be doing something with movies on demand. They have a demo built into the stock stv. Just doesn't do anything and it isn't linked to any menus. Open the stv in Studio and take a look.

2) Have you thought about this from the other way? Reach out to Vongo and tell them about SageTV. Maybe they are looking for new market opportunities as well.

Trust me when I say I can appreciate the frustration about a lack of a public roadmap. However, they are a private company with a lot of people wanting in on the market.

• MeedioOS
• Yahoo Go TV
• MS Vista MCE
• GB PVR
• Media Portal
• MythTV
• GAMM (or something like it)

Those are the ones off the top of my head. SageTV had 2 announcements at CES, HD Extenders and some sort of agreement with AMD for a server. They also have to deliver on the commitment of a Mac product as well. If you look at it from that view VOD services haven't bubbled up yet as must have implementation. Whereas you have many folks saying they are willing to buy multiples of HD extenders, an as of yet untapped Mac market and a turnkey server setup geared for SageTV usage. Those three are direct revenue generating projects with huge potential.

All of that said, thanks for reading, I would be willing to pay for add ons to Sage. I think it is a great product, scales well, and the community is first rate. I would pay for this add on too, not sure about 50 or 100, but 10 to 15 no problem.

B

I understand what your saying. However you need to also think of where the market is currently going. Almost all new media content to come will have some type of DRM unfortunately. The HD Media Extender doesn't serve much of a purpose until they expand their support for clear-QAM tuners.
All of those programs you listed are now free (Vista MCE comes with Vista) So there market are for the people that are cheap. We paid the money for our SageTV when I first got SageTV v1.4 I believe it was, it had everything no one else could offer. Now they are falling further and further behind. I love the fact they are so open to developers making plugins, but the core is what needs to be modified.

As long as SageTV lacks DRM support, and limits it's self to the most expensive of Clear-QAM Tuners the future is not as bright as it once was. If you read the other PVR software forums you will find that all of them are reaching the same point, because with the exception of BeyondTv, and MCE non of them support DRM. Also almost everyone only supports the standard HDHomeRun (which is nice) But I could buy 2 M780's for that price and that would give me 2 analog and 2 QAM/OTA tuners for the same price as just 2 QAM/OTA tuners.

There are my thoughts on the subject,
Armyb77

[Jesse]

Hi,

The HD Media Extender doesn't serve much of a purpose until they expand their support for clear-QAM tuners.

Not so fast. I get my HD from an OTA antenna. The HD extender should allow me to eliminate two pc's and bring HD to the small panel we installed in the kitchen.

If fujitsu manages to bring their real time HD encoder chip to market then HD capture via component will be possible. This will make HD, and the HD extender, very attractive to many more people.

Jesse

[ARMYB77]

Jesse,
I understand that it will be good for OTA. But there are a lot of users that live too far from the broadcast stations to use it, that is why Clear-QAM support is needed so that everyone can benefit and not just the people with OTA tuners.

On a side note, I talked to Vongo via email, and they seem interested in supporting other PVR software like SageTV. But it's more of a company talking to company thing then it is a private user having them develop it.

Thanks,
Armyb77

[heffe2001]

Originally Posted by ARMYB77

Jesse,
I understand that it will be good for OTA. But there are a lot of users that live too far from the broadcast stations to use it, that is why Clear-QAM support is needed so that everyone can benefit and not just the people with OTA tuners.

I have the HDHomerun, and get alot of content via QAM on it. The HD extender is definitely NOT just for OTA folks. Anybody who rips their movies to divx/xvid or whatever compression will most likely benefit as well, as it looks like the extender will play those formats natively, without the need to transcode. I plan on using them on my SD TV's as well as HD for that reason alone.

You sound like you're quick to discount the usefulness of the HD extender because it's of little value to YOU, where a large portion of the Sage community are eagerly awaiting it's release... It will be a step ahead of all the other PVR software (MCE included), in that you'll have HD extenders that don't cost a fortune (unlike the x360 for MCE, I can't afford to drop one of those on all my TV's), and something that nobody else has. Adding support for streaming DRM media from online sources sounds good to me, but get the HD extender & other things already talked about done first.

I'd much rather be able to watch all my content I currently have without transcoding and at much higher quality than transcoding can deliver on my hardware, than watch a VOD from an online service. There again, that's what works for me, no necessarily what works for you .

[hemicuda]

I'd much rather have the Sage team get the HD extender out the door first. I couldn't care less if I ever make the move to DRM(*pukes*)-crippled media/systems.

[ARMYB77]

I think we are a little off track. I did not want SageTV to do this. They have their own priorities. I am trying to get someone to develop a plugin that will give us these features. It's pretty obvious that you guys didn't read the entire thread. If you did you would have seen that I never asked SageTV to do any developing on the VOD.

I agree that the HD Extender will be nice, however once it is out, I can only hope that SageTV will add more QAM Tuners, or that the EVO program adds this.

As far as the VOD, it is unlikely that SageTv will ever support DRM. It would require using WMP, or Winamp to work. As far as I know Sage has no plans in developing this. This post is not for debate on what sage should do next. If you wish to talk about that then do it in another post please. This is strictly asking developers of plugins to try to make this plugin for SageTV. (Why else would I put the post in the customizations section of the forum?)

Thanks,
Armyb77