WMC Live TV Tuner

[EnterNoEscape]

I have been talking about being able to do this for a while, so I thought I'd share with everyone what I have so far. The attached program is a modified version of Windows Media Center TCP/IP Controller. I removed several commands that we don't need whose requirements caused the software to be unable to load in many situations and added a new command tune which is basically a macro. This program makes it trivial to use WMC like it's an STB and all you need to do is have an HDMI capture device record the full screen window. This was built for Windows 7 64-bit, requires .Net Framework 3.5 or greater and is untested on Windows 8.1 or 10, but feel free to let me know if it worked for you or not.

Install:

1. Download and unzip the attachment.
2. Right-click on InstallAndRegister.cmd, then click Run as administrator.
3. Open Windows Media Center.
4. Open a browser on the same computer.
5. Navigate to the URL http://localhost:40510/help.
6. If a webpage opens up, the software is running. The the http interface is only available while WMC is running.

Uninstall:

1. Right-click on Uninstall.cmd, then click Run as administrator.

Tuning a Channel (Testing):

1. Open a browser.
2. Navigate to the URL http://localhost:40510/tune%20<channel_number>. If you are not on the same computer that's running WMC, substitute localhost for the hostname/IP address of the computer running WMC. Substitute <channel_number> for whatever channel you want to tune into.

If you have an extender that you would like to control, they are available by incrementing the port number 40510. For example, the first extender, will be on port 40511.

Tuning a Channel (ExeMultiTuner Tuning Plugin):

1. Edit the command that you import into the registry to execute (included in zip file as ExeMultiTuner.reg):

   PowerShell.exe -Command Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://localhost:%DEVICE%/tune%20%CHANNEL%

2. Then change StubDevice to the port number 40510. Don't forget to create the corresponding .ir file per the directions that come with the ExeMultiTuner plugin.
3. Alternatively you can write a batch file/PowerShell script if you have more than one IP address you need to work with.

This post should help get you started a little faster if you haven't used the ExeMultiTuner plugin before.

Tuning a Channel (OpenDCT IPTV HDMI Encoder):
You must have OpenDCT 0.5.20 or greater installed for this feature to be available.

1. Stop OpenDCT service.
2. Open opendct.properties. (Windows: C:\ProgramData\OpenDCT\config\opendct.properties, Linux: /etc/opendct/conf/opendct.properties)
3. Create names for each encoder under the property generic.http.device_names_csv in opendct.properties separated by commas.

   The names can really be anything, just don't use commas in the names for what should be obvious reasons.

   Ex. generic.http.device_names_csv=Encoder 1,Encoder 2

4. Save.
5. Start the OpenDCT service.
6. Wait about 30 seconds, then stop the OpenDCT service.
7. Open opendct.properties. (Windows: C:\ProgramData\OpenDCT\config\opendct.properties, Linux: /etc/opendct/conf/opendct.properties)
8. There should be new entries with the value of sagetv.device.<unique_id>.device_name matching the name(s) you created earlier.
9. Set the URL to stream from (check the web interface of the device to determine what this URL should be):

   sagetv.device.<unique_id>.streaming_url=http://<encoder_ip_address>/hdmi

   or

   sagetv.device.<unique_id>.streaming_url=http://<encoder_ip_address>/0.ts

10. Set the executable to be used to tune in the channel:

    sagetv.device.<unique_id>.tuning_executable=http://localhost:40510/tune%20%c%

11. Set the executable to be used to stop playback:

    sagetv.device.<unique_id>.stopping_executable=http://localhost:40510/stop

12. Repeat the last three steps for each device. localhost should be changed to match the hostname/IP address of the computer actually running WMC.
13. Save.
14. Start OpenDCT service.

What is it Doing?

1. Go to Live TV.
2. Maximize WMC.
3. Repeat the first two steps until WMC reports that's it's playing.
4. Execute fullscreen media experience.
5. Send keys to tune the channel.
6. Send OK.
7. Send Clear (5x). (This makes the info go away very quickly.)

Stopping:

1. Open a browser.
2. Navigate to the URL http://localhost:40510/stop. If you are not on the same computer that's running WMC, substitute localhost for the hostname/IP address of the computer running WMC.

Recommended Configuration for Dedicated Computer:

• Configure Windows to automatically log in as a user.
• Copy the Windows Media Center shortcut into the Startup folder on the Start Menu. Optionally add the following parameters to the shortcut to speed up startup time and ensure that it stays full screen. (use Alt-F4 to close):
  

  /nostartupanimation /homepage:VideoFullscreen.xml /PushStartPage:True /mediamode

• For users of Windows Media Center on Windows 8.1 and higher, apply the registry key attachment in this post.
• If you have any issues with the taskbar stealing focus, try the shell modification in this post.

PowerShell Tuning Help:

• If you are running Windows 7 or 8.1, try upgrading to PowerShell 5.0.
• Try running the SageTV service as a user instead of Local System.

Changes:

• 1.1

  Adjusted macro timings to be more WMC extender-friendly.

• 1.2

  Added fullscreen command to the tune macro which brings the player to the foreground.

  Added the macro stop which only returns when playback is positively stopped.

• 1.3

  Relaxed the timings when tuning channels to be more inline with the timings you might use with an IR blaster.

• 1.4

  Added additional channel tune after a 5 second delay to handle issues whereby live TV tuning started just a little early.

[nyplayer]

Sounds Interesting let me know when you get the attachments up they do not appear to be working... As I have WMC running on windows 10.

[EnterNoEscape]

I took too long at getting this post up; it looks like it dropped the attachment. I put it back in there.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

I took too long at getting this post up; it looks like it dropped the attachment. I put it back in there.

It works on WMC Windows 10 .... sending commands through browser .. I guess I have to get a HDMI Capture device now.

I have never setup ExeMultiTuner Tuning Plugin so I will have to do some reading.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

It works on WMC Windows 10 .... sending commands through browser .. I guess I have to get a HDMI Capture device now.

I have never setup ExeMultiTuner Tuning Plugin so I will have to do some reading.

That's awesome. I was envisioning needing to have two builds, but this is so much better. Make sure you get one that can do 1080p60, otherwise you'll probably need to compromise on 720p60.

Fortunately it's fairly easy to configure. The only thing worth mentioning is that if for some reason you need to specify a full path in the .reg file, be sure to escape backslashes (Ex. \ should be \\).

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

That's awesome. I was envisioning needing to have two builds, but this is so much better. Make sure you get one that can do 1080p60, otherwise you'll probably need to compromise on 720p60.

Fortunately it's fairly easy to configure. The only thing worth mentioning is that if for some reason you need to specify a full path in the .reg file, be sure to escape backslashes (Ex. \ should be \\).

Is there an HDMI Capture network capture device you recommend?

[UgaData]

Is it feasible that a Colossus or a newer HD-PVR w/HDMI input would work as the HDMI capture device? This may have an added benefit of getting 5.1 audio as well.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Is there an HDMI Capture network capture device you recommend?

I updated the attachment to have the .reg file you would need to use. It's 32-bit on 64-bit Windows, so the path is actually just a little different from the directions that come with ExeMultiTuner.

This one should work well. This is the same retailer I used. This is the model I wish I would have bought since it does 1080p60 output. There might be cheaper ones, but I generally like to go with what I know over saving a few dollars. Something worth noting is they appear to only ship on Fridays and at least for me even though I didn't pay for it, it ended up shipping via DHL which was rather fast shipping.

I should also note that if you're going to use of one of these devices with OpenDCT, you won't need to use ExeMultiTune because OpenDCT supports executable based tuning directly.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by UgaData

Is it feasible that a Colossus or a newer HD-PVR w/HDMI input would work as the HDMI capture device? This may have an added benefit of getting 5.1 audio as well.

It is completely feasible. You just need to set the display to 720p60 or 1080p30 (might look choppy) since none of those support 1080p60. On that note, I'll see if maybe we can do something clever like tell Windows to change resolutions based on what's playing back. I think I can get dimension information even from DRM'd content.

Update: I just learned that you can't get pretty much any metadata on live TV.

[KryptoNyte]

Can I setup this up with an Xbox360, as a new tuner in Sage (via Colossus for example)?

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

Can I setup this up with an Xbox360, as a new tuner in Sage (via Colossus for example)?

Yes, but if I remember correctly, you need to leave WMC open on the computer that the extender is connecting to for the http interface to be available. You can just open it up and minimize it.

If you have an extender that you would like to control, they are available by incrementing the port number 40510. For example, the first extender, will be on port 40511.

[EnterNoEscape]

I just wanted to throw a something out there for anyone about to buy a capture device specifically for this. My primary server was using VGA so I could hook it up to a cheap KVM. I forgot that WMC will allow VGA to output copy protected content without complaining. As soon as I used the HDMI port, it refused to allow anything to play. It turns out there are a lot of problems with the Intel HD 4000 graphics on several motherboards in this regard. I tried upgrading to the latest drivers, but nothing changed. Fortunately I have several laptops that I really don't have any better use for that I plan to dedicate as "STB's," but the takeway here is make sure when you're testing this solution to use an HDMI connected display or you could be disappointed.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

I just wanted to throw a something out there for anyone about to buy a capture device specifically for this. My primary server was using VGA so I could hook it up to a cheap KVM. I forgot that WMC will allow VGA to output copy protected content without complaining. As soon as I used the HDMI port, it refused to allow anything to play. It turns out there are a lot of problems with the Intel HD 4000 graphics on several motherboards in this regard. I tried upgrading to the latest drivers, but nothing changed. Fortunately I have several laptops that I really don't have any better use for that I plan to dedicate as "STB's," but the takeway here is make sure when you're testing this solution to use an HDMI connected display or you could be disappointed.

If that is the case you can get a VGA too HDMI with audio.

Something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Outpu...ds=vga+to+hdmi

[EnterNoEscape]

That's actually what I did, but I didn't want to say anything until I tested it and like the overall conversion quality. I'll be getting it on Sunday. (I love Prime!)

Edit: This could also be a decent work around for people who don't want to buy an HDCP stripper.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

That's actually what I did, but I didn't want to say anything until I tested it and like the overall conversion quality. I'll be getting it on Sunday. (I love Prime!)

Edit: This could also be a decent work around for people who don't want to buy an HDCP stripper.

So once I get my HDMI capture Device OpenDCT will be able to see it as a tuner? So all the is needed is to setup the tuner plugin in sagetv.


Do you think that I can test channel changes using a fake tuner on my Sage test machine.???

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15871

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

So once I get my HDMI capture Device OpenDCT will be able to see it as a tuner? So all the is needed is to setup the tuner plugin in sagetv.

You'll need to be running the latest beta of OpenDCT (which I'm fairly certain you are). Also, I don't think a new SageTV package was built yet with the changes I submitted (and were merged) to allow the use of local tuning plugins with a network encoder, so unless you want to build it, you'll need to use what's available within OpenDCT for now.

As of this version, the IPTV encoders present themselves as an HDMI device or Digital TV Tuner.

These network-based HDMI encoders don't offer any way to automatically detect them, so there is a little manual configuration. Details on this are in this post. They are also present in the very first post in the OpenDCT thread.

Let me know if you need better details or have any suggestions on how to make the direction easier to follow.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

You'll need to be running the latest beta of OpenDCT (which I'm fairly certain you are). Also, I don't think a new SageTV package was built yet with the changes I submitted (and were merged) to allow the use of local tuning plugins with a network encoder, so unless you want to build it, you'll need to use what's available within OpenDCT for now.

As of this version, the IPTV encoders present themselves as an HDMI device or Digital TV Tuner.

These network-based HDMI encoders don't offer any way to automatically detect them, so there is a little manual configuration. Details on this are in this post. They are also present in the very first post in the OpenDCT thread.

Let me know if you need better details or have any suggestions on how to make the direction easier to follow.

Ok will do Right now I am multitasking giving my Production server a fresh start... Also Install WMC 10 on it.


New Shows are on hold for this week and the others ended this week so good time to freshen my server.

[EnterNoEscape]

I added some directions specifically for the IPTV HDMI Encoders that should hopefully help. One thing you get with OpenDCT that you currently can't get with SageTV is that you can tell Windows Media Center to stop playback when SageTV stops using it. This will save you on electricity and should also free up a tuner if you're sharing tuners.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

Can I setup this up with an Xbox360, as a new tuner in Sage (via Colossus for example)?

I re-setup my 360 and I was wrong, you don't need to run WMC on the computer it's streaming from, but the port is incremented as I said earlier.

There is something of note that you might already know; it seems to only go up to 1080p30. I will say that it does a fantastically better job at the 60 -> 30 conversion over the STB. I'm guessing that's probably because it's not trying to interlace something that was originally progressive. My 360 pulls 88 watts from the outlet whether it's playing video or not, so I'll probably script it to only turn on when a recording is going to happen in the next hour, when clients are connected and if it's suddenly requested.

This might actually be a good match for the Colossus for those that want to get 5.1. I've used it with the HD-PVR 1212 (Component + SPDIF) at 1080i30 and it was OK, but 1080p30 is noticeably visually better especially on source content that's 720p60. Also recording from component was a little dark for some reason. I couldn't seem to adjust it enough to make it look like the original colors, so eventually I just gave up on using the HD-PVR 1212.

[KryptoNyte]

How are you waking the 360? Additionally, I've been avoiding integration of the Colossus with Sage due to the daily or weekly reboots that seem to be required, based on posts from other forum users.

I think I'll give this a shot anyways. Each Xbox360+Colossus combination is another ditched STB.