[mythtv-users] IPad and mythtv.

[Jarod Wilson]

On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 9:06 AM, Phil Linttell <phil.linttell at rogers.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Jarod Wilson<jarod at wilsonet.com>
...
>> In any case, [Elgato's] new HD-PVR-alike toy says something about recording
>> at least two separate files for each recording, one for the iPad, one
>> for the iPhone/iPod. From
>>
>> http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/EyeTV-HD/product1.en.html:
>>
>> "EyeTV HD features a unique dual-format capture mode and can record in
>> both the iPad and iPhone formats at the same time. This feature
>> supports super-fast exports to iTunes from EyeTV, and facilitates the
>> streaming of live and recorded TV to an iPhone or iPad using the
>> optional EyeTV app."
>>
>> It also mentions being able to record "full HD" as well. Appears you
>> may have to pick between the two -- "full HD" or "dual lower
>> resolutions".
>>
>> I'm actually somewhat interested in getting one of these and playing
>> with EyeTV some. They've got some pretty spiffy additional transcoding
>> and streaming support that can be set up to use their turbo.264 hd
>> encoder stick (which I have one of), making real-time video
>> transcoding not that hard on the cpu, which was what it seems many
>> people were citing as the main reason real-time transcoding for
>> streaming wasn't practical...
>
> Real-time transcoding for mobile devices is practical these days, either
> with more powerful multi-core / high-performance CPUs, or increasingly
> through platforms like the ARM/Tegra.  I can run the AirVideo Server under
> linux, on a dual-core, 3GHz AMD CPU and transcode on-the-fly 720p HD-PVR
> recordings for streaming to an iPod Touch.  In fact, I've been able to do it
> while watching TV via a remote MythTV front-end and while
> transcoding/streaming to an iPod and commflaging a the same time.  So, I
> think the argument for real-time transcoding is no longer valid.

I agree. I was just saying that this is what many other people were saying. :)

My ~3 year old core 2 quad backend has more than enough oomph to
transcode on the fly.

> For those who are interested, using MythicalLibrarian to provide sensible
> directory/file name access to myth recordings, and AirVideo Server for Linux
> (free) and the AirVideo client ($3) is a great solution for streaming to
> iPods/iPhones (and there's a version for the iPad now), but at this point
> it's only for Apple devices....  and a bit of a challenge to set up.

One thing I'll note here: its a bit of a challenge to set up if you're
using the AirVideo Server for *Linux*. It takes about 30 seconds to
set up if you're using the AirVideo server for Mac OS X (and
presumably similar for Windows). I'm running AirVideo Server for Mac
OS X on an old 2GHz Core Duo iMac right now. Works well enough for all
mpeg2 content and lower resolution h.264/mpeg4/etc., but real-time
transcode unsurprisingly doesn't work particularly well for h.264 HD
content. Thus far though, its mostly all just a neat trick for me to
be able to play stuff on my iPad and iPhone. I'm rarely in a position
where I want to watch something and it doesn't make more sense to just
watch it using mythfrontend on a machine hooked to a TV at home, or
worst-case, mythfrontend on a laptop. If I traveled more or had a long
commute via public transit, maybe it'd be more useful.

> It
> would be nice to provide similar functionality integrated with Myth that
> could support a broader range of devices.

Agreed, would be a nice integrated feature. And as mentioned, there
*is* some relevant related work being done to enable storing multiple
files per recording so you can post-record transcode and keep both a
transcoded ipod-tailored version and the original version of a
recording. Not sure if any work is being done or considered wrt
on-demand real-time transcoding, beyond the mythweb flash player,
which (iirc) calls ffmpeg directly, it doesn't actually do the
transcode via mythbackend/mythtranscode. As they say in the
industry... Patches welcome! ;)

-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com