[mythtv-users] Google Nexus Player as MythTV Frontend

[Tom Harris]

On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Tom Harris <thom.j.harris at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 9:42 AM, Matt Emmott <memmott at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 12:10 PM, Tom Harris <thom.j.harris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I use my MythTV frontend via an N bridge (Apple Airport to Time Capsule)
>>> and MPEG2 streaming is flawless for me.  I get ~160Mbps throughput.  But,
>>> YMMV based on distances, home construction materials, etc.
>>>
>>> The bluetooth remote is an issue -- can't integrate into my universal
>>> remote.  But, I guess adding an IR receiver via USB can solve that.
>>>
>>> There are a few MythTV android frontend apps already.    I'm hoping that
>>> one of them can be a good option, as I would really like a single device
>>> that could do commercial service streaming as well as MythTV.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Every Android MythTV app I've used so far has been a bit lacking. But
>> they've been written with portable devices in mind. Perhaps one needs to be
>> written more specifically for a device like this?   My bigger problem with
>> that was actually the Google TV box.  It was quite poor, both in TV
>> compatibility and in UX.  The newer Android TV is supposed to be more like
>> Roku or Apple TV.
>>
>
> I found one that worked pretty well.  The main problem I had was that the
> skip forward action was a bit slow.   I'm used to the instant skips of
> native mythtv, so it may be challenging to match that in an Android app.
>
>
>> I can stream MPEG-2 over 11n without much of an issue at home. But does
>> this thing decode MPEG-2 or is it expecting everything to be H.264? I wish
>> a dang CableCard-to-H.264 device would come out, but that's another topic.
>>
>
> That's the reason I'm interested in this new generation of "Android TV"
> devices.   In earlier material, I read that they are required to support
> MPEG2 decoding, so that should standardize the capabilities across devices.
>   The previous Google TV boxes all had different capabilities (most didn't
> support MPEG2) and the apps suffered for it.
>

While looking for more tech details on the Nexus player, I found a bunch of
other devices using similar hardware but which are more open.   If the
Atom's GPU works well with VAAPI, these would make excellent myth
frontends.   The quad atom is quite powerful, the various devices have good
integrated device and expansion options.  Many of them have 2GB RAM and
embedded flash storage.

USB Stick device:

http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/10/15/meego-t01-hdmi-tv-stick-supports-android-windows-8-1-and-ubuntulinux/

Minix NEO Z64 - AppleTV-like form factor.  Includes N Wireless, 3GB RAM,
32GB Flash and IR Receiver:

http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/09/01/minix-neo-z64-is-an-intel-atom-z3735f-bay-trail-mini-pc-selling-for-129/

ECS Liva - slightly bigger cube:
http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/03/27/ecs-liva-is-a-complete-sub-200-mini-pc-based-on-intel-bay-trail-m-soc/
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