[ILUG] Linux HTPC

[Niall Walsh]

On Thursday 15 February 2007 14:03, Justin Mason wrote:

> pcHDTV hardware, OTOH, is fully open, and extremely linux-friendly.
> http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/5808
> Dunno if it works with Irish TV broadcasts though ;)

Quote the FAQ (http://www.pchdtv.com/faq.html):

"The card only supports NTSC/ATSC which is broadcast or will be broadcast in 
the USA, South Korea, Canada, Argentina (Buenos Aires - Experimental), Mexico 
(DF, Tijuana). Other countries are either undecided or using the DVB 
standard."

We are in the DVB camp for now at least.

>
> Anyway, it might be better to see if you can get a card that supports the
> DVB transmissions used in digital Sky or NTL here, rather than
> over-the-air PAL supported by the Hauppauge cards... and see if you
> can find an open-source-friendly hardware vendor. ;)   I haven't
> looked into this at all yet...

I don't think you can (legally anyway) get at NTL or Sky as DVB.   Perhaps NTL 
do allow random DVB-C cards access but I suspect they use something protected 
under our EUCD inspired copyright laws to prevent it.   What you can do  
(though I have yet to do) is either take analogue feeds (does anyone give a 
digital connection to their boxes in Ireland) from their set top boxes or 
only go for free to air broadcasts on DVB-T and/or DVB-S.

There are some DVB-T transmissions running now here in Ireland for the 4 
stations (afaik) and DVB-S carries all the BBC channels (and Channel 4 now I 
think) along with a range of other channels of questionable worth ;-)   There 
may be other channels on DVB-S which you can buy a suitable card (and 
subscription) to decrypt, but I'm not sure what channels (I could guess some 
of them).

Is anyone using DVB here in Ireland on Linux?   Any triumphs or horror 
stories?  Insights into what you can get your hands on with DVB-C from any 
providers?   Experiences with DVB-S feeds (hd bbc anyone or any 
useful/popular or Irish free to air channels I didn't mention)?   Any DVB-T 
gotchas with the test broadcasts on Linux?  Any strong recommendations for 
vendors who "Do the Right Thing" for DVB-S/DVB-T on Linux?

Niall