HDMI to IPTV converter

Johnboy1951

I am tentatively looking about for a low cost HDMI to IPTV converter to take the HDMI output, of a STB or BD Player or such, as its input, and output an IPTV stream on the LAN so that any LAN connected device can view the stream using VLC, or Kodi or such.

I think this is one such device
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H-264-HDMI-Video-Encoder-via-http-rtp-rtsp-to-IPTV-Live-Stream-Broadcast-device-/161498768770
but it is a bit pricey for me, as it will only rarely be used.

Anyone got suggestions about what might be suitable?

I have seen devices with both a TX & RX but I am not interested.
I want the stream on the LAN for any device to access.

Thanks.

Another I found - a bit cheaper
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HDMI-IPTV-Encoder-Support-RTMP-and-Onvif/32563521435.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.55.95HMDN

beardybrewer

What content is it you want to stream? Give an example scenario.

If you want to record and stream content from services such as Netflix you might consider PlayOn.

Johnboy1951

beardybrewer wrote: »

What content is it you want to stream? Give an example scenario.

If you want to record and stream content from services such as Netflix you might consider PlayOn.

As mentioned above a blue ray disc or STB output, to be viewable by any device on the LAN.

beardybrewer

I'd look into streaming a bluray disc from your home PC/laptop to your TV.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/play-movies-by-rigging-up-tv-wireless.html

frozenfrozen

I know what you mean, it's an interesting idea but I wonder could the same be achieved by making the channels available over tvheadend, and then using a bluray drive which could be mounted over the network, and be played from the different devices? Rather than investing in the IPTV system to create channels.


I have used an iptv system in th0m0nd p4rk (just so that doesn't show up in google) and it in my opinion would really only be suitable if you had several sets of screens that you wanted to keep in sync, with the same content. It would be good to have a blu ray player channel available on all devices though, or even the sky box as a channel available over kodi, by using iptv.

are you 100% sure you would be able to achieve some level of functionality that couldn't be matched in a simpler way?

Johnboy1951

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I know what you mean, it's an interesting idea but I wonder could the same be achieved by making the channels available over tvheadend, and then using a bluray drive which could be mounted over the network, and be played from the different devices? Rather than investing in the IPTV system to create channels.


I have used an iptv system in th0m0nd p4rk (just so that doesn't show up in google) and it in my opinion would really only be suitable if you had several sets of screens that you wanted to keep in sync, with the same content. It would be good to have a blu ray player channel available on all devices though, or even the sky box as a channel available over kodi, by using iptv.

Essentially that is what I would like to achieve.

are you 100% sure you would be able to achieve some level of functionality that couldn't be matched in a simpler way?

No
But I have not found one.

Suggestions very welcome

I already have a tvheadend system set up with some tuners so all devices on LAN can access them, and also access the central storage space which holds the recordings from all devices.

If I could cheaply convert the HDMI out to an IPTV stream then it would be easy to integrate it into the tvheadend system.

Johnboy1951

beardybrewer wrote: »

I'd look into streaming a bluray disc from your home PC/laptop to your TV.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/play-movies-by-rigging-up-tv-wireless.html

That assumes a file stored on a PC ........ not a live event from an STB out the HDMI socket, or a BD disc played from an external player, again through the HDMI connection.

beardybrewer

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

That assumes a file stored on a PC ........ not a live event from an STB out the HDMI socket, or a BD disc played from an external player, again through the HDMI connection.

Yep, I was thinking discs only and using something like this on your PC/laptop:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-BC-12D2HT-Blu-ray-Combo-Drive/dp/B00F0SQL6O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478185364&sr=8-1&keywords=pc+bluray

frozenfrozen

I still haven't been able to find anything affordable as a hdmi box but I have come across expensive options like http://justaddpower.com/residential-implementation.html there must be a whitebox version of this hardware?

I was also thinking along the lines of something like a blackmagic capture card, with something able to send that over the network, but I can't find anything along those lines.

there are lots of hdmi over CAT options but they are not IP based, they just send the info over cat cable, so totally useless in this regard but it makes searching for hdmi over ip products annoying as they are often lumped together.


have you had any luck?

Johnboy1951

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I still haven't been able to find anything affordable as a hdmi box but I have come across expensive options like http://justaddpower.com/residential-implementation.html there must be a whitebox version of this hardware?

I was also thinking along the lines of something like a blackmagic capture card, with something able to send that over the network, but I can't find anything along those lines.

there are lots of hdmi over CAT options but they are not IP based, they just send the info over cat cable, so totally useless in this regard but it makes searching for hdmi over ip products annoying as they are often lumped together.


have you had any luck?

I have had no luck finding anything that would suit my (near empty) pocket
I did find similar items to those I listed in the first post ...
http://www.cypeurope.com/store/store/app/product/IP-6000TX
but that seems to be a TX & Rx also.

Anything I found seemed to be aimed mostly at the pro market and not for a 'dabbler' like me.

The $200 unit from AliExpress is the cheapest I found.

I even considered HDMI->VGA->IP but that did not work out any cheaper and would have problems sending audio.

frozenfrozen

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have had no luck finding anything that would suit my (near empty) pocket
I did find similar items to those I listed in the first post ...
http://www.cypeurope.com/store/store/app/product/IP-6000TX
but that seems to be a TX & Rx also.

Anything I found seemed to be aimed mostly at the pro market and not for a 'dabbler' like me.

The $200 unit from AliExpress is the cheapest I found.

I even considered HDMI->VGA->IP but that did not work out any cheaper and would have problems sending audio.

I had a look at the system in th0m0nd p4rk again, it is "mediastar evolution" which I can't even find a price for online.. so it's probably if you have to ask you can't afford it territory http://www.cabletime.com/products/mediastar/hd-encoder-785/



Would it be possible to use a capture card, and then using VLC broadcast that input over the network? That could be a very low cost option if it worked

Johnboy1951

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I had a look at the system in th0m0nd p4rk again, it is "mediastar evolution" which I can't even find a price for online.. so it's probably if you have to ask you can't afford it territory http://www.cabletime.com/products/mediastar/hd-encoder-785/

[IMG]http://[/img]www.boards.ie/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=401356&stc=1&d=1478951942

That would seem most likely

Would it be possible to use a capture card, and then using VLC broadcast that input over the network? That could be a very low cost option if it worked

A capture card that takes HDMI as input and broadcasts on the LAN?
Essentially that is what the devices linked to do, no?

While considering this, I found another use for it, if I ever solve it.
Eir sports is available from satellite if a Sky +HD box is used and the card paired to it.
It would be nice to be able to watch a sports channel on a laptop or tablet or secondary TV, while the main TV is in use by someone else.
It is not possible to drag a satellite connected coax cable about the place along with a huge Sky box, so something like what we are discussing would serve that purpose well also.

niallb

I've done this the other way around a few times - taking an IP stream from a camera and playing it from a Raspberry Pi into a UHF modulator so that it can be picked up as an analog channel through the building, and years ago I did the same at home with a Video recorder which had an RF output. The video recorder also had two SCART inputs which we combined with DVD and PC output for XBMC.

If you can get a HDMI input capture card and already have a TVHeadend server, I'd be looking at going that way.
VLC is great, and you could even play the VLC to tvheadend and let it retransmit it back out in a form that would be picked up by any receivers you already have.

frozenfrozen

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

A capture card that takes HDMI as input and broadcasts on the LAN?
Essentially that is what the devices linked to do, no?

correct but they do it as a standalone device. They get an ip address and broadcast the 'channels' themselves. Whereas with a capture card that would need to go into a pc running vlc, vlc would take the input from the capture card, which would then broadcast it. Same thing really, I might have misunderstood what you meant though!

While considering this, I found another use for it, if I ever solve it.
Eir sports is available from satellite if a Sky +HD box is used and the card paired to it.
It would be nice to be able to watch a sports channel on a laptop or tablet or secondary TV, while the main TV is in use by someone else.
It is not possible to drag a satellite connected coax cable about the place along with a huge Sky box, so something like what we are discussing would serve that purpose well also.

you could put your sky card on a card server and have tvheadend decode that, not sure if this post goes against charter so I won't name any of the technologies required to do that. But essentially your encrypted channels could be made available the same as FTA satellite channels do through tvheadend.

But if you wanted to not break the terms of your sky license, then the iptv system would definitely solve that issue of wanting to watch encrypted channels on a tablet.

could HDCP become an issue.. with the likes of a bluray player for example


Found this, http://blog.danman.eu/reverse-engineering-lenkeng-hdmi-over-ip-extender/

Looked around a bit for sending a hdmi capture card out over tvheadend, lots of people asking but no answers I could find.

Johnboy1951

If a 'stand alone' device was added to the network, the client devices on the network, all using Kodi, could easily use the IPTV Simple plugin to get those and integrate them into the TV listing from TVheadend server.
Alternatively tvheadend could catch the new IPTV data and make it available along with the other channels. The device could even be added via another NIC to the server without ever going on the LAN until tvheadend had 'done its thing'.

In other words I feel sure there are options once the IPTV was generated in the first place.

The option of using 'means which cannot be discussed here' is that Sky require their card to be paired with a HD box to allow decryption of the HD signal. The best that can otherwise be seen is the SD channel. (if I understand your reference)
Of course I could always forget about being legal and get all channels illegally, but that is not my intention.

I am legally entitled to view these channels, but I want to be able to do that in a manner that is convenient to me.

Anyway, that eir sports thing is just another possibility if I can find a suitable device at a price I am prepared to pay.

The question of DRM/HDCP is very pertinent.
Some of those devices (at least the ones with TX & RX parts) do comply IIRC. As I have not found a suitable single device in my price range I have not been able to check out the DRM/HDCP situation unfortunately.

I have read that danman blog and other related pages.
I cannot presently recall why I passed on it now ...... here is a newer version

https://blog.danman.eu/new-version-of-lenkeng-hdmi-over-ip-extender-lkv373a/

Johnboy1951

I read danman's blog again, and came away rather less than certain about what can be achieved using what devices and software.

It would appear that what is suggested is the following

1 x 2 HDMI Splitter (removes HDCP and CEC from stream)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004F9LVXC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
~€26

HDMI Extender
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191750919298?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=490770381286&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT#shpCntId
~€40

along with some python scripts and VLC.

Any comments?
Am I making it more difficult than it is?

frozenfrozen

I'm not sure I would go with the hdmi extender the more I look at it, I may be missing it but what is the situation with picture quality and framerate etc? It would be fine on a tablet probably but if it was to be used on a big tv it could be fairly disappointing

a capture card could be a more straightforward path to good picture quality. As well as maybe being able to control the device connected via CEC if it was a bluray player or something, just a thought.

then again the problem of hdcp comes up again for the capture card. which is solved by him in that method

Johnboy1951

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I'm not sure I would go with the hdmi extender the more I look at it, I may be missing it but what is the situation with picture quality and framerate etc? It would be fine on a tablet probably but if it was to be used on a big tv it could be fairly disappointing

a capture card could be a more straightforward path to good picture quality. As well as maybe being able to control the device connected via CEC if it was a bluray player or something, just a thought.

then again the problem of hdcp comes up again for the capture card. which is solved by him in that method

The extender seems to be capable of 1920x1080 @60fps so it should be well capable.

Nelbert

Have you considered a HDMI modulator? Essentially turn the sky box hdmi output into a dvb-t signal (limited to two channel audio on the lower end modulators). Then plug that into your tvheadend setup via a dvb-t tuner (which you may already have for soarview channels).
Just appears as another channel in tv headend then....

I'm going to be doing this (probably with 2 sky boxes) and using the existing coax runs to maintain remote control usage for the sky boxes via tv link / sky eye thingys.

Johnboy1951

Nelbert wrote: »

Have you considered a HDMI modulator? Essentially turn the sky box hdmi output into a dvb-t signal (limited to two channel audio on the lower end modulators). Then plug that into your tvheadend setup via a dvb-t tuner (which you may already have for soarview channels).
Just appears as another channel in tv headend then....

I'm going to be doing this (probably with 2 sky boxes) and using the existing coax runs to maintain remote control usage for the sky boxes via tv link / sky eye thingys.

This the device type you mean?
http://www.freetv.ie/hdmi-modulator/

Nelbert

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

This the device type you mean?
http://www.freetv.ie/hdmi-modulator/

Yep, there is a triax version for around £120 on Amazon from memory.
A bit of a long way round but end result is the same.
It's my long term plan as regards tv distribution in the house.

Ones on eBay that take two HDMI inputs.... satlink brand which I've to do so research on before deciding on.

Johnboy1951

Thanks.

Please keep me updated on your research.

I still hope to find something in my price range that will provide the function for one HDMI output.

Johnboy1951

Nelbert wrote: »

Yep, there is a triax version for around £120 on Amazon from memory.
A bit of a long way round but end result is the same.
It's my long term plan as regards tv distribution in the house.

Ones on eBay that take two HDMI inputs.... satlink brand which I've to do so research on before deciding on.

I can see that from your use case it is worth the cost, but the cost/benefit for my use case is sadly unacceptable.

I never had a Sky+HD box (there was no HD when I last had Sky ).
I see the Sky box has an 'RF' output ...... can this be received by a DVB-T tuner if connected via coax?

Nelbert

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I can see that from your use case it is worth the cost, but the cost/benefit for my use case is sadly unacceptable.

I never had a Sky+HD box (there was no HD when I last had Sky ).
I see the Sky box has an 'RF' output ...... can this be received by a DVB-T tuner if connected via coax?

No it outputs analogue so not HD and not even tunable with a DVB-T tuner. I'll be using the RF for the remote controls though.

I highly doubt you'll find what you want for much cheaper, but if you do please let me know as I'm only using DVB-T as the workaround to get HDMI into tvheadend.

Johnboy1951

Just dropping a few links into this post for future reference.
I will add to it as appropriate.

HDMI to DVB-T Modulators

Edision HDMI Modulator

https://www.dvbmarket.com/modulators/edision-hdmi-modulator-single-dvb-t
€165 +VAT

http://www.freetv.ie/hdmi-modulator/
€189 +VAT

####

SATLINK WS 6990 (both HDMI & AV inputs)

https://satlink-uk.com/products/satlink-modulator-dvb-t-ws-6990?variant=7643693953
£189+VAT
http://www.ebay.ie/sch/Signal-Finders/67882/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=SATLINK+WS+6990&_sop=15
€170 and up

###

Technomate TM-RF HD HDMI RF Modulator

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Technomate-TM-RF-HD-HDMI-Modulator/dp/B01HOZKVFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483109080&sr=8-1&keywords=HDMI+to+DVB-T+modulator
£120
(Includes VAT & free UK delivery)

######

HDMI to IPTV Converters

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H-264-HDMI-Video-Encoder-via-http-rtp-rtsp-to-IPTV-Live-Stream-Broadcast-device-/161498768770
$230
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HDMI-IPTV-Encoder-Support-RTMP-and-Onvif/32563521435.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.55.95HMDN
$188
https://www.amazon.co.uk/FMUSER-FBE200-H-264-LAN-Broadcast-Encoding-Streaming/dp/B01N5K5AD6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1483109416&sr=8-8&keywords=HDMI+Video+Encoder
£186
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Broadcast-Teaching-Replacing-Conference-Recording/dp/B01KDLV8GK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483109416&sr=8-1&keywords=HDMI+Video+Encoder
£189


###

Johnboy1951

The latest HDMI Sender being referred to is a LKV373A-V3-0
Approx €35 for the sender unit.

It seems this sender coupled with a HDMI splitter unit which strips out the HDCP content is a viable combination to feed the IP stream to tvheadend.

Danman's blog is update to April 2017
https://blog.danman.eu/new-version-of-lenkeng-hdmi-over-ip-extender-lkv373a/

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The latest HDMI Sender being referred to is a LKV373A-V3-0
Approx €35 for the sender unit.

It seems this sender coupled with a HDMI splitter unit which strips out the HDCP content is a viable combination to feed the IP stream to tvheadend.

Danman's blog is update to April 2017
https://blog.danman.eu/new-version-of-lenkeng-hdmi-over-ip-extender-lkv373a/

Have got one of these, or are you planning on getting one Johnboy1951?

I just ordered one from eBay. I was planning on a DVB modulator but at less then 30 euros I thought it was worth a try.

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

Have got one of these, or are you planning on getting one Johnboy1951?

I just ordered one from eBay. I was planning on a DVB modulator but at less then 30 euros I thought it was worth a try.

I have one ordered, but it has not yet arrived (China post I believe).

It was due at the latest tomorrow ...... we'll see.

I'll post again if I get it and try it.

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I have one ordered, but it has not yet arrived (China post I believe).

It was due at the latest tomorrow ...... we'll see.

I'll post again if I get it and try it.

Well let us know how you get on. You will be a few weeks ahead of me

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

Well let us know how you get on. You will be a few weeks ahead of me

It arrived today.
I did a quick test with it using as source an Ariva 120 which I guess would not have DRM applied.

udp://@239.255.42.42:5004 in VLC gave me the TV channel from the Ariva.

The resolution is not right as reported by DanMan but I got no further than the above as yet.

Over the next couple of days I hope to do some more detailed tests both with the Ariva and with a Sky HD box.

Hopefully I will be able to get into the settings and change it from multicast to unicast and set up Kodi to distribute the channel on the LAN amongst the other LiveTV channels (possibly using IPTVSimple)

I am happy the device is working
Up to me now what I get it to do

Johnboy1951

OK, I could not wait

I had also bought an iSolem 1 > 2 HDMI converter which strips out the DHCP/DRM, so I hooked up both devices to the Sky+HD box with the eir sports card.

Yes!

I am playing, as I write this, BT Sport 1 HD on my PC using VLC.

I can get this far without doing any firmware change or other changes.

To get the correct resolution and other tweaks I expect to have to change the firmware.

Even as it is I am happy with it.

Tweaks can be applied when I get the urge

Johnboy1951

I wanted to introduce this 'new channel' into my TV & media server set up, but at this time I do not know how to do this in my tvheadend backend.

So for the moment I added my new channel into Kodi on the clients using IPTV. Not at all ideal, but somewhat functional. At least it allowed me to watch live, the Irish team get beaten last night by Mexico.

Kodi would not properly display the stream until I caused the odd udp packages to be dropped. These are all reported as zero length packages, but are possibly related to the Tx & Rx set up or such. So, as root in a terminal I did

iptables -t raw -A PREROUTING -p udp -m length --length 28 -j DROP

Kodi plays the stream fine after that. I should set that up in a config file to be run on startup so it is always present.


#######

The most obvious problems at present:


The display resolution is incorrect. I expect 1920x1080 which is what the source is set to.
What I get at the client I tested with is 1728x1080
I can watch it, but know it is not correct.
Some firmware change will be needed to get at the settings I think.

The time for a remote control button press at source, to appear at client can be up to 5 secs!
I have no idea what the cause might be, but again it does not interfere with my viewing as I will set the box to one channel for an hour or two of viewing.

I think the transmitter might be susceptible to getting too hot, so its placement needs to be considered .... not on top of some other box that is warm/heating. Placing it on an old serving tray has kept it remarkably cool .... the heat being dispersed through its base to the tray.

***

I worry about downgrading the firmware but will probably have to do so to get better access to the settings. This has to be investigated yet. I don't want to brick the device at this early stage

With access to the settings I expect to be able to change the device from multicast to unicast which just might alleviate some of the problems mentioned, such as delay to button press.
It should also make it easier to manage the LAN.

At present the output is UDP only, but other options are possible i believe, such as RTP and maybe HTTP. Access to settings is vital to find out for definite.

Resolution and bitrate are other settings that might become available.

The nature of blogs, such as DanMan's, is that the information is not structured ..... bits added here and there. All info is present, but it can be difficult to extract the info that is pertinent to one particular version of the device.
It would be nice to see everything in one clear and concise article

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

OK, I could not wait

I had also bought an iSolem 1 > 2 HDMI converter which strips out the DHCP/DRM, so I )

I also purchased the iSolem 1 > 2 HDMI converter and it arrived today, but still waiting on the HDMI to IPTV device

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The nature of blogs, such as DanMan's, is that the information is not structured ..... bits added here and there. All info is present, but it can be difficult to extract the info that is pertinent to one particular version of the device.
It would be nice to see everything in one clear and concise article

You have have a week or two to write one for me!

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

I also purchased the iSolem 1 > 2 HDMI converter and it arrived today, but still waiting on the HDMI to IPTV device



You have have a week or two to write one for me!

I am hoping that some braver soul than I will do it first as the only way to write it up is to do it first

I am afraid of bricking it, TBH!

Mine was actually a couple of days late arriving, but the response from the seller was excellent.
What threw me was the tracking status had not been updated .... I had received it before the update appeared I think.

For the moment it is working. so I will get the benefit from it for a while before I take any chances

Johnboy1951

Tried re-configuring my LAN and got into all sorts of bother with the multicast interfering

I will definitely be looking at changing that to unicast to save me some headaches

Johnboy1951

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

This the device type you mean?
http://www.freetv.ie/hdmi-modulator/

Nelbert wrote: »

Yep, there is a triax version for around £120 on Amazon from memory.
A bit of a long way round but end result is the same.
It's my long term plan as regards tv distribution in the house.

Ones on eBay that take two HDMI inputs.... satlink brand which I've to do so research on before deciding on.

I didn't find a Triax model but did find this Technomate £120
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Technomate-TM-RF-HD-Modulator-2017/dp/B07284V3RH/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1496663888&sr=8-3-fkmr2&keywords=Triax+HDMI+to+DVB-t

Do you have any update on what you decided to buy?

Wondering how it worked out for you.

Johnboy1951

Regarding the strange resolution I get on the output, it appears that something in the stream is 'converting' the video from AR of 16:9 to AR of 16:10 by reducing the 1920 to 1728.

Strange!

As an aside I have had a small improvement to my fiscal situation so will try this unit for a permanent install, leaving me free to play with the HDMI>IPTV device without fear of borking it and leaving me without anything.
http://www.freetv.ie/hdmi-modulator/
About €165 with 'boards' discount.

Tvheadend tuners should pick it up with ease and add it to the available channels for the Kodi frontends in the client devices.
It is a costly way to manage things, but as the eir sports is free to eir customers I can persuade myself it is worth it

I have so far failed in my attempt to control the multicast messages and broadcast from the present device.
Whether this is due to the extra packages being transmitted in the stream or my own failure to set it up correctly I have not as yet determined.

Johnboy1951

http://www.freetv.ie/hdmi-modulator/
Unit received and set up today.

Had trouble trying to figure out the simplest bit ...... how to add the channel to tvheadend

After that everything worked very well.
The Edision channel is available at all client devices in 1080

Only problem remaining is the very high bitrate of the channel, which I have to look into.

emaherx

My HDMI to IPTV device arrived, much quicker than I expected too.

Had a bit of a play with it, flashed it with the firmware recommended in Danman's Blog and it gives access to more settings such as resolution and IP address.

Multicast options don't seem to be of much use through the GUI.

Taken from Danman's Blog:

But to set your unicast destination you need to use following URL:
"http://DEV_IP/dev/info.cgi?action=streaminfo&rtp=on&multicast=on&mcastaddr=DST_IP"
e.g.:
"http://192.168.0.87/dev/info.cgi?action=streaminfo&rtp=on&multicast=on&mcastaddr=192.168.0.227"

Seems to be working well but its not really an ideal solution.
With Multicast on it floods every port with traffic non stop (as you would expect but not something I want on my home network)
For Unicast to work you need to specify a destination address so only one client device will work and it will be bombarded nonstop with traffic (also not that surprising, but still not ideal for my home network)

I think the ideal use for this is probably with the transmitter and multiple receiver devices connected to a dedicated switch or at least vlan on a managed switch.

Vlan or dedicated switch is not going to be workable as I don't have enough cabling at all TV's and I'm not going to buy a receiver for each TV either.

I have some Cisco switches lying around and I could disable multicast on all ports, but the few that might want to connect to the stream, again this is far from ideal as all potential client devices will constantly have busy ports and the Cisco device will consume far more electricity than my current switch and be noisy also.

Probably the best solution, mentioned in some of the comments in Danman's Blog is to connect directly to a Proxy device, possibly a raspberry PI with a second USB ethernet controller and have it convert the stream to RTSP.

Johnboy1951

Wow! That was fast! ..... and you got it flashed very quickly too


I fed its output through two different switches with IGMP snooping active.
In neither case did that prevent the hammering of all connected devices with some form of (apparently) multicast) data.
I failed miserably to control the multicast data even in the managed switch.

Can you please give me the exact firmware you used as I got really confused about which I should use.
I will flash it when I am sure.

What resolution are you getting at the output?
Is it 1920x1080 or 1728x1080?

Thinking about the unicast problem I wonder if a second NIC in the tvheadend backend machine would be a solution?
A dedicated NIC for incoming and the outgoing data served on the existing NIC? Its unicast output set to that NIC might work.

Thanks for the report ....... hopefully I won't need Windows to do any of this.

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Wow! That was fast! ..... and you got it flashed very quickly too

Well at that price I had no issue with bricking it. Was pretty sure for a few min that I had too...... But DHCP gave it a new address when the firmware was applied.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Can you please give me the exact firmware you used as I got really confused about which I should use.
I will flash it when I am sure.

What resolution are you getting at the output?
Is it 1920x1080 or 1728x1080?

Firmware Version :4.0.0.0.20160427
Encoder Version :7.1.2.0.11.20160407

Resolution is still not perfect, but much better.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Thinking about the unicast problem I wonder if a second NIC in the tvheadend backend machine would be a solution?
A dedicated NIC for incoming and the outgoing data served on the existing NIC? Its unicast output set to that NIC might work.

Thanks for the report ....... hopefully I won't need Windows to do any of this.

That is exactly what I went looking at after my last post. I'm hoping that a Raspberry Pi 3 will be able to run the backend server as well as Kodi to avoid adding any extra hardware to the network (except a USB Ethernet adapter that is). I dont currently have a TVHeadend machine since I replced the big old noisy PC with a Vbox.

You won't need Windows but you do need to factory reset the device after loading new firmware to reset password,there is a handy Windows program for that, but also some CLI options to do it too.

Johnboy1951

Your resolution is perfect ....... it is the Display resolution that matters which is 1920x1080

Firmware Version :4.0.0.0.20160427
Encoder Version :7.1.2.0.11.20160407

My original firmware is

Version :4.0.0.0.20161031
Encoder Version :7.1.2.0.11.20161031

What I wanted to know what what file/s you used from Danman.
Did you flash two files or one?

I am totally confused about this, sorry top be a pain.

Is it these two files?

IPTV_TX_PKG_v4_0_0_0_20160427.PKG
Encoder_20160407_0942.bin

emaherx

Yes both of those files, they are the exact same filenames I used.
I did the Firmware first... (then no encoder was showing as installed in Command Centre)
Then I did the encoder and all was good again.

I did use the Windows Command Centre Application to update the firmware, but you shouldn't need it if you don't have Windows.

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

Yes both of those files, they are the exact same filenames I used.
I did the Firmware first... (then no encoder was showing as installed in Command Centre)
Then I did the encoder and all was good again.

I did use the Windows Command Centre Application to update the firmware, but you shouldn't need it if you don't have Windows.

Thanks.
I had previously downloaded

IPTV_TX_PKG_v4_0_0_0_20160427.PKG

so I have that one, but I cannot seem to locate this file

Encoder_20160407_0942.bin

Have you any link that I could use to download it?

Thanks.

I see there is a new Zip file on the google drive but have no idea if any of those files are to be used
TX firmware-20170608T123154Z-001.zip

I seem to delight in confusion

emaherx

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B3mWuDyxrXyKM0tpa3RGNHRtWW8

Johnboy1951

emaherx wrote: »

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B3mWuDyxrXyKM0tpa3RGNHRtWW8

Getting blind in my old age it seems

Thanks

Johnboy1951

OK, for anyone using Linux only I followed the following scheme

Brought up the web page in Chrome
Chose to update firmware.PKG and selected the file.
All good but I got no opportunity to also update the encoder.
It required a reboot but I did not want to just pull power .....

so in a terminal I did

nc 192.168.1.XXX 9999 <the IP address of the device>

and entered
reboot

When it rebooted and I again got in via the terminal I issued

factory_reset

and when it rebooted I was able to log in with

admin
123456

I then chose to upgrade the Encoder (last option on page) and the reboot prompt came up - OK.
I got a wee bit of a scare as it took ages for the log in page to come up.

Thanks emaherx for the hand-holding.

I will see if I can make changes to its operation now.

Johnboy1951

The good news is that I have Full HD and I can change the video bitrate if I wish.

More good news is that I can disable multicast/select unicast and it keeps after a reboot. That eliminates the flooding of the LAN.

The bad news is that I cannot seem to specify anything for unicast so cannot access the stream.

###

It seems that a single IP can be specified for the multicast address from the command line.
This seems to be a sort of bodge .... ?

First group is the multicast and the second group comes after the curl command to change the address.
It seems it only sends the stream to the single IP address - in this case 'Beigebox.local'.

16:53:52.193683 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:53:52.193912 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:53:52.194142 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:53:52.194447 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316

528 packets captured
24451 packets received by filter
22257 packets dropped by kernel
[root@Beigebox user]# exit
[user@Beigebox user]$ curl "http://192.168.1.102/dev/info.cgi?action=streaminfo&udp=n&rtp=y&multicast=n&unicast=y&mcastaddr=192.168.1.101&port=5004"
<html><head><meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache"/><meta http-equiv="expires" content="0"/><meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; URL=/dev/info.html"/></head></html>[user@Beigebox user]$ su
[root@Beigebox user]# tcpdump
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
16:55:03.269003 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:55:03.269368 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:55:03.269715 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:55:03.270880 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316

Unfortunately I have been unable to grab the RTP stream ...... according to VLC and others it does not have all the required data in it.

emaherx

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The good news is that I have Full HD and I can change the video bitrate if I wish.

More good news is that I can disable multicast/select unicast and it keeps after a reboot. That eliminates the flooding of the LAN.

The bad news is that I cannot seem to specify anything for unicast so cannot access the stream.

###

It seems that a single IP can be specified for the multicast address from the command line.
This seems to be a sort of bodge .... ?

First group is the multicast and the second group comes after the curl command to change the address.
It seems it only sends the stream to the single IP address - in this case 'Beigebox.local'.

16:53:52.193683 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:53:52.193912 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:53:52.194142 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:53:52.194447 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > 239.255.42.42.5004: UDP, length 1316

528 packets captured
24451 packets received by filter
22257 packets dropped by kernel
[root@Beigebox user]# exit
[user@Beigebox user]$ curl "http://192.168.1.102/dev/info.cgi?action=streaminfo&udp=n&rtp=y&multicast=n&unicast=y&mcastaddr=192.168.1.101&port=5004"
<html><head><meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache"/><meta http-equiv="expires" content="0"/><meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; URL=/dev/info.html"/></head></html>[user@Beigebox user]$ su
[root@Beigebox user]# tcpdump
tcpdump: verbose output suppressed, use -v or -vv for full protocol decode
listening on eth0, link-type EN10MB (Ethernet), capture size 262144 bytes
16:55:03.269003 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:55:03.269368 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:55:03.269715 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316
16:55:03.270880 IP 192.168.1.102.5004 > Beigebox.local.5004: UDP, length 1316

Unfortunately I have been unable to grab the RTP stream ...... according to VLC and others it does not have all the required data in it.

Yes, this is what I have at the moment its essentially a multicast to one IP address, this fixes one issue and creates a new one (can only work with one client and it will get hammered with traffic anyway). would rather go the TVHeadend method than use that.

But when Set to Unicast a new port opens 554 RTSP!!!!

root@zeroshell ~> nmap -v -A 192.168.x.x

Starting Nmap 6.47 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2017-06-08 18:44 IST
NSE: Loaded 118 scripts for scanning.
NSE: Script Pre-scanning.
Initiating ARP Ping Scan at 18:44
Scanning 192.168.x.x [1 port]
Completed ARP Ping Scan at 18:44, 0.00s elapsed (1 total hosts)
Initiating Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 18:44
Completed Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 18:44, 0.00s elapsed
Initiating SYN Stealth Scan at 18:44
Scanning 192.168.x.x [1000 ports]
Discovered open port 80/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Discovered open port 554/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Discovered open port 8000/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Discovered open port 7002/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Discovered open port 9001/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Discovered open port 7000/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Discovered open port 9999/tcp on 192.168.x.x
Completed SYN Stealth Scan at 18:44, 0.22s elapsed (1000 total ports)

Stream should be some thing like rtsp://192.168.x.x:554/???/???

emaherx

Wonder if something like Camreadar could find the correct path?
Cameradar

Johnboy1951

If you look at the tcpdump after the command I used above, it shows UDP and not RTP from the device.

This even though RTP is specified in the command.

Also that command apparently has no effect on the port numbers used, if my results here are anything to go by.

###

Checked the device here for open ports

$ nmap 192.168.1.102

Starting Nmap 7.40 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2017-06-08 19:52 IST
Nmap scan report for 192.168.1.102
Host is up (0.0049s latency).
Not shown: 995 closed ports
PORT     STATE SERVICE
80/tcp   open  http
7000/tcp open  afs3-fileserver
7002/tcp open  afs3-prserver
9001/tcp open  tor-orport
9999/tcp open  abyss