Some thoughts about media streams

Hi,

I have been using vlc to play movies and DVD:s on my dreambox for a while now, and it basically works fine, but a couple of things has the potential to become better.

- I have two computers that I want to use as video servers. It would simplify things if I could configure more than one server in the dreambox.
- There are potentially a lot of media streams available on the home network, including webcams, photo slideshows, audio from the cd-player, internet broadcasts and so on. It would be nice to be able to zap between these streams the same way I zap between tv channels.
- The stream player available today in the dreambox is not very robust regarding stream errors. It will basically stop playback and exit when there are errors. This is not how tv channels respond to errors in the data stream. They keep on trying to display the stream until success or I zap to a different channel.

This made me think about how to design and implement a new framework for streaming media on the dreambox.

* It shall be possible to configure a list of network media streams the same way tv channels are configured.
* It shall be possible to zap between network media streams.
* When there are errors in the stream, an error message shall be displayed, and the dreambox shall continue to try to play the stream.
* It shall be possible to configure a remote control for each channel, which can be used to control the media server. The obvious candidate is the vlc remote, but other types of remotes for webcams and photo slide shows should also be available when needed.

Another idea closely related to this is the photo slideshow server. With generic media stream support on the dreambox, it would be possible to modify existing photo slideshow software to send a TS to the dreambox, and control the slideshow with the dreambox remote, or let it play automatically. To improve the experience it should be possible to add audio tracks played when viewing the photos.

Comments, please. Sie können auch in Deutsch antworten.