Topic: Personnal Video Recorder For Xbox! (Read 534 times)

splash911 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 20, 2004, 07:38:00 AM »

Nice, thanks for showing that out!

At a first non-technical glance, I'd said we will need a modulator to take coaxial IN to RCA or S-Video. That is not really expensive. I'll check on that and on the software and drivers for that USB tv.

I have seen NTSC and PAL compatibility which are great.
0.5Mb/s to 7.5Mb/s is USB1.1 compatible.

And many other intersting feats.

I'll let you updated on that. If the drivers are portable and open for Xbox use, that could be the end of our problem.

Moreover, their is other USB thing like that, bigger, but with open source softwares (LINUX.). As point in a :DVR forums.

Thanks everyone, stay tuned

splash911 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 20, 2004, 07:41:00 AM »

jippie · « **Reply #17 on:** July 21, 2004, 01:47:00 AM »

What your plans about building USB drivers for the XBOX?
Nobody has done this yet.

jippie

splash911 · « **Reply #18 on:** July 21, 2004, 06:48:00 AM »

That's what Gamester17 point to my attention. XBMC is not a native Operating system like Xbox Linux and no current development as been made to do this.

As a results, I'll stick to the more open and interesting plan, the antenna2lan project. I'm working to know more of all the pieces, and I will be in discussion with Friendtech this week, thanks to Gamester17.

Stay tuned.

Fally · « **Reply #19 on:** July 21, 2004, 07:30:00 AM »

splash911 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 21, 2004, 08:32:00 AM »

Really? I thought of marketing it as the modulatedRFcoaxialToBasebandConvertedToDigitalThenProcessedEncodedStreamedOverLANwithXBMCtiVOCapability ;-)

If you want to pre-order I'll take it lol! No prototype are yet existing nor near to exist!

But stay tuned, it could move fast!

gilsas · « **Reply #21 on:** July 22, 2004, 08:54:00 AM »

splash911 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 22, 2004, 09:42:00 AM »

No USB support is available external to the Linux distro. I do not plan of developping that, and I do not plan using Linux on Xbox for displaying.

Goal is to a a TV2LAN adapter which XBMC can read the stream and process data to make TiVO functions available. Moreover, the use of a DreamX could give better TiVo functionnalities, discussion with Friendtech are in progress.

Moreover, I'll try to get in contact with modchip companies for sponsorship and eventually retail the product. It is yet to be determined. For now, I'm working on developping the hardware for that project. Check XBMC forums

http://www.xboxmedia...t=ST;f=4;t=5223

for more info on the USB discussion.

Thanks for you interest and thinking!

atomiX · « **Reply #23 on:** July 22, 2004, 11:43:00 AM »

this seems like one of the best ideas i've heard of in a while. good luck.

splash911 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 22, 2004, 01:01:00 PM »

I know, I so like that idea, and the project is starting pretty well. Better than I've expected. Thanks to Gamester17(XBMC) and Rampy(DVR forum).

Specifications are to be final in a few days (maybe weeks), and pieces research is already started. Moreover, manufacturing and marketing deals could be sell to companies like Friendtech, or mod companies. Communications are to be made, but I still have to launch official project things.

Like a name for the project (Thinking of tv2lan, tv2xbox,etc.)
Official Site and forum to be up
Find some hardware gurus to help me validate specs. (Maybe a business can with their engineering ressources).
Finally, I want some pub for the project. I already ask Xantium about a news 7 days ago, and I'll ask again when official things are chosen and official sponsor too.

The project is moving fast, it's ambitious and I still need to know the popularity of such a thing. After that, more workarounds would be made to make the product perfect (maybe a use for the LCD screen to program remote recording, or display channel, etc.) If anyone could refer the project to business, Xbox influent scene members, etc, I'll be glad to concentrate my work on the design of the hardware and software for the project.

More news to come in the next day, continue posting opinions/ideas/clarifications.

Sord_Fish · « **Reply #25 on:** July 22, 2004, 03:41:00 PM »

inneedofhelp · « **Reply #26 on:** July 23, 2004, 12:21:00 AM »

I've been waiting for someone to begin a serious XBOX PVR project, but this solution just doesn't seem practical. Imagine the cost to manufacture a "digitaliser" that captures video at a good quality (I'm imagining in MPEG 2) and broadcasting it over a LAN. The "digitaliser" would need to be a computer with running backend software that would be controled by the XBOX's frontend's. In the process of building this, you'd be building a standalone video capture computer running a linux-like operating system. Why not just throw in a harddrive and ditch the XBOX while you're at it? You're "solution" is mearly an idea to mimick a PVR by having a seperate accessory do 95% of the work and the XBOX mearly be a server with a user interface. If you're gonna have your XBOX just be a frontend, it would be much more efficient to use one of those linux based PVR projects that already have support for an XBOX frontend. That way you could just buy a good pci hardware MPEG2 encoder card for like $75.

If you want to work on a useful project, make use of the USB ports. Although you can only get 1.5 MB/s on USB 1.1, it is relatively sufficient for tv capture. A suggestion would be to include support for a commonly found non tv-tuning capture card as most tech savy people have a set-top box (digital cable or satellite). Also, support for an IR blaster would be need to control the channels. This project would be WORLDS eaiser to accomplish than building a lan-based "digitaliser" and would allow users to buy the neccessary equipment from a local electronics store. I agree it shouldn't run on linux; it would be awesome if somebody could get an xbe based program like this working. Once created it could easily be ported into XBMC and allow the user to schedule recordings and browse television programs through an EPG. Sorry to be so pessimistic, but the "digitaliser" idea just isn't practical.

P.S.
The XBOX wouldn't be able to encode a program in decent quality DIVX or XVID in real-time. It could encode into these formats from a captured MPEG2 stream later though, but writing the neccessary xbox code for such a conversion is very difficult in itself.

Sord_Fish · « **Reply #27 on:** July 23, 2004, 08:05:00 AM »

usb2 Divx harware encoder

i think something along the lines of this would be a good idea

jippie · « **Reply #28 on:** July 23, 2004, 11:26:00 AM »

And one more word of advise.
Don't mention the word XBOX.
MS will be on you like a ton of bricks.

Lan2TV.

jippie

fghjj · « **Reply #29 on:** July 25, 2004, 08:52:00 AM »

-As long as XBMC is built with XDK, you remain dependant on the Xbox Homebrew Scene for providing the binary's.

-Quick Google: here and here two of these chips can do the nescessary MPEG4 encoding, already have USB interface and costs $20/unit at 10.000 units. You'll need something that can tune/convert the TV signal and a whole lot more.

-Timeshifting would be 100% coolness but I think the Xbox ATA-33 interface is too slow?

Just some thoughts.

Author Topic: Personnal Video Recorder For Xbox! (Read 534 times)