How to stream a channel from Mut@nt hd2400 to a pc on internal network?

[edwards]

Hello,

Can anyone point me in the right direction to help me find out the best way to stream a channel from the box to my pc on the network in my house to use the hardware transcoding?

I have quad tuners so want to be able to watch something on my pc when the mrs is watching something else on the tv.

Cheers

[pembo]

Use openwebif through the browser. Just go to http://<Ip of e2 box>

[edwards]

Does it have to be the same channel being watched on the tv connected to box or can you choose the channel being streamed through webif from a different tuner?

[edwards]

Forgot to ask, use what to program to connect to the box, VLC?

[pembo]

it will work it out.. just make sure the zap option isn't ticked. VLC works fine, Media Player Classic Home Cinema also.

[Stanman]

Best to use Firefox as that will open the stream. Chrome downlands a file first

[edwards]

I was just struggling with that. will give it a go!

[edwards]

I have been tinkering with this and think that I am either doing something wrong (there are probably some basic things I do not yet understand) or there may be a problem with my setup. My box is connected to my home network through a wifi usb adapter and I am using Media Player Classic on open stream on my PC.

I have tried amending the settings in the openwebif plugin, lowering the resolution and the bit rate etc but when I try to stream a HD channel through either the "stream" or "stream (transcoded)" functions the channel either loads very glitchy and unwatchable or does not load at all or just loads the sound.

If I stream an SD channel then this works using the "stream" function but not the "stream (transcoded)" function.

1) I do no understand the difference between the "stream" and "stream" (transcoded)" functions. Would someone please be kind enough to explain this and when each one would be used?

2)Is the issue likely to lie with the configurations in webif or is it likely to be the network transfer speeds over wifi from the box causing an issue (this may be low as wifi channels are congested where I live) , or both?

ed

[Andy_Hazza]

Can you try hard wired as apposed to Wi-Fi? Streaming HD over Wi-Fi is asking a lot, all depends on your ISP and what speeds you get etc.?

[Joe_90]

The stream function sends the programme data as received in the box without any alteration - same resolution as received. This should be ok for SD channels over wifi, providing you don't have congestion. On an HD channel, though, you could require up to 10 - 12 Mb/s to stream properly. If you have wireless-n, this should be ok, providing you don't have too many other devices contending for bandwidth. Wireless-ac would be even better. If you're using wireless-g, then forget about streaming HD reliably. You're better off using wired ethernet (or maybe homeplugs) for reliable HD streaming.

Transcoding involves the box taking the original programme material (say 1920 x 1080 HD) and reducing the resolution to SD size and possibly compressing the data so that it uses much less bandwidth. This requires processing resources on the box and is dependent on the speed and memory and the type of compression it's doing. I use a Gigablue Quad Plus and there have been times when it wouldn't transcode well at all and this was due to flaky drivers. Other times it works ok, but there are occasionally issues with sound synchronisation. I generally just stream natively using wired (CAT5) at SD rather than using transcoding. I find that you don't really get any benefit out of HD on small screens in any case.