Media Center Alternatives

[sccrgoalie1]

With Media Center slowly dying, I'd like to start a discussion on alternatives to Media Center. I'd like to hear what others have tried out and what they think.

1. JRiver Media Center
2. MythTV
3. XBMC (with something as a backend)
4. Media Portal
5. Others

I'm trying out JRiver now and I've tried out XBMC with tvheadend and MythTV as a backend. I like looks of XBMC but I feel the DVR functionality still has a way to go.

Thoughts?

EDIT: I should mention I'm well aware the Windows Media Center is the only one that fully supports CableCards. It's not a concern for me at the moment as I only use over the air.

[lithium630]

I have been playing with XBMC. It's alright but not worth switching to. The interface is not as simple as Media Center. No Netflix or Hulu without a work around. I wanted raspberry pi extenders around the house but that was much more complicated than I expected.

[sccrgoalie1]

I have been playing with XBMC. It's alright but not worth switching to. The interface is not as simple as Media Center. No Netflix or Hulu without a work around. I wanted raspberry pi extenders around the house but that was much more complicated than I expected.

I played with a Raspberry Pi as well. Took quite a bit of work to get it working how I wanted and still I wasn't impressed. The Raspberry Pi really doesn't have enough power to make it a good extender around the house. The interface was way to slow on the hardware in my opinion.

[adam1991]

Even with cableCARD, if the programming is copy-freely the HDHR Prime can deliver that content to a non-WMC setup such as Myth.

[sccrgoalie1]

Even with cableCARD, if the programming is copy-freely the HDHR Prime can deliver that content to a non-WMC setup such as Myth.

Yeah, I see JRiver support cableCARD as well as long as it's copy-freely.

[slowbiscuit]

Yep, for copy freely content there are a lot of good alternatives, Myth being at the top of the list for me - I had a rig for clear QAM HD for a few years and from what I've read it works well with Cablecard tuners. Very powerful and flexible at the expense of complexity, took a good bit of time to tweak to my satisfaction but it was a good solution when I got it done.

I do feel bad for anyone stuck on a fascist cable system like TWC moving forward, however - the pickings will be slim.

[adam1991]

I really don't want to turn my life over to getting Myth to work well. Could there be such a thing as a true turnkey setup with easy configuration for the basics?

I just want a DVR. All of my stuff is copy freely. I would happily move to the ethernet-based tuners if needed. But I don't want it to run my life. Yes, I want a DVR appliance that records shows and skips commercials.

I want ReplayTV back...

I will be happy to buy/build the hardware and install and configure some basic things in a rational manner, but that's about it at this point. I don't want to tweak around every day like a fifteen year old trying to get that extra thousandth of a percent out of his gaming system (because frankly, what else does he have to do). That's just ridiculous.

[sccrgoalie1]

Well, I tried out JRiver Media Center and well it seems to work well and setup is pretty easy, the interface just isn't for me. Also, I got several crashes recording on my first day so that wasn't a good start. Comparing to Windows Media Center interface is of course difficult, as in my opinion it's second to none.

I've moved on to more XBMC testing using Argus TV as a backend. I'm really liking Argus so far and it was well documented and easy to setup. Even getting comskip to run automatically without any other tools. Also, its recording scheduler is very powerful, and I think will let me set things such as NFL for a particular team to record automatically. I really like XBMC's interface and skinning ability, so we'll see. Also, I threw my blueray rips at it and they played immediately without additional software.

[soccerdad]

I came from using NextPVR (formally gbpvr). I used it for years. The only reason I changed is that I moved to CableCard. Good support, XBMC support, PC client support, cablecard copy freely support, nice forum group, FREE. Worth checking out anyway.

[slowbiscuit]

I really don't want to turn my life over to getting Myth to work well. Could there be such a thing as a true turnkey setup with easy configuration for the basics?

Mythbuntu and LinHES (formerly KnoppMyth) have both come a LONG way towards making Myth a turnkey setup, but IMO you still need to know (or at least be familiar with) Linux to be successful because you'll invariably want to tweak something to your satisfaction. Both claim to be able to set you up on a box inside of 30 minutes from USB/CD ISO boot. My system was based on KnoppMyth years ago. Note that guide data costs $25/year from Schedules Direct and is well worth it.

http://www.mythbuntu.org/
http://www.linhes.org/

[woodchuck]

There is no 3rd party PVR software that works with the "Copy-Once" cablecard flag, correct?

[richard1980]

Correct.

[bob_p]

In the US, unless a company licenses CableCard, there aren't any alternatives to Media Center. Since Microsoft has already made the investment in getting CableCard certification for Media Center - is there enough potential revenue in the market for a smaller company like SiliconDust or Ceton to take over Media Center support?

[richard1980]

In the US, unless a company licenses CableCard

That is not correct. I think you mean PlayReady, not CableCARD. A company/individual could license PlayReady, integrate it into their own PVR software, and be able to handle copy protected content. Alternatively, anybody can develop their own DRM scheme and submit it to CableLabs for approval for use with OCURs.

[barnabas1969]

RIchard, you've said that several times about licensing Play Ready would mean that the developer doesn't need to certify with Cable Labs. Can you point to some references to that effect?

[richard1980]

The closest thing to a reference that you'll find is a sentence from the CableCARD primer:

The PC itself must meet certain criteria established by the DRM provider, but is not certified separately by CableLabs.

There aren't any other references because the software player itself is not covered by any CableLabs specification...presumably because there is nothing to certify. Of all the various components, the OCUR is the only thing that is actually certified. Even the DRM isn't technically certified (it is only approved for use). The software player doesn't have to be certified or approved because a CableLabs-certified OCUR will only encrypt copy-protected content using CableLabs-approved DRM, and the DRM dictates the technical requirements that the software player must meet.

[barnabas1969]

Interesting. The WMDRM licensing cost (for "devices") is a one-time fee of $5,000.00 plus 8-20 cents per "device". I wonder if it's the same for a software "device" that runs on Windows.

Seems to me that we could come up with the $5K via crowd funding. Then, we just need someone to develop a (closed source) software package, don't you think?

[EZEd]

I have a Win 8.1 Pro Preview box setup at home as an experiment (using Win7 and WMC for every day use). I've already discovered that Metro Video app will not play MPEG2 video even with external codec pack installed (Shark007). I'm trying to see now if I can get JRiver or any other media center app to recognize and play live TV in Win8.1 without having WMC loaded. I loaded Ceton drivers and the Ceton diagnostic says the Infinitv is available and ready, but when I go to JRiver (v19 trial) no tuners are recognized. Does Win 8 still have to have WMC loaded to allow tuners to be recognized by other front end applications?

I know that it won't be able to see any of the CCI flagged/DRM channels but I'd at least like to know if other front ends can configure Ceton or SiliconDust tuners in Win8 without WMC being present. Since we're looking at the sundown for WMC and Win7 in general in a few years, I'm wondering if there is any future for our cablecard based hardware purchases? If someone doesn't come out with an easily configurable, standalone PVR application soon for Win8 I suspect we'll be looking at a lot of useless deployed hardware pretty soon.

[EZEd]

Seems to me that we could come up with the $5K via crowd funding. Then, we just need someone to develop a (closed source) software package, don't you think?

I for one would be completely down for this

[richard1980]

Interesting. The WMDRM licensing cost (for "devices") is a one-time fee of $5,000.00 plus 8-20 cents per "device". I wonder if it's the same for a software "device" that runs on Windows.

No. What you are talking about is a PlayReady PC application, which is covered under separate terms and requires paying a $5,000 licensing fee, plus a $10,000 certificate fee for each major release of the software.

I have a Win 8.1 Pro Preview box setup at home as an experiment (using Win7 and WMC for every day use). I've already discovered that Metro Video app will not play MPEG2 video even with external codec pack installed (Shark007). I'm trying to see now if I can get JRiver or any other media center app to recognize and play live TV in Win8.1 without having WMC loaded. I loaded Ceton drivers and the Ceton diagnostic says the Infinitv is available and ready, but when I go to JRiver (v19 trial) no tuners are recognized. Does Win 8 still have to have WMC loaded to allow tuners to be recognized by other front end applications?

IIRC, Metro apps can only utilize codecs that are shipped with Windows 8 and codecs that are shipped with the Metro app itself. Windows 8 does not include an MPEG-2 decoder OOTB. In order to obtain Microsoft's MPEG-2 decoder, you must purchase the Pro Pack, which includes WMC and the MPEG-2 decoder. Alternatively, if you can find a 3rd party Metro app that includes an MPEG decoder and support for WTV files, you could use that to app to play WTV files.

Since we're looking at the sundown for WMC and Win7 in general in a few years, I'm wondering if there is any future for our cablecard based hardware purchases? If someone doesn't come out with an easily configurable, standalone PVR application soon for Win8 I suspect we'll be looking at a lot of useless deployed hardware pretty soon.

Your CableCARD tuners will continue to work on a Windows 7 based machine for as long as the computer and tuner remain functional and CableCARDs are compatible with your cable system. Just because Microsoft releases a new OS doesn't mean you have to change the OS on your HTPC, and nothing that Microsoft does will impact your ability to use your hardware in conjunction with Windows 7. The only thing that Microsoft could possibly do to have an impact on your HTPC is to drop EPG support, and even then you can always use a different EPG data provider.