Streaming Sky over LAN with VLC

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ryanman19

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Topic # 160543 10-Jan-2015 21:23

I currently have MySky connected to my television in my living room via HDMI. For the most part this works well but sometimes others in my flat require the television for videogames when I want to watch sport. I would like to be able to watch sky on my PC in my bedroom (preferably HD quality) so this problem can be avoided.

I believe it is possible to stream video locally using VLC. I have an HTPC connected to my home network beside the MySky box. Can I use a USB capture card to send video from the MySky box to the HTPC (via component cable I would guess) and then over the network to my bedroom PC? If so, what capture card should I use? Would this work:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVS8TL0/ref=gno_cart_title_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

mentalinc

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Reply # 1211780 10-Jan-2015 21:25

Getting a long HDMI cable would be easier, I don't think you can use component and get HD output...

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ryanman19

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Reply # 1211791 10-Jan-2015 21:45

mentalinc: Getting a long HDMI cable would be easier, I don't think you can use component and get HD output...

The long HDMI is a little tricky in my house unfortunately, plus I still need the HDMI to connect it to the TV.

I believe component can carry up to 1080p, but maybe not from the sky box? Either way 720p would be good enough.

grant_k

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Reply # 1211794 10-Jan-2015 21:48

ryanman19:
mentalinc: Getting a long HDMI cable would be easier, I don't think you can use component and get HD output...

The long HDMI is a little tricky in my house unfortunately, plus I still need the HDMI to connect it to the TV.

I believe component can carry up to 1080p, but maybe not from the sky box? Either way 720p would be good enough.

MySky will only output SD over component as dictated by the various content providers whom Sky source their programmes from.

A 3rd party satellite receiver such as Vu+ series with Smartcard slot will do what you require, but it means shelling out $500+, and having some knowledge of how to configure such things. Not that easy, but can be done. I have used VLC Player to stream HD over my LAN from some of the various Sky channels that broadcast in HD.

ryanman19

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Reply # 1211807 10-Jan-2015 21:52

Ok, so no HD. How about the same scenario but with just SD quality. Will that work?

ryanman19

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Reply # 1211814 10-Jan-2015 22:02

grant_k: MySky will only output SD over component as dictated by the various content providers whom Sky source their programmes from.

A 3rd party satellite receiver such as Vu+ series with Smartcard slot will do what you require, but it means shelling out $500+, and having some knowledge of how to configure such things. Not that easy, but can be done. I have used VLC Player to stream HD over my LAN from some of the various Sky channels that broadcast in HD.

$500 is definitely to steep for me unfortunately. What if HD was not a requirement?

richms

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Reply # 1211815 10-Jan-2015 22:03

Yeah streaming SD from the component out works fine. You could also get a HDMI splitter and HDMI capture card and get it that way. Many other forums discuss which HDMI splitters solve that nasty HDCP issue.

Last I tried doing it I used some free windows media encoder, an analog capture card and the just put the IP of the windows media encoder into windows media player and it worked. No VLC needed. But that was years ago and I dont know if it will cope with HD content.

Richard rich.ms

Jase2985

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Reply # 1211816 10-Jan-2015 22:05

tried skygo?

i get pretty good picture quality on my PC

ryanman19

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Reply # 1211826 10-Jan-2015 22:21

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Jase2985: tried skygo?

i get pretty good picture quality on my PC

I was not as lucky as you obviously. I had numerous issues with skygo. Couldn't always login, poor quality, buffering all the time. Won't be using it again.

Apsattv

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Reply # 1211846 11-Jan-2015 00:36

Whats wrong with getting a video sender with hdmi and pluging that into your monitor in the bedroom?

ryanman19

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Reply # 1211849 11-Jan-2015 01:21

Apsattv: Whats wrong with getting a video sender with hdmi and pluging that into your monitor in the bedroom?

My monitor doesn't have a spare HDMI on it and I'm not keen on buying splitters and having more cables. Also having it over the network is more versatile. Others can watch on their PC's if they wish or I can watch on my laptop in another room if need be.

JimmyH

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Reply # 1211896 11-Jan-2015 11:09

I managed to do what you are after with a Hauppauge Broadway unit. Connects to my LAN and streams to my PC, phone and tablet.

The quality is only so-so, particularly when viewed on a full-size screen (it's comparable to VHS) and it is SD only, but I suspect it's about as close to an out of the box solution as you are likely to find. Notwithstanding the quality issue, being able to stream a news channel to my tablet in the kitchen while I cook, or the PC while I work is occasionally pretty handy.

Otherwise, as RICHMS advises, you are in to splitters, stripping HDCP, and a higher end capture solution. Legalities aside, you may not be able to pull that off elegantly and in high quality within your budget.

eXDee

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Reply # 1212260 12-Jan-2015 09:11

Jase2985: tried skygo?

i get pretty good picture quality on my PC

I don't think i'd ever call skygo "good picture quality". It's low resolution and bitrate, its like youtube 5 years ago.

Connection isn't slow either - 200Mbps fibre. Tried on a gigabit business connection too, quality does not increase.

Jase2985

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Reply # 1212448 12-Jan-2015 12:38

maybe just you, i cant notice much of a difference between sitting in front of my pc and sitting in front of the TV watching it off the sky box

JonnyCam

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Reply # 1212451 12-Jan-2015 12:40

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grant_k:
ryanman19:
mentalinc: Getting a long HDMI cable would be easier, I don't think you can use component and get HD output...

The long HDMI is a little tricky in my house unfortunately, plus I still need the HDMI to connect it to the TV.

I believe component can carry up to 1080p, but maybe not from the sky box? Either way 720p would be good enough.

MySky will only output SD over component as dictated by the various content providers whom Sky source their programmes from.

A 3rd party satellite receiver such as Vu+ series with Smartcard slot will do what you require, but it means shelling out $500+, and having some knowledge of how to configure such things. Not that easy, but can be done. I have used VLC Player to stream HD over my LAN from some of the various Sky channels that broadcast in HD.

You can get HD output on component on the Sports channels only.
(well, I could the last time I used my HDPVR)

it's up to 1080i (same as mysky) but I got beter results with 720p for fast moving sports.

The component input on a cheap usb capture device is unlikely to be better than SD, but if you get an hauppauge HDPVR, it encodes in HD, h264 in hardware and will encode at whatever bitrate you tell it to.
I used to record a lot of football from MySky (6 gig an hour I think)

The newer HDPVR 2 versions may not capture from component (they have HDMI in for non-dhcp sources)
(edit: looks like they do)

With component from mysky, it downsamples the freeview & movies channels to SD.