Live/Recorded Video Streaming is a reality in my house!

[emooney]

For a couple of months now, I have been banging my head against a wall trying to figure this one out and I finally have one arm of the project tested and working.

The task:
1. To have my tv signal streamed to any terminal or device on my network.
2. To have my webcams streamed to any terminal or device on my network.

I bought a Hauppauge 350PVR to handle the encoding/decoding but realized it was not compatible with Snapstream's 'LiveTv' functionality. I was whinig about it earlier here. I realized I needed to build a videoServer to do what I wanted to do.

Network - Linksys 802.11B
Devices - 2 desktop computers
1 laptop
1 IPAQ 4155 (built-in WIFI)

Here is the configuration that is running and working:

VideoServer -
Asus P4C800 Deluxe Motherbaord
Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.4GHz 800FSB
2x512MB DDR400
36.7GB SATA 10,000RPM HDD
GeForce FX5200 128MB Video Card
ATI Wonder TV capture Card
Sound Blaster PCI Card

I wanted to just use the onBoard Audio that the motherboard offers but ran into compatibility issues with it and this SB card is doing the trick.

I am happier than a pig in excrement right now because I can be anywhere in my house and pull up a live feed without any tv's!! And even on my IPAQ 4155! Snapstream sports a page just for handhelds that through WMP, I can watch tv realtime.

So, the next step is to get the webcams up and running. Stay Tuned!

Eric

[wpiman]

Did you replace the 350 or do they now support it?

[emooney]

Unfortunately Snapstream doesn't support it but if you go on their website, they say they do. Right now, the only thing the Hauppauge will help you out with is recording shows using the hardware encoder.

I'm not using the card at all right now because if you point Snapstream to the Hauppauge, you will not have the option to stream 'LiveTV'; meaning, it doesn't even give you the option. So the Hauppauge is basically shelved for now but I believe this card will be supported in the 'live streaming' arena one of these days.

[Rupp]

Realtime tv on your IPAQ? How? Quality?

[emooney]

The video quality is adjustable (mine is set to 'near vhs' in my snapstream settings) and the quality is suprisingly clear! The sound quality is the quality your going to get out of a PDA but everything is understandable. You can plug headphones into it if you wanted to but eh.

Playing the stream on my IPAQ was just a matter of getting the latest WMP for the IPAQ and then accessing the stream that Snapstream is generating via WiFi and the Snapstream webserver.

The hardest part was finding a hardware/software configuration that worked and I think I have a config that actually will be reliable. The cpu on my video server is at a cool 46%-50% while streaming.