Bad AFTV Video using VLC

[fhmanas]

Hello, am still new with Ubustream, but am able to make it work both in list mode and channel mode. I can connect AFTV with VLC but the video is totally unwatchable with the video being extremely blocky, I tried Quicktime, i am not having the problem with Quicktime, in fact, video looks great. I want to use VLC since I want to eventually view video on my MVPs rather than on my PVR PC, but first I want a clean video using AFTV.

On another note, should the UbuStream open the external program and play the video from within the target program (Quicktime, WMP, VLC, etc) or should it have used the player in the background and view the output from within GBPVR interface. Is there a way to make it open from within the GBPVR interface rather than the external program? How do you go back to the GBPVR interface if you are using the external program, if you are in the MVP

Thanks.

[soccerdad]

To open from within GBPVR to see it on the MVP you have to use external recorder in conjunction with UbuStream. Look at the sticky at the top of this forum section. The tutorial worked for me. Just copy and paste all the settings. Let me know if you get stuck. I just went through this.

[ubu]

Hello, am still new with Ubustream, but am able to make it work both in list mode and channel mode. I can connect AFTV with VLC but the video is totally unwatchable with the video being extremely blocky, I tried Quicktime, i am not having the problem with Quicktime, in fact, video looks great. I want to use VLC since I want to eventually view video on my MVPs rather than on my PVR PC, but first I want a clean video using AFTV.

The AFTV streams are pretty high quality H264 video and they require a fair amount of bandwidth so slow network speed could cause this. Also, I find the streams seem to vary in reliability. Sometimes they work perfectly for me. Sometimes they are "blocky" or the stream drops after playing for a few seconds. I just "try again later" . Another option is retrovision.tv which uses WMP streams (that also work with VLC).

On another note, should the UbuStream open the external program and play the video from within the target program (Quicktime, WMP, VLC, etc) or should it have used the player in the background and view the output from within GBPVR interface. Is there a way to make it open from within the GBPVR interface rather than the external program?

Soccerdad is correct. Currently, you have to use UbuStream in channel mode (using External Recorder) to play streams using the GB-PVR player (the only way you can watch streams using an MVP). This requires that the stream can be recorded (transcoded) by VLC. Sadly, the AFTV streams do not work using channel mode.

How do you go back to the GBPVR interface if you are using the external program, if you are in the MVP

If you are using the external player in list mode, you set a button on your remote control to send Alt-F4 which will close the currently open window (in this case, the external player). I think this is documented in the wiki pages.

If you are using an MVP, you are using channel mode (and the GB-PVR player) so you exit the same way as with any TV channel (Stop button or by selecting a new channel).

I'm currently working on version 2.1 of UbuStream which, in list mode, will offer the choice between playing streams either with the external player, or with an embedded internal player (no separate process and GB-PVR keystrokes/remote control buttons work as expected) or with the GB-PVR player in "timeshifted" mode. Channel mode is also improved with simpler setup and more reliable playback.

This version provides support for MVP users in both list mode and channel mode by using the "timeshift" player. Configuration of wait times, aspect ratio and transcoding parms can be adjusted separately for each channel. I'll be releasing a beta version of 2.1 in the near future.