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Multimedia Home Entertainment System for Linux
An anonymous reader writes "A group at the University of Saarland in Germany has been busy
developing a Linux-based networked multimedia home entertainment
system. The project consists of two parts: the
Network-Integrated Multimedia Middleware
(NMM), to provide a common framework for audio and video playback
using open source software, and the
Multimedia-Box,
a Linux box outfitted to be a TV receiver (digital and analog), video recorder, and a
CD-, DVD-, and MP3- player using the NMM. Screen shots of the
inside
of the Multimedia-Box and the
user interface
are available, as well as videos and a
detailed description
(PDF) of the hardware and software used throughout. Can't wait to
stick one of these on my network..."
We call screenshots of real things "photographs".
This will be perfect for my multimedia David Hasselhof collection...
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
I noted with some interest that this thing will play DVDs under Linux. As sucky as it is :-( , this isn't legal; like Redhat with MP3, this is a high profile target that needs the same walking on eggshells approach. All existing DVD playing software for Linux uses the illegal DeCSS codec, and I need hardly mention that the Linux kernel itself is currently in violation of the DMCA w.r.t media systems, as it has no TCPA to prevent criminally stolen movies from being played.
The hardware looks big and ugly. My media center Linux box is smaller and nicer looking than the one they are using. I mean really what does a media center need a floppy drive for?
The software looks nice though. I'll have to see if I can try it. Their software looks nicer than mine. Will have to see how it stacks up as far as functionality.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
That user interface is ugly. Try mythTV for a great Linux Tivo/MP3/Ogg/Image/MAME media center. I'm putting one together in a Shuttle XPC box. Making it as pretty as possible increases the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).
--- witty signature
Quick someone mirror the photos! Please? I dont want to wait till tuesday to see them :-(
MythTV
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
it is the creation and distribution of DeCSS that may be illegal. Not its possesion or use for otherwise legal activities.
But here's something to think about as well. Personally I have a hardware decoder and two legitimately licensed software players. That means that, in fact, I *have* the legal right to use the decryption code to play DVD's. One could even argue I've already overpaid for that right.
The fact that, as delivered, that code will only run on under Windows has nothing to do with my payed for right to decrypt.
KFG
That is, the interface (to its credit!) looks a lot like MythTV. That's important because it means the control interface could be used on a variety of low-res output devices, like those little LCD panels for the car. (How much do those cost these days?) Interfaces built on the assumption of a high-res monitor degrade poorly, but this one looks well done.
:)
:) -- easy enough to add audio playback formats. I'm sure that these could sell well at a price close to $400. If the developers are reading, I'm offering :)
Wrapping it all up in guaranteed-working hardware etc is a smart idea of the sort that people have been whining for it for a long time. Glad these guys actually did it
Some wishlist items for the next generation:
1) provisions for monitor-less use as a car entertainment system (there are EPIA systems which I think would have enough power to do what this box does, and I believe there are 12v power supplies for them, too).
2) I don't see anything on there about Ogg playback (or FLAC for that matter), and these would both be necessary features in the perfect Anything Box. I don't have any music in FLAC yet, but I know I will in the near future.
Those are pretty trivial complaints, of course
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
To be excruciatingly exact, the EPIA you are thinking of is EPIA-M The M stands for "Media" and this iteration of the mini-board includes MPEG-2 decoding onboard (with a dedicated co-processor, no less) and 5.1 audio. There are a few Chinese companies who are actually looking to build EPIA-M based DVD players...the Chinese name for the VIA CPU is "Heart Of China" and there is a certain amount of national pride involved in the EPIA gaining acceptance. VIA might be based in Taiwan but its boards are manufactured on the Mainland.
One drawback, if you look at it one way, is that the EPIA-M chipset is set up for DDR RAM, not the less expensive SDRAM that previous Eden Platform systems used. However, if you look at that another way, it means a faster bus speed and a little better performance. No, it won't turn this puppy into a gaming monster system, but it will make this a friendlier platform for a MAME box, for instance.
VIA is trying to make a play for Linux support for their EPIA platform too...the article I referenced is basically a how-to about Linux on EPIA-M. They haven't been forthcoming to the point of providing all the little details on their stuff to open-source developers, but their binary drivers have been pretty good.
I suspect that this version of the EPIA could handle MythTV, Freevo and the other TiVo-like projects. The same cannot be said about the earlier EPIA motherboard/CPU combos...those are best left to web servers, file servers, firewalls, and other similarly light-duty projects.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Hello, ... Almos every {video,music} format in the world. It also have a image browser and a cute TV Guide (now a Web version too!) and it plays Mame!
There is Freevo http://freevo.sf.net that has a better UI! Also, you can run it under X or Framebuffer or anything else SDL supports (like DXR3!)
As it uses the great MPlayer as the underlying player, it supports Mov, DivX, Mp3, Ogg,
The time shifting is in the work.
Freevo: http://freevo.sf.net Mplayer: http://www.mplayerhq.hu