[vlc] Re: Stream On Demand ?

[Torsten Spindler]

On Wed, 2004-11-24 at 15:51, perlcgi2000 wrote:
> I'm guessing that I need some script/GUI so the client
> PC and streaming server can authenticate to each
> other, tell the server which stream to start etc ?
> 
> So my questions are:
> 
> 1. Is this sensible & achievable ? (Or is there a
> better way ?)
> 2. Has anyone done this already ?

I've been doing something similar and used vlc and it's realtime
transcoding functionality for it. The idea was to create a video
streaming solution that can be used from a building automation software
that uses TCP/IP excessively. I've set it up like this:

<input> -> <channel> -> <output>

As <input> we use DVB-C, files, Axis 230 MPEG Cameras, Axis 2100
Cameras, Barix Annuncicoms and Cisco IP-TV streams. A vlc runs for every
input and manages it. If necessary it recodes the inputs stream.

A <channel> is just a multicast address.

For <output> we've been using vlc, Amino IP Set Top Boxes, Barix MP3
players. If necessary vlc also recodes the stream in a format understood
by the receiving device.

Basically all components can be controlled through sending commands over
a tcp/ip network. I've chosen to use the vlc http interface for this,
but the telnet, corba and rc interfaces can be used as well. A central
service that assigns inputs to channels and outputs to channels has been
written in Java using the OSGi middleware. The approach choosen is a
centralized one, where the service knows of all participating inputs,
channels and outputs.

Drawback of this solution is that latency between different inputs and
outputs can vary greatly. While not foolproof adjusting vlcs various
caching parameters can help to reduce problems. Due to the centralized
nature it also doesn't scale well.

A more generic approach to coupling multimedia devices: there's an
extension for UPnP that deals with it. I can't find the link, but I
think it has been posted to this list.

Bye,
Torsten
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