The VideoLAN Forums

I've read most of the posts on the subject, and I've cut and pasted some examples to create a channel changing playlist ... but ... it doesn't work. I am trying to create a simple playlist that will allow me to change the channel on my TV (video) capture device. I appear to be hung up on the last line of a channel playlist entry ... #EXTVLCOPT:sout=#transcode{vcodec= .... at this point I must have bad parameters because the channel never changes and the stream drops. Does anyone have the answer to this last line? I need vcodec, acodec, access=, mux=, and url parameters for a simple HTTP TV video stream to create a playlist.
Thanks ... I'm lost.

If you're just trying to view it on your PC, the playlist does not need an extended "sout" entry, just send it to the "display" device.

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:0,11 - TV Tuner Card
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-vdev=ATI Rage Theater Video Capture
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-adev=SoundMAX Digital Audio
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-size=320x240
#EXTVLCOPT:no-dshow-config
#EXTVLCOPT:no-dshow-tuner
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-caching=300
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-chroma=
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-fps=0.000000
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=11
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-country=1
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-input=1
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#duplicate{dst=display}
dshow://
#EXTINF:0,72 - TV Tuner Card
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-vdev=ATI Rage Theater Video Capture
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-adev=SoundMAX Digital Audio
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-size=320x240
#EXTVLCOPT:no-dshow-config
#EXTVLCOPT:no-dshow-tuner
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-caching=300
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-chroma=
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-fps=0.000000
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=72
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-country=1
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-input=1
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#duplicate{dst=display}
dshow://
#EXTINF:0,USB - USB Web Cam
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-vdev=Kodak DVC323 Digital Video Camera
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-adev=none
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-size=
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-config
#EXTVLCOPT:no-dshow-tuner
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#duplicate{dst=display}
dshow://

If you'd like to multicast it, then substitute the "sout" above with something like this:

#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#transcode{vcodec=WMV2,vb=512,scale=1,acodec=mp3,ab=64,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=udp,mux=ts,url=229.7.7.1:4444,sap,name="TV Tuner Ch.xx"}}

-- ggunners

Thanks for the continued assistance. I may be doomed to never get the playlist working right. When I use the example you provided (and enter parameters specific to me), the playlist loads, but then jumps through each of the channels and does nothing else - no streaming takes place. I've been using HTTP streams ... seems to work fine, I can pick up the stream from multiple PCs with good quality (including wireless) - no complaints. It's when I stray to "udp" or "multicast" that I run into trouble. Plus I must be missing some key entry in the playlist, because it just jumps to each channel doing nothing. It's not a big deal, but it has now become an obsession to figure it out.
Thanks ... any other ideas are most welcome.

Perhaps if you share your Playlist, others can help.

-- ggunners

Well I apparently stumbled into channel playlist success. Although I don't understand why it works since the syntax is so different than your examples - but - it does indeed work just fine for HTTP streams. I used the Wizard to set up a standard TV channel stream, then later edit the playlist and added the "dshow-tuner-channel=" line. Crazy no mention of the Hauppauge vdev, or adev, or vcodec, etc.? Go figure?
Here it is:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:0,51 - Fox News
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=51
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#standard{mux=ts,url=,access=http://
#EXTVLCOPT:ttl=1
dshow://
#EXTINF:0,68 - History
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=68
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#standard{mux=ts,url=,access=http://
#EXTVLCOPT:ttl=1
dshow://
#EXTINF:0,63 - SciFi
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=63
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#standard{mux=ts,url=,access=http://
#EXTVLCOPT:ttl=1
dshow://
#EXTINF:0,42 - Disney
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=42
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#standard{mux=ts,url=,access=http://
#EXTVLCOPT:ttl=1
dshow://
#EXTINF:2184,DVD
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#standard{mux=ts,url=,access=http://
#EXTVLCOPT:ttl=1
dvdsimple://E:
#EXTINF:0,44 - Nick Jr
#EXTVLCOPT:dshow-tuner-channel=44
#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#standard{mux=ts,url=,access=http://
#EXTVLCOPT:ttl=1
dshow://
---
If you were going to try and access this stream outside of the LAN what cahgnes would you make. I'd like to access the TV stream via the internet, but I am not sure of the best settings. Also UPD for some reason is of poor quality, only HTTP is crisp. Your thoughts, and again thanks.
ps. why does my channel playlist work with so little parameters?

If you were going to unicast to a Windows Media Player (WMP), I'd use the mmsh:// output with 300kbps or so for video and 64kbps for audio and if you need to work through firewalls, you'd use the mmsh: from a port 80 address.

Something like this:

#EXTVLCOPT:sout=#transcode{vcodec=WMV2,vb=384,scale=1,acodec=mp3,ab=64,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=mmsh,mux=asfh,url=10.203.71.90:80}}

Then in WMP, you'd open the URL mms://10.203.71.90:80 in WMP.

Of course, if your client machine has specific needs, then you'd use something else. DIV2 looks pretty good a low bit rates on small screens.

-- ggunners

ggunners: you gave me the Rosetta Stone! Your WMP streaming solution works great, thank you for your time, information, and patience. Did you determine why my playlist needed so little infomration to work? Is it just that VideoLAN works from a set of default parameters, and finds the TV tuner? Thanks again.

What I've seen regarding playlists and DirectShow is that VLC receives the current state of the PC when it starts. So, if you selected the TV Tuner card with other software and nothing changed that state, VLC may work just fine. On the other hand, it's possible when you re-boot your computer and do not initialize any DirectShow devices, the Playlist may not work without further parameters. This seems to be entirely dependent on the DirectShow drivers for each device and the way the drivers work with the operating system. i.e. not necessarily a VLC issue.

So some devices may require more information, but yours only needs the channel number. Good on you!

-- ggunners