I've recently bought a Humax Fox T2 with a WiFi dongle, I notice in the settings there is one item which turns on data sharing and the tip that comes up indicates with this on data can be shared with other UPNP devices. This has got me thinking, I'd like to be able to watch recorded programs on another TV which I have in the back of my house. Have I understood this correctly, is it possible to do this and if so what do I need at the remote TV?
I'm hoping it's possible to buy a small unit to interact with the T2?
Do any TVs have this capability (I'm happy to swap out the TV as it's getting on a bit)?

You need a DLNA client device. SD recordings should be straight forward but HD recordings require a client that supports the DTCP protocol. The easiest way to do this is with a FOX-HD T2. Some TVs do have built in DLNA clients but there have been a lot of reports that most don't like the ts streams from the HDR. Maybe somebody has found one that works?

HI Martin

Thanks for your reply. I guess that doesn't look too hopeful, I could get another T2 and dongle but I was hoping there would be something more compact available as I don't have too much storage space around my other TV. It seems crazy to me in this age of "WiFi this" and "Bluetooth that" that this isn't a whole lot simpler though.

Well I just thought I'd close the loop on this, I did get the sharing to work with my PS-3 (almost too easy) so then I went out and bought a new TV at the weekend which also works quite happiliy, however neither device works with HD content. I've contacted Humax and got a prompt response indicating that HD content is 'keyed' to the device it is recorded on and cannot be shared (even if you copy it to USB stick), I don't know if this is a Humax restriction of a legally imposed restriction.
What I have noticed is that the picture is very good when playing SD content remotely, better than watching the same program native on the TV, I guess this is due to the T2 upscaleing, this kind of makes HD a bit redundant and so I'm going to limit what I record in this mode in future.

Now I want to get it working on my laptop as well!

You could install the Custom Firmware, and decrypt the HD recordings. You could then transfer the decrypted recordings to play on another device.

Humax are right in that HD recordings are encrypted using a key that is proper to the machine it was recorded on.

The problem is highlighted when folk have had a failing unit and thought they would save all their recordings elsewhere and copy them back when they get a replacement. The programs won't play as they were recorded on a different machine with a different key.

Decrypt first.

Take a look over at hummy.tv for more info on the custom firmware. I highly recommend using it as it DRAMATICALLY increases the HDR's functionality..

I used a raspberry pi running XMBC, and other media devices but ened up with simplicity with a HD-FOXT2 in bedroom connected over network with the HDR-FOXT2. Both running the excellent custom fimrware (see forum at http://hummy.tv/forum/forums/hd-hdr-...d-firmware.28/ ) and the "foxy" package on there along with the auto-decrypt options etc. Have added "Downstairs" as option on the HD that appears in the Media list which lets any programs be watched as soon as it is decrypted (which is shortly after it is recorded).

The USB drive attached to the HDR appears as a "usbdrive" folder in Media and can then be accessed from the HD upstairs too.

HD-FOX-T2 is lot simpler than the fiddling needed with media player to get to the Humax, "switch it on, wait until Downstairs appears, use it like you do downstairs" .

If you stick the custom firmware on you won't be able to go back....

Steve

Are you saying that if he installs the CF he will not be able to go back to standard FW or that he will not WANT to go back to standard FW?

I only say that because it is possible to remove the CF and revert back to standard quite easily.

Sorry if I have misunderstood your post.

Not want to go back So many gadgets and good stuff and no down sides frankly... looks and works the same from the telly side, web interface, remote scheduling, remote control from your phone/tablet/pc etc. etc. and the one I used yesterday, re-tune and restore yesterdays scheduled recordings database....

Thanks guys that sounds like excellent stuff, looks like I may have a 'bit on' this weekend

The EPG on the HD mux is compressed using Huffman coding. To decompress the EPG data for HD programmes, manufacturers have to obtain a license for the specific Huffman tables used. A condition of the license requires manufacturers to prevent recordings of HD content from being copied off the device. Humax comply with that requirement by encrypting the recordings using a key tied to the device the programme was recorded on.

The HD programmes are actually broadcast unencrypted, it's the PVR that does the encryption.

I believe that the Humax will stream HD recordings over DLNA provided that the client device supports the DTCP-IP protocol, which allows the stream to be encrypted when it's going across the network. The rationale is that streaming is not copying (although I believe some folks have demonstrated that it is possible to capture the decrypted stream as an MPEG4 transport stream file by using the right tools at the client end).

If your TV couldn't play the HD recordings onver DLNA then it could be because it doesn't support DTCP-IP. Even if it does support DTCP-IP then it might simply not be able to play an MPEG4 transport stream, which is what the Humax would stream to it.


The Humax does not upscale when streaming, it just serves out the MPEG transport stream as recorded on its HDD. It's down to the client device to decode the MPEG stream and render it on its display.

Of course you can go back, the CF sits on top of the Humax software. It's easily removed, why anyone would wan't go back is a different question

Rather puzzled. The CF has the capability to auto decrypt HD recordings after they are made. You don't need a DTCP-IP client for these. I can view HD and SD recordings on a Asus Android tablet no problems.

Additionally streamed content is also scaled according to the vformat settings.

My TV says it's getting 1080p from a SD iplayer stream (576i) and the same from iplayer HD (720p25)

For instance iplayer HD 1280 x 720 (25p) content is output to the display at 1080p if that's what you have the box set to. Again the CF allows you to record the content (mpeg2 for SD and mpeg4 for HD content)

I know that, but the OP clearly doesn't have CF so I didn't go in to that potentially complicated subject.


Not for content streamed from the Humax. You just get the transport stream as recorded. Obviously the client can scale it, but the OP thought that the Humax was doing so. It's not.


But that is being streamed to and then rendered by the Humax, and delivered to the TV over HDMI according to your vformat settings. That's utterly different to streaming a file from the Humax' HDD, and the TV's DLNA client then having to render it.


I would refer the Honourable Member to my first answer.

Yeah as per later clarification... I mean once you have the new facilities you won't be able to do without them! I should have said you won't want to go back rather than you won't be able to go back.

Well I must admit I've not done exhaustive trials on this but when I first watched a program streamed from the Humax I was surprised by how good the resolution was but when watching a program on the same channel after this the picture was disapointing by comparison, I guess I should be more scientific about this and watch the same program both ways. I don't know if there are any settings to control upscaling on the TV (or even if it is possible) as I haven't got into all the intricacies of it as I've been a bit busy this week. I'm amazed how complex television has become and can't help wondering how many people only use a fraction of the capability.

Hopefully if I get some time over the weekend I'll look into the custome firmware as it certainly seems to have a lot to offer and I hate having things standard anyway!

The recorded content stream is a compressed mpeg stream consisting of group of pictures with a complete frame plus sub frames (I frames)., Basically it's just a stream of 0's and 1's sent straight to the hdd. In the case of streamed content to a buffer area. You can't send this information out of the box either by hdmi or analogue outputs. It has to be decoded to a 25fps video stream in the case of streamed content by the boxes mpeg decoder and passed to the video output stages where it is output over hdmi at the current vformat setting and at 576i from the analogue outputs. The destinations scaler must change the resolution to match the screen if it does not already match the native resolution.

The box will also handle 24 50 and 60 fps a second from mpeg compressed content stored on a usb disk. Again the box outputs the resolution set in vformat.

Right now I am watching a SD iplayer stream, if I press my TV's info button it says it's getting 1080p. If I now repeatedly press the vformat button on the box remote the TV cycles through 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and back to 1080p. Perhaps you would care to explain how this works if the box isn't scaling the output ?

How do you stream on demand content from a HDR FOX T2 to anything using DLNA ? Only way I know is to use the CF to create a regular recording file. If the OP is watching on demand and has no CF he can't be streaming it using DLNA.

I just look at the 'sources' on the TV and when the T2 is on it appears in the list, I browse down until I get to the video content and then select a file. There is no wired connection between the 2 devices so the data must be coming over WiFi and my understanding is that it is the DLNA client on the TV which is doing the work.

I don't currently run CF and I can't even see any files recorded in HD, I am looking at changing that as soon as possible, I've already downloaded the file, just need to get the firmware installed now.

Thanks for the Digital Video Recording 101, but I already know that.


I know that too. But I also know that you can stream it from the box over an IP connection using DLNA. Which is actually what the OP was asking about. Re-read post #1 if you don't believe me:



I'm not talking about iPlayer streaming to the Humax, and neither was the OP. I'm talking about DLNA streaming from the Humax, which is what he was asking about. They're completely different things so there's no point in trying to use the way one works to support an argument about the way the other works.


Yes, I think you are confused. You do know that the Humax supports DLNA streaming of recorded content, don't you?