Streams formats/drm/advertisements

Question

Hi all,I've been using SlingCatcher/SlingProjector to stream video from both overseas websites as well as my local NAS to my TV and it is a PAIN(You have to manually highlight an area on your screen, which means you have to have your computer on.Also since CPU utilization is maxed out, the computer is unusable while anyone watches streamed TV.So when I saw the new SDK I got really excited.I started by looking at the sample videoplayer app and decided to try and stream one of the programs I usually stream to the SlingCatcher directly to my Roku XR(BTW I love it, I have an HD as well upstairs).The stream I decided to use if for The Israeli Survivor: http://switch206-01.castup.net/cunet/gm ... 6bug%3Dm.dUnfortunately, I couldn't figure out the type of the stream. I tried WMV and that started the buffering, but got stuck at the middle.Now there are 3 possible issues I think could cause this issue:First, I did not set the correct stream format.Second, some DRM issue with the stream that Roku can't handle.Or third, the stream seem to switch between advertisements then main video and again back to advertisements stream every x minutes.My questions are if anyone knows how one can figure out the stream format and or how to configure a stream to anything other then mp4? I'm not sure which one I did wrong.Is there a possibility of DRM issue on streamed video content? If so, is there a way to know if a stream has any such DRM on it?And finally, can Roku handle stream switches such as the ones in the stream I mentioned?Thanks,Guy.

gloewy · Answer

It seems asx is the format that concats multiple streams. For example:

<asx version="3.0">
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="General Playlist" />
<entry>
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME = "PLAY_LIST_ITEM_ID" VALUE = "1"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSeek" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSkipBack" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSkipForward" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="PreRoll" />
<PARAM NAME="CastUP_AssociatedURL" VALUE="" />
<ref href="http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?curettype=1&cucontentlinktype=1&ClipMediaID=3527474&ak=null&cucsk=0&cucsp=0" />
</entry>
<entry>
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME = "PLAY_LIST_ITEM_ID" VALUE = "2"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="patiach_new_4_sec_castup_mpg2" />
<PARAM NAME="CastUP_AssociatedURL" VALUE="" />
<ref href="http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?curettype=1&cucontentlinktype=1&ClipMediaID=3891698&ak=null" />
</entry>
<entry>
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME = "PLAY_LIST_ITEM_ID" VALUE = "3"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="YALDEY HSHKHUNA - 25 - IE105864" />
<PARAM NAME="CastUP_AssociatedURL" VALUE="" />
<ref href="http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?curettype=1&cucontentlinktype=1&ai=594&ar=bli-sodot_1&ak=null" />
</entry>
<entry>
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME = "PLAY_LIST_ITEM_ID" VALUE = "4"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="sagir_new_4_sec_castup_mpg2" />
<PARAM NAME="CastUP_AssociatedURL" VALUE="" />
<ref href="http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?curettype=1&cucontentlinktype=1&ClipMediaID=3891705&ak=null" />
</entry>
<entry>
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME = "PLAY_LIST_ITEM_ID" VALUE = "5"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSeek" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSkipBack" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSkipForward" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="PostRoll1" />
<PARAM NAME="CastUP_AssociatedURL" VALUE="" />
<ref href="http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?curettype=1&cucontentlinktype=1&ClipMediaID=4598146&ak=null&cucsk=0&cucsp=0" />
</entry>
<entry>
<PARAM NAME = "Prebuffer" VALUE = "TRUE"/>
<PARAM NAME = "PLAY_LIST_ITEM_ID" VALUE = "6"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSeek" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSkipBack" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="CanSkipForward" VALUE="No"/>
<PARAM NAME="title" VALUE="PostRoll2" />
<PARAM NAME="CastUP_AssociatedURL" VALUE="" />
<ref href="http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?curettype=1&cucontentlinktype=1&ClipMediaID=3527474&ak=null&cucsk=0&cucsp=0" />
</entry>

</asx>

When going to any of the entries, a different stream url comes back (mms://...) and playing it gets a single stream to play.

This means I could strip commercials while creating an app. REALLY COOL.

I also figured out this is a wmv which should be supported.

Will update on my progress ...

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Streams formats/drm/advertisements

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