Peter's Blog

I'm using the term video players loosely to encompass my experiences with Miro and XBMC. What I am looking for is a good player for my pctv recordings and if it can show my photo albums, home movies and play my itunes rips so much the better. Being able to download video podcasts would be just peachy.

Miro:

• using ubuntu intrepid package
• Added the directory my recordings are in and it keeps track of new recordings.
• recording entries include a screenshot.
• plays my pctv recordings flawlessly
• downloads video from internet, not iplayer but odds and ends like railscasts and film trailers
• player seems to have very few options:
  • full screen
  • next programme
  • stop and that's about it. No fast forward, no jump backward/forward one minute, seems very limited.
• Can add recordings to a new, empty, playlist but couldn't find out how to create playlists with more than one entry while offspring were desperately awaiting a Dora fix. It keeps playing through all recordings (unlike Mythtv which stopped after each one) so babies are likely to end up watching Peep Show if I'm not attentative. ToDo: get pctv to organise recordings with a different directory for each program. One thing pctv does right: names the recording file after the programme.

XBMC:

• installed from xbtv's own official repository (launchpad).
• easy to set up with directorys of music/recordings/photos
• video recordings have no screenshot. Seems odd to me, it's not that hard (pctv does it).
• when photo viewer shows photos it pans over them or slowly zooms in just like on cheesy american adverts. It doesn't play a heartwarming ballad (e.g. Barbra Streisand 'memories') but that may be deep in the options. However, photos from Nikon d80 look good on 42" plasma.
• music player plays my itunes rips. The DRMed purchases are simply not listed (e.g. album is there but no tracks in it) so no Amy Winehouse
• the video player is too buggy to trust. Watching 'Simpsons', every few minutes it will suddenly fast forward for a few seconds. Either that or it will lock up. Same recordings are fine on Miro. XBMC is capable of screwing things up so badly the system needs rebooting before I can continue viewing on Miro.
• XBMC has the playback controls available (FF, Rew etc) but they tend to make it lock up so are unusable.
• XBMC doesn't disable the screensaver during video playback, maybe because it doesn't often run that long without locking up.
• The user interface is far nicer than Mythtv, although the use of the right mouse button as a 'back' button took some guesswork.

Hate to beat on XBMC but it's supposed to be award winning and I was using a 'stable' release. Did I mention the lockups?

I've put my name down for the Boxee alpha but an invite could take weeks. Boxee is based on XBMC but with added twitter so everyone can see what you are watching. Maybe the built in twitter also helps you vent if/when it locks up?

I've come across the concept of installing a upnp server in my server box to broadcast videos, music and photos to client boxes around the house. XBTV can act as client or server but is too flaky. However, linux upnp servers are common enough. I'll experiment with a laptop and decide whether to get a cheapo £60 zyxel media streamer for the downstairs TV or go for broke and use an Xbox. If Apple TV handled upnp then it would my preferred choice but Apple don't seem to be as keen on open standards as microsoft in this particular case. XBMC runs on Apple TV but do I want to fork out £200 on an Apple TV and have to reboot the bloody thing every five minutes? If Xbox can play iTunes rips (not guaranteed) AND Dora games then like most things Microsoft, a no-brainer.

Conclusion:

• Miro: ok for organising/playing video recordings
• XBTV: ok for organising/playing music + photos