[pastimer]

Hi Chris,

You already know where i stand, but it should be repeated here:

Right know the TV-Server concepts combines two conceps:

1. The ability to view tv-content over the network, i.e. TV client-server.
2. The central management of (any) content through a server.

I would suggest that the TV client-server thing becomes a seperate module and would be developed as a virtual dvb card following the alt-dvb concept. This way, there are no changes in the user-interface nescessary, which would simplify the tv client plugin a lot. When setting up such a device in the client application, instead of pointing to a real card, you point to another machine and port. You can 'scan' such a device just like a normal dvb card and it will find the channels you already setup on the server side. The way the streaming works would most probably differ from the current TV-Server. It would be nice to have a degree of freedom in container formats being used in streaming.

The rest of the current TV Server can be a seperate development and can off course also make use of virtual dvb cards, but it is a development i am not very interested in at the moment.

The idea behind this is the notion that it should not be a big deal where a dvb card is physically located. It should not matter. This idea has been elegantly exercised in Alt-dvb 2.0 and i suggest anyone to take a look. Alt-dvb itself is supposedly dead, but can still be downloaded. Do not use 2.1, the client-server does not work in that version.

A practical reason for this approach would be that most (?) people would opt for 'ordinary' Mediaportal with the use of one or more virtual dvb cards.