Due to the channel search, the menu keyboard commands had to be revised because they might collide with the search input.
We have also added “Play / Stop Playback” to the View menu.
Previously, the display was simply stopped during recording – now the recording playback starts after 10 seconds. This delay is necessary so that the stream can be displayed correctly. During recording, playback can be paused and continued.
In addition, the current channel name is now also displayed in the main window title. After selectin e.g. “Move Channel To Top”, the current channel is not visible in the list – otherwise you would have to scroll from the top of the list back to the previous position. As a result of this change, the current channel name is now also obvious without a visible selection in the channel list.
]]>Further more, we changed the functionality of pause/continue to stop/play because the live streams can currently not be buffered.
]]>We included this feedback in version 1.4:
- M3U playlist URL in the preferences can reference a local file in the user’s movies folder (e.g. ~/Movies/HD.m3u)
- Invalid channels (without a streaming URL) can be removed via File menu
- The first 9 channels can be selected by their number
- Bug fix after minimizing and then maximizing the TV Window
In addition, it was noticed that messages were not always displayed in the event of access failures to a channel – we have now added further messages to show more precisely why the channel is not displayed.
]]>In the past, we added the changeable font size of the channel list in the Stand-Alone application, and adopted the Mac applications for macOS 11.
Starting with these versions, the Stand-Alone and the client for Mac support native support of the Apple Silikon M1 chip as well.
Although it will take a while until macOS 10.14.5 is available, we still have all versions now notarized by Apple.
(All versions except finessTV Server ET – this application is still not compatible to macOS 10.14 due to the 32 bit version of EyeTV.)
The updated versions can now be downloaded from the download page – and in the future, all new versions will be notarized.
]]>ST Server 1.0.2 (Mac), Client 1.6.2 (Mac) and Stand-Alone 1.0.2 (Mac) are now adapted to macOS 10.14, so the dark mode is finally supported.
In addition, we have fixed a small bug on the ST Server that might have prevented the conversion of the LiveTV stream after server start.
And there is also some unpleasant news: although all software companies should have 64 bit applications by “now” (to put it mildly), Geniatech does not seem to be able to do that? Anyway, there is still only a 32 bit version of EyeTV available. Although this version of EyeTV also runs on macOS 10.14, the VLC EyeTV plugin (also 32 bit) can not be started via VLC. Which means that the ET Server is currently not compatible with macOS 10.14.
We can only hope that Geniatech will soon offer a 64 bit version – it was announced a long time ago.
And we tested EyeTV T2 Hybrid with the ET Server on an older iMac (2009), which does not meet the hardware requirements of Geniatech.
Digital DBV-C reception is possible with this configuration, but insufficient power is available for additional applications such as the ET server.
Therefore, the minimum video quality of 512 kB or 256 kB has now been improved for the ET server. Of course, the video quality on the client is very low, but e.g. for iPad or iPhone quite applicably.
The TV receiver must be Sat IP (DLNA/UPnP) compatible – like the Fritz!Box Cable Router or the FRITZ!WLAN Repeater DVB‑C.
After the successful connection, the available channels are displayed in a list and the current live stream is displayed in the main window.
Selecting a channel will change the channel in the main window.
The channels can be resorted by drag and drop.
The up and down key selects the previous or next channel.
A double click in the main window toogles the fullscreen display.
In the main window, a control panel will be displayed at the bottom if the mouse cursor is moved over it.
The control panel allows it to pause / restart the playback, to toogle the fullscreen display and to switch the sound on / off.
And if available, the current channel and program title is displayed in the middle.
Furthermore the audio and subtitle track can be selected in the corresponding menues.
Please note that incoming connections must be allowed in the firewall settings for finessTV.
]]>There are now two server solutions: the previous server streaming EyeTV live streams (which has been renamed to “finessTV Server ET”) – and the new “finessTV Server ST”.
“finessTV Server ST” connects to a Sat IP compatible TV receiver like Fritz!Box Cable Router or FRITZ!WLAN Repeater DVB‑C, extracts the live channels from the M3U playlist announced via DLNA/ UPnP and starts streaming of the first channel.
Alternatively / additionally, a M3U playlist URL can be specified in the preferences. This might be helpful if the Sat IP TV receiver does not announce a M3U playlist. Or if a Fritz!Box TV receiver is used and the HD channels should be available too.
The channels can be resorted by drag & drop and renamed in the “Channels List & EPG” window (available in the File menu).
“finessTV Server ST” also supports EPG of TV providers – and we improved EPG parsing: if the EPG channel info has the same name as the channel name of the Sat IP TV receiver, then the EPG is displayed automatically. In other words: the EPG must not be assigned to the channels in the “Channels List & EPG” window.
Another important highlight is recording: Fritz!Box, for example, offers only the iOS app – and can not make recordings of a live channel. In contrast, finessTV not only offers clients for AppleTV, Mac, iPhone and iPad, but also allows programming of recordings. These recordings are available in the clients if a finessTV archive has been selected in the server.
]]>Therefore, we have now added a check at server startup, which displays a message if VLC 3.x is installed in the Applications folder.
In addition, the standard browser displays the web page where “VLC 2.2.8.dmg” can be downloaded.
This version must be installed in the Applications folder after the download – and if necessary, the computer must be restarted once.
If you still want to use VLC 3.x, you can either install this version in another folder or rename VLC (for example to VLC 3.0) before the installation in the Applications folder.
Addendum: version 1.6 even allows to rename VLC 2.2.8 to “VLC 2.2.8” – this way it is easier to update newer VLC 3.x versions (because the new VLC version must not be renamed).
Of course, we will work on a solution to get access to the EyeTV live stream with VLC 3 as well.
In addition, we are also planning to support EyeTV Netstream and FRITZ! WLAN Repeater DVB-C – which means access to the EyeTV live stream without having to run EyeTV on the Mac.
In this version, therefore, “automatic EPG parsing” has been added: after activating “Parse EPG of all channels after the interval” in the settings, EPG is now parsed according to the interval for each channel.
Once a client is started, the parsing stops – and continues when no client is connected.
Since the EPG parsing of all channels has taken too long, now only the EPG of the assigned EyeTV channels (in the EPG channel list) is parsed.
Frequently, EPG also contains information about other channels (such as radio stations) – these data are no longer parsed.
Further more, the EPG of the assigned EyeTV channels can now be exported as XMLTV in the EPG channel list.
]]>As of version 1.5.1, the hour interval in which the EPG data will be analyzed again can be set in the server preferences. In Germany e.g., it is sufficient after 72 hours (3 × 24 hours).
In contrast to XMLTV, the EPG data of the channel providers are unfortunately not properly separated, so that no subtitle could be displayed so far.
At least for Germany, there seems nevertheless a consistent format with DBV-T2 and DVB-C: after the title comes the duration (in parentheses) and then the further text.
In this version it is therefore checked whether a duration exists in parentheses – in which case the title and additional text are separated. And the first 64 characters of the additional text are used as subtitle.
While this is still not optimal, the data is now displayed better in the EPG overview.
Finally, in the server window, there are now also short infos about the individual settings, which can be displayed by the button “?”.
]]>This first final version does not only allow it to connect easy and private to the server from outside the local WiFi by the connection key, but also friends can be invited to share television and archived movies with them.
Please read more about this at “Connecting & Sharing“.
]]>This first final version does not only allow it to connect easy and private to the server from outside the local WiFi by the connection key, but also friends can be invited to share television and archived movies with them.
Please read more about this at “Connecting & Sharing“.
]]>This new feature does not only allow it to connect easy and private to the server from outside the local WiFi by the connection key, but also friends can be invited to share television and archived movies with them.
After setup of router port forwarding and start of the server, you can now register to get a connection key.
With this connection key you can
- let the server update the TCP/IP address of the router
- connect the client with the server from outside the local WiFi
- log in to invite friends.
After an invitation, the friend receives an email with an additional connection key, which must be confirmed by a link.
Afterwards, the invited friend can also access the server.
Access rights for the friend can be set during the invitation: access to switch the current channel, access to archived movies, access to add scheduled recordings.
It is not only that the access to TV live streams (of provider websites) are more and more prevented by a GeoIP check, if one is not staying in the country – unfortunately, there are also more and more countries that suppress access to free informations.
We therefore hope that this new feature will be used to offer friends “worldwide” television with free information.
But of cause, the protection of data privacy is another reason to offer this feature – as with all our products.
]]>Note: EyeTV does not support the access to the EPG data available in EyeTV, so this data can unfortunately not be used.
If TV providers offer EPG, then this data is automatically collected during the live stream (after the server has been started and the client is connected) – the server then displays the status “Parsing EPG”.
At the beginning you should select the most important channels in the client one after the other and wait a bit. After 30 seconds, the server will start parsing the EPG of the currently selected channel. As soon as the server no longer displays the message “Parsing EPG”, you can then select the next channel.
As soon as EPG data is collected for 1-2 channels (for DVB-T2, for example, ARD / Das Erste and ZDF), you might stop the server once and select “EPG Channel List” in the File menu. The EyeTV channels are displayed on the left and the EPG providers already collected can be assigned to the respective EyeTV channels on the right.
After restarting the server and connection of the client, the assigned EPG data is displayed in the channel list and in the EPG window of the client.
For the assigned EyeTV channels, the EPG data will be automatically updated from there on – if EPG data is missing for a TV channel, it can be updated by selecting the channel in the client.
By the way: XMLTV offers in our opinion much better EPG data – with e.g. DVB-T2 there is unfortunately no (intelligent) separation between titles, subtitles and text from the providers. And also the time for the end of a broadcast is missing (and is calculated by the finessTV Server).
Geniatech (or Elgato) must have really invested a great deal of work in order to figure out this data so well.
Pünktlich um 0 Uhr wurde am 29.3.17 DVB-T in Deutschland abgeschaltet und nur noch DVB-T2 ausgestrahlt.
Da man auch schon die letzten Wochen DVB-T2 testen konnte, hatten wir uns den Geniatech EyeTV T2 Lite USB-Stick besorgt – und mussten nun nur noch den Sendersuchlauf erneut starten.
Wie erwartet wurden sowohl die öffentlich-rechtlichen als auch die privaten Sender gefunden – wobei die privaten Sender verschlüsselt sind und deswegen auch nicht angeschaut werden können.
Im Gegensatz zu öffentlichen Verlautbarungen der öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender kann man aber von einem reibungslosen Start nicht sprechen: insbesonders das ZDF und deren Sender zeigen ein ruckelndes (und teilweise stehendes) Bild und auch der Ton ist teilweise gar nicht zu hören oder nicht synchron. Je nach Standort scheinen sogar Sender gar nicht gefunden oder angezeigt zu werden.
Der finessTV-Server verarbeitet ja via VLC die Rohdaten des jeweiligen EyeTV-Live-Programmes – und da sieht man dann im Client häufiger Blöcke im Bild und unterbrochenen Ton.
Im Gegensatz zu EyeTV bleibt das Bild aber nicht stehen – und: durch diese Empfang-Probleme stürzt EyeTV oder VLC häufiger mal ab, was der finessTV-Server feststellt und dann EyeTV (und das Segmentieren des Live-Streams durch VLC) erneut startet.
Da kann man wirklich nur erstaunt sein, dass auch 4 Tage nach dem Start von DVB-T2 weder die öffentlich-rechtlichen Sendeanstalten noch Geniatech diese Probleme beseitigt haben – aber vielleicht wollen sie die Probleme auch gar nicht wahrnehmen?
Update 2.4.17: Einigen Sendern wurden neue Frequenzen zugewiesen wodurch der Empfang von DVB-T2 teilweise schon zuverlässiger funktioniert. Leider gibt es nach wie vor Aussetzer bei der Übertragung, u.a. auch bei ARD / Das Erste.
Update 15.4.17: Mittlerweile hat Geniatech 2 EyeTV-Updates herausgebracht – Bild und Ton haben dadurch (fast) keine Aussetzer mehr und EyeTV stürzt auch nicht mehr ab. Leider ändert das aber nichts an dem Problem mit den Rohdaten, die an VLC gesendet werden und die VLC zum Absturz bringen.
Update 12.6.17: Mit dem EyeTV-Update (3.6.9 Build 7518) sind die Aussetzer bei Bild und Ton noch einmal weniger geworden. Die an VLC gesendeten Rohdaten sind zwar manchmal immer noch fehlerhaft, aber VLC stürzt jetzt weniger ab.
Update 30.7.17 : Auch die EyeTV-Updates (3.6.9 Build 7519 / 7520) verbessern zwar die Wiedergabe in EyeTV, aber ändern leider nichts an den fehlerhaften Rohdaten, die an VLC gesendet werden. Je nach Sender scheinen die VLC-Abstürze durch die fehlerhaften Rohdaten eher wieder zugenommen zu haben und der Ton scheint bei manchen Sendern grundsätzlich nicht synchron zu sein. Wir haben daher nach 4 Monaten entschieden unseren Empfang auf Kabel umzustellen – Good Bye DVB-T2.
]]>Power saving:
If no client has been launched for 15 minutes, then the server stops the VLC process (live stream segmenting) and closes the EyeTV live window.
This is very important (for power saving and lifetime of the hard disk) if the server is setup to auto-start and is running “all the time”.
If a client is launched then the server will re-start everything (opens the EyeTV live window and starts VLC for live stream segmenting) – and because this takes some seconds, the client will show the status “live stream stopped” and will start the playback as soon as streaming is available.
Public / external access to the server:
In previous versions, a TCP/IP address could already be entered in the client’s preferences, but now IPv4 as well as IPv6 are supported.
And we added a web page to give some instructions how to setup and use a client to access the server from outside the local WiFi.
Adding scheduled recordings in the EPG display of the client is very comfortable: in the detailed info of a single entry (after selecting an entry), “Add Recording” can be pressed to add the entry to the recordings. Or “Remove Recording” to delete the recording.
If a scheduled recording exits for an EPG entry, then the title is displayed in red color.
Unfortunately the EyeTV scripting bridge (which is used for adding scheduled recordings) has an error: the channel number has the wrong data type. Therefore the channel of a new recording is set before the recording is added – and after adding the new recording, the channel is switched back to the original channel.
Because the EPG data (start and end) of scheduled recordings added in EyeTV directly and the EPG data of the client may be different, a tolerance of 5 minutes is currently used to recognize if a scheduled recording exits. Because of this tolerance, two successive schedules can not be added. Instead the end of the scheduled recording must be manually changed in the recording list to include the second recording – which is a better way to record two successive broadcasts anyway.
For testing purpose, we also added a “Pause” button in the client. Even if we are not too happy with the handling: if play is pressed after the playback has been paused, it takes 15 seconds to continue playback. And this 15 seconds are lost. And if another channel is selected, then the server must restart the live stream segmentation (because otherwise it would take too much time to switch to the new channel stream). But having the pause feature outweighs these minor drawbacks…
]]>We used this “relaunch” for some improvements as well – the internal communication between server and client has been changed:
Both improvements are a preparation of a very fantastic feature we are planning: sharing your EyeTV connection with friends.
This will include inviting friends and – after a confirmation of both sides – giving access to the current live television stream, switching of channels and access to the archive. Of course access to all these single features can be configured by you.
And – and this is a very important feature for us because we take care for anonymity – the access to the live stream or archived movies will be a direct communication (and we will get no informations what or when or how long you or your friends use these features). But we will talk about this as soon as we developed this steps – which will take some time…
So: if you did not already send us a mail to test the AppleTV, iPad, iPhone, iPod or Mac versions – now it is a very good time to start joining us!
Enjoy media – wherever & whenever!
]]>The EPG data is used in the live channel list and after clicking “EPG”.
For each EPG entry, detailed infos (with a description if available) can be viewed by clicking on an EPG entry.
And if a channel in the EPG window is selected, then the EPG window will be closed and the channel switched.
If the EyeTV live channels do not provide EPG, then XMLTV can be used to add EPG data to EyeTV – and this is the solution we are using now as well. The only problem with XMLTV: it is a little bit difficult to find a free & matching XMLTV file.
The steps to include EPG in nessEyeTV:
Important: “nessEyeTV XMLTV.xml” must be replaced with “finessTV XMLTV.xml” with version 1.3 or newer.
Now you will find a file named “nessEyeTV XMLTV.txt” in the folder of your choice – and this is difference to EyeTV: the EyeTV channels must not be renamed to find the XMLTV channels and their program infos. The assignments are saved in this text file.
Another new feature in the server is the client list which shows all clients and – if a client is watching an archive file – the name of this file.
On client side, this EPG data is used in the live channel list and after clicking “EPG”.
For each EPG entry, detailed infos (with a description if available) can be viewed by clicking on an EPG entry.
And if a channel in the EPG window is selected, then the EPG window will be closed and the channel switched.
The iPad & iPhone client is adapted as well and will soon be available. Next step will be the AppleTV client…
]]>The live stream segments VLC reliably – but with the archive movies there are sometimes problems. Especially if advertising was cut out in an archive movie.
At the cut surfaces, VLC produces unexpectedly large segments and latest at the 2nd surface, the sound is no longer synchronous.
We have therefore spend some time to segment archive movies with FFmpeg – and fortunately FFmpeg works reliably even if cut surfaces exist.
Some additional code in the server was necessary because FFmpeg generates incomplete playlists (M3U8) – the necessary server address does not exist in a playlist.
In addition, FFmpeg could not segment at least one archive movie – in this case, the movie is then segmented by VLC.
nessEyeTV Server version 1.1.3 uses now FFmpeg primarily for archive movies, if it is installed in the Utilities folder.
The current FFmpeg version for Mac can be downloaded as “Static Build” – select the Apple symbol to jump to the Mac version if it is not shown – and must be copied into the Utilities folder.
Now the EyeTV archive can be selected as well with the iPhone & iPad client. And then a client can select one movie in the archive to watch the movie – while the other client(s) can continue to watch the live TV stream.
The client for AppleTV is adapted to give access to the archive too. We are just waiting for the Apple Review to enable external testing via TestFlight.
]]>As before (multiple) clients can watch the current live television stream or switch to another channel – but now the EyeTV archive can be selected as well with the Mac client. And then a client can select one movie in the archive to watch the movie – while the other client(s) can continue to watch the live TV stream.
The archive access must be activated in the server (which will once show a dialog to select the EyeTV archive folder).
The clients for iPhone & iPad and AppleTV will be adapted now to give access to the archive too.
]]>If you want to see a preview how the client on AppleTV will look, then you watch now a demo video at YouTube.
]]>Apple will now review this app – and if it fits, then they will give access to external (registered) beta testers via TestFlight.
]]>If you want to see a preview how the client on iPhone & iPad will look, then you watch now a demo video at YouTube.
If you do not know TestFlight: TestFlight is an Apple app for iPhone & iPad. After the download in the App Store and login, you can test apps you registered for.
In other words: if you are interested in a free beta test of our application, then just send us a mail for registration – we will add your email address to the beta tester, you will receive a message from Apple and then you can test the app free of charge. Even it is not available yet in the App Store.
Apple will now review this app – and if it fits, then they will give access to external (registered) beta testers via TestFlight.
]]>If you want to see a preview how the clients on the different platforms will look, then you watch now a demo video at YouTube or download the Mac applications.
The Mac client will be especially helpful when the other clients for iPhone, iPad and AppleTV are available – if the server starts the VLC process in the background, then the EyeTV live channel window will not show any content but a message “content not available”. But with the Mac client, the television live stream can still be watched on this Mac… or of course on another Mac.
]]>Thus we started now with our new project “nessEyeTV” – and with this blog we want to provide an insight into our work and the resulting news and problems.
But more important: we would like to invite you to give us feedback, criticism and suggestions.
We already developed a very basic version of the server and the client for Mac. In the next weeks, we will develop a basic version of the client for iPhone & iPad and then the client for AppleTV.
After we have finished the basic versions which will only give access to the channels and their playback, we will extend these versions to give access to the archive as well – and may be we find solution for even more features.
The first versions for iPhone, iPad and AppleTV will only be available for registered users via TestFlight – if you are interested in testing a free beta version, then please contact us via email.
]]>