By Till Wortmann Feb 12, 2006, 16:09 GMT
Munich - Television via the computer has almost become an everyday thing. The introduction of digital antenna television (DVB- T) in many regions of the world means that even beginners can install the hardware and software needed for TV reception on a PC. Price doesn't need to be an obstacle, either. Those looking to save money on expensive Windows software can try their DVB-T luck with the Linux operating system.
Software for television reception is included in the base installation of many Linux distributions, says Andreas Gebhard, spokesman for Linuxtages in Wiesbaden, Germany.
'Anyone who has bought Suse Linux 10.0, for example, already has everything they need. There are various players for KDE that they can use to watch the most varied of film formats, he says.' Other distributions like Ubuntu offer media players like mplayer or Kaffeine that can handle digital television images.
The decisive factor for successful television reception is the interplay between hardware and software. Current Linux distributions like Mandravia (formerly Mandrake), Ubuntu, and Fedora have no trouble with this, Gebhard notes.
'Basic support for the devices is built into the Linux kernel. If the distribution uses a current version of the kernel, then support for the TV cards is already inside,' says Hans-Georg Esser, editor- in-chief at the magazine 'easy linux.' Missing playback software can be downloaded later. 'If the TV card is not supported by the Linux distribution, though, no novice is going to be able to get it up and running,' Esser says.
Installation of TV cards is an easier matter, particularly with a USB connection: Installation involves no more than sticking the hardware into the PC's USB port. But those looking to work with older TV cards may have trouble finding the right hardware drivers. Consumers are advised to check first whether drivers are available before buying a card.
The trend toward the digitalisation of television technology has generally worked in Linux's favour, Andreas Gebhard finds. Support for analogue TV sometimes can be problematic, he notes, but for digital TV the strength of the open source community can be brought to bear. He believes analog television will soon be a thing of the past anyway.
An example of a project by the open source community that meets television watching needs is the VDR project. It was started in 2000 by Klaus Schmidinger and involves a program for digital video recording on a Linux basis.
'You can click on your desired program a week in advance. The software then runs unnoticed in the background and records the broadcast,' Gebhard says. Special Linux distributions like LinVDR help ease the way for novice users.
'LinVDR is a collection of software that includes a free Linux distribution that is only intended to serve as a video recorder,' explains Mirko D'lle, who operates the 'linvdr.org' Website for Linux New Media AG in Munich. The VDR software is capable of time-specific recording and time shifted replay. The device is controlled through a remote control.
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