Book Image

Raspberry Pi Media Center

By : Sam Nazarko
Book Image

Raspberry Pi Media Center

By: Sam Nazarko

Overview of this book

<p>Low-cost and high-performing, with a massively diverse range of uses and applications, the Raspberry Pi is set to revolutionize the way we think about computing and programming. Using it as a Media Center allows everyone to have a low-cost device that is always on, attached to their TV. <br /><br />Imagine controlling your TV with your smartphone, dynamically streaming content that you have on various devices across your home, as and when you want. Raspberry Pi Media Center will show you how to configure the complete experience using readily available and accessible tools, so that you too will soon be enjoying your media from the comfort of your own sofa. <br /><br />With this practical guide, you’ll discover how you can transform your Raspberry Pi into a powerful media center. Using Raspbmc (based on the XBMC distribution), you'll be shown how you can deploy and configure your own media center, including coverage of all the essentials from controlling your device with a TV remote or smartphone, to the creation and customization of your very own media library (including the conversion of any existing collection). You'll even be able to stream multimedia from your devices or directly from the Internet!</p>
Table of Contents (17 chapters)

Setting up PVR


We will now look at how to set up a PVR. This will include configuring the backend as well as getting it running in XBMC.

An external backend

The purpose of this title is to focus on the Raspberry Pi, and as there is a great variety of PVR software available, it would be implausible to cover the many options. If you are planning on using an external backend, it is recommended that you thoroughly search for information on the Internet. There are even books for popular and comprehensive PVR packages, such as MythTV. TVHeadend was chosen for Raspbmc because it is lightweight and easy to manage.

Raspbmc's XBMC build will support the following backends at the time of writing:

  • MythTV

  • TVHeadend

  • ForTheRecord/Argus TV

  • MediaPortal

  • Njoy N7

  • NextPVR

  • VU+/Enigma

  • DVBViewer

  • VDR

Setting up TVHeadend in Raspbmc

It should be noted that not all TV tuners will work on your device. Due to the fact that the list changes frequently, it is not possible to list here the devices that work on the Raspberry Pi. However...