[linux-dvb] EPG (Electronic Program Guide) Tools

[Devin Heitmueller]

On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Chris Capon <ttabyss at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi:
> I've installed an HVR-1600 card in a Debian system to receive ATSC
> digital broadcasts here in Canada.  Everything works great.
>
> scan /usr/share/dvb/atsc/us-ATSC-center-frequencies-8VSB > channels.conf
>
>        finds a complete list of broadcasters.
>
> azap -c channels.conf -r "channel-name"
>
>        tunes in the stations and displays signal strength info.
>
> cp /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0 xx.mpg
>
>        captures the output stream which can be played by mplayer.
>
>
>
> What I'm missing is information about the Electronic Program Guide
> (EPG).  There doesn't seem to be much info on linuxtv.org on how to read it.
>
> Where does the EPG come from?
>
> Is it incorporated into the output stream through PID's some how or is
> it read from one of the other devices under adapter0?
>
> Are there simple command line tools to read it or do you have to write a
> custom program to interpret it somehow?
>
> Could someone please point me in the right direction to get started?  If
> no tools exist, perhaps links to either api or lib docs/samples?
>
>
> Much appreciated.
> Chris.

Hello Chris,

The ATSC EPG is sent via the ATSC PSIP protocol.  I do not know of any
tools currently available to extract the information.  MeTV has a
working implementation (with some bugs I have seen), and I was looking
at getting it to work in Kaffeine at some point.

The spec is freely available here:

http://www.atsc.org/standards/a_65cr1_with_amend_1.pdf

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Cheers,

Devin

-- 
Devin J. Heitmueller - Kernel Labs
http://www.kernellabs.com