MPlayer

The Linux video "Swiss Army knife", which plays almost every movie format imaginable [1].

Note that you must configure a channels.conf file and store it in the ~/.mplayer before you can view or record DVB streams. Instructions on how to do this are detailed in First steps with a DVB device.

Watching DVB streams

You can watch DVB streams with MPlayer by typing:

 $ mplayer dvb://

For a specific DVB stream (as listed in the channels.conf file), type:

 $ mplayer dvb://"STREAM NAME"

Recording DVB streams

It is possible to record DVB streams using MPlayer, but there is more functionality in MEncoder, a command-line encoder built on the MPlayer code.

If you want to record a stream with MPlayer, you can use:

 $ mplayer -dumpstream dvb://"STREAM NAME" -dumpfile stream.ts

This will dump the stream in MPEG-TS format to the file stream.ts (note that this file can be very large - ~1GB for 30 minutes). You can then use MEncoder or MPlayer to convert that file to a usable video format.

DVB Limitations

• Only free-to-air broadcasts are supported. Decryption through CAM is not implemented in MPlayer.
• There is (presently) no DVB subtitle support in MPlayer.

MPlayer and satellite dishes

If you are using MPlayer with a satellite dish that has a C-Band lnb LO: 5150 or standard Ku Band lnb LO: 10750 such as are commonly used in North America, MPlayer will tune the channel if you use the L Band frequency in your .mplayer/channels.conf file instead of the C or Ku Band frequency. To calculate the L Band frequency for C Band, 5150 minus frequency in Mhz equals L Band frequency in Mhz. For Ku Band, frequency in Mhz minus 10750 equals L Band frequency in Mhz.

For example to tune C Band 4.060 Ghz

5150 - 4060 = 1090

Use 1090 for the frequency in channels.conf instead of 4060.

For Ku Band 11.799 Ghz

11799 - 10750 = 1049

External Links

• MPlayer Home page