Tech insights

If you have a huge media library, enjoying the same might turn out to be quite a task in itself. Should you play DVD, use a thumdrive or a Network File Share (NFS)? What if your device doesn't support the media format? Universal Media Server ( UMS ) is aimed to solve this problem. UMS is a UPnP media server. It also transcodes the media file on the fly and allows you to enjoy the media on any UPnP compatible device. It's written in Java. Hence it can run on Windows, Mac and Linux. Below is a demo of UMS in action. Devices used: UMS running on Linux desktop (Athlon X2, 4GB RAM) XBox 360 Lenovo Tab 2 A series Denon 2113 Media Played: SampleVideo_1280x720_2mb.mkv   Xbox doesn't support MKV format. UMS transcodes the file to MP4. absolutely_mcglashan_border.avi   HTML5 compliant browser (Chrome) is supposed to support MP4 natively. Hence, UMS converts the file to MP4. Epoq-Lepidoptera.ogg   Denon 2113 doesn't support OGG. However, thanks to UMS serving MP...

Virtual Reality (VR) aims to recreate an immersive experience, aka the feeling that you are actually present in an alternate setup, using digital technologies. IMAX theatres and 3D movies were first attempts towards this goal. VR headsets from Oculus, Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG etc. is the next step. This year (2016) might bring in a lot more players in this field. If you thought Google Cardboard was enough, do note that it was a cheap joke. (Note: Google's Project Tango and Microsoft's Hololens are Augmented Reality). I got to experience it via Samsung Gear VR first hand and it was simply mind-boggling!! The headset might look weird to an on-looker, but the wearer soon forgets about it completely. The Martian Landscape transports you to Mars instantly. Dinosaurs seem adorable, non-threatening and pet-worthy. Choosing menu options is like reading big signage in a mall. If you are not good at running, you end up in dragon's mouth in Temple run chase!! And if you wanted to wa...

Direct-To-Home (DTH) uses some advanced technologies to deliver entertainment to your home directly. Learning about all these technologies is quite daunting. Consequently, most people dread it and happy to treat it as a black-box. However, thanks to advanced technologies and equipment, you don't have to be an expert in setting this up. Hope this guide will help you understand it better and fix small problems on your own rather than depend on call-center executives of your provider. Also, Media reporters use DVB-S technology to stream LIVE feeds to media houses where the feed is recorded and packaged as a TV program. This means one can watch the Live event sans commercials using a STB if it's unencrypted!! Signals, satellites and encryption Initially, TV transmission was Analog . Hence ALL the TVs have built-in analog tuners. However, analog transmission has limited bandwidth which is not sufficient to transmit ever increasing number of channels. This paved the way for Di...

Mi Red 2 Prime is an excellent phone with 2 GB RAM and 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. Xiaomi is leaving no stone unturned to make it a smooth experience both in terms of UI and ease of upgrade via upgrade app. However, if you want a feel of stock Android Marshmallow using standard Android upgrade process, this post will help you. It assumes you have a Linux computer. Note: Take a backup of your data before you start. Recovery, android ROM and google apps packages can be downloaded from internet. Tools You'd need some tools on your computer to help you with the upgrade. viz, adb and fastboot . Run the following command as root. # bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/master/install.sh) Fastboot If you have a computer, it's easier to upgrade the ROM via Fastboot . Also, if you are unable to boot into recovery mode, fastboot allows you to recover from this situation. Connect the phone to computer using USB cable. Press low...

If you are setting up a Linux based media center PC, sooner or later you would stumble upon a remote which is not completely supported out-of-the-box. More so, if you have an RF remote like me. I spent couple of days scanning through multiple posts to figure it out. This post outlines the steps to get your remote working as you'd like. Most remotes are Infra-red (IR) devices. However, radio-frequency (RF) remotes allow you flexibility and better control as line of sight is not mandatory. I have an RF remote that came with ATI TV Wonder HD 250. ATI Theater remote (source: http://tv.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/amd/ati_theater.html?p=11) Good news is that most of the buttons work out-of-the-box, i.e. the Linux kernel recognizes the device. However, it was annoying that some single key functions like TV or radio were not working. There are total nine buttons that don't work. The first step is to figure out the scancodes of these keys. Run evtest  as root and press the ...

While channel surfing is the favorite pastime of couch-potatoes, I prefer watching selective programs; that too with some summary of the program playing. An Electronic Program Guide (EPG) aids in this purpose. This was also the reason why I decided to move to Direct-to-Home (DTH) from analog TV almost a decade back. So when I embarked on the journey of TV on computer , this was the obvious next step. XMLTV is the most widely used standard for EPG information. However, there are no grabbers for India. So I added my own which retrieves information from Indiatimes website . To install, use following commands. % git clone https://github.com/atamariya/xmltv.git % cd xmltv % perl Makefile.PL % make % make install Once installed, you can configure the channels for which you want to retrieve information by running % tv_grab_in --configure Then you can run the command without any arguments whenever you need the information. Searching program EPG timeline view