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Stream TV with a DVR, iChat USB CAM and iChat AV Apps
Maybe this one isn´t new to You but it was to me!

When using Miglia's AlchemyTV DVR PCI along with an installation of iChat USB CAM 2.0.2, Apple´s iChat AV is able to stream any TV signal into the video chat window. This one requires lots of bandwidth (tested with 2 MBit), but it can be quite fun -- show TV to your friends around the world, or if you need a special broadcast from TV stations as a live stream.
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Stream TV with a DVR, iChat USB CAM and iChat AV | 6 comments | Create New Account
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Stream TV with a DVR, iChat USB CAM and iChat AV
Authored by: Fofer on Oct 06, '04 01:42:35PM

I was initially turned on to this idea by Andy Ihnatko in the June '04 issue of MacWorld. I did it with my TiVo, allowing me to watch any of it's recorded shows (or live TV) from anywhere that I have broadband.

Basically an AppleScript runs in the background on the server Mac, waiting for you to login to iChat from a remote location. Once it sees you, and sees that your status is "Watching TV," it invites you into a one-way A/V chat where you can watch whatever the TiVo is outputting. Very clean and elegant, and the video and audio quality is great. I use a Formac DV and an older FW iMac, and was very impressed with how seamless and enjoyable the experience was.

The "behind the scenes" AppleScript that does all the work is available here:

http://www.macworld.com/downloads/2004/06/ichatscripts.sit



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Backwards Signal?
Authored by: skizot on Oct 06, '04 06:37:51PM

I don't have an EyeTV or Alchemy card, but I do have a DV-AV converter in my canon camcorder that i can use. So I connected my VCR to the camera and the camera to the computer via firewire. Everything works great except the picture is backwards. On the receiving end it looks fine, just on my machine it is backwards. Weird???



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Backwards Signal?
Authored by: RickoKid on Oct 06, '04 11:45:39PM

iChat does that. I was sure there was an option to turn the video back round the right way but when I looked in iChat I couldn't find it.



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Backwards Signal?
Authored by: dontlikehippies on Oct 07, '04 11:55:11PM

when video conferencing, it can be handy to have a mirror image of yourself. when you move your head left, your head moves left on your display... it just makes sense. apple obviously didn't intend for iChat to be used in this manner.



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Stream TV with a DVR, iChat USB CAM and iChat AV
Authored by: ericasadun on Oct 07, '04 08:58:27PM

You can do this just as easily (or probably more easily) with Firewire. Just hook up a camcorder with passthrough or use a A/D box such as the Canopus to connect your TV to firewire.

What we really need is a buddy board that connects "want to watch" people with "have it recorded on my TiVo" people.



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Stream TV with a DVR, iChat USB CAM and iChat AV
Authored by: mproud on Oct 06, '04 08:23:58PM

Careful - depending what you're using it for, this could be considered unlawful broadcasting... ;-)



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