--->Tutorial 6(b): Adding Streaming Channels

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--->Tutorial 6(b): Adding Streaming Channels

Post by The Professor » Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:24 pm

Tutorial 6(b): Adding Streaming Channel
This tutorial may be distributed freely if you acknowledge tvrosat.com as the source. :grin:

Note: Click on the images below for enlarged view.

___________________________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS


6(b).0: Introduction

6(b).1: Uncertain Legal Climate

[list]6(b).1.1: Lawsuits[/list]
[list]6(b).1.2: Stay Legal[/list]
6(b).2: Adding Steaming URLs
[list]6(b).2.1: M3U and M3U8 File Definitions[/list]
[list]6(b).2.2: Streaming from your Computer[/list]
[list]6(b).2.3: Streaming from the Internet[/list]
[list]6(b).2.4: Importing a Playlist[/list]
6(b).3: Streaming Sources
[list]6(b).3.1: Governments and News[/list]
[list]6(b).3.2: Lyngsat Stream[/list]
[list]6(b).3.3: Pluto TV[/list]
[/color]
___________________________________________________________________

6(b).0: Introduction

This tutorial will explain how to add streaming content to your ZGemma 4K receiver. Due to the uncertain legal status of streaming and the potential for copyright infringement, this tutorial will be kept brief and will focus on streaming legal content only.

6(b).1: Uncertain Legal Climate

It is important to be aware that in general, unless a streaming provider has been authorized by the copyright holder to re-transmit their programming, the streaming provider may be operating outside of the law and be putting the end users at risk for copyright infringement. At the time of writing, legally licensed streaming providers of live television in the USA include: DirecTV Now, Sling TV, Playstation Vue, YouTube TV, Hulu TV, Fubo TV and Pluto TV.

If you come across a streaming TV service which isn't on the list above, you should perform some research before subscribing to it. Most legal streaming services (with the exception of Pluto TV which is FREE), charge between $25 - $70 per month for a handful of premium channels and limit the service to US residents only. If you come across a service that offers thousands of premium channels, including premium content from other countries and worldwide subscriber access for the low, low price of just $5 per month, chances are good that it is an illegal service that is engaged in copyright infringement.
  • 6(b).1.1: Lawsuits
Illegal TV streaming services are aggressively investigated and shutdown by the copyright owners. One recent example was Set TV:

Set TV Lawsuit

If the service seems too good to be true, then it probably is...ILLEGAL!
  • 6(b).1.2: Stay Legal
Although at the time of writing the copyright owners are suing only the operators of these illegal streaming services, it is highly possible that the end users who subscribe to such services may also find themselves in legal trouble. Movie studios have sued people in the past for illegally downloading their intellectual property, as have cable and satellite operators over unauthorized descrambling. The trend of discouraging copyright infringement with lawsuits will likely continue in the future.

Be smart and stay legal. The last thing you need is a copyright infringement lawsuit that will cost you thousands (or even tens of thousands) of dollars in legal fees to fight. Why spend money on a lawyer when you can spend it on a brand new motorized C-Band Antenna! :wink:


6(b).2: Adding Streaming URLs

Your ZGemma receiver is a very powerful machine that is capable of streaming video content (M3U and M3U8 files), including 4K content.
  • 6(b).2.1: M3U and M3U8 File Definitions
M3U and M3U8 are digital file formats, created to point media players to audio and video sources, including online sources. Such files have extensions of .m3u or .m3u8 and are by far the most common multimedia files available today for defining a playlist.

M3U is an abbreviation of MP3 URL and is a plain text file. M3U8 is a similar file encoded in UTF-8.


  • 6(b).2.2: Streaming from your Computer

Let's say you have a multimedia file on your PC and want to stream it to your ZGemma. For example:

C:/media/mfile.m3u

If you have made the file available to your local network, it may reside at

http://192.168.1.4/media/mfile.m3u


Open DreamSet Editor and select a bouquet. Right click and select "Insert Video/Audio Stream...".

Enter the URL above in the URL window. Enter a name for the service such as "MyMediaFile". For stream type, select "non-TS" and for service type, enter "1".

streaming_1.jpg
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  • 6(b).2.3: Streaming from the Internet

To stream a file from the internet, the procedure is the same. Let's say you found a legal streaming link from RT USA:

http://www.rt.com/streaming/rtlive.m3u


Open DreamSet Editor and select a bouquet. Right click and select "Insert Video/Audio Stream...".

Enter the URL above in the URL window. Enter a name for the service such as "RT America HD". For stream type, select "non-TS" and for service type, enter "1".

streaming_4.jpg

Your new streaming channels are shown below. Save in Dream Set Editor and write the bouquets to your ZGemma receiver. If all went well, when you click on those channels with your remote, they should immediately start streaming and playing on your TV!

streaming_5.jpg

  • 6(b).2.4: Importing a Playlist

Sometimes you may want to import a playlist that contains many video and audio channels. To do this, you would simply right-click within Dream Set Editor and select "Insert Video/Audio Stream (m3u) From File". Dream Set Editor will automatically populate your bouquet with all the channels in the playlist.


6(b).3: Streaming Sources


Where do all the streaming source come from? Besides any streaming playlists you create personally from legal copyright material that you have purchased, streaming sources are mostly created by the content providers themselves!

  • 6(b).3.1: Governments and News
Many state funded TV channels make their content legally available to the public.

These include RT America, NHK World, DW, France 24 and many more. Many private news channels like CBS News, CNN, ABC news and others make a live feed available of their entire programming or certain news clips.

Other good source of streaming content is local channels.

To find these .m3u or .m3u8 sources, you should visit the programmers' official website or perform a google search.

Since these streaming sources are provided by major governments or news agencies, they tend to be high quality and extremely reliable.

  • 6(b).3.2: Lyngsat Stream

A good website that lists up-to-date streaming services is

Lyngsat-Stream

  • 6(b).3.3: Pluto TV
If you'd rather not troll the internet for streaming sources, but want to watch hundreds of high-quality TV streams for FREE, you should consider installing the Pluto TV APP on your ZGemma.

Pluto TV is a FREE and LEGAL streaming service that offers many mainstream American television channels such as Bloomberg, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox Sports, Sky News, CBSN, NewsMax TV and others. They also stream a variety of other content including comedy, cartoons and specialty programs.

Pluto TV is the fastest growing streaming service in the USA and boasts over 6 million regular users. Adding the Pluto TV APP to your ZGemma receiver makes an excellent complement to all the C-Band and OTA programming your already receive and is highly recommended!

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Before installing Pluto TV, you must install the latest Kodi Plugin. This was covered in another tutorial:


Plugin Example 3: Kodi

Once you have Kodi installed, open it and follow these steps to install Pluto TV (Courtesy of TVAddons):


Step 1: Click on the Add-ons tab from the vertical menu bar within Kodi.

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Step 2: Navigate to the little box icon at the top left of the screen.

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Step 3: Select the Install from repository function.

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Step 4: Select the Kodi Add-on repository from the listing.

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Step 5: Select the Video add-ons category.

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Step 6: Choose the Pluto.TV Kodi addon from the listing.

pluto_6.jpg

Step 7: Click on the Install button at the lower right.

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Step 8: Return back to the Add-ons menu at this point.

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Step 9: Launch the Pluto.TV addon from the Video add-ons tab.

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Step 10: Click on the Guest button (or Sign-In) when prompted.

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Step 11: Select your country from the list.

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Step 12: Click on the Browse Channels button.

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Step 13: Choose the All Channels menu.

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:grin:
Last edited by The Professor on Fri Jul 06, 2018 4:22 am, edited 7 times in total.
PhD in TVROSat

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Re: --->Tutorial 6(b): Adding Streaming Channels

Post by The Professor » Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:13 pm

...
PhD in TVROSat

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