So, I love using VLC Media Player on both Windows and Linux to watch media. However, VLC doesn’t have a built in tuner for my DVB-T device (in my case a Gadget Geek USB HDTV tuner). This meant that if I wanted to watch DVB-T broadcasts in VLC, I needed to manually enter the frequency and bandwidth. What a bunch of fail.
So, what was needed was a manually crafted playlist in XSPF format that could be opened easily in VLC. Some quick searching on Google didn’t yield one, so in the spirit of being a true alpha nerd, it was time to roll my own.
Some more searching, on the Whirlpool forums, yielded the frequencies and programs needed for the XSPF playlist, and some quick reading of the VLC wiki yielded a primer on the playlist format. Win.
So, without further ado, I am pleased to present to you my awesome DVB-T VLC playlist for Melbourne / Geelong free to air channels. You’re welcome 🙂
DVB-T VLC Playlist for Melbourne / Geelong free to air channels (XSPF, 5k)
You can use dvbscan to generate a channels.conf file, which will contain all the frequencies and program numbers you need, rather than having to rely on someone else’s gatherings.
Obviously in the same area it’s very likely to be the same, but even so — it’s nice to have the data yourself.
Thanks Jeremy – good point. Unfortunately I’m running Windows on one of my machines (work laptop) and there is no dvbscan equivalent on Windows. Looked at this thread http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=67848&p=225799 on the VideoLan forums – which seemed to raise the same issue. The other reason I wanted a handcrafted playlist was that VLC when it does a scan tends to find the frequency, but individual channels are the in the ‘Playback -> Programs’ menu. I wanted them in a playlist where they were double-clickable 🙂