Slingbox Pro - Emerson AV switch and 3 series 1 TIVO's

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:45 am

My wife kept me really busy this weekend so I didn't get a chance to try anything yet. I really appreciate all the help.

The SlingBox PRO does have multiple inputs, RF/Line/s-video/Digital.
I have always been told that s-video is better than line-out video which is better than RF video. So if I connected my 3 tivos to the 3 different inputs I would have to choose which one to sacrifice quality with?

And do I get to choose the remote for the RF? Can't remember?

I'm kinda contemplating just buying 3 SlingBox AV's and using the PRO for something else.

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:29 am

All the 4 inputs (including RF) support PVRs like TiVo and ReplayTV. The RF input won't support everything, for example a DVD player (at least by default), but it definitely supports a PVR.

I would suggest you just try it out before making assumptions on PQ. IMO it would be a waste to connect 3 Slingbox AVs instead of the single Slingbox Pro especially since its main goal and design is to place shift, not give you high fidelity video. It does a decent job at PQ, but great.

The slingbox has to downconvert to 640x480 and also needs to encode at variable bit rate, so whether the difference in PQ of the interconnects is the dominant factor or the resolution and VBR encoding is the main issue is debatable.

For example, I have 2 TiVo S3s, one connected by svideo, and one connected by component. Conventional wisdown would have the component connection as the better one, but it turns out the S3 is better at converting to 480 than the Slingbox is, so my svideo connection has better PQ. I have a ReplayTV connected by composite and it doesn't look a whole worse. I can notice the differences more if I go full screen but none of them are so good or bad that I would start praising or complaining.

IMO the times when you want multiple Slingboxii is if the source equipment are kept in different locations where cabling issues would prohibit installation.

While you are at it, maybe you could test the device upgrade a few posts back. It shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to install.

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:35 am

I will give the upgrade a try at lunch, I can't connect to the slingbox here at work. They block a lot of ports.

Question about the digital input, if I buy the adapter can I connect a non-digital output to it? like a standard line-out?

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:09 am

Which digital input? The Slingbox Pro has a component input and the connector from the optional component adapter on the Slingbox Pro itself has the same form factor as HDMI, but it isn't HDMI, it is an analog component input with analog L/R audio.

If you are asking whether your TiVo S1 can connect to the component inputs, it won't work correctly. A TiVo S3 or ReplayTV 5k series can connect to that input though. There are active (powered) converter devices which can make the composite/svideo output of your S1 compatible with the component input on the Slingbox Pro, but IMO it isn't worth the trouble.

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:52 am

sfhub wrote:
Since all TiVos will come out of standby when LiveTV or TiVo button are pressed, these have been removed from the remote and replaced with Now Showing. If you'd like to reach the TiVo main menu, press TiVo button, then left arrow.

The 1-3 work as described.
The 4-6 work as described.
The 0 works as described.

But the Tivo button doesn't do anything on my Series1's.
I can't get into the menu system at all.
The Now Showing must be for series2 or series3??

How about making the 7-9 the tivo button for units 1-3??

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:54 pm

jeffjohnson14 wrote:But the Tivo button doesn't do anything on my Series1's.
I can't get into the menu system at all.
The Now Showing must be for series2 or series3??

How about making the 7-9 the tivo button for units 1-3??

I'm sure you are right about Now Showing being specific to some units.

I made the change you suggested and 7-9 are now the TiVo button (S1/Philips style) for units 1-3, respectively.

Same location as before:
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4824

Moving forward, if you find the functionality useful (vs just being nice and testing something out), you might want to read about RM. It is relatively easy to learn and you will be able to map the buttons however you please.

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:13 pm

I will test this tonight when I get home.

Yes, I will learn how RM works and probably customize this specific to my set-up. I couldn't seem to find where the Tivo button was.

I still would like to figure-out how to add my emerson AV switch into the mix. But may have to wait for sling media to allow multiple devices.

Thanks for all your help. I hope to become knowledgeable enough to help others in the future.

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:32 pm

I think the simplest way is if your switch can autoswitch to active input. Also some switches allow you to program a learned IR for each input so if the switch sees that IR, it will automatically select that input. Something like the following:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2049646

If you learn the IR for your current switch, someone (or you) can create a device upgrade which you can configure on let's say the RF input of the Slingbox. It is not as convenient as having everything on one remote, but it is better than needing to re-run the setup wizard everytime.

The TiVo button is the "Setup" button in RM's button map.

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:47 pm

ok, here is my first try at a minor modification.

Your latest file did not do the tivo buttons for me, so I looked at the jtTivo_Master_File.rmdu and found the EFC and OBC codes were different.
So I added them as tivojj1 tivojj2 and tivojj3.
then replaced the 7-9 keys with my new ones.

And now it works.
This is kinda cool.

I uploaded the file to
https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4838

If anything looks weird let me know.

wow

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:07 pm

I uploaded the IR file after learning the codes for the emerson av switch here

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4839

can I add these to the stuff we are working on?

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:36 pm

jeffjohnson14 wrote:ok, here is my first try at a minor modification.

Your latest file did not do the tivo buttons for me

Thanks, I swapped the EFC/OBC values and the other value is auto-calculated. It's fixed in the latest zip file.

sfhub · Post by **sfhub** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:36 pm

jeffjohnson14 wrote:I uploaded the IR file after learning the codes for the emerson av switch here

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4839

can I add these to the stuff we are working on?

You won't be able to add to the current TiVo upgrade because the protocols are different.

I looked over your learned buttons and they are the same as the earlier Emerson switcher Rob mentioned.

I looked over that upgrade and it looks like they don't duplicate the exact same IR as the original remote (the upgrade uses 8 bits while your remote uses 5 bits), but the lead bits generate the correct on/off sequence so I'm assuming the trailing stuff just gets ignored.

I converted the upgrade to RM and produced the .bin file:

You can configure one of your unused inputs to be a cable box and use the .bin provided. You will need to switch devices to control the switcher, then switch back to the TiVo input.

https://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... le_id=4841

Place files in your SlingPlayer\SBAV directory

Slingbox->Properties->Slingbox Configuration->Audio/Video Setup
->Cable Box (analog or digital cable)->Other->Alternative Code
->C1315

jeffjohnson14 · Post by **jeffjohnson14** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:55 pm

I made the Digital Input the C1315, and since I don't have anything connected to it, it works great.

This is actually pretty slick. Glad I didn't order 3 AV's, now.

Next I need to find the best digital internet phone that works in Southern Minnesota. So I can carry my home entertainment center on my belt!!!

Thanks for all your help!