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BBC iPlayer

1.   Introduction
2.   The iPlayer's
2.1   iPlayer Website
2.2   iPlayer Desktop
2.3   iPlayer PS3
2.4   iPlayer Downloader
2.5   get_player
3.   Converting downloaded iPlayer .MOV or .MP4 to streamable .MP4

Introduction

BBC iPlayer is an excellent service for TV license payers in the UK. The browser based player works just fine with Linux, the original download service was for Windows only, but in 2008 the iPlayer Desktop was released, based on Adobe AIR, which works on Linux and Mac OSX.

Occasionally I have recording conflicts on my PVR so want to use iPlayer to ensure I don't "miss the unmissable" ;-) In addition I want to integrate iPlayer content with my DLNAServer so I can access iPlayer content on the PS3.

The iPlayer's

As a Linux user and PS3 owner I have five iPlayer options available to me.

iPlayer Website

So long as you have a web browser and the Adobe Flash plugin you can access this service.

iPlayer Desktop

So long as you have Adobe Flash installed you can install the iPlayer Desktop on 32-bit and 64-bit Linux. It allows you to download iPlayer content, which is great, but the content is protected with DRM so can't be integrated with a DLNAServer :-(

BBC iPlayer Desktop also requires Adobe Flash 10 so let's install it.

Now install Adobe Air 2.0.x

Finally install the BBC iPlayer Desktop from the link below.

iPlayer PS3

Since late 2009 the PS3, for UK users, now includes a PS3 version of the iPlayer website. Sadly, due to the distance I live from the local telephone exchange my broadband connection is 1Mb, therefore the video quality is rather poor.

iPlayer Downloader

This program downloads DRM-free video (h.264) and audio (MP3) files from the BBC iPlayer service by pretending to be an iPhone.

It won’t download every programme that’s on the iPlayer website, because they’re not always available. Sometimes, this is by design (as in the case of films and expensive US series like Heroes); sometimes it’s due to omission or transient problems. In addition, it can’t currently download the embedded videos that are not part of the main iPlayer offering.

Using iPlayer Downloader it is possible to download iPlayer content and integrate it with my DLNAServer, but the video quality is rather low when played back on the PS3.

get_player

This tool allows you to search, index and record/stream:

Unlike the web sites above, get_iplayer has PVR-like capabilities (like Sky+ / TiVo / Series-Link); You can save lists of programme searches which are automatically recorded when they become available so that you can watch them when you choose and on devices that cannot run Adobe Flash Player - even if you don’t have adequate broadband speeds or if your broadband streams too slowly at peak hours when you want to watch a programme.

Now we are talking, look no further this is the tool for the job!

Converting downloaded iPlayer .MOV or .MP4 to streamable .MP4

The PS3 can't understand the QuickTime container used by the iPhone downloads from the iPlayer Downloader. get_iplayer does convert .FLV files it downloads to .MP4, but it uses 'ffmpeg', and 'ffmpeg' doesn't add the hints that are required for streaming. As a result streaming playback of these files can stutter horribly.

The good news is both these issues are easily remedied using my MP4-Packer script.

$Id: BBCiPlayer,v 1.33 2010/07/27 16:29:19 martin Exp $

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