LONDON—Sling Media is close to introducing internationally the...
LONDON -- Sling Media is close to introducing internationally the SlingCatcher, which takes video from a PC and sends it to a TV set across the room or across the world. Without breaking DRM, the SlingCatcher punches through the…
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rules that restrict “catchup” TV viewing and recording, its developer told us at a sneak preview. The SlingCatcher works on its own or with a current Slingbox that sends home TV over the Internet for remote viewing on a PC. The SlingCatcher grabs the proprietary encrypted Slingbox network signal and converts it to a conventional TV signal for display on any set. The network can be in a home or over the Internet. That means the SlingCatcher can take TV signals from the living room and show them on a bedroom TV or capture living room signals anywhere in the world and show them on a local TV. The SlingCatcher comes with a remote that sends control signals back through the network, to switch or pause the source TV. Used with Sling Projector software that can be installed on a networked PC, the SlingCatcher works on its own to grab video as the PC displays it and stream it to a TV. The software can format the signal from the PC so that only the video window appears on the TV screen, with playback buttons and tool bars removed. This way, TV “catch-up” services like YouTube, the BBC’s iPlayer or Sky’s Skyplayer can be watched full screen on a TV rather than as a window on a PC screen. In the London demonstration we attended, BBC motor-sports show Top Gear from the broadcaster’s iPlayer was upscaled to 720p to fill a 42-inch HDTV screen with slightly soft but otherwise very acceptable pictures. “In essence” there’s nothing to stop a user from connecting the SlingCatcher’s AV outputs to a DVD or other recording device, and capturing the video signal coming from the PC, Stuart Collingwood, Sling’s vice president for Europe told us. This would let a user record catch-up TV programs protected by DRM that’s intended to prevent recording on a PC -- and limit viewing life to, for example, seven days after transmission. “We are not breaking DRM,” Collingwood said. “And we don’t re-broadcast. It’s a point-to-point service.” Pricing for the SlingCatcher set-top and the separate downloadable software will be released Oct. 9, Collingwood said.