Downloading TV programmes and films

missmollie

missmollie

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I have finally sussed out how to get my avtex TV to play various files from a USB memory stick. What I need now is a good software programme to actually record them to an external hard drive or memory stick, any suggestions? Don't mind paying for the software as long as it will do the job.
 
I am downloading films and other things from Prime to my iPad during the day using the free site WiFi then watch them on the tv at night using the Lightning cable.
 
doesnt the avtex have the ability to record?
 
thats what i thought !! unless the op doesnt want to or cant set it up to record at home in advance of using the MH. i think some smart tv's also have the ability to record.

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Mikeco said:
I am downloading films and other things from Prime to my iPad during the day using the free site WiFi then watch them on the tv at night using the Lightning cable.
Click to expand...
Mikeco, please elaborate. How are you connecting your iPad to the TV? Do you mean lightning cable in iPad to USB connector in TV? If so, how are you getting the iPad to output to another device? Or are you simply downloading to iPad and subsequently watching on the iPad screen?
 
Captain Pants said:
Mikeco, please elaborate. How are you connecting your iPad to the TV? Do you mean lightning cable in iPad to USB connector in TV? If so, how are you getting the iPad to output to another device? Or are you simply downloading to iPad and subsequently watching on the iPad screen?
Click to expand...
Downloading to the iPad then connecting the iPad to the tv using an Apple Lightning connector which is via an HDMI cable,
 
Legally downloading TV programs and films/movies as playable files with no digital rights management or DRM or to memory sticks and other storage is problematical because the copyright holders want to preserve their intellectual property rights over the content and so they only allow streaming and downloads within their own applications where they can stop their property being shared far and wide.

Illegally some enthusiast types do create libraries of TV programmes and films and you can get to download files using peer to peer BitTorrent type applications such as LimeWire and eMule. With these programs it is all about sharing so to download you have to share and upload what you have and this means that the copyright holders can see who is sharing and report you to your internet service provider and then you are on the three strikes and you're out list. There are ways to get around this using a virtual private network or VPN but it does start to get a bit complicated and do you trust a VPN provider?

Do you remember all those Kodi boxes that were popular a few years ago which were made illegal and now seem to have gone out of business? They were downloading using peer-to-peer and it all got stopped and it died out and that is why it's now very difficult to download.

There are some direct services for downloading but generally you would need to use a somewhat dodgy pirate type service which will be plagued with quality issues and probably stuffed with viruses. Even if you can download finding a decent copy of a movie which has not been recorded home movie style using a video camera pointing at the screen in a cinema is very time consuming. Sound quality is another big issue especially if you can hear audience members eating their popcorn.

There are ways to download good quality content. A few days after any movie becomes available on Blu-ray it can also be found on the Usenet News service which is completely legal for public use. TV programmes and whole series also get uploaded to news. Good stuff can be found using an NNTP news service and a Newsbin NZB indexer but running this costs more than a ligitimate TV subscription like Sky or Netflix and also takes a considerable amount of time to find good quality and manage especially as the TV and movie studios are constantly shutting down illegal services.

It turns out that TV services like BBC, Sky and Netflix provide absolutely fantastic value for money when you consider how difficult it is to produce TV programmes, transmit TV programmes and display TV programmes on your TV so there is really is no point doing it yourself when for a small amount each month they will do it for you.

What I do these days and a more practical way to download content to watch offline is to use an iPad or tablet with the usual apps many of which do allow downloads but only within the app and then watch it directly on the tablet or where possible use a cable to connect and watch on my TV. Some content providers restrict what can be viewed over an HDMI cable. Unfortunately this means that you're not really using any of the smart capabilities of your TV.

I've only mentioned a few things that I have experience of and there are many other possibilities too.

Mark

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Mark and Mindy said:
Legally downloading TV programs and films/movies as playable files with no digital rights management or DRM or to memory sticks and other storage is problematical because the copyright holders want to preserve their intellectual property rights over the content and so they only allow streaming and downloads within their own applications where they can stop their property being shared far and wide.

Illegally some enthusiast types do create libraries of TV programmes and films and you can get to download files using peer to peer BitTorrent type applications such as LimeWire and eMule. With these programs it is all about sharing so to download you have to share and upload what you have and this means that the copyright holders can see who is sharing and report you to your internet service provider and then you are on the three strikes and you're out list. There are ways to get around this using a virtual private network or VPN but it does start to get a bit complicated and do you trust a VPN provider?

Do you remember all those Kodi boxes that were popular a few years ago which were made illegal and now seem to have gone out of business? They were downloading using peer-to-peer and it all got stopped and it died out and that is why it's now very difficult to download.

There are some direct services for downloading but generally you would need to use a somewhat dodgy pirate type service which will be plagued with quality issues and probably stuffed with viruses. Even if you can download finding a decent copy of a movie which has not been recorded home movie style using a video camera pointing at the screen in a cinema is very time consuming. Sound quality is another big issue especially if you can hear audience members eating their popcorn.

There are ways to download good quality content. A few days after any movie becomes available on Blu-ray it can also be found on the Usenet News service which is completely legal for public use. TV programmes and whole series also get uploaded to news. Good stuff can be found using an NNTP news service and a Newsbin NZB indexer but running this costs more than a ligitimate TV subscription like Sky or Netflix and also takes a considerable amount of time to find good quality and manage especially as the TV and movie studios are constantly shutting down illegal services.

It turns out that TV services like BBC, Sky and Netflix provide absolutely fantastic value for money when you consider how difficult it is to produce TV programmes, transmit TV programmes and display TV programmes on your TV so there is really is no point doing it yourself when for a small amount each month they will do it for you.

What I do these days and a more practical way to download content to watch offline is to use an iPad or tablet with the usual apps many of which do allow downloads but only within the app and then watch it directly on the tablet or where possible use a cable to connect and watch on my TV. Some content providers restrict what can be viewed over an HDMI cable. Unfortunately this means that you're not really using any of the smart capabilities of your TV.

I've only mentioned a few things that I have experience of and there are many other possibilities too.

Mark
Click to expand...
I appreciate that you write from personal experience and understanding - but a lot of what you say is ancient & hokum... for example the proposed three strikes scheme was ditched several years ago.
Limewire died a decade ago. eMule survives but who uses it?
Usenet has it's enthusiasts but so do model railways. It was viable for small files but not really efficient for video.
If you choose the piracy route you can easily find Blu-ray and above quality files... from reliable sources using legal free software without fear of virus infection.

About the only valid advice is use a vpn - which you'd need anyway if wanting to access the broadcasters iPlayer services abroad.

For example... tonight's Grantchester on ITV is only available on it's catchup Hub to stream, not download, to play on another device [when offline], is only low definition SD not HDTV and isn't Dolby Digital audio... yet had I recorded it when broadcast live, it would be all these things.
And finally - the TV companies tend to use outdated & inefficient compression... for example downloading [in HD] last night's Death In Paradise takes up 2+Gb of disk space, yet downloading it uses less than 500Mb. Just 25% of the 'official' download.
 
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Captain Pants said:
Mikeco, please elaborate. How are you connecting your iPad to the TV? Do you mean lightning cable in iPad to USB connector in TV? If so, how are you getting the iPad to output to another device? Or are you simply downloading to iPad and subsequently watching on the iPad screen?
Click to expand...

We take one of our Apple TV’s with us and set up a local network in our MH with a mifi, just like being at home and can play stuff downloaded on the iPad through that network.
 
We take our Humax pvr & just connect it to the tv. It will let you watch your recorded programmes without being attached to any aerial or satellite. The only disadvantage is that if it’s in the van it’s not recording anything at home! I do find that 1tb is plenty for 3 months!
 
Mikeco said:
Downloading to the iPad then connecting the iPad to the tv using an Apple Lightning connector which is via an HDMI cable,
Click to expand...
Mikeco
Are you using a genuine Apple Digital TV Adaptor. A lot of the cheaper stuff on the market doesn’t seem to be compatible with Netflix, iTunes etc, not sure if Apple products are? I’m talking about downloaded content, not live streaming.
 
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Captain Pants said:
Mikeco
Are you using a genuine Apple Digital TV Adaptor. A lot of the cheaper stuff on the market doesn’t seem to be compatible with Netflix, iTunes etc, not sure if Apple products are? I’m talking about downloaded content, not live streaming.
Click to expand...
I use a genuine Apple Lightning cable which cost around €50 and I am using the tv to watch downloaded content from Prime Video.

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