Couch Surfing

Traditional audiovisual technology and modern multimedia computer applications continue to converge. In the past, Linux has been behind the other platforms when it comes to streaming free-to-air TV programs, because of a lack of software. IPTVnator is a young project that is trying to close that gap [1].

Technologies

Conventional broadband reception for television requires additional hardware, such as a receiver for DVB-S, DVB-T, or DVB-C. However, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) [2] lets you view the daily TV program on the Internet without additional components. IPTV programming has a number of advantages over broadband offerings. Viewers can access the entire range of content offered without a fixed connection and without special receivers.

In addition to public broadcasters, users have the choice of numerous small regional stations that you can receive over the Internet from anywhere in the world. Modular channel lists let you view channels from other countries and continents. Bandwidths of around 4Mbps are already sufficient for standard-definition (SDTV) reception of TV broadcasts via IPTV. But to view programs in high-definition (HDTV) quality, you need a bandwidth of at least 8Mbps, which is within the range of many modern DSL lines. The IPTV software used on the PC relies on buffering to ensure continuous reception even in the event of bandwidth fluctuations.

IPTVnator

The still quite young program IPTVnator is a great choice for TV viewing via IPTV. Older software packages such as FreetuxTV [3] and Zapping [4] have not seen any development for years, and Hypnotix [5], which is part of the Linux Mint software pool, only runs on a few Linux distributions due to some specific dependencies. IPTVnator is currently one of the only graphical and universally usable applications for IPTV on Linux.

IPTVnator offers the full range of functions for convenient reception. You can integrate M3U or M3U8 playlists, and an integrated program guide lets you define favorites. In addition, the application, which is based on the Electron and Angular frameworks, automatically maintains channel list updates and has built-in HTML5 playback software.

Installation

The software has not made its way into the repositories of the common distributions so far, but you can pick it up as a snap package if the distribution you are using supports snaps. You can also find RPM and DEB packages at the project website – or download IPTVnator as a cross-distribution AppImage for 64-bit systems.

When installing the snap package from a distribution-specific app store, the routine will typically automatically create a launcher in the desktop environment's menu. You can either launch the AppImage package manually or integrate it into your desktop environment using AppImageLauncher. After the first start, the application shows a window with just a few controls (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The program window remains empty on first launch. To breathe life into the software, first import some channel lists.

To view your channels, the next step is to add playlists. The playlists are available in M3U format and can be downloaded from the Internet. A word of caution: Many of the offers accessible via search engines are commercial, and some even spread malware. The recommendation is to use the selection on GitHub [6].

Download the lists to your system in the Grouped by Country section by expanding the list. After downloading, open IPTVnator and click the Upload from file system button in the program window. Now drag and drop the M3U files with the country-specific channel lists from your file manager into the program window. The M3U files can only be integrated into the application one after the other.

Whenever you paste an M3U file, the playback window opens with a station list arranged on the left side while you see the stream of the current channel in the main part of the window on the right. IPTVnator comes with its own playback software for this purpose.

In the lists obtained from GitHub, you can see the channel's resolution, the channel name, and its logo. You can also discover whether the station broadcasts content 24/7, and whether the program is only available regionally. If this is the case, the channel can only be viewed by using a VPN to access the Internet, and the server must reside in the same country as the channel. If you try to view blocked content directly, you will either see a corresponding message in IPTVnator, or the broadcaster itself will display a message in the playback software (Figure 2).

Figure 2: It's not easy to view programs by Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk outside of Germany.

When viewing a program, you can switch the player to full screen mode by clicking on the open square in the bottom right of the screen. The player then shrinks to just the bottom control line, which you can use to pause the stream, adjust the volume, or set the resolution. To switch back to window mode, click the open cross in the control bar. The application then jumps back to the original display (Figure 3).

Figure 3: In full-screen mode, only the bottom control bar is left, and it too is automatically hidden after a short period of inactivity.