In a post titled Media Player Hardware Review, Nomad stated his opinion that the SlingMedia SlingCatcher would require a TV Licence. After some further research Nomad now thinks he understands what the SlingCatcher does and it will not require a TV Licence. Nomad humbly apologises to the great British public and promises to return any expenses he may have incorrectly claimed or capital gains tax he omitted to pay.
SlingMedia make 2 boxes (actually there are more but lets keep it simple). The Slingbox takes a TV signal and turns it into streaming video. The SlingCatcher takes a streaming video input and turns it into a video signal (typically HDMI). Therefore it seems that a Slingbox would require a licence but the SlingCatcher would not. It is possible to use a SlingCatcher without a Slingbox. If you have SlingProjector software on your PC then any video playing on your PC can be sent to the Slingcatcher.
Nomad still does not recommend the SlingCatcher. The problem is that there is no interface to control what is being played on your PC from the SlingCatcher remote control. This will be great if you need to keep fit and like running back and forward to your PC every time you change the file being replayed. Couch potatoes will be dissapointed though. The SlingCatcher will also replay files from a USB stick and does support an impressive range of file formats. The SlingCatcher could be a useful component in a system and it may be that some development of the SlingProjector software could produce a desirable solution.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
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