tv.js : Apple TV for Torrent Streaming

A Smart TV application to stream movies using BitTorrent. (Yes it actually streams them in order even though it's BitTorrent)

Tv.js used iTunes' API to find movies, isoHunt to search torrents and BitTorrent to downloading/stream movies.

It runs as a server which can run on a Raspberry Pi and the UI can be controlled from a smartphone (no need of keyboard or mouse).

Tv.js is the result of a 24h personal hackathon (7th of July 2013) by Aaron O'Mullan (@AaronO) and me (@SamyPesse).

It's designed to run on a TV screen (through HDMI), but works just as well on a laptop. (it's entirely usable with keyboard controls alone)

You can see a video of it working here on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j71NCZnLffg

Downloading copyrighted material through torrents may be illegal in your country.

How to use it on your computer ?

To build and run the app, you'll need :

node
rake
ffmpeg

To build and run the all :

rake install
rake

And go to http://localhost:8888 on your browser

Or simply run the server without rebuilding the client with :

rake run

How to install it on your TV ?

This application has been built and designed to run on a TV screen using a Raspberry Pi.

Software Stack:

Raspbian OS – a Debian distro specially made for the rPi
NodeJs
tv.js
ffmpeg
Chromium Browser

Steps :

1. Install Raspbian & NodeJs

Follow this tutorial to install Raspbian and Node Js on your Raspberry Pi

2. Install Chromium

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser
sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

3. Install tv.js

export DISPLAY=:0.0
git clone https://github.com/SamyPesse/tv.js.git && cd tv.js
rake install

4. Build and run tv.js

rake build
rake run
chromium --kiosk http://localhost:8888

How to install ffmpeg ?

tv.js needs ffmpeg to convert the videos to ogv, make sure you have ffmpeg installed with the necessary codecs.

Mac OS X :

brew install ffmpeg --with-fdk-aac --with-ffplay --with-freetype --with-frei0r --with-libass --with-libvo-aacenc --with-libvorbis --with-libvpx --with-opencore-amr --with-openjpeg --with-opus --with-rtmpdump --with-schroedinger --with-speex --with-theora --with-tools

Todo

- Use IMBD or another API with a bigger movie collection than Itunes'
- Cache converted videos
- Improve overall stability
- Improve torrent picking algorithm (by seeds/leechers, size, votes, video format ...)
- Package using NodeWebkit for Windows/Mac/Linux/Raspberry PI
- Add other awesome stuff!

Disclaimer

There are obvious legal issues, with downloading copyrighted material you do not have a license for. We do not endorse such use cases and take no responsibility for the use people make of it.