[mythtv] multicast mpeg2 as an input (iptv discussion cont.)

[Unit3]

I'm interested in continuing the discussion started in this thread:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/dev/128820?search_string=iptv;#128820 about using direct streams from an IPTV provider as a capture source in MythTV.

I've recently subscribed to a digital TV services through my DSL
provider that turns out to be very similar to the service described on
the above thread. Basically, I can point VLC at quite a number of
udp://@ip:port combinations to get a direct MPEG2 feed of the channel I
wish to watch.

I'd like to learn how tough it'll be to write a new capture source type
that'll basically just take the output from vlc and pipe it into the
existing MythTV facilities. I think that for this to be effective, you'd
have to have a channel map, which basically says "channel 1 is at this
URL, channel 2 is at this URL", but I've already generated one for my
provider, so it should be easy to test.

I'm willing to do the dev work on this myself if it doesn't involve some
major rewriting, I'd just like some hints on where to look in the code
and what the easiest way to implement this would be. Any and all
suggestions are welcome. :)

Graeme Humphries