LocationFree TV and the PSP – DIGITAL Wastelands

I pulled in a LocationFree TV base unit last week, curious to see if it in fact worked with a PSP.

I purchased the LF-PK1 which includes the base station and software to view LocationFree tv on 1 computer system.

More info form Sony's is here.

Connections
The Locationfree TV Base Station hooks up to your LAN. It has 3 inputs on the base unit; coax and 2 composite. It will work with Digital or Analog cable on the coax connection. Digital Cable mode, you control your Setop box to change the channels (Means if someones watching the TV at home and your remote, you change the channels they are watching). Analog Cable mode can use a onboard tuner on the bas unit. The 2 other composite vieo inputs wil lhandle anything form DVD Players, Xbox, PS2's, etc. The base unit utilizes an IR blaster and the remote PC, PSP or LF TV can "learn" how to remote control each unit. I've set mine up to have a Moded Xbox runnning XBMC so I can watch all my DIVX movies stored on a network share. (Will post vids/pics later)

Networking
Setup was easy if I didn't overthink the whole operation. The base station provides wired and wireless newtworking. Wireless is for LocationFree TV use only and is not inteneded to be used to bridge into your existing wireless network. I tried to wset the base stations wireless to my exisitng wireless network and simply put the wireless on teh PSP didn't like it. So when you are near yoru base unti use the Locationfree Network and when your remote use whatever WiFi is available. For you home router you only need to forward 1 port and Sony has the setup work with Dynamic DNS, so it preconfigs how you reach your unit over the internet.

Picture/Sound Quality
On the LAN picture quality is nice. The base station acts as a sort of DVR unit and records/compresses/serves video with a few second delay. Because of this delay, gaming on an Xbox or PS2 would be frustrating, but you can map the remote as long as its' IR. When you are remote over the Ineternt picture quality is as good as LAN but dependent on your network traffic. The manual says you need a 300KB network stream to operate.

Security
So far the only way to get devices recognized for ues with your base station is over a LAN. After that initial LAN handshake and configuration, it also configures how you client will reach your base station over the internet. The base unit ships with WEP security enabled for its' wireless connection, but it will broadcast the SSID. The base station will support only 4 registered unique devices, with only 1 client being active at any time.

Pros

Stream TV/Video to any location with Internet Access
Remotely control and TV/Video device with IR
Will work with multiple device types. PC, PSP, LocationFree TV
No need to wire anything to the client
Secure Device – Many levels of security
Base unit is reachable form any internet connection to a Registered Client Device

Cons

Base stations will only recognize 4 registered clients
Base Station will only serve video to 1 client device at a time
Base unit creates an additional wireless network – May cause problems

Some pics and vid clips of all the Locationfree goodness. Pics were taken at night so lighting isn't the best. But should give you an idea of the capabilities of LF.

Xbox to LF Video In