The Dreambox is a Linux-powered DVB satellite, terrestrial and cable digital television decoder (set-top box), produced by German multimedia vendor Dream Multimedia. It is very simlar to the DBox2 units. Its firmware is officially user-upgradable, since it is a Linux-based computer, as opposed to third-party "patching" of alternate receivers. All units support Dream's own DreamCrypt conditional access (CA) system, with software-emulated CA Modules (CAMs) available for many alternate CA systems. The built-in Ethernet interface allows networked computers to access the recordings on the internal hard disks on some Dreambox models. It also enables the receiver to store digital copies of DVB transport streams on networked filesystems or broadcast the streams as IPTV to VideoLAN clients. Unlike many PC based PVR systems that use free-to-air type of DVB receiver cards the built-in conditional access allows receiving and storing encrypted content. Image File history File links Drem-multimedia-logo. ... Image File history File links Drem-multimedia-logo. ... Dreambox may refer to: Dreambox, a Linux-powered DVB digital satellite and cable decoder set-top box Dreambox, a song by The Frogs from their 1996 album My Daughter the Broad Category: ... It has been suggested that Criticism of Linux be merged into this article or section. ... Official DVB logo, found on compliant devices DVB, short for Digital Video Broadcasting, is a suite of internationally accepted, open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project, an industry consortium with more than 270 members, and published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of European Telecommunications Standards Institute... DVB, short for Digital Video Broadcasting, is a suite of internationally accepted, open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project, an industry consortium with more than 300 members, and published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC... DVB-T stands for Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial and it is the DVB European consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television. ... DVB, short for Digital Video Broadcasting, is a suite of internationally accepted, open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project, an industry consortium with more than 300 members, and published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC... Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a... The term set-top box (STB) describes a device that connects to a television and some external source of signal, and turns the signal into content then displayed on the screen. ... The DBox is a DVB satellite, terrestrial and cable digital television decoder (set-top box). ... In computing, firmware is software that is embedded in a hardware device. ... It has been suggested that Criticism of Linux be merged into this article or section. ... Conditional access (CA) is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to the content. ... A conditional access module (CAM) is an electronic device, usually incorporating a slot for a smart card, which equips a DVB television or set-top box with the appropriate hardware facility to view conditional access content that has been encrypted using a conditional access system. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... Official DVB logo, found on compliant devices DVB, short for Digital Video Broadcasting, is a suite of internationally accepted, open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project, an industry consortium with more than 270 members, and published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of European Telecommunications Standards Institute... Streaming media are media that are consumed (read, heard, viewed) while it is being delivered. ... Network File System (NFS) is a protocol originally developed by Sun Microsystems in 1984 and defined in RFCs 1094, 1813, and 3530 (obsoletes 3010), as a distributed file system which allows a computer to access files over a network as easily as if they were on its local disks. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Internet television. ... VideoLAN is a software development project comprising two multi-platform computer programs—VLC media player and VideoLAN Server (VLS)—and several audio/video decoding and decryption libraries. ... Foxtel IQ, a digital video recorder and a satellite cable set-top box. ... Free-to-air is a phrase used to describe television and radio broadcasts which are available without subscription and without decryption (pay-TV). ...

The combination of third-party developers and network connectivity which facilitates card sharing, makes Dreambox use particularly common among enthusiasts and those who intend to obtain services without payment. Third-party software for this purpose is neither officially endorsed nor supported by Dream Multimedia and voids the official warranty; however, unofficial web sites support a large community of enthusiasts. Card sharing is a method by which independent devices obtain simultaneous access to a pay television system protected by a conditional access scheme by sharing one legitimate subscription card. ... Pirate decryption most often refers to the reception of compromised Pay TV or pay radio signals without authorisation from the original broadcaster. ...

Models

There have been a number of different models of Dreambox available. The numbers are suffixed with -S for Satellite, -T for Terrestrial and -C for Cable:

DM7000 (discontinued)

The DM7000 has 64 MB of RAM, 8MB of flash memory, a Common Interface slot, a dual smart card reader, a Compact Flash card reader, a USB 1.1 port, and an PATA (a.k.a. IDE) interface for attaching an internal 3.5" hard disk drive to convert the unit into a digital video recorder. In order to use this model within North America, a stepup transformer is needed to run the Dreambox on 220. This is the only model Dreambox that requires this when used in North America. Look up RAM, Ram, ram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... scheme The Common Interface (CI) is the slot on a digital television receiver into which a conditional access module (CAM) may be inserted for satellite television. ... Smart card used for health insurance in France. ... CompactFlash (CF) was originally a type of data storage device, used in portable electronic devices. ... Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to interface devices. ... ATA cables: 40 wire ribbon cable top, 80 wire ribbon cable bottom Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) is a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disks and CD-ROM drives inside personal computers. ... ATA cables: 40 wire ribbon cable top, 80 wire ribbon cable bottom Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), is a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disks and CD-ROM drives inside personal computers. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... Foxtel IQ, a digital video recorder and a satellite cable set-top box. ... Three-phase pole-mounted step-down transformer. ...

DM56X0 (discontinued)

There was a DM5600 and also a DM5620 model. The only difference being that the DM5620 included an ethernet port. Otherwise, the DM 56X0 models were a cut down version of the DM7000 without an IDE interface. They did, however, include an RF modulator allowing them to be used with older TVs that lack a SCART connector. An RF modulator (for radio frequency modulator) is a device that takes a baseband input signal and outputs a radio frequency-modulated signal. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

DM 7020

The DM7020 is essentially an updated DM 7000 with 96 MB of RAM, 32 MB of flash and an RF modulator. Changes were also made on the software side, utilising Open Embedded [1] for the base Linux operating system. Look up RAM, Ram, ram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

DM500

The DM500 is the successor to the DM5620 and is the smallest and cheapest Dreambox, with a 252 MHz PowerPC processor and Ethernet connectivity, as well as the standard features of a free-to-air (FTA) satellite receiver, including MPEG 1 & 2 hardware decoding, plus a single smart card reader. PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... Free-to-air is a phrase used to describe television and radio broadcasts which are available without subscription and without decryption (pay-TV). ... The Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG is a working group of ISO/IEC charged with the development of video and audio encoding standards. ... Smart card used for health insurance in France. ...

DM7025

The DM7025 is essentially a DM7020 with the ability to add a second "snap-in" tuner that makes it possible to watch one programme while recording another; it features a Xilleon 226 system-on-chip from ATi, integrating a 300 MHz MIPS CPU (instead of the traditional PowerPC), and 128 MB of RAM. Hauppauge WinTV TV tuner card One of the first DVB-S2 tuner cards. ... A MIPS R4400 microprocessor made by Toshiba. ... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... Look up RAM, Ram, ram in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

DM600PVR

The DM600PVR is the same small size as the DM500 but includes an IDE interface allowing a 2.5" (i.e. small) hard disk drive to be added. The CPU is a 250 MHz IBM PowerPC (350 MIPS). Memory: 64 MB RAM and 32 MB flash. Supports MPEG2 Hardware decoding. Operating system: Linux. It's possible to change tuner modules to support Sat, Terrestrial and Cable.

Software

The Linux-based software used by Dreambox was originally developed for DBox2, by the Tuxbox project. The Dbox2 was a proprietary design distributed by Kirch Media for their pay TV services. The bankruptcy of Kirch Media flooded the market with unsold boxes available for Linux enthusiasts. The Dreambox shares the basic design of the DBox2, including the Ethernet port and the PowerPC processor. It has been suggested that Criticism of Linux be merged into this article or section. ... The DBox is a DVB satellite, terrestrial and cable digital television decoder (set-top box). ... Pay television, or pay-TV, usually refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analogue and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly by digital terrestrial methods. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organizations to pay their... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ...

The factory-installed distribution on the Dreambox is mostly available under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and uses standard Linux API's, including Linux DVB API and Linux Infrared Remote Control (LIRC). This configuration encourages enthusiasts to modify its functions, particularly in the form of so-called images such as PLi, Gemini, Neutrino, Colosseum. The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely-used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... It has been suggested that Criticism of Linux be merged into this article or section. ... API may refer to: In computing, application programming interface In petroleum industry, American Petroleum Institute In education, Academic Performance Index This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... LIRC is a package of computer programs that allows you to decode and send infrared signals of many (but not all) commonly used remote control. ...

In addition, unofficial third-party conditional access software modules (CAMs or emulators) are widely circulated on the Internet that emulate the CA systems developed by VideoGuard, Irdeto Access, Conax, Nagravision, Viaccess and other proprietary vendors. Many Dreambox owners use these softcams in conjunction with card sharing software to access pay TV services without a subscription card inserted in every connected box. This practice may be illegal in some illegal jurisdictions. Conditional access (CA) is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to the content. ... This article is about emulation in computer science. ... VideoGuard, produced by NDS, is a digital encryption system for use with conditional access television broadcasting. ... Irdeto provides solutions for digital content protection in digital TV, IPTV and mobile environments. ... Conax is a crypting system for digital television. ... Nagravision is a company of the Kudelski Group that develops conditional access systems for cable and satellite television. ... Viaccess is an encrypting system for digital television developed by France Télécom. ... Card sharing is a method by which independent devices obtain simultaneous access to a pay television system protected by a conditional access scheme by sharing one legitimate subscription card. ... Pay television, or pay-TV, usually refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analogue and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly by digital terrestrial methods. ...

There are also many 3rd party addons & plugins available that will extend the functionality of the Dreambox too. Some plugins are model specific, while others run all boxes. Plugins such as Jukebox and SHOUTcast playback, also external XMLTV guides, a web browser are available, and a VLC media player interface for on demand streaming media. Games are also abundant like PacMan and Tetris. A plugin (or plug-in) is a computer program that can, or must, interact with another program to provide a certain, usually very specific, function. ... SHOUTcast is a multiplatform freeware audio streaming technology, developed by Nullsoft. ... XMLTV is a set of computer programs to process television program listings for convenient management of TV viewing (typically up to 14 days worth of indexed and searchable data with each download); it stores listings in XML format. ... An example of a web browser (Internet Explorer), displaying the English Wikipedia main page. ... VLC media player is a free software (GPL) media player by the VideoLAN project. ... Streaming media is multimedia that is continuously received by, and normally displayed to, the end-user while it is being delivered by the provider. ... Monitor Orientation: Vertical Type: Raster, standard resolution (224 x 288) 16 Colors Notes Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ...

External links

• The manufacturer's homepage
• Gemini Project (closed source, violates the GPL licence of Enigma)
• PLi Images
• P.O.D Images
• Xilleon 220 (ATi Settop box decoder)
• Linux DVB API
• Dreambox FAQS/Howtos for North American Users and NTSC Skins