reference

Pay-Per-View (PPV)

Video-on-demand interface for FieldStation42. Browse movies with page up/down keys, hit ENTER to play. Shows a slideshow with posters, titles, and descriptions.

Metadata handling: checks for local NFO files first, falls back to TMDB API if missing. You can manually curate some content and automate the rest. Optimized for CRT displays.

Setup

Create a station config file like confs/ppv_movies.json:

{
  "station_conf": {
    "network_name": "Movie Library",
    "channel_number": 42,
    "network_type": "web",
    "content_dir": "catalog/ppv",
    "web_url": "/static/ppv/ppv.html"
  }
}

Drop your movie files in catalog/ppv/. Supported: .mp4, .avi, .mkv, .mov, .wmv, .flv, .webm, .m4v

For TMDB matching, put the year in the filename: The Matrix (1999).mp4

TMDB Setup (optional)

Get a free API key at https://www.themoviedb.org/signup (Settings -> API -> Request an API Key)

Add it to confs/main_config.json:

{
  "tmdb_api_key": "your_api_key_here"
}

Without TMDB, you'll need to create NFO files manually.

For testing, you can access at http://localhost:4242/static/ppv/ppv.html?channel=42

Controls

  • Page-Up / Page-Down - Navigate movies
  • ENTER/SPACE - Play selected movie
  • P - Pause/resume slideshow (10s auto-advance)

Manual Metadata

NFO files are just ascii text files - FS42 will parse them looking for the first 3 lines to be:

  1. Title
  2. Info line (year, artist, etc)
  3. Description

Example The_Big_City.nfo:

The Big City
Unknown Artist
In this feature, they talk about the big city and what that means.

Poster images: same base filename as video (movie.mp4 -> movie.jpg or .png)

Metadata Priority

  1. Local NFO -> use it (skip TMDB)
  2. Local image -> use it (skip TMDB)
  3. No NFO -> fetch from TMDB
  4. No image -> use TMDB poster

Mix and match as needed. TMDB data gets cached in catalog/.tmdb_cache/

URL Parameters

  • channel (required) - channel number
  • duration - slideshow duration in ms (default: 10000)
  • variation - theme: modern, retro, terminal
  • css - custom CSS file
  • bg - background image
  • bg_color - background color

Example: ?channel=42&duration=15000&variation=retro

Background Music

Create fs42/fs42_server/static/ppv/music_playlist.json:

{
  "music_files": [
    "music/track1.mp3",
    "music/track2.mp3"
  ]
}

Loops at 30% volume, stops when you play a video.

API Endpoints

  • GET /ppv/{channel_number} - list videos with metadata
  • GET /ppv/image/{channel_number}/{filename} - serve poster images
  • POST /ppv/{channel_number}/play_file - send play command to player queue

Example play request:

{
  "file_path": "catalog/ppv/The_Matrix_(1999).mp4"
}

Troubleshooting

Movies not showing? Check file extensions, verify content_dir path, check server logs.

TMDB not working? Verify API key in confs/main_config.json, include year in filenames. Rate limit is 40 req/10s.

Posters not loading? Check filename matches video, browser console for errors.

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