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PC Caster is a small Windows desktop application built with Python and Tkinter that casts video — especially live HLS streams (.m3u8) — from your PC to a Roku TV on the same network. It replaces the need for a phone-based casting app by handling stream discovery, header/TLS unlocking, and TV playback entirely from your Windows machine.

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The Problem PC Caster Solves

Most live stream pages protect their .m3u8 URLs in two ways: they require a matching Referer header (the originating page URL), and they reject any HTTP client whose TLS fingerprint doesn’t match a real browser. This means simply copying the .m3u8 link and pasting it into VLC or a Roku Media Player always fails with a 403 Forbidden — the stream CDN sees a non-browser client and blocks it. PC Caster solves this by intercepting the stream URL and its Referer while a real Chrome browser loads the page, then re-serving every playlist and segment request through a local proxy that impersonates Chrome’s TLS/JA3 fingerprint and injects the correct Referer and Origin headers. The Roku receives a plain HTTP URL from your PC and plays it without needing any special headers at all.

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How the Three-Part Pipeline Works

  Web page ──(1) Find .m3u8──▶  PC Caster captures stream URL + Referer
                                          │
                                          ▼
  Roku TV ◀─(4) plays─ "PC Caster" channel ◀─(3) launch with proxy URL
                                          ▲
                                          │ (2) re-fetch with Chrome TLS + Referer
                                    Local HLS proxy  ──────▶  Stream CDN
                                    (http://<PC-IP>:8011)
  1. Stream Finder — A real Playwright-driven Chromium browser opens the page you specify. As soon as you click a server link, PC Caster sniffs all network traffic and captures the .m3u8 URL and its Referer.
  2. HLS Proxy — PC Caster runs a local HTTP server on port 8011. Every request is re-fetched from the CDN using curl_cffi (which impersonates Chrome’s TLS fingerprint) with the captured Referer/Origin injected. The playlist is rewritten so all segment URLs also flow through the proxy.
  3. Roku Channel — PC Caster launches its own sideloaded “PC Caster” Roku channel via the Roku ECP API and hands it the proxy URL (e.g. http://192.168.1.50:8011/p.m3u8?...). The Roku plays over plain HTTP and never has to send any special headers.

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Key Features

Stream Scanner

Opens a real Chromium browser, sniffs all network requests, and captures the .m3u8 URL plus the Referer header the player used — automatically.

HLS Proxy

Re-fetches every playlist and segment with a real Chrome TLS/JA3 fingerprint and injects the correct Referer/Origin headers, unlocking streams that would otherwise return 403.

Custom Roku Channel

Sideloads a dedicated “PC Caster” BrightScript/SceneGraph channel to your Roku. The app installs it once and drives it via ECP on every subsequent cast.

Auto Device Discovery

Automatically finds Roku (and Fire TV) devices on your LAN using SSDP. Displays each device’s friendly name, type, and IP. Manual IP entry is available as a fallback.

PC Test Mode

Play the proxied stream in VLC on your PC before sending it to the TV. Confirms the proxy and stream are working independently of TV connectivity.

Windows Firewall Automation

Automatically adds a Windows Firewall inbound rule named “PC Caster HLS Proxy” on TCP port 8011 so the Roku can reach your PC — triggered once with a UAC prompt.

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Requirements

RequirementNotes
Windows 10/11Uses Windows-specific features: taskbar icon, firewall automation, pythonw.exe.
Python 3.9+Install from python.org. Tick “Add Python to PATH” during setup.
Python packagesrequests, playwright, curl_cffi, Pillow — installed automatically by run.bat.
Playwright ChromiumOne-time browser engine download for the stream finder. Installed automatically by run.bat.
Roku in Developer ModeRequired for the custom “PC Caster” channel. One-time setup on the TV.
Same networkYour PC and Roku must be on the same LAN or Wi-Fi.
VLC (optional)Only needed for the “Test on PC” button. videolan.org
PC Caster is Windows-only. It relies on Windows Firewall (New-NetFirewallRule), pythonw.exe for windowless launching, and the Windows taskbar API (SetCurrentProcessExplicitAppUserModelID) for a branded taskbar icon. It will not run on macOS or Linux.

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