sud98
Well-Known Member
Intended audience
-
- People who dont have or dont want to spend on a media player like Xtreamer, WD Live
- People who have a BD player or TV or AVR that is network and DLNA (Digital Life Network Alliance) but the device has limitations over USB
What you will need
1. BD/DVD/TV/AVR which has a network (ethernet or wireless) capability and is DLNA compatible
2. Wired network (Cat 5 or Cat 6) or Wireless Network ( G/N)
3. Have a PC/laptop, you would need good computing power (>2.4 Ghz) if you need transcoding support
Pros
1. Cheaper save $$$ spent on a media player
2. Sheer convenience of listening to music without the pain of changing CDs
3. Play formats like avi, flac, wav, mkv or some other formats that your device doesnt support
4. Overcome limitation of playing more than 4 GB video files due to only Fat32 support in USB
5. Eliminates region code limitations
Cons
1. If you only listen or view all your media via network you are better off with a media player and invest that 10k Rs. Rather than try this
2. DLNA is not the most stable of formats so comes with a lot of quirks esp. in compatibility between devices
3. Wont play HD audio (as of now)
4. Lose menu support (esp. with BD rips)
5. More power used as a laptop or PC would take more power than a media player
How to setup
The software
Depending upon whether you use Windows, Mac or Linux you can choose from a wide variety of streaming software. Some of the popular free ones are
1. Tversity (most popular)
2. Twonky (great for Mac)
3. PS3 Media Server
4. XBMC (for Xbox)
There are other streamers which fall into the category of UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) which let you play music through your computer to other devices by just converting the format (from wav or flac) to formats that are supported by your device.
The popular ones are
1. Asset (Very flexible, however, needs to be paid for playlists and folder support)
2. Foobar with Upnp plugin (free, allows folder browsing and playlists, doesnt play internet radio)
The network
The ideal connection would be a wired Cat6 (gigabit) so that you have the least issues wrt bandwidth esp for HD video.
Next best would be a Cat5 cable which limits to 100Mbps and would be more than good video for most of the current A/V files you would play through your computer
Next would be wireless N, although technically this should be better than Cat 5 but practically can have interference due to other wireless devices and is distance dependent for actual transfer rates.
Wireless G works well for music and videos, however, would struggle with larger video files
Setting up
Most of the media streaming software (DLNA player) have a profile file for your device which enables the software to understand your device capabilities better. For example, if your device is a Samsung TV there would be a profile which would tell the streamer what the device is capable of playing direct, what needs to be transcoded etc.
Add-on features
If your DLNA device allows remote control, you can use apps in your iOS or android device to control it. All menu controls are available and makes it a very cool showoff item. I personally havent tried this as my device the Oppo doesnt allow this.
Sources
AVS Forum
DLNA website
Asset Forum
Tversity Forum
-
- People who dont have or dont want to spend on a media player like Xtreamer, WD Live
- People who have a BD player or TV or AVR that is network and DLNA (Digital Life Network Alliance) but the device has limitations over USB
What you will need
1. BD/DVD/TV/AVR which has a network (ethernet or wireless) capability and is DLNA compatible
2. Wired network (Cat 5 or Cat 6) or Wireless Network ( G/N)
3. Have a PC/laptop, you would need good computing power (>2.4 Ghz) if you need transcoding support
Pros
1. Cheaper save $$$ spent on a media player
2. Sheer convenience of listening to music without the pain of changing CDs
3. Play formats like avi, flac, wav, mkv or some other formats that your device doesnt support
4. Overcome limitation of playing more than 4 GB video files due to only Fat32 support in USB
5. Eliminates region code limitations
Cons
1. If you only listen or view all your media via network you are better off with a media player and invest that 10k Rs. Rather than try this
2. DLNA is not the most stable of formats so comes with a lot of quirks esp. in compatibility between devices
3. Wont play HD audio (as of now)
4. Lose menu support (esp. with BD rips)
5. More power used as a laptop or PC would take more power than a media player
How to setup
The software
Depending upon whether you use Windows, Mac or Linux you can choose from a wide variety of streaming software. Some of the popular free ones are
1. Tversity (most popular)
2. Twonky (great for Mac)
3. PS3 Media Server
4. XBMC (for Xbox)
There are other streamers which fall into the category of UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) which let you play music through your computer to other devices by just converting the format (from wav or flac) to formats that are supported by your device.
The popular ones are
1. Asset (Very flexible, however, needs to be paid for playlists and folder support)
2. Foobar with Upnp plugin (free, allows folder browsing and playlists, doesnt play internet radio)
The network
The ideal connection would be a wired Cat6 (gigabit) so that you have the least issues wrt bandwidth esp for HD video.
Next best would be a Cat5 cable which limits to 100Mbps and would be more than good video for most of the current A/V files you would play through your computer
Next would be wireless N, although technically this should be better than Cat 5 but practically can have interference due to other wireless devices and is distance dependent for actual transfer rates.
Wireless G works well for music and videos, however, would struggle with larger video files
Setting up
Most of the media streaming software (DLNA player) have a profile file for your device which enables the software to understand your device capabilities better. For example, if your device is a Samsung TV there would be a profile which would tell the streamer what the device is capable of playing direct, what needs to be transcoded etc.
Add-on features
If your DLNA device allows remote control, you can use apps in your iOS or android device to control it. All menu controls are available and makes it a very cool showoff item. I personally havent tried this as my device the Oppo doesnt allow this.
Sources
AVS Forum
DLNA website
Asset Forum
Tversity Forum
