DLNA Video Format

[Barry9196]

I know DLNA is kind of up in the air right now. Some people can get it to work, others can't. I guess I am one of the lucky ones that can see the media servers on my network. I have a Windows 7 PC that I have set up to share, I installed TVersity, and just for good measure I installed TVMOBiLi. I am able to see all of them and browse my folders from within the Home Media area of the Hopper.

Here is the problem - I have no idea what format to convert my video files to. I keep my DVD and BlueRay disks ripped to my computer for streaming (up to this point I've been using an HTPC). Sometimes I get just audio, sometimes just video. Never have I had both at the same time. I don't know if the Hopper software is just not up to the task, or I am not up to the task. If anyone has any suggestions I am open to them. Maybe specific settings in a specific software when ripping the disks? I really don't want to have to transcode the stream first. I feel that I would lose too much quality that way.

And before any makes accusations, these are movies that I have purchased. I just prefer to keep them on my HD while leaving the original media as a backup.

 

[JamesC]

Mine seems to play most files with tversity, just make sure when you add the folder you click advanced and transcode when needed.

 

[sethwell]

I know DLNA is kind of up in the air right now. Some people can get it to work, others can't. I guess I am one of the lucky ones that can see the media servers on my network. I have a Windows 7 PC that I have set up to share, I installed TVersity, and just for good measure I installed TVMOBiLi. I am able to see all of them and browse my folders from within the Home Media area of the Hopper.

Here is the problem - I have no idea what format to convert my video files to. I keep my DVD and BlueRay disks ripped to my computer for streaming (up to this point I've been using an HTPC). Sometimes I get just audio, sometimes just video. Never have I had both at the same time. I don't know if the Hopper software is just not up to the task, or I am not up to the task. If anyone has any suggestions I am open to them. Maybe specific settings in a specific software when ripping the disks? I really don't want to have to transcode the stream first. I feel that I would lose too much quality that way.

And before any makes accusations, these are movies that I have purchased. I just prefer to keep them on my HD while leaving the original media as a backup.

Video Playback: MKV & MP4;
Music: MP3;
Images: JPG

 

[Barry9196]

I was able to get a blue ray ripped to MP4 to play using TVMOBILi, but it was far from smooth playback. Using Windows 7 directly just gave me a blank screen. Same with TVersity. My network is completely hardwired so I can pretty sure it is not a bandwidth issue. I think the streaming video option is not ready for prime time.

 

[eckmanmj]

As a general rule, all DLNA capable devices can support MPEG2 (sometimes called MPEGTS), so if you ever are unsure about what codec to use, that is a good one to use for streaming. MPEG2 isnt as good as some of the newer codecs like h.264 or MPEG4, but its good enough for streaming. I will argue that most people cannot tell the difference between a transcoded MPEG2 stream and the source material while being watched on a television set from couch-distance.

The optimal way to setup your home media library is to store your videos in the highest quality codec and highest bitrate files you have the storage for. The idea is to lose as little quality as possible from the original source material (usually Blu-Ray or DVD). Then, use DLNA to transcode your high-quality, high-bitrate source files into something that is more compatible with your devices.

 

[nmoline]

Has anyone found a format that allows for fast forwarding? MKV plays fine but I can't fast forward.

 

[Barry9196]

I gave up on DLNA for a several reasons.

1. I could never get the video to play smoothly no matter what I did.
2. Most of the above was due to poor ripping software/settings, although Handbrake just came out with Blu Ray support and it works like a champ. But the Hopper still had intermittent issues that reduced the WAF.
3. The new rips using HandBrake play great on my HTPC using Windows 7 and Windows Media Center. I tried both mp4 and mkv. I found that the mp4 had a slightly better picture quality.
4. The Hopper's output is 1080i, where my HTPC is 1080p.
5. The GUI for Home Media on the Hopper is not as simple as Windows Media Center. Again for the WAF.