I appreciate this is somewhat off-topic but I've had good PC related advice before on this forum so I was hoping you'd be able to help me with this issue.
I am using a NAS for storing all my media files (photos, DVDs, music etc) and was interested in the possibilty of using this drive to stream the info around my house but all the systems I can find rely on a PC to at least facilitate this. Are there any systems that would be able to read the NAS directly without the need for the PC to be on?
Also are there any systems that would take the signal from my rooftop aerial and stream that back to the PC/NAS so that I could effectively use the PC/NAS as a PVR (the PC has a TV tuner card but the reception on it's local aerial is rubbish and the rooftop one is much better)?
Put the PC in the attic and run a cable to the TV/monitor. Run win7 with media centre or one of the linux TV systems (myth TV) and store it to the NAS. You could use an Xbox to play the stuff on a TV if you are using win7.
Search for a product called a 'Popcorn Hour'. This is a great piece of kit. It sits next to the TV and will take media from your NAS and play directly on your TV. Copes with music, pictures, and videos (both standard and high def).
... but do yourself a favour and do some monitoring of humidity and Summer temps up there first. A good many attics get so hot or so damp they'd kill a PC in no time flat :-(
To the OP: Generally-speaking "streaming" implies some intelligence on the server side to dish up the data as/when asked for, which is why a plain ol' NAS on its own won't work - it lacks any smarts to know what the data is that's being asked for and how to handle it accordingly.
(Aside: I've heard lots of good things about MythTV, but it's not something I've ever quite got the tuits together to try myself)
It's a Buffalo LinkStation Live (1TB) so I think I'm ok for it streaming the media. Unfortunately I can't run a feed to the PC as it's a rented house and the landlord isn't too keen. It's something I'd consider when we buy but I'd be interested in any other options that avoid the need e.g. something I can plug into the aerial that will be able to feed around the network.
One other constraint that occurs is that my TV is around 5-6 years old and only has scart inputs.
"Endulini" wrote in news:QemdnT8Pxb snipped-for-privacy@brightview.com:
Another poster has suggested the Popcorn Hour as a network video streaming device; there are now several other similar products available, with new ones appearing frequently.
I have a device called Xtreamer. This is a less mature product than the Popcorn Hour, but has the advantage of price: I paid EUR 99 + postage, and that price included 'N' wireless connectivity.
For info: I use Squeezebox devices for audio streaming (excellent - I can thoroughly recommend them). Initially I used a QNAP NAS device for music storage + running the SqueezeCenter server program which manages the music library. I have since moved to using a Dell minitower PC as the server. The server holds audio + video + photo data. The server runs under WinXP Pro, is headless (no screen or keyboard), and is virtually silent - quieter than the QNAP, but that's largely down to the fan.
After cracking the audio side of things with SqueezeBox, I decided to try video streaming. There are several devices on the market with several new entrants - I wanted something that would allow me to experiment at a relatively low price to see if the idea of 'video streaming' was really practical, with a good 'wife acceptance factor' and not just for geeks.
As far as technology goes, you're going to need some serious storage space: I have 3 Tbyte available (1 Tbyte currently used for video,
500 Gbyte for music), and I've barely scratched the surface of the DVD collection. My experience with music is that a lossless format (FLAC) is much superior to lossy (MP3) - and if you do need to produce a smaller data file (eg for an MP3 player) then it's easy to do from the (much larger) lossless data file.
Applying the same logic to video data, I'm currently storing DVD content as disc images (.IFO + .VOB files) with no further compression. Most films on DVD are around 7 Gbyte - I'm sure you can do the sums regarding the necessary storage. I've decided not to compress the data further until I'm happy with the technology. I don't (yet?) use BluRay, but HD content is even hungrier for disc space. [Aside: don't forget that you need backup storage as well, and please don't assume that RAID on your NAS provides backup. It doesn't
- RAID is for availability]
A further issue is network bandwidth. I tried wireless, but video streaming proved a bit 'choppy' across my 'G' network (IEEE 802.11g, claimed 54 Mbit/s), so I now use HomePlug devices to provide 'Ethernet over mains' connection to the Xtreamer. [Note: you will need the claimed 200 Mbit/s models]
The Xtreamer has handled all the video formats I've tested without problem. It upscales SD definition DVD content to HD. It displays photos without problem. It also plays audio (including FLAC format, which is unusual on such devices, but important for me). However, I don't usually play music through the TV.
The Xtreamer is very small (pocket size). It can take an internal 2.5 inch (laptop size) hard drive, but I don't have one fitted - I just stream to it. It's connected to the TV via HDMI, but to answer your question about SCART, it does have composite video + audio outputs, so you should be able to connect it via that route or via a composite
- SCART adapter.
The Xtreamer presents an HD user interface on the TV. To play something stored on the network, use the remote to select the NET option and browse to the specific file and select it. Err... that's it. It works with data stored anywhere, as long as it's accessible over the network, so you'll be fine with your NAS device with no other software needed.
As far as the 'wife acceptance factor' goes:
- it's yet another box under the TV
- there are yet more wires behind the TV
- it has yet another remote control (although we do have a Logitech Harmony remote)
- the on-screen user interface (while straightforward to me) does not (yet) allow selection of a film by point and click at a graphic of the title / cover (but this should be here 'real soon now' in a firmware update)
The Xtreamer also plays Internet radio, YouTube videos etc - but I really bought it for local video streaming. I've had it since September, and I'm very pleased with it so far and can recommend it. Also its price is such that it won't break the bank if I decide it's the 'wrong' product - that decision will probably be driven by the level of firmware development and support that it receives over say the next 12 months.
However, my judgement is that the technology (be it this or any other streaming device) isn't quite ready for the man in the street. It's very clever, it can be done - but it does require some techie things behind it (server, network, DVD ripping etc) that are not for everyone. But this is a DIY group - so go for it!
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