DLNA video streaming to Sony TV

[melsea]

There have been a number of threads around this topic, none of which seem to have actually answered my question, which is specifically what Video specification is needed for a Sony TV (in my case KDL46NX713) to recognise (i.e. "see") and play video files on my DLNA server?

I have the server set up (Twonky) and can stream pictures and music files, but the TV does not display any of the video files.  I know the manual says "AVCHD and MPEG2" but specifically what container, video codec, audio codec, file extension is needed.  I am happy to recode my videos to pretty much any specification if I could find one that actually worked!

[micaute]

Help?  I presume no one can help with this?

[mattster]

have you tried encoding to a ps3 mpeg 2 format using a preset? i know super does this and im sure many other do this?

[flatline]

Hi,

I have been trying to stream my media to my Sony  KDL32EX403U for the past week. I have a netgear Duo NAS which current has all my media on it, I use DivX Plus Converter and convert to HD720P format as this work on all my devices Sony PS3, XBOX360, Galaxy TAB and obviously PC via DivXPlus Player or VLCPlayer both support DIVX.

I needed to first find a DivX file type using a size and audio codec that the Sony was happy with and boy is it fussy. I used DivX Converter to create all the various resolutions and it was only happy with one, the mobile resolution which is a total waste of time. Eventually I used DivX author which formatted at a reasonable resolution that the Sony would accept. Just as a side point I put all the various files I had created on a USB memory stick and took them to Comet and plugged the USB stick in to a Samsung TV every file played perfectly.

Now I had something that would play through the USB I moved it to the NAS to test the streaming. Even though when you select Video – NAS – Folders it knows which folders contain the video content it will not display any of the file names, so I tried changing the file extension to every extension I could think of .mov .avi .mpeg etc. to see if it would recognise a file type, unfortunately it did not. It knows a video file is in the folder, but it will not display it.

The TV can stream DivX from the internet, so there is no reason why it should not be able to stream a DivX source from local content (even at a higher resolution) unless it has been prevented from doing so, this seem to be the problem, Sony don’t want you to do it.

Sony is a media company as well as a manufacturer and I don’t think they like the idea of people having their own media stored digitally.

I have managed to transcode my stream using Windows 7, but the quality of the transcoded stream is rubbish and the picture quality is poor.

I have had to revert to my original set up – I have an Xbox connected to the TV and I’m using this as the streaming source to access my content this has caused me to do a full 360 and I’m back where I started which is not what I really wanted or expected, but until Sony release an update which allows a little more flexibility I’m stuck using the Xbox I still have time to return the Sony, but at 299 I might suffer it, and don't they know it, clever Sony !

[Catmambo]

Hi Flatline

Just to clarify a couple of points, as far as I'm aware, the TV's cannot stream Divx from the Internet, nor unfortunately over DLNA at the moment. They only support Divx via USB. Windows 7 is actually a pretty bad media server - would recommend using Mezzmo, Serviio or PS3 media Streamer to be honest. Codec support for what you are trying to do is likely better via the PS3 route I think which then complements the great picture, sound, Freeview HD and many of the connected services like Youtube, Sky News and some of the other connected services which aren't as easily accessible on the PS3. Bang for buck, the 403 is my favourite TV at the moment!

Rest assured there isn't a conspiracy theory

Thanks

[flatline]

Hi,

There's always a conspiracy somewhere, you just need to find it:smileyshocked:.

I'm not sure how the internet feeds come in, because I can’t identify the streams, but I assume that because this TV is DivX VOD compliant there must be DivX somewhere and I haven’t seen much DivX compatibility on the USB, although more testing is needed; this is advertised as DivX compliant TV in the same way as the Samsung TV I tested and my old Philips DVD player, but Sony have done a poor job in implementing it, and if Samsung and Philip don’t seem to have any issues what’s up with Sony, this is why I question Sony’s motives and to me it appears they are trying to restrict the abilities of this set when it comes to using your personal digial media, basically it should not be this hard.

I have now tested MPEG2 and it looks like the TV reads the package header information before it displays the file name in the directory it's no good just renaming a file as I was doing so it’s now playing mpeg1/2 files from my media server I used AVS Video converter to achieve this.

I feel that this TV could and does have the ability to decode an mpeg4 stream, but we will have to wait and see.

Regards

:smileymischief:

[flatline]

Thanks for the reply.

I have only 10 days left before I lose the possibility of returning the TV, as it stands it does not offer any advantage over the LG TV it replaced, which I promised to give to my grandmother.

My needs are very specific and unfortunately the retail staff who sell these products understand the technology even less than I do.

At the moment I’m getting an “Archos TV” feeling about this product, if anyone has had one of these they will know what I mean.

There is talk that I Love Films are going to support hi def content without knowing if Mpeg4 streaming is a hardware or software issue with this TV there is no way anyone can say for sure that it will be supported when it arrives.

I need compliance or at least some guarantee that the software will be as good as Samsungs, or Philips or LG’s in the need future (at least for USB content streaming) my choices are limited, change all my media to fit the restrictions of the Sony, create duplicate copies in different format or take it back and let down my grandmother.

p.s. sorry melsea I did not mean to take over your thread.

[Catmambo · Accepted solution]

Hi Flatline

The format of the Internet Video feeds is down to the provider but none of them use Divx, indeed I'm not sure any operators really stream (legal) Divx as a format?? Presumably down to licensing costs.

The TV is indeed Divx compliant, but unfortunately doesn't support it via DLNA. Codec's are an ongoing challenge and indeed this is the first year we've supported Divx so things are improving, but as quickly as we'd all like :smileyhappy:. As mentioned, an easy workaround is simply to stream via your PS3 or xbox or use a media streamer on your PC like Serviio etc.

Thanks

[micaute]

Flatline - You seem to be in exactly the same place as I am and reaching the same conclusions...

Catmambo - I know you are on here trying to help, but the suggestion of using a separate box is not actually very helpful.  I have been using a separate box for years and the whole point of the NX713 was to do away with this (for a variety of space, usability and general family confusion reasons).  As far as I can see Sony have sold this TV to me with something bordering on an untruth with regards the functionality.  I have scoured many threads here and the simple conclusion I come to is the vast majority of people trying to stream video over DLNA (which is a big sticker on the box) simply cannot.

I go back to my original question which is exactly what container, video format (bit rates etc), audio format is needed to make this functionality work?  Sony "help"line cannot help.

Any bright ideas / people with contacts who can actually answer this question?  Surely not an incredibly strange question?

[Ianperrettive]

Hi All - I feel your pain.

I have got a 40EX503 and a QNAP TS210 NAS with the idea of streaming movies to my TV.

After spending much time over last few days mucking about with this it I have got the TV to show and stream .mpg files only encoded with TMPGEnc (I have tried SUPER, IVC, Format Factory and others but none worked).

I found this out by downloading a  number test .mpg files from here and some showed and streamed. After inspecting the files, the ones that worked had a attribute suggesting they were encoded with TMPGEnc, and the ones that didn't, didn't work.

Also VOB files that I have ripped from the DVDs I own have streamed, but some show and some don't and I don't know why?

Please Sony, let me know exactly the procedure to produce dlna streamable video as I am stumped as it appears random.

Ian