A decent DLNA server that will play on my Sony TV, anyone any suggestions.

[JamesOK]

Ive been thinking about DLNA and specifically ripping DVDs to a NAS drive to then play through a DLNA server. Having dabbled with a few so far Ive found out its pretty painful and actually not very easy!

I want a DLNA server so I can stream DVDs etc to my Sony TV in my kitchen, Ive tried a couple Plex Media Server and the free one that came with my Synology NAS drive, but none of them seem to show up any content on my TV!

Anyone have any suggestions for a good easy to use solution. I have a iMac which I will likely run the server from, but could also do linux if I have to.

Cheers all.

 

[Dave_]

http://www.serviio.org/

Used this with my LG in the past and found it pretty easy to setup/use.

 

[AnotherJoe]

PS3 media server.

When you say no content is showing - does the mediaserver show up on the tv - or is it that no files are visible when you drill down into the videos folder?

Unless you are using a transcoding mediaserver (eg PS3 media server) the files need to be in a format compatible with the tv for them to show up.

 

[JamesOK]

http://www.serviio.org/

Used this with my LG in the past and found it pretty easy to setup/use.

Thanks I will give it a go.

 

[JamesOK]

PS3 media server.

When you say no content is showing - does the mediaserver show up on the tv - or is it that no files are visible when you drill down into the videos folder?

Unless you are using a transcoding mediaserver (eg PS3 media server) the files need to be in a format compatible with the tv for them to show up.

The latter - I am using a Synology diskstation and it shows up on the screen, but then when you drill down in to the folders no files are shown.

Stupid question number 2 - how would I know what files the TV will support?

 

[AnotherJoe]

I assume the manual would tell you.

.VOB format is probably your best bet for DVDs if you are not using a transcoding media server.

Sonys normally support mpeg2 (.vob,mpg,mpeg etc) and avi(.divx) amongst others.

 

[Dave_]

Serviio has presets/profiles for various devices, BTW.It will automatically transcode any files not supported by your device.

 

[JamesOK]

Thanks, I now have a problem in that the software I am using only seems to convert to MP4! Looks like I will need a server that does transcoding.

 

[JamesOK]

Serviio has presets/profiles for various devices, BTW.It will automatically transcode any files not supported by your device.

OK, interesting this sounds like the kind of thing I am after. I wouldve liked it to purely run on my NAS, but maybe running on Mac isnt such a bad idea.

 

[Dave_]

Pretty sure it will run/can be installed on NAS', though no idea how easy that would be as i ran it on a Linux PC.

 

[rgill90]

yeap i'd also recommend you install serviio on your synology and give it a whril with your sony bluray...i use serviio and my brother uses it for all his sammy TV's - it really does work a treat - the help & support on the forums is brilliant, too.

 

[JamesOK]

yeap i'd also recommend you install serviio on your synology and give it a whril with your sony bluray...i use serviio and my brother uses it for all his sammy TV's - it really does work a treat - the help & support on the forums is brilliant, too.

Excellent cheers. Anything I should know about install on the NAS? Any problems? Also, does the NAS have enough grunt to do the transcoding?

 

[JamesOK]

Hmm, well finally got Serviio installed on my mac mini. Good news is that the TV can now play the DVD I ripped (in MP4) but unfortunately the picture is juddering, its not awful, but its bad enough to put you off!

I wouldve thought a 2.7Ghz intel i5 Mac with 16GB RAM would be plenty to do the job, but I guess not. Anyone have any ideas?