Apple Mac and DNLA

[Antony Brown]

Are they compatible ? Every product manual that I read states "compatible with PC" but does not mention Mac. The Panasonic DMR-BW880 goes as far as specifying Windows 7. Will I be able to stream iTunes contents stored on my Mac Time Capsule through a DNLA compliant device?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Apple isn't a member of the DLNA.

 

[John Duncan]

However...

I get confused about the difference between dlna and upnp, but elgato's eyeconnect is a upnp server for mac (and iTunes specifically), and is free for audio only (you need to pay for the video functionality after the trial runs out). Works perfectly streaming to a upnp client. Do you actually have the panasonic or are just thinking about it? If the former, I'd download and install eyeconnect and see if the panny sees the server.

 

[Antony Brown]

I've not yet bought the Panasonic: I don't want to spend the money and then find that it doesn't do what I want. I used to have a Hermstedt Hifidelio Pro, which was an UnPnP server. It and the Mac were able to work together, but it kept crashing and wasn't flexible enough for me. It, however, was set up to work with a Mac, which seems to be the difference between it and the DNLA products.

 

[John Duncan]

Am still researching - I get the impression that a uPnP server will work with pretty much any DLNA client - uPnP appears to be more generic, covers more formats, whereas DLNA certifies particular devices. Will keep digging...

 

[John Duncan]

aHA! Clicky

 

[markyd]

I'm today trying to get my MacBook Pro (10.5.8) - to steam media to my Panasonic 42V20 using Elgato eyeconnect and a BT home hub. I did a bit of research and it definitely seems the most 'Mac friendly' way if you don't want to fiddle about with open source code. I 'should' work, but the documentation is not proving to helpful at the moment.

There is a free 30-day trial so you could always see if it works before spending a penny.

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[markyd]

Managed to get the TV to see the Eye Connect shared folders on the Mac wirelessly, but cant see any content inside them. Deleted the preferences etc - any idea anyone?

I have downloaded twonky media server as it was recommended in the Panasonic manual - but haven't got a code. Wanted to see if it worked before I bought it - but I must have downloaded it already as it's not giving me the free trial option...

Still trying...

 

[markyd]

Yep, Twonky media server is definitely 'the one'. Impressed with it's instant gratification, especially after messing around with Eyeconnect with limited success.

Installed and worked in minutes. Im going to test the file format compatibility, but so far looks good - streams music, video and pictures. Includes a transcode function, so might use that for any unsupported formats.

Haven't seen any dropouts - I suspect that may be bandwidth related. My system is pretty fast so hopefully it will not affect me. We shall see.