[Cialug] DLNA

[Zachary Kotlarek]

On Sep 29, 2014, at 10:32 AM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org> wrote:

> With the same client (Sony Bluray player) the experience was very different
> between the servers. The desktop server did better and would try to
> auto-convert files to the right format supported by the client. It
> organized the media to make it easier to find your files. Twonky doesn't do
> either of these, simply presenting all media files in a huge list organized
> only into groups of pictures, audio or video.
> 
> Overall, the user experience is a headache, as Jeffrey said. But, it works.
> Once you know your clients and tools, it gets the job done. My kids figured
> out how to save videos onto the iPad for offline viewing and can watch
> their shows OK. They prefer any other service when available and
> essentially just use this to watch stuff from our DVD collection when going
> on a trip or will be offline.


If you maintain a library of local media you should consider Plex. It’s not the right tool if you just want to occasionally throw a video from your desktop to your TV, and it definitely doesn’t support screen-sharing, but it’s got a lot of useful tools for people who have a media collection. http://plex.tv/

Plex will play to your DLNA clients, has native clients for many devices (to avoid DLNA altogether), fetches metadata so your displayed names are sensible and your lists are organized, automatically converts codecs and muxing and bitrates, supports preloading for offline use (at least on iOS/Android), steams outside the local network, etc.

	Zach

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