Streaming web content from one 'server' to Multi-HDTV


  1. Posts : 420
    Windows 10 1803
       #1

    Streaming web content from one 'server' to Multi-HDTV


    I am dated on things HTPC/Home-Entertainment and need a puzzle piece:
    What is the right way to pull content off the web [say PBS documentaries from their site] and make available to all the HDTV's connected by ethernet and COAX to household fabric? Presumably the same network & server setup would stream stored movies, home vid, etc to any of the HDTV's.

    Digging the web, I see a lot of tutorials, ideas, devices to do the reverse: stream all things to ipads/droids/pc/mac but not easily seeing what I describe.

    pls help me get up the curve!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       #2

    As long as the HDTVs support DLNA:
    How to Turn Your Computer Into a DLNA Media Server

    Many routers also have DLNA servers built into them and will stream media files from USB hard drives connected to them.

    I have a Network Attached Storage (NAS) that has all my movies and TV Shows stored on it. It also has a DLNA server built in, but I use Kodi on my main HTPC which doesn't use DLNA to connect to the stored media - it does it's own, much nicer, interface.
    My NAS:
    D-Link Products - DNS-325 - ShareCenter 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure, (2) 3.5" Bays, SATA, RAID 0/1, Gigabit Ethernet Port, USB Print Server, w/ Streaming Applications and Add-On Application support

    Kodi (which also has a DLNA server built in):
    Kodi | Open Source Home Theater Software

    As stated in the article, Plex is very popular:
    https://plex.tv/

    The advantage of a router or NAS with DLNA built in is that you don't have to keep a server PC running. The disadvantage is that DLNA really only supplies folder/file structure and does not provide media descriptions/plots.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 420
    Windows 10 1803
    Thread Starter
       #3

    THANK YOU...
    I knew I"d find somebody that has traversed this road.
    Let me take time to absorb from the links you sent and I'll be back hopefully with non-dumb questions

    NavyLCDR said:
    As long as the HDTVs support DLNA:
    How to Turn Your Computer Into a DLNA Media Server

    Many routers also have DLNA servers built into them and will stream media files from USB hard drives connected to them.

    I have a Network Attached Storage (NAS) that has all my movies and TV Shows stored on it. It also has a DLNA server built in, but I use Kodi on my main HTPC which doesn't use DLNA to connect to the stored media - it does it's own, much nicer, interface.
    My NAS:
    D-Link Products - DNS-325 - ShareCenter 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure, (2) 3.5" Bays, SATA, RAID 0/1, Gigabit Ethernet Port, USB Print Server, w/ Streaming Applications and Add-On Application support

    Kodi (which also has a DLNA server built in):
    Kodi | Open Source Home Theater Software

    As stated in the article, Plex is very popular:
    https://plex.tv/

    The advantage of a router or NAS with DLNA built in is that you don't have to keep a server PC running. The disadvantage is that DLNA really only supplies folder/file structure and does not provide media descriptions/plots.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       #4

    In the simplest of setups it's a matter of having a storage location for the movie/TV Show files. Point the DLNA server to that storage location. Drop your files into the storage location. The DLNA server will periodically check the storage location for added files and make them available to the DLNA clients. Or you can manually tell the DLNA server to refresh when you want something available immediately.

    A DLNA server only makes the files available as is - the client that is playing the file must be capable of playing that particular type of file. If you want to serve a file to a client that cannot play that type of file natively, then you need a server such as Plex that will transcode it and send it to the client in the format that the client can play.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 265
    Windows 10 Enterprise
       #5

    I use Serviio for my media streaming at home. It works very well for me.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 420
    Windows 10 1803
    Thread Starter
       #6

    OK, I"m about half educated now so let the dumb questions begin.
    Surprisingly, nowhere in the noob kodi info, which is very professionally written, does it simply say "Kodi is client/device-end interface that requires a smart device" or something like that. I did not know anything, and sorta assumed Kodi was at the server end. Anyway, DLNA was already activated via Media Streaming on Win 10 pro on my server. Loaded Kodi on one of my laptops just to get the sense of it.

    According to the wiki, instructions, manual KODI should be able to spot .avi files. it failed. Can you tell me why? It did ok finding the server under upnp [I would have thought smb], seemed to lock in, got the server name right, browsed [scraped?] for videos, which are there in the default Windows 10 "Video" folder where should be, but came up empty. Maybe diffs in .avi versions?

    Back to basic architecture: I looked unsuccessfully for a simple diagram [found thousands, never found one that pictures what we're discussing]:
    one server - sitting on the LAN
    2 HDTV's
    multiple 'droids, ios, and windows devices.

    I ASSUME the HDTV's need to be connected to a set-top box or pc thing tucked away somewhere, GPU-equipped [modern] and connected by HDMI. is that so?

    I also ASSUME that IF there were another device in the scheme, say an RF device that is sitting between the devices, pulling video/audio from a "server" with a strong GPU, and redistributing that via COAX to the HDTV's, KODI would be neutered? Is this correct? In other words, there's nothing for KODI to run on at the HDTV [no pc, no apple-tv, no ps/3, no settop]. In that case, what is it that is missing??? Presumably the HDTV's would tune to the specified channel for the RF device feed, then what is it that picks the content and says "go"? I assume one would need a keyboard & display routing to the server, tell the server what to do, it plays, the vid/audio gets shifted by coax to the HDTV.
    In this scenario, users simultaneously viewing [or trying] on different HTV's are defeated. There's some other component still missing to allow simultaneity, right?

    OK, tell me what's wrong/missing/etc.! :)

    thank you
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 420
    Windows 10 1803
    Thread Starter
       #7

    one more question:
    http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Push2T...cm_wl_huc_item
    If I assume we go buy one of the top-ranked "smart TV"s , it will be WIFI connected.
    I assume that the smart TV has an elementary browser that will look somehow for content on the WIFI network and populate it somehow - make available. Is that correct? so it will have something like a "Kodi-lite" builtin?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 420
    Windows 10 1803
    Thread Starter
       #8

    ah... looks like I goofed on that netgear box. it is the reverse case, right? many devices with content, being pushed via the netgear to few/1 hdtv - "mirroring"
      My Computer


 

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