Streaming video on demand?
January 9, 2006 6:44 AM Subscribe
Streaming video solution needed. I would like to wirelessly stream video on demand from an XP-based desktop to an XP-based laptop.
First things first:
(1) The video files are not ripped with the same codecs/formats. So I have MPGs, AVIs, ASFs and MOVs. ASFs and MOVs are not imperative, but if I could stream stuff without having to transcode it manually that'd be great.
(2) I tried VLC, but unless I'm overlooking something I can only stream one file, or at best a fixed list of files. Ideally I would like something that would give me an FTP-like interface with a list of all the files in a directory, I double click on one, and it pops open a Winamp window and starts streaming/playing.
(3) I tried VNC, but again unless I'm overlooking something all I get in the server's/desktop's Winamp window is blackness. Audio plays but there is no video. Video and audio play if I am watching it on the desktop. Is VNC capable of streaming video or is this one of those hardware acceleration snags?
I am kinda getting away with using FTP to transfer a video file and watch it as it downloads, but hard drive space is a problem on my laptop and this doesn't work too well with longer movies. It's also cumbersome.
Thanks :)
First things first:
(1) The video files are not ripped with the same codecs/formats. So I have MPGs, AVIs, ASFs and MOVs. ASFs and MOVs are not imperative, but if I could stream stuff without having to transcode it manually that'd be great.
(2) I tried VLC, but unless I'm overlooking something I can only stream one file, or at best a fixed list of files. Ideally I would like something that would give me an FTP-like interface with a list of all the files in a directory, I double click on one, and it pops open a Winamp window and starts streaming/playing.
(3) I tried VNC, but again unless I'm overlooking something all I get in the server's/desktop's Winamp window is blackness. Audio plays but there is no video. Video and audio play if I am watching it on the desktop. Is VNC capable of streaming video or is this one of those hardware acceleration snags?
I am kinda getting away with using FTP to transfer a video file and watch it as it downloads, but hard drive space is a problem on my laptop and this doesn't work too well with longer movies. It's also cumbersome.
Thanks :)
VNC is probably choking on the network bandwidth; it's pretty slow just using normal desktop applications IME, let alone trying to stream video...
posted by Chunder at 7:19 AM on January 9, 2006
posted by Chunder at 7:19 AM on January 9, 2006
I believe VNC will simply not attempt/be able to display overlayed video on the client machine - unlike Windows Remote Desktop Connection which, IIRC, does.
posted by ed\26h at 7:28 AM on January 9, 2006
posted by ed\26h at 7:28 AM on January 9, 2006
Ed's right on both counts - a network share is the best idea, and VNC can't stream video like that very well, as most networks are not fast enough to stream video that way. They can stream the file fast enough to another computer that will then decode the video and play it, but not the actual video image. Sounds like the same thing, but it isn't.
Setting up a network share folder is pretty easy. I forget the setup instructions for a PC, but I'm sure your windows help files, or google will be able to fix you up. It's pretty painless, if I remember correctly.
Once you have the network share, you just log into the other computer, find the files you want to view and double click on them. They'll open in your preferred video player and Bob's your uncle.
posted by jcruden at 7:39 AM on January 9, 2006
Setting up a network share folder is pretty easy. I forget the setup instructions for a PC, but I'm sure your windows help files, or google will be able to fix you up. It's pretty painless, if I remember correctly.
Once you have the network share, you just log into the other computer, find the files you want to view and double click on them. They'll open in your preferred video player and Bob's your uncle.
posted by jcruden at 7:39 AM on January 9, 2006
Sorry, I meant: ...you just log into the shared folder from the other computer...
posted by jcruden at 7:41 AM on January 9, 2006
posted by jcruden at 7:41 AM on January 9, 2006
Like ed\26h says I don't understand why you haven't tried just navigating to the remote share and clicking on the file. Is there some reason why that won't work?
posted by Rhomboid at 7:41 AM on January 9, 2006
posted by Rhomboid at 7:41 AM on January 9, 2006
In my experience, it's impossible to stream good quality MPEG2 or DIVX movies across a wireless network (even 802.11G). You have to download and watch.
That may just be me, of course..
posted by ascullion at 9:17 AM on January 9, 2006
That may just be me, of course..
posted by ascullion at 9:17 AM on January 9, 2006
Recent versions of BSPlayer Pro have a configurable "network buffer" option that will pre-buffer a specified percent of the file for playback, which would seem like it would help when watching over a wireless link.
posted by Rhomboid at 9:42 AM on January 9, 2006
posted by Rhomboid at 9:42 AM on January 9, 2006
The Darwin Streaming Server is pretty easy to install, configure, and maintain if you want to go full-on video/audio streaming. It's footprint is reasonable and performance is excellent. I have experience streaming ~1Mb\s MPEG2 files using DSS off an XP box without problems over a good wireless connection. Can't vouch for network congestion / bandwidth / higher-sampled files though.
posted by Fezboy! at 1:35 PM on January 9, 2006
posted by Fezboy! at 1:35 PM on January 9, 2006
Twonkyvision? I recently installed a Twonkyvision server for use with my Zensonic z500 (which still has a few bugs to iron out, this isn't a recommendation). It seems to allow streaming of pretty much everything.
posted by krisjohn at 3:14 PM on January 9, 2006
posted by krisjohn at 3:14 PM on January 9, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
i.e.: \\desktop-pc\myvideos
posted by ed\26h at 7:03 AM on January 9, 2006