Dead simple streaming from Mac to PS3?

December 10, 2010 7:07 AM

Dead simple streaming from Mac to PS3: what are your success stories?

I've been using a first-generation Apple TV to stream movies from my iTunes to my television for a while, but since my PS3 picked up native Netflix streaming, I've been wondering if it can be my go-to entertainment device.

What program(s) have you used that stream the contents of your Mac to your PS3? I've tried "PS3 Media Server" but it is laggy, Rivet but it can't seem to find my media, and MediaLink but it drops in and out. Is there a reliable media server program for Mac that is dead simple to set up and could have me watching movies right out of the gate?

posted by moviehawk to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

What's your networking between the Mac and the PS3? I've used PS3 Media Server extensively, it has been very reliable streaming from an underpowered macbook air in my experience but if you're streaming high-res media it will stutter over wifi. But you can check your CPU utilization to see if it's really processor-limited, or perhaps something else higher priority is running on the mac and stealing cycles from PS3MS. I've been through this search and nothing comes close to PS3 Media Server in terms of flexibility and reliability in my experience, so I'm inclined to troubleshoot your mac-ps3 bandwidth rather than suspect the software.
posted by ulotrichous at 7:21 AM on December 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

I use PS3 Media Server from my Linux box and I don't notice it being "laggy".
Sometimes it takes a few seconds to start a video up, but that's usually because it's doing the transcoding work for you so that you don't have to worry about what formats the PS3 supports.

But you may also wish to try MediaTomb to see if that works better for you.
posted by jozxyqk at 7:22 AM on December 10, 2010

Oh man, I feel your pain. I tried those with similar aggravation. People have also had varying degrees of success with TwonkyServer and MediaLink, each of which run about $20.

I decided to just get a ReadyNAS and plug it into the router next to the PS3. It's got a built-in DLNA server, and streams via ethernet instead of wireless. Plus, it's a sweet NAS.
posted by mkultra at 7:24 AM on December 10, 2010

I've used ps3mediaserver to stream from relatively underpowered macs (a 2006 macbook and now the new 2010 air) to the ps3 mostly without issue, over a wifi-N network. I sometimes run into issue if it is trying to transcode the files, but if they are a format that the ps3 deals with natively it's pretty golden. Are you sure you are using the latest version of ps3mediaserver? poke around the forums and get one of the mac beta builds -- you might have more success with one of those. What are the specs on the mac you are using and what is your network setup?
posted by modernnomad at 7:58 AM on December 10, 2010

Nthing a revisiting of PS3MediaServer. I've got it running on a Macbook Pro over a Wireless G network with no lag, even with super-high bandwidth (20+MBps) video.
posted by zombieflanders at 8:07 AM on December 10, 2010

I've had good luck with ps3 media server over an N network, but I had to run an Ethernet cable from the router because ps3 can't do N and sometimes even defaults to B on a G network.
posted by TrialByMedia at 8:14 AM on December 10, 2010

Response by poster: I'll try Handbraking one of my DVDs in a PS3-friendly format so there's no transcoding to do - I had started off just trying to use the videos I had previously ripped for iTunes/AppleTV purposes, using those presets.
posted by moviehawk at 8:29 AM on December 10, 2010

nthing PS3 media server.

If it's lagging, it could either mean your host computer is underpowered to transcode or that your connection between your PS3 and Mac isn't fast/stable enough to play a particular media file. Are you using wireless or wired?
posted by wongcorgi at 9:07 AM on December 10, 2010

Response by poster: I'm using wireless...it was stable/fast enough to stream from my Mac to my AppleTV and it can stream Netflix, so I suspect it was a transcoding issue.

The computer itself is plenty powerful...a Macbook Pro. I'll try tonight and see if media server gets any better.
posted by moviehawk at 11:13 AM on December 10, 2010

No complaints with MediaLink.

While not ideal, don't forget you can also save your movie files to a thumb drive and move them over that way.
posted by doorsfan at 12:04 PM on December 10, 2010

I've used Majestic from OSX with good results, streaming wireless from a Macbook to the PS3.
posted by nonspecialist at 3:47 AM on December 19, 2010

I use a program called Playback on my Mac Mini. No probs streaming stuff over AirPort, even when I'm doing intensive stuff with the computer.
posted by jtron at 9:12 AM on December 27, 2010