CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[macgyver655]

Anyone using DLNA software for a media server? I've downloaded a bunch and trying them out and so far they all have little but different issues. I would like on the fly transcoding but if I have to suffer with issues then I will change out hardware, which is where I am heading..

Any experiences and comments welcome.

[zaphod]

i use serviio on my linux server - works GREAT. you need to have the ffmpeg toolkit, but that's easily available. I have a recipe for centos5 and centos6 servers and a replacement start/stop script.

you set up libraries for viewing and for a $25 upgrade to the pro version you can control which libraries go to which clients.

i set up sserviio at work for our samsung smart TVs to display an updated status image of our DNA sequencer pipelines. The 1080x1920 image is generated by another server and I just display that via serviio. seemless, painless and gets the job done. We are going to expand that to show a different slide set on the main reception area.

at home i am setting up a library for our iTunes library as well as for each of my wife's and my picture repositories. We display either to our iPhones or to the non-smart TV via a WDTVlive box.

the other big option for a DLNA server is Plex, but to be honest serviio does everything so well that I see no reason to explore other options.


any of the dlna clients for my iPhone work will with the home/work servers.

[macgyver655]

Serviio was 1 of the first I tried but no transcoding. But I liked it other wise and if I end up switching out hardware instead of needing transcoding then I will probably go back to Serviio unless I come across something else in my journey that I like more..

Tried Plex also and did not care for it. But don't ask me to remember why, lol. After 10+ tries of different softwares you tend to forget a lot, lol.

[zaphod]

Sure it transcoding.

From the site:

Transcoding configuration
Transcoding configuration is set up per renderer profile in profiles.xml. There are three types of transcoding. General transcoding of files (Transcoding element), additional transcoding of online files (OnlineTranscoding element) and transcoding used for burning-in subtitles (HardSubsTranscoding element).

Generally, a local file is transcoded if there is a Transcoding or HardSubsTranscoding configuration for it. An online file is transcoded if there is an OnlineTranscoding or (local) transcoding matching it. Generic profile doesn't transcode any local media files, unless they require hardsubs transcoding. Serviio comes with some profiles per-defined but it really is up to the community to create their own configurations for different devices.

[macgyver655]

[zaphod]

i seem to remember something about on the fly, but i'll have to check.

[akajester]

I've been using serviio for a few years now and it does on the fly transcoding. The problems I've ran into involve high bitrate video files. Everything I have is mkv format, typically pulled directly from blurays. The pc running serviio can't transcode quick enough to supply a steady stream to my bluray players. For re-encoded (lower bitrate) stuff it works fantastic though. Perhaps it's my setup, which isn't the fastest around. I've also been told that the Sony bluray players don't have a great DLNA implementation.

FLAC audio streaming is awesome though.

[zaphod]

You running on Linux or windows? And what are you doing to get artwork?