Surely, many of you have a certain amount of media files and would like to comfortably watch them on your TV. Surely, many of you have even set up your own home network for this purpose. So, in fact, I did and I would like to talk about my experience in this area. If you're interested, welcome to the tackle!

Task

Let's start with the problem statement. I have at my disposal a fairly large media library, which contains quite weighty files. The main goal is to comfortably display media content on any device in the home network (primarily, of course, on TVs). It is important that all heavyweight files run smoothly, that the maximum number of formats is supported, so that all this works quietly and stably. Not the least factor is the ease of operation of the system, because not all its users want to rummage through tons of settings and figure out what went wrong if this happens. All problems should be solved by a reboot and no more.

In this article I would like to talk about the past, current and future options for solving the above problem, about the problems that I encountered and about my vision of the ideal system.

Beginning of work

To start implementing the plan, it was necessary to decide on the components in the network and how they should communicate with each other. The previously drawn up diagram looked something like this:

Let's talk about each of the components in detail.

NAS

In the absence of a separate device for these purposes, it was decided to use a desktop as a NAS (Network Attached Storage), on which, in fact, the entire media library was stored. The PC did a pretty good job and copes with the task assigned to it, but this solution has its drawbacks:

• the desktop thing is quite noisy and constant buzzing can be quite annoying;
• the desktop consumes a lot of energy, which is not very economical when working 24/7;
• the constant load on the HDD can have a detrimental effect on them if they are not specially adapted for this.

As an alternative, I tried to use an external screw connected to the router via USB, but this option was rejected almost immediately for three reasons. Firstly, I did not have an external screw of the required volume, and secondly, the transfer of new content to the screw would be rather inconvenient (only disconnected-connected to the desktop-reconnected according to the scheme), thirdly, for some reason, large files flatly refused to reproduce. As I later found out empirically, there was a plug in speed between the disk and the router. Apparently, the router's processor simply could not support the desired stream.

Now my quasi-NAS is controlled by standard Win7. At first I implemented sharing with the help of standard Windows tools (the second media server there), but this was associated with a sufficient number of problems. So now I'm using the rather interesting open source product HMS and standard folder sharing. HMS is a sane software, not without its drawbacks, but I'm still quite satisfied.

Data transfer

The choice, of course, was between wired and wireless... Of course, ideally, all stationary components would be put on wires, but, unfortunately, this is not always convenient. The initial infrastructure of the dwelling was little adapted to this, and pulling wires around the house so that it came out neatly turned out to be not the easiest task. Therefore, a strong-willed decision was made to put all clients on WiFi (only the in-patient-router link managed to avoid such a fate).

For these purposes, the Asus RT-N16 router was first purchased. was one of the top WiFi N devices at the time of purchase. Great workhorse, pretty strong signal, won't crash. But due to the peculiarities of the concrete floors, and therefore the poor signal in some areas, the Asus RT-N10P was recently purchased as a supplement in order to use it as a repeater. The choice fell on this model because it was almost the cheapest of the models with the necessary functionality, and devices from one manufacturer, as a rule, are easier to drive into one network.

Clients

I have used and still use several different clients to play media content. They all had their pros and cons. The further story will be about the experience of their operation.

WD TV Live

Once I already did a review of this piece of iron, you can familiarize yourself with it. In short, this is the most successful home streaming device that I personally have. The piece of iron is nimble, comfortable and omnivorous. It can communicate both with media server programs and directly with shared Windows or Linux folders. 1080p over WiFi plays with a bang, even rather large files of 30GB +. Supports WiFi N. Of the minuses noticed over a fairly long period of use, you can single out a rather average quality remote control and periodic freezes (once every 3-4 days), which must be treated with a reboot.

Overall, for the money, WD TV Live is a great device that does its job pretty well. Surely now on the market there are no less, and maybe more interesting and productive options, which does not detract from the merits of Western.

Xbox 360

The console from small soft has built-in applications that allow you to work with media servers. The main problem with Xbox is that it is extremely picky about formats. I partially solved this problem using the aforementioned HMS software, which does a bunch of tricky things, including transcoding. But, nevertheless, the finickyness of the console has to be fought quite often. In my experience, Xbox often loses the network, refuses to read some formats that it previously read (is treated with a reboot), refuses to rewind many files, etc.

To summarize, I would not recommend taking the Xbox for media streaming purposes. But if you already have it, or you like to play, and you don’t want to put another device near the TV, then the console can do the task quite well (but far from ideal). Sometimes, however, a tambourine may be thoroughly needed and you will have to put up with it.

Smart TV

Personally, I got to use Phillips' SmartTVs, but I suspect that this is the case with other manufacturers. Oh, that's where I'd like to pour a ton of negativity. Not only is it almost impossible to buy a TV without this functionality, i.e. we are forcibly forced to pay for this thing, so it just works very badly. The interface itself scrolls through strained so much that it seems that the contacts on the boards inside are so thin that the electrons have to squeeze through one by one. Glitches, bugs, freezes - all this is about SmartTV. Almost everything in it is terrible - from displaying folders only in a vertical list in one column and unwillingness to display this list in full (sometimes it gets stuck at a certain moment and that's all) to the inability to normally play heavy files without lags, even when they are connected locally.

Thus, if your TV has a Smart inscription, I would strongly recommend that you abandon this functionality in favor of a separate device if you want fast and stable work.

Good old PC

The only thing that in my experience was better than a western was a good old PC. Winda communicates with Windows, everyone has a well-known interface and functionality, the absence of any crutches and ethnic percussion instruments during tuning ... grace. This option it seems to me almost ideal, although in normal mode I still cannot use a PC as a media streamer due to the lack of a separate device for this purpose. Now I am limited to connecting a laptop via HDMI, but even that, IMHO, is more convenient than all of the above. So, all PCs!

What are the plans?

Of course, for the system to work perfectly, I have to change a lot of what I have, if not all. I will definitely need:

• separate NAS with specialized software

Why am I leaning towards a ready-made version, and not towards “self-assembly”? First, it's simple and works out of the box, and ease of setup and troubleshooting is important to me. Secondly, there will be no need to deal with the rather turmoil-intensive and time-consuming process of selecting components. Thirdly, with a NAS I buy not only a piece of hardware, but also specialized software that will distribute the media library, make backups, and work with a personal cloud, and much much more. Again, this is all out of the box. Of course, this solution has disadvantages, such as a higher price and low upgradeability, but personally I am satisfied with this. At the moment I like the Synology DS1513 + for a number of reasons, but not the fact that I will choose it.

• a lot of twisted pair

No matter how good WiFi is, if it is possible to make a reliable wired connection to a stationary component, it is worth doing it. Of course, this means a lot of editing work. it is not convenient to pull the cable anywhere, but you still have to do it if you really want a stable connection.

• nettops or something like that

As I said, my favorite option is with the PC as the client of the media network. It is convenient to use, it has the widest range of possibilities, it is easy to customize, etc. I see this option as a small low-power PC (nettop), which is placed / hung behind the TV. Its tasks are reduced to communication over the network, video playback and browsing. By the way, adequate browsing on TV is possible only with the help of a PC - the rest is just darkness, which is another significant plus in his piggy bank. Considering the tasks, it turns out not very expensive, tk. with a head, the option with built-in graphics is enough, and even a power supply unit can be started external, which will only increase the level of miniature design. As a remote I plan to use a wireless keyboard with a touchpad, for example, the Logitech K400. It seems to me that it will be very convenient.

findings

It's easy to create your own media network. Most likely this can be done with the means you already have. But if you want to achieve really perfect system operation, especially if you need to broadcast to more than one device, it is very likely that you will have to sweat with ritual dances.

In this article, I shared my own experience of creating a home network and working with various devices, as well as a vision of how everything should be ideally. I hope this material was useful to you. I do not pretend to be an expert and I fully admit that I did something wrong, so I will be glad to hear your opinion on this issue in the comments.

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Today you will learn how to properly connect a TV to a computer and about all the possibilities of such a connection, as well as how to organize viewing of your media library on Smart TV and other devices that support your home DLNA server.

What is DLNA?

The Integrated Digital Networking Network (DLNA) Consortium is a group of companies that have joined together to create a generally accepted open standard for connecting devices so that all DLNA-enabled customers can automatic modebeing in the same network, receive from each other the ability to view media content.

What devices support DLNA?

DLNA technology is compatible with any device:

• smart TVs;
• smartphones and tablets;
• PCs and laptops;
• media players and Blu-ray players;
• game consoles;
• home media servers (NAS);
• wireless printers;
• photo and video cameras;
• audio system.

All DLNA-enabled devices have a corresponding logo or sticker indicating the type of digital content supported (for example, audio, video, photos), as well as the purpose: server, printer, player, etc. Most devices from major manufacturers such as Intel, HP, Motorola, HTC, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, etc. have DLNA support. Apple has developed its own standard - AirPlay. If you have a device from Apple, then using it in your media network consisting of clients from other manufacturers is not possible.

How does DLNA network work?

As you already understood, DLNA devices are designed for interconnection: creating a multimedia network among themselves. Each device is assigned its own type depending on its purpose. For example, any storage device: smartphone, media player, TV or PC, can belong to both the type of digital media server ( Digital media Server) and digital media player (Digital Media Player) because they are capable of both receiving and playing digital content from another DLNA device.

How to create a DLNA network?

A wireless router (or wi-fi router) is the centerpiece of a network and is used to connect devices to each other in a shared home. wireless network.

Equipment for building a home network with DLNA

You will need:

• dLNA TV;
• dLNA digital media server (for example, file server, PC, laptop or media player with HDD);
• wi-fi router.

I will talk about building a DLNA network not only with a wireless connection, you can also use a wired method of connecting devices, instead of a wi-fi router, use a regular router (switch) to connect a file source (home server - DLNA server) with a display device (DLNA customer). You can also use (to distribute the Internet through the power grid), in addition to this, you will need Ethernet cables to connect devices to your network.

How to set up a DLNA home media server?

1 Connecting a TV with DLNA support to a wi-fi router (for example, Samsung with Smart TV).

Option 1 - wired connection... Connect with an Ethernet cable to the router. It is enough to connect one end of the cable to the LAN port of the TV, and the other to a free port of the router (or switch, depending on the structure of your network).

Option 2 - wireless connection... If you are using a wi-fi router ( wireless router), then simply connect the TV to an existing wireless network via the built-in or external (USB) wifi adapterdirectly to the router. If the TV is far from the router, then you can install a wireless bridge (use the router in Bridge mode or buy) to connect the TV to the router. I also recommend reading the article about. The wireless bridge is connected to the TV via the LAN port, and to the router via a wi-fi access point.

Option 3 - Connect with Powerline Adapters. This type The connection uses the mains power grid without Ethernet cabling. This method will help you set up your home network using your existing electrical wiring and no cables are required to connect DLNA clients. Powerline adapters are produced by almost all manufacturers of network equipment: TP-Link, Netgear, D-Link, etc. They are called Powerline devices. Next, you just connect the plug of the router, TV and other devices to the power outlet as usual, but now all your devices will form a DLNA network.

2 Adding Other DLNA Compatible Devices to Your Home Network

Now you can connect DLNA servers (devices from which you want to play files on your smart TV) to the router - PC, laptop, phone or media player. All servers will be displayed on the smart TV, since they are on the same network, and content that is stored on their media can be played. Exists different ways settings for various types of devices on the DLNA network.

DLNA PCs and Laptops

Connect your computer or laptop to your router or router using any of the above options. The most important point in setting up DLNA on a PC or laptop: the need to install the appropriate program - a media center (media shell). The most popular of them (for each program there is a link with information about it and settings):

• Serviio

It is possible not to install media center applications to create a DLNA server, but to use Windows Media Player 11 or 12. To use them as a DLNA server, you must allow access to files on your laptop or PC: open Windows Media Player, go to the Options menu, then click the general access to windows files Media and activate media sharing.

Kodi media center interface window

You can choose a media shell to use as a DLNA server from the list above. After installing the program you like to create a media center (DLNA server), you should configure it and select files (photo, video, music files) for transmission to your TV or other display device.

DLNA mobile devices

3 DLNA setup on TV

After you have connected all DLNA devices, turn on the TV and go to the home screen of your Smart TV (for example samsung TV). Search for and launch the AllShare app to find music, photos and videos stored on DLNA devices on your network.

If you have a Sony TV (pre-2015 model), then you need to turn it on, press the Home button and turn on the Media Player. Once you select the type of content: music, photos or videos, you can see the DLNA servers on your home network.

4 Using DLNA on Android OS

To watch video from a computer on smartphones and tablets with an operating android system you need to install special application... There are quite a few such applications, I can recommend MediaHouse or Bubble UPnP, which can be downloaded for free on Google Play.

After you install the application, you need to take a few simple steps:

• select a source - your computer or other device with DLNA support and installed, from which you will watch the video;
• select a receiver, that is, your Android device;
• select a video from the list of available files.

Besides universal applications, mobile device manufacturers offer their own DLNA-enabled software. Have samsung - AllShare, LG - SmartShare, etc.

Using DLNA-enabled apps on Android devices requires no configuration. It is enough to start a DLNA server (for example, Kodi on a computer), and it will immediately appear in the list of available connections in the application on a smartphone or tablet. Select your computer from the list, click “Browse” and select the required folder. Don't forget that your smartphone can also act as a DLNA server.

In previous articles I wrote about changing the conditions for connecting monetization: the introduction of a threshold of 10,000 and new requirements for youTube media networks... Today, as I promised, I am writing about how to connect to the media network on YouTube, regardless of its choice.

The new YouTube requirements are created in order to have time to check the channel as best as possible before connecting to monetization. These include the mandatory connection to the direct video hosting affiliate program: linking the channel to your Adsense account and getting YouTube approval after 10,000 views. You will have to send and accept applications manually, as you might have guessed - you will also need to control the entire process yourself.

Connecting to a Media Network: Preparing a Channel

Connecting a YouTube channel to the media network begins with confirmation by phone. Note that you can link no more than two accounts per year to one number. I will write more about this in a future article.
The next step is connecting the YouTube direct affiliate program. If your channel already has monetization enabled, you will be immediately prompted to create an account:


If your channel is new and monetization has not been enabled, you will be prompted to connect affiliate program YouTube and then set up monetization. maybe youTube monetization will not be available for your channel when it has violations:

You can now move on to linking your channel to AdSense. If you already have an AdSense account, linking the channel will be faster, and if you don't, you will need to create adsense accountby following the instructions in this article.
The application is reviewed within 48 hours, then you will receive approval and connection to Adsense, provided that your channel is fully compliant.
Only after you create an Adsense account can you automatically set up monetization on all your videos.

If you want to create a home entertainment network based on your TV and computer, which will provide all the possibilities for playing content different formatthen you might be wondering how to set up your home media server. Let's explore how to install the server creation software and then see what features it provides to users.

Computer and TV connection

Before you start setting up a home media server, you need to resolve the issue of connecting your computer to your TV. It is better to carry out a wired connection of devices using a LAN cable and a router. Of course, you can use a wireless connection, but then you become dependent on antenna power and the presence / absence of obstacles.

To avoid possible problems with Full HD movie playback, it is best to use a LAN cable, carefully routing it between your computer, router and TV.

The router, of course, must be configured to access the network, otherwise no media server will work. If you have figured out the question of how to configure the Internet on Windows 7, then you can proceed directly to installing and configuring the program.

Program installation

Download the distribution kit of the program to start installing it. It is better to download from the official site, as the current and tested version of the utility is located here. You can choose between two types of download - as a * .exe file or in archive format. There is no difference between them, so choose according to your taste.

The installation process itself is extremely simple: you just need to specify the directory in which the application's executable files will be stored, and decide whether you need to create a program shortcut on the desktop.

After assigning the installation parameters, click the "Install" button. Wait until the installation is complete to start configuring the program.

Program setting

When you first start the program, it should appear with the initial settings, where you need to select your media device.
Depending on the type of equipment you specified, the "Built-in support" field will display a comma-separated list of supported formats.

If your TV can play some formats that are not in the "Built-in support" field, then check the "Custom device" item. Manually write the formats supported by your hardware and click Next to go to the next settings window.

In the "Media Resource Directories" window, you need to make the directories visible for your device ("share") or local and network drives... By default, standard folders are open, but in order not to be confused with them, it is better to allow access to local drives. To perform this procedure, select the checkboxes of the drives that you want to make available through the media server and click the Scan button.

You can also manually add directories or external media. To do this, click the "Add" button, select the directory you need and start the scanning process.

After scanning local and removable drives in the program interface, you can see full list audio, video and photos stored on your computer.

Remember that the more multimedia information the program has to check, the longer it will take to start, so do not overdo it with the number of "shared" directories.

The next setting item is parameters reserve copy... You can specify your storage path backupused to restore the program data, or leave it as it is.

After clicking the "Run" button, the process of creating a backup copy will start. You can specify which parameters you want to save in the backup file by ticking them. After completing the data backup procedure, click the "Close" button.

Server start

After configuring all important parameters, you can proceed directly to turning on the DLNA server on your computer. To do this, click on the "Start" button - a message will appear on the screen that the start was successful.

After starting the server, you need to turn on the TV. If the connection is established correctly, it will appear on the "Playback Devices" tab in the program. If the list is empty, update it with special button in the panel on the right.

Test the server by running files from your computer on your TV screen:

If the Home Media Server program is configured correctly, the file you are running from your computer will appear on the TV screen. But opening media files from a computer is not always convenient, so you need to learn how to additionally run them directly on the TV.

To prevent the program from interfering with you on your computer, close it by clicking on the red cross. The home server will not shut down because the application will not shut down completely, but will only be minimized to the system tray.

Viewing files on TV

After setting up the server on the computer, you can go to the TV and try to open the "shared" folders through it. On different models TV connection to the created server is done in its own way. For example, LG devices have built-in smart app Share.

Select the created home server as the signal source. If such an item is not in the list, update the list of sources.

Remember to configure your firewall by temporarily disabling it; otherwise, the firewall will block the TV's attempts to connect to the home server.

After selecting the signal source, you will see a directory of folders, among which there will be directories "shared" on the computer. You can run the available files and watch them on your TV screen.

Application possibilities

The Home Media Server software provides users with several interesting features to extend the functionality of a conventional TV to a true home entertainment center.

Interactive television

To take full advantage of interactive broadcasting, you can set up Rostelecom television. But there is another option that allows you to do without concluding an additional agreement with the provider - download an interactive television playlist and run it through your home media server.

For IPTV to work, you need to install the VLC Player program. The installation of this application will not cause any difficulty even for a novice user, since the convenient installation wizard does everything automatically - all you have to do is click the "Next" button.

The next step is to restart the home media server, which is done by pressing a special button on the top panel of the program.

After that, you can go to the TV and select the "Internet TV" folder in the media server directory. If you downloaded the working playlist and installed it correctly, you will see a list of the channels presented in it.

Of course, this is not the most convenient option for playing interactive television, especially if the user has a Smart TV or an IPTV function from the provider is configured. However, if there is nothing but a home server, then using the Home Media Server program can be called the most adequate solution.

If your TV does not support Smart TV, but you want to be able to watch online broadcasts, you can delegate some of the Smart TV functions to the Home Media Server program using the installed podcasts.

Podcasts in this case are files that allow you to directly run online cinemas on your TV. For example, on the forum of the official site of the Home Media Server application it is fashionable to download a podcast for playing and managing video files from social network In contact with.

Download the desired podcast to your computer and drop it into the main program window, as you did with the interactive TV playlist file.

Expand the "Podcasts" section and select your downloaded live streaming app. Right-click on it and select "Update".

Wait for the update process to finish and go to your TV. Find the "Podcasts" folder and select the application downloaded via the media server inside it.