Jerky TV HD over DLNA setup

[doane2u]

I have my PC ASUS RT-N56U hooked up to my Panasonic 720HD TV with a CAT6 cable and it works fine for streaming Netflix, Pandora, etc., but using the DLNA setup it really boggs down on HD videos played from the PC file folders and it's worse if I use the WiFi connection. I tried disabling the firewall and it made no difference. I set the TV for automatic IP and manual, and it makes no difference. I'm not sure where to look for the problem. The HD videos play just fine on the PC itself.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[doane2u]

Any ideas on where to start checking? I'm sure some of you must know a lot about this?

I ran the CAT6 cable about 100 feet from the office computer to the living room where the TV is. About 30 feet of the run on the outside of the house it's tied to an existing Comcast cable with cable ties.. is that a problem, or does the shielding protect it enough to not worry about it?

Thanks,

 

[azazel1024]

What DLNA server? I've had issues with Windows built in DLNA server attempting to stream to media players in the past where things would buffer like crazy every few seconds. 3rd party DLNA servers worked fine. This was from a pretty decently spec'd Windows 7 machine over a wired connection and it had problems (SMB streaming and 3rd party DLNA software worked great).

 

[AdvHomeServer]

I own an RTN56U, although it's retired now. i used it for a DLNA server using a usb drive. A sony dvd player worked as the receiver. It worked fine for MP3 music and all movie formats it could support.

I also streamed to the TV from Serviio on my PC and QNAP NAS and it worked fine.

I'm guessing you have a transcoding problem. The PC is attempting to translate one video format to another on the fly. This takes a lot of processing power. Depending on what you are trying to do, some PCs can't do it. For example, I can't tabcast via Chromecast on a PC of mine with a passmark score of about 1400 without it being jerky and really unwatchable. Apps designed for chromecast work fine, however.

 

[doane2u]

Here's what I have:
Home Built:

MOB: Gigabype GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68
w/ onboard Realtec LAN

PS: Corsair CTX750M

CPU: Intel Quad Core i7-2600 3.4GHZ LGA 11555

Memory: F.Skill 16GB (4x4GB) Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 SDRAM

Video: EVGA GTX650 2gb

Sound: Sound Blaster PCIe X-Fi Extreme Music

HD: C: SATA WD 320GB

HD: D: SATA WD 750GB

Windows 7 Pro 64x SP1

Assus RTN56 router/wifi

Comcast cable comes into their modem and output goes to the Assus input. Lan output on Assus goes to Computer, OOMA internet phone, and by CAT6 across the house to the TV input which is a Panasonic 720pHD plasma.

When I play a 720HD MP4 movie on the computer it plays fine, in any program, but when I try to play the same file on the TV there is constant lag.. it will play for about 15 to 30 seconds and then freeze sporadically, then play for a bit and so on. I do have this problem on the computer if I try to play a 1080pHD MP4 movie, but only in certain programs, like ACDSee.. they play fine in WMP12 and in the Quicktime player.

I'm not very knowledgeable about network setups and what the best options are. I had the TV set to automatically detect IP, etc. and then tried it manually set, and then manually with a different IP end number put in and it didn't seem to have any improvement to the video playback

 

[AdvHomeServer]

You're just going to have to troubleshoot. The i7 is probably ok.

• Can you play lower quality videos ok?
• Have you tried another DLNA server? Serviio is free although you get additional features if you register, and has a good reputation. Google for others. Serviio supports transcoding and detects DLNA receivers and adjusts for them.
• Do you have another DLNA receiver that can send the video to the TV via HDMI?

 

[doane2u]

You're just going to have to troubleshoot. The i7 is probably ok.

• Can you play lower quality videos ok?

• 
  
  On the computer it seems to only be the 1080p MP4s that have a problem, and only in one program, ACDSee file organizer. With Quicktime playing them, or with MediaMonkey, which I believe uses Quicktime, they play OK.. maybe a bit rough but not bad. The file association for mp4's is set up to use MediaMonkey, I tried Quicktime associated and it made no difference on the TV end
  From the TV end, I can play other music files and WMA videos, and MTS AVCHD 1080 videos play fine. I wonder if maybe this is a media acceptance problem with my 3 year old Panasonic TV?
  
  When I stream internet movies from Netflix they generally play fine, but from Amazon, they frequently say I don't have enough band width for 1080p HD, even though my online down load tests show 28 MBs
  
  
  

  [*]Have you tried another DLNA server? Serviio is free although you get additional features if you register, and has a good reputation. Google for others. Serviio supports transcoding and detects DLNA receivers and adjusts for them.

  
  No, I may have to try that
  
  

  [*]Do you have another DLNA receiver that can send the video to the TV via HDMI?

No, I just have my computer set up with the Windows 7

 

[doane2u]

I just did an experiment. My Panasonic Viera TCP50X3 can play media from SD cards. I copied the mp4 720p movie and the 1080p movie files I was not able to play with the DLNA setup onto an SD card and just played them on the TV that way and they ran completely smoothly, even better then on my PC!

Maybe it is the DLNA server software?

 

[AdvHomeServer]

I just did an experiment. My Panasonic Viera TCP50X3 can play media from SD cards. I copied the mp4 720p movie and the 1080p movie files I was not able to play with the DLNA setup onto an SD card and just played them on the TV that way and they ran completely smoothly, even better then on my PC!

Maybe it is the DLNA server software?

Looks like you're spiraling in on it.

FYI My DVD player has DLNA built in with many apps such as Netflix and Amazon. Many other devices also have DLNA but many popular streaming devices DO NOT include DLNA; probably to support their advertisers. Consider apps as advertisers. They would rather you use their apps than your own media files. Don't ask me why ... I don't know. You can kludge one together with Plex on those devices but you need a full 24/7 Plex server to feed the Plex receiver. It's supposed to be a popular solution. I like using more passive DLNA equipment, such as routers with USB drives or NAS as servers and components with DLNA recerivers built in.

Also, nobody was born with this knowledge built in. We all got it by troubleshooting our own problems. All people like me can do is offer suggestions. You are the one who has to fix it.

 

[azazel1024]

Just download one of the various free DLNA services for windows and try it out. I doubt it'll take you more than an hour and then you'll know for sure.

 

[doane2u]

I installed the Serviio server and did a scan of my video file folders and then tried the DLNA connection to the TV. The results are about the same... maybe a bit better on the HD 1920x1080 MP4 that was so bad before, hard to tell, but a HD 1920x1080 mov videos that runs very smoothly on the Windows server is very jerky using Serviio. I do have enable transcoding checked in the options delivery tab.
I'm just wondering if there is some setup for my lan in the ASSUS router settings that needs to be changed? I don't know enough about it to know what to change or how to do it. I had read something about having an IP address for each device connected. On the Assus I have the internet phone, my PC and the TV connected with cable, and the WiFi is available for our iPhones and our renter downstairs for their laptop internet connection, which they don't use that much.

 

[AdvHomeServer]

I installed the Serviio server and did a scan of my video file folders and then tried the DLNA connection to the TV. The results are about the same... maybe a bit better on the HD 1920x1080 MP4 that was so bad before, hard to tell, but a HD 1920x1080 mov videos that runs very smoothly on the Windows server is very jerky using Serviio. I do have enable transcoding checked in the options delivery tab.
I'm just wondering if there is some setup for my lan in the ASSUS router settings that needs to be changed? I don't know enough about it to know what to change or how to do it. I had read something about having an IP address for each device connected. On the Assus I have the internet phone, my PC and the TV connected with cable, and the WiFi is available for our iPhones and our renter downstairs for their laptop internet connection, which they don't use that much.

1) You already have IP addresses for each connected device. DHCP does that for you. Nothing would come through if you did not have an IP address for a connected device.

2) Don't know about other Asus RTN56U setup options. Take a look at the user guide. Sign into it and look around, then look up via Google what you see that looks like it might be involved. Swap cables.

3) SD cards are not the same as DLNA. Different circuits. You're pushing 1080P into a 720P TV. Try downgrading the video and see if it works. Visually, you should notice little to no difference unless you're watching hi def animation. If so, the kids won't notice or care.

4) Try streaming something not 1080P into your 720P TV. Download something from YouTube (google for suitable software) and see if it streams via DLNA.

5) If you have a DVD player, does it have DLNA capabilities? If so, stream to it and use HDMI to pull from the DVD player.

6) The Serviio forum has a lot of technical advice. Take a look.

Otherwise, out of ideas. My old RTN56U streamed media just fine. I didn't change much of anything. I used it plain vanilla except I also used it as a DLNA server with a USB drive attached. It's probably one of the finest routers ever made. Even though it's N600, it's still a great router many that meets most family's practical needs.

 

[Shelbrain]

I have had good luck with Universal Media Server:
http://www.universalmediaserver.com/

 

[doane2u]

OK, everyone, I'll let you know if I have a solution. I guess no one else has run into this, besides those saying the Serviio, or some other server, solved their problem?

I assume I can connect the TV directly to the computer using the LAN cable?

Would a good test be to hook the Lan CAT6 cable, that is now plugged into the Asus router, directly to the LAN port on the computer and see if I still have the stuttering problem?

PS: This moring I was using the Serviio server from the TV and it isn't able to play a lot of media file types that will play fine using the windows server. I wonder what's wrong?

 

[AdvHomeServer]

OK, everyone, I'll let you know if I have a solution. I guess no one else has run into this, besides those saying the Serviio, or some other server, solved their problem?

I assume I can connect the TV directly to the computer using the LAN cable?

Would a good test be to hook the Lan CAT6 cable, that is now plugged into the Asus router, directly to the LAN port on the computer and see if I still have the stuttering problem?

PS: This moring I was using the Serviio server from the TV and it isn't able to play a lot of media file types that will play fine using the windows server. I wonder what's wrong?

That's not the advice you received. You got, from me at least, about a dozen good ideas on how to troubleshoot your problem. On my blog I have a piece entitled About Free Advice. I think I'll add a bullet point to it thanks to this exchange with you. (Edit: Done)

 

[doane2u]

1) You already have IP addresses for each connected device. DHCP does that for you. Nothing would come through if you did not have an IP address for a connected device.

OK, I didn't know each one had a different IP. Like I said, I'm not very knowledgeable about intranet and all the myriad terms. Yes, I know, a little knowledge is dangerous

2) Don't know about other Asus RTN56U setup options. Take a look at the user guide. Sign into it and look around, then look up via Google what you see that looks like it might be involved. Swap cables.

Have looked at the user guide, there is very little in it except for initial settings, which I checked. I've also waded through the many, many different sections of the Asus configuration setup screen and I have no idea what changes would be relevant, that's why I'm here.
I can't swap cables because the TV is 50' away, but it's a brand new CAT6 cable.. maybe I can get a cable checker some place, but that was one of the reasons I was asking if a good test would be to connect the TV directly to the computer to bypass the router, and no one answered me.

3) SD cards are not the same as DLNA. Different circuits. You're pushing 1080P into a 720P TV. Try downgrading the video and see if it works. Visually, you should notice little to no difference unless you're watching hi def animation. If so, the kids won't notice or care.

Yes I know the card isn't the same as the DLNA, but why would a 1080p HD mov file play smoothly while the same size mp4 doesn't? And why does the mov video play fine using the windows server, but hardly play at all using the Serviio server?

4) Try streaming something not 1080P into your 720P TV. Download something from YouTube (google for suitable software) and see if it streams via DLNA.

Yes, they steam fine, but again, mp4's are a bit jerky at 720p and the TV is a Plasma HD 720p If it were just a resolution problem, wouldn't the SD card test have failed too? Or is it just because it's the combination of being DLNA?

5) If you have a DVD player, does it have DLNA capabilities? If so, stream to it and use HDMI to pull from the DVD player.

No, it doesn't, but I am getting a new Samsung Blueray player soon with this feature and will try it out.

6) The Serviio forum has a lot of technical advice. Take a look.

I haven't started invading them yet as I was hoping to get some help here. If you are all still convinced it is a server problem I'll try them next.

Otherwise, out of ideas. My old RTN56U streamed media just fine. I didn't change much of anything. I used it plain vanilla except I also used it as a DLNA server with a USB drive attached. It's probably one of the finest routers ever made. Even though it's N600, it's still a great router many that meets most family's practical needs.

Last night I reconnected the Wifi receiver on the TV and reconfigured the TV for Wifi using the WPS pin code setup method. I connected using DLNA to the computer by Wifi and the mp4 1080p movies I had trouble with before were only slightly jerky. Something is really messed up, does this mean I have a bad cable? My whole reason to install the cable was to get around wifi lag problems I've had watching net movies and cable is supposed to be much faster then wifi.

Again, can I attach the cable directly to the PC, bypassing the router and would that be a good test to see if the cable is bad or if maybe I have a bad Asus unit?

Advhomeserver: I wasn't ignoring your advice, I should have remarked about your post before, so am doing it now. Certainly didn't mean to offend you.

Thanks,

 

[doane2u]

Fixed!

OK, this morning I kept playing around with things. I took a look at the Serviio setup again and found the console has setups for different ip connected devices. I checked on my Panasonic Viera and noted what IP it is using. In Serviio on the Status Tab, for my IP there were 5 Panasonic choices, two of them for 2011 (my TV year). The first one I tried, I started the server, saved it and went and checked the TV..there was no difference. I then changed and saved for the second one, Panasonic Viera G/GT/DT/UT/VT (2011/20) The mov files that wouldn't play before are now fine. The 768p and 1080p mp4s and even the 4k mp4s are ALL playing smooth as silk now, I can't believe it!

Thanks everyone for suggesting the Serviio server, this was the solution. But if some one asks again you might want to suggest they check the IP setup, that I discovered myself, that's the final solution, at least, in my case.

Thanks everyone

 

[jolinzhu622520]

I have my PC ASUS RT-N56U hooked up to my Panasonic 720HD TV with a CAT6 cable and it works fine for streaming Netflix, Pandora, etc., but using the DLNA setup it really boggs down on HD videos played from the PC file folders and it's worse if I use the WiFi connection. I tried disabling the firewall and it made no difference. I set the TV for automatic IP and manual, and it makes no difference. I'm not sure where to look for the problem. The HD videos play just fine on the PC itself.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

i just backup and convert DVD movies to NAS friendly video for streaming to DLNA compatible devices by using a third app named - Brorosft DVD Ripper.

For your question, i think you can try ther Video Converter to solve it .