Streaming to surround sound

Hi guys,

I want to stream my music and videos from my laptop to my smart tv via Wi-Fi so I can listen through my surround sound system.

I cannot seem to do it through the music and video apps in win 8.1

Anyone know how to set the apps to stream to DLNA devices?

Thanks

dakeb said:

Hi guys,

I want to stream my music and videos from my laptop to my smart tv via Wi-Fi so I can listen through my surround sound system.

I cannot seem to do it through the music and video apps in win 8.1

Anyone know how to set the apps to stream to DLNA devices?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi there
an easy way is to do it by REQUESTING the stream FROM the DLNA device - i.e get the DLNA device to read the file FROM the computer remotely !! and then pass this thru into the TV via an HDMI adapter.

For example I've installed ES-file explorer on my Samsung S4 phone.

I then browse the files on my remote computer via the LAN or FTP setting (it's a great Free android app) and then select the file(s) I want and choose the application on the DLNA device to play the multi-media file with and then input this from the phone into the TV with a phone to HDMI adapter cable - cheap / easily available everywhere.

I think HDMI will also play surround sound as well - the audio streams from MP4 / MKV seem OK. Samsung S4 phone has full 1080p output to TV's etc.

That's the cheapest and easiest way -. I'm not sure if you can install Apps on a smart TV but if you can then any FTP or remote file browser should work. The phone is simply the easiest way for me - and the surround output is already wired up from the TV.

For example I can't be bothered often to move a computer down to a TV and fiddle around with the connections so I can play a movie on the TV from the computer - so I just plug the phone in to the TV via a phone to HDMI cable , fire up ES FILE EXPLORER - select the remote file and play it with VLC (android) / MX player / Mobo player (all free apps).

So to re-cap

1) Laptop - enable the multi-media folders to be SHAREABLE.
2) Install VLC / MX player / Mobo player (all free) (video and some audio) also an audio only app say like Winamp -- on your PHONE and the remote file browser ES-FILE EXPLORER.
3) Connect phone adapter HDMI to TV
4) Browse with ES-File explorer (ON THE PHONE) to access your Music / video folders on your laptop
5) Play !!!! - No download etc is necessary to the phone either - so long as your Wi-Fi is good enough movies are perfect too -- just use the phone as the intermediate receiver to pass the movies through to the TV !!!!!

I have a HUGE TV in my loft - I'm not bringing laptops / network drives up there every time I want to watch a movie / play music -- the phone is much lighter and works 100%.

Iphones will also work too (different but similar apps - I'm sure apple store has these too).

Job done.

Cheers
jimbo

Hi jimbo

I'm not sure this will work for what I want to do.

I don't actually have any audio and video stored on the laptop. It's either on NAS drives or in the cloud. So there are no files to grab as such on the laptop.

Example, the win 8.1 video app accesses my home videos through its library, which are stored on the NAS drive. I want the video app to stream them to the tv, using the laptop as the front end to control what is playing. All done by smoke and mirrors (aka Wi-Fi), no cables to attach, and without using the phone.

I think I can do it from desktop using Windows media player, but I am trying to embrace win 8.1 by using the apps provided.

I can already do this from my android phone.

I'm beginning to think there are streaming restrictions deliberately in place for apps like Xbox music and spotify etc.

Hi there

Whatever system you have you need a SOURCE file and a TARGET application

For example when you stream a movie to the PC from the internet you are reading from the remote server and playing via the application (Internet explorer or another browser).

So you need AT LEAST two pieces of kit to make this work -- a SERVER of some sort to dish up your multimedia files and a Target application on which to play them.

Using the phone was for me the easiest solution -- reading the IP address of your NAS server would simply have worked whether or not the server was attached to the PC or not - so long as it was connected on your network.

The problem is as I see it is what application do you use say on the smart TV to play the media -- is there a "browser" type app. That's why I suggested using the HDMI adapter since you wouldn't need anything special on the smart TV (and this method will also work for "Non Smart" TV's too !!!).

For Audio there are various devices that receive the audio signal - but you still need a piece of hardware to connect the audio to your surround system (the old LOGITECH SQUEEZE system was one idea).

For multi-media you could also use a system knows as SLINGBOX

Buy SLINGBOX PRO-HD Media Streamer | Free Delivery | Currys

this is STILL a piece of kit you need to connect to your TV though.

Another possibility

How to enjoy multimedia contents sto... - Synology Inc. Network Attached Storage - NEW NAS Experience

(I still think the phone solution is the cheapest and easiest though !!).

You control what to play via the application ON THE PHONE -- the file browser via FTP or LAN can access the NAS files just as if it were a disk attached to the laptop --using a NAS and the phone can cut the PC right out of the equation completely !!! You don't need to download anything to the phone -- merely ensure the NAS is connected and active on your LAN. On the cloud it's even easier.

ES-FILE-EXPLORER has settings also to access your cloud servers -- as I said you can keep the whole PC just stored away it its case or whatever - you don't need one for this type of streaming. Download the app from Google play store and just check it out - it's quite FREE .

To repeat - you don't need to download ANY file to the phone - the player applications will just play the remote files as if they were stored on the phone itself -- and with decent Wi-Fi speeds you won't have a problem with decoding given the processing power of modern smart phones.

I agree if you want to avoid cables completely then that's another ballgame - Blue tooth isn't high enough quality for decent audio - especially uncompressed FLAC / WAV files - however the phone adapter is such a tiny piece of kit the inconvenience of the HDMI cable isn't a hassle - especially if you already have one for say a satellite box etc.

For a Samsung phone though you can do this for Wireless connection:

How To Connect Samsung Galaxy S4 To TV

Cheers
jimbo

Sometimes you don't have an accessible source file, e.g if it's streaming music off the cloud from the Xbox music app.

I have a DLNA enabled smart tv connected to a surround sound system with an optical cable.

All I need is for the app to stream it externally to the tv as a device.

I dint think spotify will stream either, but my tv has as version of spotify installed. I would prefer to use the laptop version though, it's better.

Hi there
That's something else though however if you can stream from the XBOX to your phone then the solutions should still work --I don't have an XBOX so I can't say -- however NETFLIX works brilliantly so does SKY GO -- they've hobbled the actual HDMI physical output from the phone but the Wi-Fi version works fine with the Samsung all share piece of kit !!!.

Netflix also hobble HDMI out via a physical cable from the phone too. !!!!

No wonder people pirate stuff or find hack arounds - especially when content you've PAID for can't be watched on a nice big screen !!!!


Samsung WI-FI All-Share Cast Hub, Wireless HDMI Display Adapter (Black)

Cheers
jimbo

Hi Jimbo, when I say Xbox I don't mean a physical Xbox I mean the Xbox app that is resident in Win8.1.

I may be able to stream using Samsung link as all my devices except the laptop are Samsung. It may require files to be resident on the home network to work though.

Thanks for your help

Hi there
the Samsung Wifi system mirrors the screen (in HD) on to the TV - if you use a streaming app like SKY GO / NETFLIX etc then you don't need a source file -- I usually have source files since I "acquire" content via download and play it later - but real time streamiong works fine such as the Netflix app on the phone.

Try this one as well (SKIFTA) -- great app. (requires Free registration though - just use a rubbish gmail account !!).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skifta.android.app&hl=en

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
the Samsung Wifi system mirrors the screen (in HD) on to the TV - if you use a streaming app like SKY GO / NETFLIX etc then you don't need a source file -- I usually have source files since I "acquire" content via download and play it later - but real time streamiong works fine such as the Netflix app on the phone.

Try this one as well (SKIFTA) -- great app. (requires Free registration though - just use a rubbish gmail account !!).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skifta.android.app&hl=en

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

Skifta might be what I am looking for. I will try it tonight. Unfortunately SkyGo is not supported on my galaxy note 3 yet, but I would only stream that to tv if I was visiting someone with a smart tv but no sky box.

I will be happy if I can stream spotify etc.from the laptop using it.

Thanks Jimbo

Skifta is great, easy to use, but it only streams stored content, not cloud.

dakeb said:

Skifta is great, easy to use, but it only streams stored content, not cloud.

Click to expand...

Hi there
Now I'm confused -- things like iTunes will work fine so too will audio -- services like Tunein for playing Internet radio - and Wi-fi-ing to remote screen should work just fine. ITunes don't require you to download anything just to PLAY a song - assuming your subscription level is relevant.

Whatever Cloud video service you use IT JUST HAS TO access the content via some sort of "PLAY" mechanism -- the result of the play is echoed to your remote screen - you don't have to store the content as a file before playing.

What is the Cloud service you are trying to access -- if things like Sky GO and NETFLIX work OK then your cloud server must presumably also have some type of "PLAYER APP". For example watching a live football match via SKY GO doesn't require me to download any content - I just "share" the phone screen with the TV via the Samsung piece of kit -- SKY GO disables the HDMI out cable on the phone !!!! (Bar Stewards !!!!).
Cheers
jimbo

Skifta seems to require you to locate a source, then a file, then an output device, then it plays that file only.

maybe I am doing something wrong, but if I play tracks using Spotify how would I get Skifta to transmit them?

(this is on the Skifta phone application - I didn't try it on the Laptop yet)

dakeb said:

Skifta seems to require you to locate a source, then a file, then an output device, then it plays that file only.

maybe I am doing something wrong, but if I play tracks using Spotify how would I get Skifta to transmit them?

(this is on the Skifta phone application - I didn't try it on the Laptop yet)

Click to expand...

Hi there
if you are playing SPOTIFY etc on the phone then either by using the HDMI adapter or better the WI-FI adapter you enable the Phone (SAMSUNG) to "Share the screen" and the video + Audio is Wi-Fi transmitted to your TV via the Wi-Fi adapter (that piece of kit I mentioned previously in this thread).

SPOTIFY Works fine like this -- audio output straight from TV into surround system.

You RUN the application ON THE PHONE simply mirroring your screen to the Wifi device and hence the TV.

(If your TV has Blue tooth and you only want audio then that's easy too - audio goes direct to blue tooth device - although for top quality audio blue tooth isn't that good --it's OK for typical compressed mp3 files from iTunes or internet radio quality).

Cheers
jimbo