How To: Stream movies wirelessly from a computer to a TV
The influx of smart devices can most easily be observed
through the progress of televisions. Previously, most people thought of
their TVs as nothing more than a display and everything after that was
extra. To watch movies on demand, for instance, you had to connect a
DVD/Blu-Ray player and play content from there. Nowadays, the TV has the
potential of providing completely different experiences, especially
when you look at the wider “living room entertainment” concept. In this
post we will be taking a look at the different ways you can use to
stream movies from your computer to your TV without connecting the two
with a cable.
DLNA
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and its eponymous tech
promised to change the future of the living room experience and, in some
ways, it did accomplish that. Though services like Netflix are now
considered kings of the movie streaming market, DLNA-enabled devices are
still an extremely popular choice for home media streaming. This
technology is embedded into a huge range of devices and many people do
not even know about it. For instance, DLNA is included in the vast
majority of smart TVs, in modern Blu-Ray players, in most (Android)
smartphones and in gaming consoles including the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3
and PS4.
To stream content with this technology, all you have to do is set up a
server in your computer which can be accomplished with a ton of apps
and services including Windows Media Player and Universal Media Server.
For WMP: Click on the Stream dropdown menu and
select the “Automatically allow devices to play my media” option. You
should also click on the “Turn on media streaming” option in case you
need to configure additional settings for the server. To add more
sources, click on the Organize menu and select the “manage Libraries”
option. Select the appropriate type (Music, Pictures, Videos) and then
select your desired folders via the Library Locations window.
For UMS: All you have to do is install and run the
app in your PC and it will automatically gather content from every area
of your PC. Since this may list a lot of undesirable items, it is
generally a good idea to set up specific folders. To do that, go to the
Navigation/Share Settings tab, remove all the drives and press on the
Folder icon to browse your computer and select the specific folders
which contain your multimedia files. Whenever you make a change to UMS,
it is a good idea to click on the “Restart Server” button located at the
top too.
Once you have actually set up a DLNA server, open the interface of
your DLNA-enabled device and your PC should appear on the listed of
connected devices. The exact area differs depending on the device but it
should be very easy to find. For instance, Smart TVs will simply show
your PC in their network list whereas your console will need a media
player app (the native ones work just fine) to find and play multimedia
content from the network.
Streaming sticks and boxes
2nd and 1st Chromecast Generations
When my friends and I finally decided to buy a Chromecast for our
living room, the way we watched movies changed completely. No longer did
we have to connect our laptops to the TV and mess around with cables as
everything we wanted was a few clicks/taps away as Google’s tiny little
stick streamed content from a variety of sources including Netflix in
our Android devices and Chrome in our laptops.
Apple TV 4
Of course, you do not have to buy a Chromecast to enjoy the same
functionality. Those who are heavily invested into the wider Google
ecosystem can enjoy additional features with Google’s product but there
are a lot of similar devices nowadays that do almost the same
thing with slight differences depending on the device. For instance,
owners of iOS/OS X devices should instead turn to Apple TV, a set-top
box that allows users to not only stream content directly from services
like Netflix and iTunes but also to stream content from other devices.
Here are some basic guidelines for the most popular devices of this
kind:
Apple TV: OS X users can stream content and mirror
their devices through AirPlay without much of a setup. However, a
third-party app is highly advised in order to get the best quality and
performance. There are several options out there, including Plex and AirParrot
depending on what you want to do. I would suggest downloading the free
Plex Media Server app and then grabbing the Plex app from the Apple TV
Store. You will need to set up Plex by adding your multimedia content
but everything will be free so the trade is worth it.
Roku: The Roku set-top box also offers a huge range
of options including Plex. The setup process is mostly the same as the
one for Apple TV though you will have to select the Plex channel on Roku
instead of downloading a dedicated app.
Fire TV/Stick: Amazon’s streaming devices support
Miracast, a WiFi-based technology designed specifically for mirroring
content. To enable it, go to Settings > Display and Sounds >
Enable Display Mirroring. Then, use your second, Miracast-enabled device
to connect and share multimedia content. Miracast-enabled devices
include many modern Windows 8.1+ laptops and a ton of Android
smartphones starting from 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Chromecast: The easiest way to stream content with Chromecast is to get the Google Cast extension
for Chrome. The browser allows you to drag and drop multimedia files
onto it and you can then click on a single button to share with the
Chromecast. Another option is to use Plex’s web interface and cast items
directly from the web server, a viable choice because it will
completely eliminate any lag by streaming content directly from the Plex
Media Server.
Troubleshooting
Streaming movies from your computer to a TV is absolutely amazing but
many give up early as the process can be extremely frustrating at
times. If you are one of the lucky few, setting up a server and then
playing content from your PC will work immediately, otherwise you will
be left in sheer confusion over what has gone wrong. It all depends on
the devices and services you are using so feel free to drop a comment
down below and I will try to help as soon as possible.
this topic Copy
Transported
How To: Stream movies wirelessly from a computer to a TV
تمت مراجعته من قبل Unknown
في
mai 27, 2018
تقييم: 5
Aucun commentaire: