Panasonic DLNA Client + Server

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nammacdac

22 posts

Geek

#87354 26-Jul-2011 20:42

I am looking at buying a Panasonic DMR-PWT500GZ; BluRay recorder + HDD and has DLNA client + server. I am interested in the feature to stream video from the unit to a remote TV. What type of connection does it require, I am hoping that it will work on a cable ethernet network.

Also what other usefull features does the DLNA client + server have?

Thanks

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#498253 26-Jul-2011 21:38

To start with, the second TV needs to be DLNA capable - and yes, some seem to work better than others.
Naturally, the Panasonic's work particularly well. My Pana plasma allows me to simply press the green 'Viera Cast' button, then move to 'Media Server', choose video or photo... so I can access any video or photos recorded off Freeview on the BluRay recorder.
It works just like it says it does... you still can't control recording etc from the 2nd TV, but being able to watch what you've recorded in a second room is mint.

Yup - ethernet is the best way to connect them. Plug an ethernet cable into your router, then the other end goes into the recorder. The second ethernet cable goes from the router, into the DLNA capable TV. Then turn on DLNA functionality on the recorder, and away you go.

The other part of the DLNA server... is that you can send the shows you record on Freeview to a Windows PC or Mac over wifi or ethernet. You'll need media software running on your PC, but it's pretty easy to do. Just click on the recorded show and copy it over your network to your computer. You should then be able to watch it on a media player like VLC. Heck, you can then use conversion software to copy it onto your mobile device. Pretty simple, if not a little time consuming. Certainly no more of a hassle than dealing with burning discs though! Oh yeah, the unit you're looking at isn't capable of burning recordings to discs...

The DLNA client aspect of the player allows you to view content from other DLNA servers (computers etc). This means you'll be able to see videos etc on your computer if you're running media server software... but I'm not sure about the Panasonic's codec compatibility.

timmmay

20578 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#498277 26-Jul-2011 22:48

Not entirely sure I understand this topic, but I know I use PS3 Media Server as a DLNA server, and it works well to my PS3 or direct to my Samsung TV. I expect it'd work to panasonic too.

nammacdac

22 posts

Geek

#498331 27-Jul-2011 07:33

Dunnersfella: To start with, the second TV needs to be DLNA capable - and yes, some seem to work better than others.
Naturally, the Panasonic's work particularly well. My Pana plasma allows me to simply press the green 'Viera Cast' button, then move to 'Media Server', choose video or photo... so I can access any video or photos recorded off Freeview on the BluRay recorder.
It works just like it says it does... you still can't control recording etc from the 2nd TV, but being able to watch what you've recorded in a second room is mint.

Yup - ethernet is the best way to connect them. Plug an ethernet cable into your router, then the other end goes into the recorder. The second ethernet cable goes from the router, into the DLNA capable TV. Then turn on DLNA functionality on the recorder, and away you go.

The other part of the DLNA server... is that you can send the shows you record on Freeview to a Windows PC or Mac over wifi or ethernet. You'll need media software running on your PC, but it's pretty easy to do. Just click on the recorded show and copy it over your network to your computer. You should then be able to watch it on a media player like VLC. Heck, you can then use conversion software to copy it onto your mobile device. Pretty simple, if not a little time consuming. Certainly no more of a hassle than dealing with burning discs though! Oh yeah, the unit you're looking at isn't capable of burning recordings to discs...

The DLNA client aspect of the player allows you to view content from other DLNA servers (computers etc). This means you'll be able to see videos etc on your computer if you're running media server software... but I'm not sure about the Panasonic's codec compatibility.

I currrently have a Panasonic V20 and when the analogue is shut down will buy another Panasonic to repace the second TV.

I am now thinking that as I have a gigabit network through the house I could place the DMR-PWT500GZ on the other side of the room to the TV. The TV and the PVR would have seperate network connections. The PVR would need an areial connection and as long as the TV was running off the media serfer it could play movies and live TV? through the network. I have my 50" V20 on the wall and do not wish to have any other devices visible.

Is this practical?

Thanks

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#498683 27-Jul-2011 20:41

I have the V20. Panasonic's built-in media server is somewhat limited in terms of codec compatibility.

So, I'm using serviio - a DLNA server that is super easy to set up on your PC and transcodes incompatible media on-the-fly to a format readable by Panasonic's media player. Seamless and in the background. Simply install, point it to your media files, select the Panasonic profile in serviio, and activate yout TV's media player (selecting the serviio server you've just set up).

www.serviio.org

Panasonic forum section - you'll want this so you can tweak the profile, although I can post my working profile if you guys want.

http://forum.serviio.org/viewforum.php?f=13

nammacdac

22 posts

Geek

#498691 27-Jul-2011 21:03

sultanoswing: I have the V20. Panasonic's built-in media server is somewhat limited in terms of codec compatibility.

So, I'm using serviio - a DLNA server that is super easy to set up on your PC and transcodes incompatible media on-the-fly to a format readable by Panasonic's media player. Seamless and in the background. Simply install, point it to your media files, select the Panasonic profile in serviio, and activate yout TV's media player (selecting the serviio server you've just set up).

www.serviio.org

Panasonic forum section - you'll want this so you can tweak the profile, although I can post my working profile if you guys want.

http://forum.serviio.org/viewforum.php?f=13

Thanks for that I have not heard of serviio before. I have purchased Mezzmo and find it to be reasonably good. The interface is simple but it has one or twe bugs in it. How good is serviio?

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#498727 27-Jul-2011 22:24

I'll give it a strong personal recommendation. Lots of comments about serviio from people on the forum suggest it's better than other alternatives they've tried, and it's just been officially recommended by Sony UK as the DLNA server of choice: http://www.serviio.org/news/40-sony-uk-recommends-serviio

For the price (free) it's hard to go wrong with at least trialing it! The worst that can happen is you feel bad about having paid for Mezzmo ;)

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#498750 27-Jul-2011 23:25

nammacdac:
I currrently have a Panasonic V20 and when the analogue is shut down will buy another Panasonic to repace the second TV.

I am now thinking that as I have a gigabit network through the house I could place the DMR-PWT500GZ on the other side of the room to the TV. The TV and the PVR would have seperate network connections. The PVR would need an areial connection and as long as the TV was running off the media serfer it could play movies and live TV? through the network. I have my 50" V20 on the wall and do not wish to have any other devices visible.

Is this practical?

Thanks

You know... I've never tried it...
But I think the Panasonic BluRay recorder won't be able to play a disc over the network to the TV.
I believe it has to drawing its data from the in-built HDD, not the optical drive.
So, close, but no cigar.
However, if you have an HDMI in the wall linking the two devices, life could be perfect.

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Lizard1977

2061 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#499966 31-Jul-2011 10:50

nammacdac:
sultanoswing: I have the V20. Panasonic's built-in media server is somewhat limited in terms of codec compatibility.

So, I'm using serviio - a DLNA server that is super easy to set up on your PC and transcodes incompatible media on-the-fly to a format readable by Panasonic's media player. Seamless and in the background. Simply install, point it to your media files, select the Panasonic profile in serviio, and activate yout TV's media player (selecting the serviio server you've just set up).

www.serviio.org

Panasonic forum section - you'll want this so you can tweak the profile, although I can post my working profile if you guys want.

http://forum.serviio.org/viewforum.php?f=13

Thanks for that I have not heard of serviio before. I have purchased Mezzmo and find it to be reasonably good. The interface is simple but it has one or twe bugs in it. How good is serviio?

I installed Serviio a couple of days ago, based on the recommendation here, because I too have had problems getting content from my PC to the TV (POS Panasonic codec compatibility). I'm stunned at how easy and effective Serviio is. I just pointed it at my files, chose the Panasonic Viera renderer profile, turned on transcoding, and bam, everything worked. I now have access to a whole bunch of stuff on my TV, over the wireless network. A slight stutter at the beginning, but it comes right very quickly. I'm thinking about donating to the Serviio project, something I've never felt moved to do before - I've never found a free piece of software which is as useful and as simple as this. A lot of stuff promises, but never quite delivers. This delivers in spades!

9/10

Lizard

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#499994 31-Jul-2011 13:18

I told you so ;)

Here is my profile, FWIW. It helped serviio detect and play a couple of errant mk4 files, as well as FLV's. It's tweaked from the included panasonic profile, which I didn't have all that much luck with. Simply paste this into your profiles.xml file (located on Windows under "Program Files (x86) > serviio > config") in place of the existing Panasonic profile.

It's pretty self-explanatory as to where and how you edit the profiles file... I renamed the 'Panasonic Viera' profile to 'Panasonic Viera Beta', for example. YMMV and of course I suggest backing up your stock profiles file.

Restart serviio after editing the file, then select "Panasonic Viera Beta" as your profile & see how you go.

<Profile id="12" name="Panasonic Viera Beta" extendsProfileId="1">
<ContentDirectoryMessageBuilder>org.serviio.upnp.service.contentdirectory.PanasonicDLNAMessageBuilder</ContentDirectoryMessageBuilder>
<SubtitlesMimeType>text/srt</SubtitlesMimeType>
<MediaFormatProfiles>
<MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/divx">AVI</MediaFormatProfile>
</MediaFormatProfiles>
<Transcoding>

<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetACodec="ac3">
<Matches container="matroska" vCodec="h264" aCodec="dca" />
</Video>

<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetACodec="ac3">
<Matches container="avi" vCodec="h264" />
<Matches container="mp4" vCodec="h264" />
<Matches container="matroska" vCodec="h264" />

<Matches container="mpegts" aCodec="aac" />
<Matches container="mpegts" aCodec="mp3" />
<Matches container="mpegts" aCodec="dca" />
</Video>

<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" targetACodec="ac3">
<Matches container="asf" />
<Matches container="mp4" />
<Matches container="matroska" />
</Video>
<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" targetACodec="ac3">
<Matches container="avi" vCodec="mpeg4" aCodec="lpcm" />
<Matches container="flv" />
</Video>
<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384">
<Matches container="avi" vCodec="h264" />
<Matches container="mp4" vCodec="h264" />
<Matches container="matroska" vCodec="h264" />
</Video>
<Audio targetContainer="mp3">
<Matches container="mp4" />
<Matches container="flac" />
<Matches container="ogg" />
</Audio>
</Transcoding>
</Profile>

Lizard1977

2061 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#500647 2-Aug-2011 08:06

I don't suppose anyone knows how I can get Serviio to transcode WMV files in the Panasonic Viera renderer profile? It's working fine for all my other files...

And along a similar line, does anyone know if there is a renderer profile to transcode files for the iPhone/iPad? I've got Media Link Player lite which can see all the files on Serviio, but because it's using the Generic DLNA profile, it won't transcode for the iPhone.

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#500747 2-Aug-2011 12:31

Try asking in the Panasonic section of the serviio forums.

You'll need to supply:

1) The ffmpeg info of the wmv in question

2) Your current profile (as I have shown an example of above).

It may be WMV - but that ciould just be the extension / shell. The actual encoding could be something else slightly odd.