I currently have the Pioneer Elite Blu-Ray on order at VE and I have a couple of questions regarding DLNA that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I already have a HTPC connected to a wired home network. I have approximately 100 movies stored on hard drives. These movies were copied to hard drives using "Windows Media Center 2005", "MyMovies" and "AnyDVD" to decrypt. They are stored in individual folders with the following format:

Movie Title\VIDEO_TS\

In each folder there are several files such as:

VIDEO_TS.BUP

VIDEO_TS.IFO

VIDEO_TS.BUP

VTS_01_1.VOB

VTS_01_2.VOB

Etc.


Now to my questions:

- By using this method to copy the files to my hard drive, am I am getting the exact same image/audio quality contained on the original DVD?

- To play these using the DLNA compliant Pioneer BD player, will I need to convert them to another format? (I think I do based on what I read: MPEG1, MPEG2, WMV9, VC, H.264)

- I would like to keep them in the highest image/audio quality possible. I do not care about storage space. I am projecting to a 96" image and want the best playback possible. So, If I need to convert them, what program would you recommend?

Thank you,
Bob

I have another question also. I just read the Pioneer review posted at ultimateavmag.com and this sentance has me VERY concearned:

"But, the catch is, according to the user manual, that the files must be stored on a Windows XP computer with Windows Media Connect and a DLNA-compatible media server."

The main reason I purchased this player over the SONY was the ability to use the home network connection. Now I am unsure that I have the correct equipment to make this work. My HTPC is a new Dell Dimension XPS running Windows XP MCE 2005. I am not sure about the windows Media connect & DLNA compatible media server part.

Any help would be appriciated.

Bob

Bob,

I do not have the Pioneer so no first hand experience. Keith Jack of Sigma Designs said in a post that he was using his Pioneer for streaming without a PC (via DLNA). He did not post any details.

Some one can correct me if i am wrong, Windows Media connect should come with the MCE (Or it can be downloaded from MS for free). it is basically a server software and you can set it to share folders and media directory and tell it to start when windows startup. If the Pioneer is DLNA certified the Media connect should show up through in the pionner.

I have JVC pro HD and I can see I-o data's server as well as Windows media connect (I have to use WMC to play WMV videos).

Thanks.
Sam.

Thank you for the replies so far.

I have done some checking and it appears as though Windows Media Connect is no longer available as a stand alone application. It is now integrated into Windows Media Player 11. I checked on my HTPC and can not seem to locate any version of Windows Media Connect already installed, so it looks as though I will have to upgrade to WMP 11.

Bob

Did you get it to play your networked DVDs? I have a similiar setup with all my DVDs on a server stored via ifo/vob files.

Did you get it to play your networked DVDs? I have a similiar setup with all my DVDs on a server stored via ifo/vob files.
Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the Pioneer to arrive. This is a very important feature to me and I will be looking to implement this functionality as soon as I get the player, which will be next week (at last check).

I still need to confirm how to convert my existing .vob files to mpeg without loosing quality. Hopefully someone else can chime in here.

Bob

I'm hoping you won't have to do any conversion :)

I'm hoping you won't have to do any conversion :)
That would be great, but from what I read on the Pioneer website, I think it only supports playback of MPEG files.

Bob

Any update on this? :) I returned my PS3 cause hissing = bad. So I need to replace it with something else, and I'd love to get the pioneer, but I'm not going to spend twice as much and not be able to play my IFO/VOB files.

So can the Pioneer play IFO/VOB files?

So can the Pioneer play IFO/VOB files?

Not by any method I've been able to find. In general, Home Media Gallery is lacking in functionality. The BDP-HD1 is an incredible BluRay player. I've had absolutely no problems at all in that regard. But HMG is not ready for primetime. In other posts its been said that to make HMG work effectively for music you should have no more than 200 songs in your library. I can only imagine how slow the interface would be trying to manage all the data associated with 100 movies.

I setup Windows Media Player 11 on a networked PC so I could view my digital images through the BDP-HD1 onto my large screen. Initially I did have some viewing ability and everything seemed to be working fine. The following day I tried to view additional folders of images and I have been getting the "no photos found on available network servers" message. I have tried various settings for media sharing within WMP 11. WMP 11 indicates that the BDP-HD1 is set for sharing my media to. I have tried with WMP 11 running and not running (does it need to be running on the PC?), I have rebooted the PC & rebooted the BDP-HD1.

Nothing seems to work. Is there a limit on the number of images that can be shared? When I first set it up I had 99 images that were available in one folder. I then had WMP 11 find another 20,000 images in various folders and subfolders.

Anyone been able to get the Home Media Gallery working properly?

I setup Windows Media Player 11 on a networked PC so I could view my digital images through the BDP-HD1 onto my large screen. Initially I did have some viewing ability and everything seemed to be working fine. The following day I tried to view additional folders of images and I have been getting the "no photos found on available network servers" message. I have tried various settings for media sharing within WMP 11. WMP 11 indicates that the BDP-HD1 is set for sharing my media to. I have tried with WMP 11 running and not running (does it need to be running on the PC?), I have rebooted the PC & rebooted the BDP-HD1.

Nothing seems to work. Is there a limit on the number of images that can be shared? When I first set it up I had 99 images that were available in one folder. I then had WMP 11 find another 20,000 images in various folders and subfolders.

Anyone been able to get the Home Media Gallery working properly?

Reports are that you should not exceed 200 files or it will not see any of them. I believe they have to be in My Documents/ My Pictures, My Videos and My Music folders only. The posts concerning this are located in the HD1 Owners thread. I hope this helps.

I have windows vista and windows media player 11. Everything seems to be connected just fine but for some reason the home media gallery on the blu ray isn't lit up. Why? What am I doing wrong?

to whoever asked the question, you don't need windows or windows media connect. most upnp devices/servers are supported.

and for wmc, make sure the device is allowed to connect to it