Samsung AllShare and Internet@TV Discussion - Page 11

Anyone have any luck getting the linkstick to connect to a Apple Airport Extreme Router? I have my wireless security set to WPA2 and I believe the Samsung Linkstick only supports WEP which the Airport Extreme doesnt support? I did get it to connect no porblem if I turn off the Security.......help

I've had my Samsung BD-C5900 for a few weeks now. I'm really impressed how it seems to plays any video file I throw at it. Could someone more experienced help me answer a few questions:

1) When I play a 720 HD MKV file from a USB stick it works, but I seem to have occasional barely perceptible frame drops, little jumps in the video. Are there any adjustments I can make without messing up my Blu-Ray settings?

2) Am I right to assume that it will play better direct from from USB then through any media sharing (a video file that is elsewhere on my Cat5 10/100 network?)

3) Would there be any real quality improvement if my USB storage was an external USB hard drive rather than a flash stick?

4) If its best to say with USB, has anyone found an inexpensive USB storage devise that can also be seen on a network?

Thanks!

1) dunno, hadn't noticed this, but other than quick testing, rarely play files from USB, I tend I tend to play from disc or network and havent noticed any jumpy video. FYI I have other issues with DVD+R DL on my BD-C5500 tho, whereas single layer discs work fine.

2) Theoretically, it should play exactly the same thru the network as from USB. But in reality, you are going to have less issues playing from USB.

3) Not that I can think of. In fact a hard drive might be a tiny bit slower when browsing than flash, but once the movie was playing it wouldn't matter.

4) No, but there are somewhat inexpensive external NAS devices that support DLNA streaming, so in theory they should work with Allshare.... Using one of those to stream media instead or your main PC has the advantage of not stealing any cpu from your computer. One example is the promise smatstor, there is an official thread on here somewhere. It takes up to four sata drives, can run raid, etc. But dunno if anyone has tested it with Samsung Allshare or not, and unlike a PC where you can use whatever dlna server software you feel works best (for example samsung PCSM, Servio, or Windows 7) you're more likely stuck with whatever DLNA server the NAS manufacturer installed and may have limited configuration options.

I don't have a Samsung BD player, I have a Samsung Plasma TV with AllShare... but this all should be similar.

USB attached versus network attached, you won't have network traffic problems, but as mentioned in theory both should work similar. There are differences based on the programs ability to access the file for skipping/FF forward or back.

I have the Promise NS4300N NAS, connecting to the TV via AllShare works, but due to the speed of the built in server in the NS4300N and the sheer number of files I have access can be slow as AllShare wants to display all of the folders and information each time you scroll forward/backward in the file system. Once the file is found the video/audio plays without any problems.

I might need to do some more testing regarding the occasional jumps/frames drops. They were barely perceptible and I was seeing them in 2 different720p.hdtv.x264 MKV files of Mad Men. Maybe it was just the quality of the files. I'll keep testing.

Those Primise NAS devices look cool, but are a bit too expensive when I consider cost vs. benefit. I guess I should look to buy a large capacity flash stick and forget about the convenience of connecting it to the network. I'll also keep experimenting with USB vs AllShare. I have found that if I changes an AllShare file ext from MKV (which AllShare didn't see) to AVI, it plays.

Steven,

If you tell me the exact name of the file and where you saw the problem I can look at it on my system and let you know what I do or don't see.

Regarding USB versus AllShare:

Just so we are on the same page, USB is attachment interface, AllShare is the process by which the TV/BD plays back the files whether they are on a USB device (memory stick/HDD) or on a HDD in a network attached device (NAS/PC). I have used all of these connections and storage devices without problem.

My TV using AllShare will see MKV files no matter where they are stored and play them back.

I have the same issue from my computer. I have hundreds of movies, and browsing thru them, or even worse trying to get to a specific one on the player takes forever. I recall it being much slower with serviio than PCSM. So it may not necessarily be the server speed, maybe more to do with dlna server, as well as the software in your tv/my bdplayer. I dunno if your interface is the same as my bdplayer, but there's no options, I would be happy with just a list view of filenames only and some way to quickly flip thru the pages. Cuz if you have hundreds of files, getting to one that begins with "T" for example one page at at time with all those big icons takes forever and ever (especially with serviio).


I think this also has to do with the server software. My bd player has always been able to play mkv from disc/usb, but an earlier version of pcsm I tried could not play mkv thru the network. So I think that must be a problem with the dlna server on the promise nas. Additionally, I can FF/REW from disc on some files but haven't found any that'll ff/rew when played thru network with any software I've tried. I haven't tried large mkv from USB cuz I dont have a flash drive big enough, but the ones I've written to DVD+R DL have weird issues and will never play all the way thru, they show negative length or filesize or something too... but play fine and show correct details when played thru network.

I still find the PC much faster then the NAS for searching through items... MUCH faster.

Referring to the bolded comments above: I have always been able to play back MKV's from my Promise NAS with every PC Share Manager version I have tried...

If that's the case, why is behaviour different when played direct on the player, or when streamed from a network.

You could be right as to terminology, but I always assumed the allshare was what Samsung calls their version of dlna/streaming, cuz it's kinda like you're sharing a folder on another device on the network. With usb or disc, there's no sharing involved.

I spend a couple minutes trying find an official definition on samsung's website, and this is the best I can find and not definitive, but it seems to support that Allshare is networking to other devices: "Just like the name sounds the AllShare feature allows your TV to wirelessly* connect with compatible mobile devices, including multiple PC’s. That means you can share movies, photos and music all through a single device — your TV. Samsung has even optimised the network configuration to let you easily enjoy content ranging from movies to photos to music without having to switch devices. "

Sorry, it was itzme who said somethinig about not playing mkv w/o renaming, getting confused who is using what, sorry.

But are you telling me you are using PCSM to share the stuff on your NAS? That just seems like a completely wrong way to do that. Promise NAS has it's own dlna plugin, if you used that, you wouldn't need to use PCSM or involve your PC at all, it could be turned off.

I know for sure the first version of pcsm I tried woudln't allow my bdp to see mkv, I think that was version 2.3 or something.

I don't know many of the terms and processes you are all using here, but I can confirm that my Samsung BD Player's Media Share (Where I selected my personal computer with Win 7 as my 'device' and was able to navigate folders and files) did NOT see the MKV file until I changed it to AVI. It then saw it and played it well.

I'm not using the USB or media sharing much with the TV, because the panel's audio isn't going through my home theater. My BD player's audio goes through my 5.1 AV, so I prefer to use it for my own files.

No worries about the confusion.

As for the Promise NAS, no PCSM involved there, just AllShare from the TV going out and finding what the NAS (or any other attached/shared PC) has to offer.

If it is of any interest I can try accessing my PC files without PCSM running to see if the MKV files are indeed visible as I previously said?

Since I now know I can make the mkv file visible by changing the file extension, seeing the file really isn't a concern of mine.

What I'd really like to know are any tips and tricks to get the best picture possible when playing an avi and/or mkv file- variables like using a USB flash stick vs a USB drive vs through my network using DLNA Media Play, which is cat5 for me. Enigma answered much of that for me already.

Then, once a file is playing, are there any settings to tweak the picture if I see frame drops again. And if I change my picture settings while watching DLNA Media Play on my BR player, could I mess up my BR players settings when its playing a BR disc? My old Xbox Media Center (the classic box) used to have numerous adjustable settings including flicker controls that I could access. I guess that's why I ask.

Hello...Had a quick question. There are a few folders that I deleted, but are still showing up on the TV. I refreshed the DB multiple times, but the folders continue to show up. How to get rid of them?

Thanks...that worked...

I want to say thanks! to all who have been posting on this forum, it helped a lot as I was trying to get Allshare working on my BD-C6500. I could never get PCSM 4.x to recognize the device; version 2.3 recognized it, but still didn't work right. I tried serviio and had some limited success with it, but not a lot and not without some work I didn't want to have to put in. I also tried Mezzmo and it really worked well "out of the box" but I didn't want to pay for it.

What I would like to say to everyone has been said before, but not with (I think) enough emphasis:

The DLNA server in Windows 7 Windows Media Player works beautifully, with no additional software required. Just add the media to your library, enable streaming to your network devices, and it works. The device appears on the BD player and the media is available. No PCSM, no serviio, nothing else required. If you're considering moving to Windows 7 (which is excellent, BTW) then this is another reason to do so, and I DEFINITELY wouldn't pay for any software to do this; just add the money to your "saving for Windows 7" kitty.

It won't allow me to post an URL, but you should be able to turn this into a link that helped me configure Win 7 to make this work:

blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2009/05/12/media-streaming-with-windows-7.aspx

The only problem so far is that I can't see MKV files, which I don't think Windows Media Player supports, but I don't have a lot of those files anyway.

[edit: This link leads to software from a reputable source that enables MKV playback in Win 7 MP: labs.divx.com/mkvwin7preview ]

Although I use PCSM right now on Windows Vista, I may be going to W7 on a network attached PC, this is all good to know. Maybe I'll give this a try on the one of the W7 PC's I already have.

BTW, Windows Media Center supports MKV's, you just need the correct codecs (at least in Windows Vista).

I just wanted to confirm that I do have to change the file extension from .mkv to .avi in order to see the file through the network- both through my PN58c8000 panel and through my BD-C5900. I didn't have to change it when I used the USB connection. The mkv (via USB) and the avi all play the same- very well.

Steven, just to confirm that you are just sharing the files within Windows?

Also, do you have the codecs on the PC to play back MKV files through Media Player? (ether Divx or Haali - Matroska Media Splitter)

Correct, all I use is Win 7 and Windows Media Player's server. I just put the file into a shared folder- period. Good point, I haven't done anything in terms of getting extra codecs or any of those other things you mention. Are there steps I should take there that would improve media streaming? I don't mind changing the file extention, but if I could improve the quality or something, I'd take those steps.

Sometimes after creating a Samsung ID, you need to restart the unit. As far as the app itself, when I click on pictures I get a blank screen. Surprisingly a video played yesterday. For some reason it also showed only 1 available video though when there should have more.

That's too bad. I only meant power off/on. I wonder what's going on then.

Did you create a Samsung ID on the BD-5500 with 4 digit pin?

Like the poster advised in the BD-5500 thread, if you've created the account, you need to log in to that account with the red button followed by the entry of the pin. It should then say logged in as 'mike' for example. Then select the FB app.