PS3 - Stream Video from PC

Gran Hermano

Not sure whether this was mentioned before, but I'm keen to
have the ability to stream video from my laptop or PC over
a wireless connection to my PS3.

I found an app called Orb earlier today.
http://www.orb.com/gamers/ps3.htm

I've just spent the last hour installing Orb on my laptop
(and opening the required ports on my router and firewall!)

It uses the browser on the PS3 to access the media on your
home PC. It's pretty nifty for photos and mp3s but I'm finding
the video quality a lot poorer than TVersity on the 360.

I'd say the quality is only 25% of what I get from streaming using
Tversity and the 360 - and that's using the same laptop, codecs
and source video.

I havent had a chance to see whether you can tweek the transcoding
and video quality but I'll hold off using Orb for video just for now..

Saying that, some of you may have better results and it is nice to know
that it is possible to stream media to the PS3

vibe666

everybody is waiting for either a firmware update or for some cleverarse to work out how to make some linux distro with a nice media centre front end work i think.

for now, i still have my old xbox and xbmc under the telly next to the ps3. i think the xbox is getting nervous, but there's life in the old dog yet.

Chumpski

Hi,

I'm resurecting a year old thread here. Is the PS3 capable of streaming video music from a PC yet like the 360 can with a media centre PC?

ongarite

Yes, install WMP11 and go to Options, Library and share with "Unknown Device" which will be your PS3. The add the folders you want to share to the list and thats it.

You can also use WMP11 to stream video and music to 360 also.

stevenmu

I find Tversity works better, and it's free. It doesn't matter as much now that the PS3 can stream DivX/XViD, but it's handy to have the ability to transcode any files your PS3 can't play directly.

Qs

Do many people have the problem of the media server disconnecting for a second or 2 while viewing video files? I can rarely get through a half hour show without it happening. At the moment I just copy to the HD and play off that but that can be annoying as it takes time. Anyway to get more stability from my connection to the media server?

guil

ur firewall could be blockin it a bit try forwarding ports not sure what ports though

stevenmu

It could be any number of things, I find Tversity can get a bit jumpy or drop out if I also have WMP11 sharing enabled. Check what's running on your PC while you're streaming, try to disable anything that could run at the same time. It could also be a network problem, are you connecting with wireless? What's your signal strenght like?

I discovered last night my microwave interferes with the signal, turning it on makes the video drop out every single time

brianon

Just got this stuff working last night with TVersity & WMP11.

WMP11 was dead easy to setup except the PS3 cannot stream/play the DivX.
TVersity was a tiny bit more complicated but still very easy and allows music and vids to be played so straight away is a winner in my book

I have a question though....I have a PSP Slim on its way to me and was wondering if I can store DivX file on and External HDD, connect it to the PS3 and remotely play them on the PSP ?

Chumpski

Brilliant, thanks.

ongarite

brianon wrote: »

Just got this stuff working last night with TVersity & WMP11.

WMP11 was dead easy to setup except the PS3 cannot stream/play the DivX.
TVersity was a tiny bit more complicated but still very easy and allows music and vids to be played so straight away is a winner in my book

I have a question though....I have a PSP Slim on its way to me and was wondering if I can store DivX file on and External HDD, connect it to the PS3 and remotely play them on the PSP ?

PS3 can play DivX cerified files, any .avi files that I can't play must have custom xvid matrixes or use xvid GMC, QPL. These videos won't play in standalone DivX player also.

brianon

Yeah I have the PS3 playing local DivX files.
However I don't think you can stream DivX from PC to PS3 unless you use TVersity which re-encodes the DivX on the fly.

At least afaik

Kinda looking for confirmation on that but also if I will be able to Remote Play the DivX on the PS3 to PSP ?

ongarite

Since FW 2.10 you can stream and play DivX files on PS3. I have mine working with WMP11 sharing. Works for 90% of my files.

When I'm home this evening, I'll post whether streaming of DivX content works.

brianon

ongarite wrote: »

Since FW 2.10 you can stream and play DivX files on PS3. I have mine working with WMP11 sharing. Works for 90% of my files.

When I'm home this evening, I'll post whether streaming of DivX content works.

hmmmm. Maybe I am missing some codecs then ?

I tried quite a few avis in WMP and they all said unsupported on PS3 when I tried to play them.

**EDIT: WMP did play the files dirctly fine on the PC but the PS3 couldn't play them.
It could play the MP3s though.

TVersity plays the DivX fine.

stevenmu

Yep, Tversity streams most divx and xvids without transcoding

ongarite

They play fine on your PC cos you install the xvid codec with support for all its extra features.
If you download this program called GSpot Codec Information, you can see if they are using xvid specific encoding options, hence giving unsupported error on PS3.

brianon

ongarite wrote: »

They play fine on your PC cos you install the xvid codec with support for all its extra features.
If you download this program called GSpot Codec Information, you can see if they are using xvid specific encoding options, hence giving unsupported error on PS3.

So I run gspot.exe and opent he avi file I am trying to play.
This tells me if its xvid or divs but how do I know if it is one that should not be supported ? All xvid unsupported ?

ongarite

No Xvid files are supported if they use standard encoding options.



OK here is an avi on my laptop examined using GSpot. Its an avi with xvid video container and mp3 sound container.
Its encoding using standard xvid encoding options, GMC & QP not highlighted in green.

brianon

ongarite wrote: »

No Xvid files are supported if they use standard encoding options.



OK here is an avi on my laptop examined using GSpot. Its an avi with xvid video container and mp3 sound container.
Its encoding using standard xvid encoding options, GMC & QP not highlighted in green.

So if an avi I have has QPEL of GMC then I am looking at having to re-encode ?

ongarite

Or use TVersity to re-encode it on the fly to PS3 friendly format.

brianon

ongarite wrote: »

Or use TVersity to re-encode it on the fly to PS3 friendly format.

Yeah.

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.

I think I wil have to do some reencoding as my plan was to use the PSP over remote play to watch avi files.

If I use TVersity then I have to have PC/PS3 and PSP all on.
If I reencode then I can just use PSP to turn on PS3 and PC can stay off.
I hope to keep the AVIs on a ext HDD and connect that to the PS3.

Thanks again for you help.

Shark3y_Aces

Is there anyway you can do this on a wired connection through ethernet rather than wireless.

I hear doing it wireless can be a little unstable. (hd vids etc)

stevenmu

Yes, will work if it's wired or wireless, mines connected wireless from my PC to my wireless router, then wired from the router to the PS3, works great, but an all wired connection should be better for HD video.

satchmo

I have TVersity working well streaming to my PS3, although its hard to determine if it's still transcoding files that the PS3 can play natively.

The only problem I have is fast forwarding and rewinding transcoded video can cause the video playback to stop altogether, and using the 'goto' menu function to skip to a specific time also causes it to stop completely, so i have to stop and restart the video.

Anyone else have this problem?

conzy

satchmo wrote: »

I have TVersity working well streaming to my PS3, although its hard to determine if it's still transcoding files that the PS3 can play natively.

The only problem I have is fast forwarding and rewinding transcoded video can cause the video playback to stop altogether, and using the 'goto' menu function to skip to a specific time also causes it to stop completely, so i have to stop and restart the video.

Anyone else have this problem?

Yes, it is hard to know if its transcoding supported videos because if you press select it will say "DivX" in the top right, and if Tversity was transcoding it, it would say "avc" or "mp4" or something i think..

I think the inability to fast forward / reverse is a just a limitation of Tversity and the way it streams content

I just setup a webserver and download content to the PS3s HDD via the browser, its better quality and you have all the fast forward / reverse functionality...

But its a bit of a pain in the arse, so I still stream things like Simpsons and other random things where quality isnt important..

Anywhooo, the PS3 is a great media center \o/

Qs

ongarite wrote: »

PS3 can play DivX cerified files, any .avi files that I can't play must have custom xvid matrixes or use xvid GMC, QPL. These videos won't play in standalone DivX player also.

Anytime I get a DivX/Xvid file that wont play on PS3(which has been quite rare) it always works on my standalone DivX player.

prodigal_son

Qs wrote: »

Anytime I get a DivX/Xvid file that wont play on PS3(which has been quite rare) it always works on my standalone DivX player.

The ps3 is fully divx certified, but not as "compatable" as some standalone players. I have some older files that wont play, i think it just wont support the older files. It seems to handle all my recent files just fine.

I just wish it had sub/srt subtitle support, or mkv support.. For now i will just transcode them on the fly with tversity to include them.

Grim.

i use tversity and have to say its the best peice of software if come across yet i also have a 250gb 2.5" drive in my ps3 best money ive spent on it yet

ZENER

The more adventurous of you can set up a small server with an old pc and install something like FreeNAS which uses uShare to stream to the PS3 and supports many of the media types mentioned here. There are other options for Windows as well, those with Nero installed can use Nero Home to stream video/audio.

Lots of free options also - see here. uShare seems to be a major component in many of these systems. It's GPL so it should be free for most platforms.

Me, I use FreeNAS mainly to serve my music collection - no interest in low quality video, I'd rather buy a DVD or BD and the max enjoyment. Each to their own though !!

ZEN

madmoe

Hey guys,
Just discovered that this could be done only the other day and I have tons of stuff on a HDD I would love to be able to stream from laptop to the PS3.

I downloaded TVersity yesterday followed the setup and surprise surprise it did not work :-( I had used Vuze before and it worked perfectly!! Both PS3 and Laptop saw each other immediately. I tied PS3mediaserver as well but it could not find the PS3??

Anyhow I'm on an NTL\UPC 10M connection and have the standard Cisco router\cable modem they ship with it. I don't know which NAT I'm on but has anyone got TVersity working with their NTL setup?

I have been able to access TVersity from the PS3 browser using http://localhost:41952/flashlib but when I go to the XMB and search for media servers there it does not see it??

Cheers,
M