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Internet TV: Media streaming

Posted on 9 Mar 2007 at 12:24

If watching TV on a computer monitor seems like too much hassle, how about finding a bridge between the PC and your regular television screen? A way to stream downloaded content from the PC painlessly, preferably without having to fill the house with ugly cabling.

Apple made headlines late last year with Apple TV, a product designed to do exactly that, but media-streaming devices are well established. D-Link, Pinnacle and Buffalo have been selling streaming hardware for some time, the idea being that you store media files on a server - either your PC or a media-friendly NAS (networked attached storage) device - and stream it via Wi-Fi to a media player capable of decompressing and playing the files and outputting the relevant audio/visual signal to your home-entertainment setup. These devices are capable of handling most major audio and still-image formats, along with MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, XviD and WMV files. With support for the H.264 and WMV9 high-definition codecs, they're also ready for whatever high-definition content appears. Component, HDMI and digital audio outputs make them compatible with a wide range of standard-definition and HD TV screens, digital projectors and surround-sound systems.

Setting one up is a relatively simple matter of installing media server software on the PC that will house the content then inputting the configuration details of your home network, including any WEP or WPA security keys, into the player device (Microsoft's Wireless Configuration utility and a USB key can take care of this automatically). Most players come with server software supplied, but you can also use the Media Sharing features built into Windows Media Player 11. In fact, we recommend doing so for the simple reason that while the bundled server software might not cope with any rights-managed WMV files you'll download from 4oD or Lovefilm's rental download service, Windows Media Player 11 will.

The quality of playback varies. If the server and media player are connected through a wireless network, the strength and speed of the wireless signal between both devices and your router will be a factor, not to mention any other activity on the network. In addition, smooth streaming can be compromised by activity on the PC or NAS you're streaming from, not to mention the speed and fragmentation of the hard disk on which the file is stored. If you're playing a standard-definition 480p video file, it's doubtful you'll experience any problems. With a D-Link MediaLounge DSM 520 player and a PC running over a standard 802.11g wireless network, however, we found high-definition 720p video was virtually unwatchable, with stuttering and sudden pauses in the video stream and huge dropouts in the audio. There are ways to fix this, but an 802.11n network and compliant media player are a bare necessity if you want to stream high-definition video.

With a fast connection, audio-visual quality can be as good as or even better than normal DVD levels, although much depends on the resolution and how well the files have been encoded. Lovefilm's £2.99 downloads, for instance, may be adequate for a PC screen, but look awful when blown up on a conventional widescreen TV, let alone a 32in LCD panel.

The issues regarding wireless network speeds are doubtless behind Apple's rationale to fit a 40GB hard drive inside its Apple TV box. The idea is that, just as the iPod syncs with your PC to download content for portable entertainment, so the Apple TV box will sync with audio and video stored in an iTunes library and cache it locally for television playback. The idea is limited, both in terms of capacity - 40GB isn't much space for video and, while Apple claims 50 hours, this is based on a 640 x 480 resolution - and because the box can only sync with a single computer (although it can stream content from up to five other PCs in the house). However, it does ensure you can watch video without worrying that activity on your wireless network is about to ruin your experience, even if the inevitable caveat of Apple hardware is that it will be compatible with Apple's file formats, but not Microsoft's.