Content on Tablet stream to TV via PVR

A

aod

New Member
I'm thinking of buying a dongle for my HDR and an Android tablet. I'd like to be able to stream music and video from my tablet to my TV, using the HDR as a network link between the two as I don't have a smart TV.

I understand the HDR is DNLA compatible, but not entirely sure how this might work.

I'm looking to emulate the kind of experience between an iPad streaming content to Apple TV over Airplay.

Can anyone confirm if this will work and how?
 
aod said:
I'm looking to emulate the kind of experience between an iPad streaming content to Apple TV over Airplay.
Click to expand...
Then you're going to be disappointed. As I understand it, iPad > Apple TV is a "push" system (what you do on the iPad appears on the TV). The only way you are going to get something similar with the Humax is by using the tablet (or any other device, come to that) as a media server, so that the Humax accesses content stored on the tablet (etc) and plays it under its own steam, either by DLNA (DLNA server software would need to be on or added to the server device), or (using custom firmware) by normal network storage file sharing (either SMB or NFS - ie Windows or Linux).
 
Thanks for the reply and info.

I've been enquiring in lots of different forums about this from different angles and wanted to see if the Humax would be a viable piece of the jigsaw.

At least i now know it definatley won't do what I want.

Short of buying AppleTV or a new TV, I'm struggling to find hardware / software that can do what I want. I'd be surprised if it didn't exist.
 
I use my Hudl Android tablet with a an HDMI connection to my main TV to do this sort of thing.
 
Thanks

I'm aware i can connect to HDMI, but I'm looking to something more elegant.

Ideally i want to create playlists on the fly on my tablet, and have the music stream to my tv - but only showing the 'now playing' song details, not a clone of the tablet display.

I'd rather not buy into the Apple Ecosystem (which does the above)- but I'd be staggered if there isn't something similar / as good for Android (with hardware dongle).

I've looked at Chromecast, but this doesn't really do what i want.
 
Black Hole said:
Then you're going to be disappointed. As I understand it, iPad > Apple TV is a "push" system (what you do on the iPad appears on the TV).
Click to expand...

You can do that sort of thing with Android as well. I use Skifta on my Xperia phone to control DLNA streaming from my Mac to the Humax. I can also push content from the phone itself.

The big issue with DLNA streaming is whether the client can actually play the content that the server is serving. I know the Humax can't play mpeg .ts files via DLNA, even though that's what it plays from its own media library. That's pretty rubbish IMO. I have to convert stuff to mpeg programme stream files if I want to stream them to the Humax.

It would be really nice if the DLNA specification had included some kind of media format negotiation, with the option of proving informative reponses to the user, rather than the sullen "can't" which is all it seems to do on most of my DLNA-enabled devices.
 
Thanks again for the replies.

Actually i think i came across skifta recently and this looked fairly close to what i wanted - i'm just uncertain what i need to be able to stream to my tv. Will Skifta work with a wifi dongle connected to by Humax?

It sounds like there might be something that does what i want, but it's not easy to find!
 
The only way I can conceive anything similar working is for the DLNA server to spoof a response to the client's requests to make the client think it is accessing a media file, but actually send it data in response to what you do at the server end.

If such a thing exists, you would have to connect to it from the Humax and "play" it using the Humax interface, and only then would the displayed material be controllable from the server.
 
Apologies, you're right: I can push content to my TV but not to the Humax. It's a limitation of the Humax DLNA implementation (reading around, I believe it is or at least was a limitation of the PS3 as well - like a lot of DLNA functionality, what's actually implemented seems to be at the whim of the manufacturer).

In confirming that, I've discovered that I don't actually have to use Skifta on the phone: the media server built-in to the phone can do it (it's possible that this was an enhancement delivered in the last major Android update to the phone).

aod said he didn't want to "buy into the Apple ecosystem". Given that I can push content to my Sony TV from both my Motorola phone and my Xperia phone using each phones' built-in media servers, and by using Skifta on the Xperia, it's clear that one is not limited to using Apple kit to achieve content push. That's the underlying point I was trying to make. Sorry if my mistake about specific kit's actual capabilities caused confusion.

Anyone know if it's possible to push content to a Roku box?
 
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