How can I stream video wirelessly from my desktop to my TV?

Life Technology
1

The new Apple TV has me wanting to stream video content, wirelessly, from my desktop computer to my TV (they’re in two different rooms).

What are options for doing this? The pros and cons and costs of each? I’ve heard about PS3s and Xboxes and Boxees, but I’m not sure what’s involved, or how much this works in Taiwan. (We do have a Wii, with a stupid Japanese interface that I can’t understand at all; as far as I know the Wiis in the USA can stream Netflix but do little else.)

I basically want my computer monitor to appear on the TV - so I can watch shows streamed online, like the Daily Show, South Park, Hulu, CBC, Nature, BBC’s iPlayer, and so on. Of course, I also want to play video files actually on my computer.

Netflix streaming would be nice.

Using my iPhone as a remote control would be a massive bonus.

(I’m using a desktop iMac, and I do have a VPN for that computer; I’ve got a Canadian credit card, but not an American one.)

2

You’re not asking for much are you? :laughing:

Does your iMac have an HDMI port? If so, get a wireless HDMI kit, that way you can output whatever is on the computer on the TV. Well, at least as long as you have a TV with HDMI input. I’m not sure if the range is good enough though and this is the only kit I know is on sale in Taiwan buy.yahoo.com.tw/gdsale/gdsale.asp?gdid=2145456
This review claims 30m trustedreviews.com/home-cine … DMI-Kit/p1
Not sure if that solution would allow you to use your iPhone as a remote, but it’d be the most plausible way.

Otherwise you’ll end having to buy something that goes next to your TV, like one of these shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=stor … _NO=DMAA3X
None of them will do everything you want as many of the player are limited to specific platforms and won’t work on these type of devices. The WD TV Live HD or the Asus O!PLAY AIR would be your bset bets, although the WD doesn’t come with built in Wi-Fi. That’s not a problem if you have a network cable that runs from the router and close to the TV though… cause we all do, right? :ponder:

The little boxes also allows you to use a USB storage device to put downloaded content on which can help if it’s stuff that doesn’t stream well.

The really cheap option, again if your iMac has an HDMI port, is simply to get a very long HDMI cable and connect it up…

3

Yeah, I know I’m asking a lot - on the other hand, for a number of years I’ve been able to wirelessly stream any audio to my stereo, so it shouldn’t seem THAT complicated to do it with video.

We live in a biggish-for-Taipei apartment, and the router and TV are in opposite corners of the apartment. A wire between the two would have to go… wow… halfway around the computer room, jump over or under two doors, then most of the way around the living room. Equal distance whether I turn right or left.

There doesn’t seem to be an HDMI port on the back of the TV. It was really sweet for my mother-in-law to get us a TV for our wedding present, but man, spring 2006 was the wrong time to buy a TV; we’ve got one of the last bulky models sold, but I can’t yet justify replacing something so new.

The ports on the back of the computer: nothing called HDMI. 4xUSB 2.0; Firewire800; Gigabit Ethernet; and, most interestingly, Mini DisplayPort.

As Wikipedia clearly (ha!) explains: “DisplayPort is capable of directly emitting single-link HDMI and DVI signals using Dual-mode DisplayPort. VESA has issued interoperability guidelines for supporting single-link DVI and HDMI through a DisplayPort connection using a relatively simple passive adapter that adjusts for the lower voltages required by DisplayPort. Dual-mode DisplayPort chipset detects the DVI or HDMI passive adapter and switches to DVI/HDMI mode which uses the 4-lane main DisplayPort link and AUX channel link to transmit 3 TMDS signals plus a Clock signal and Display Data Channel data/clock from the chipset. Dual-mode compatible ports are marked with the DP++ logo; most current DisplayPort graphics cards and monitors support this mode.”

I’m getting the impression that this kind of technology is in the “not there yet” category, especially with a TV that’s apparently a dinosaur.

4

You just need an adaptor for the DisplayPort, not a biggie except that it would most likely not include audio, but I don’t know how the Mac’s are wired when it comes to that.

I think you’re stuffed, although you can still get players that have other outputs. Check the back of your TV and see if you at least have component input (red, green and blue plugs) as most other inputs will really reduce the quality. If you have those, then find a player that has those outputs and also supports Wi-Fi. Not sure which of the local models have English menus though which could be a problem I guess.

Something like this shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … X&ROWNO=22 would do the job.

5

Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about the wireless HDMI kit or the Apple TV. That said, my advice to you would be to get a Mac Mini or other computer or laptop to act as what is called a home theater PC (HTPC). You will hook it up (with a cable) to your TV, connect it to your home network via wireless, and control it with an array of wireless options.

In my case, I have a Thinkpad laptop connected to my TV. HDMI or DVI connections are preferred, although I use VGA and output 1920x1080 resolution (1080p) just fine.

I can control the HTPC from the couch with a Bluetooth keyboard (built in mouse is helpful). With a USB adapter, I can also control it with an infrared remote (so I can control the computer and the TV with one remote).

Since it’s a standalone computer, I can browse the web on the TV like any other computer. Kylo is an interesting web browser designed for HTPC use. There are other options if you want to really do everything with a TV-style remote control rather than a keyboard.

On my “real” computer (desktop in the bedroom), I set it up to share files over my home network. Any files that I download to my desktop computer are easily accessed on my HTPC (and vice versa). When I play a video file from my desktop, the file is streamed to the HTPC, and the HTPC decodes it to the video that gets displayed on the TV.

Again, I don’t know how well the wireless HDMI kit works, but it is a basic principle that it takes much less bandwidth to send a video file than the actual video output. An HDMI connection is designed to transmit 10.2 Gbit/s of video. Your typical 802.11n wireless connection (which the wireless HDMI kit uses) can transmit something like 70 Mbit/s (I’m talking real speed, not theoretical), which is over 100x slower (but fast enough to send an HD video file on-the-fly).

From what I’ve seen, the new Mac Mini is very well designed for this. Small, stylish case, powerful enough to play HD videos and pretty much any other media you can throw at it, and a very quiet and power efficient (8 watts at idle!) design. But it’s a little pricey, and in my case, a 3 year old laptop works (almost) as well.

6

Thanks. The Mini is one of the options that I’ve wondered about. I’ve also got an older laptop that’s still in some use, but could perhaps be “retired” to a permanent position under/ near the TV.

I didn’t realize that another computer on the same wireless network could easily share files like that, or that bluetooth keyboards had a range longer than a meter or two. That sounds really promising.

As far as I can tell my TV has RCA (red/ yellow/ white) ports on the back, and what I think is S-video/ Mini-DIN.

(Link for those like me with no idea what all these video ports are: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_connectors. I’m getting flashbacks to the days of trying every cable I had to connect the printer.)

7

[quote=“lostinasia”]Thanks. The Mini is one of the options that I’ve wondered about. I’ve also got an older laptop that’s still in some use, but could perhaps be “retired” to a permanent position under/ near the TV.

I didn’t realize that another computer on the same wireless network could easily share files like that, or that bluetooth keyboards had a range longer than a meter or two. That sounds really promising.

As far as I can tell my TV has RCA (red/ yellow/ white) ports on the back, and what I think is S-video/ Mini-DIN.

(Link for those like me with no idea what all these video ports are: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_connectors. I’m getting flashbacks to the days of trying every cable I had to connect the printer.)[/quote]

The Mini is the one to go. I’ve been reading up for about it and it offers you the flexibility to do what you’re trying to do rather than using Apple’s Blockbuster-in-a-box service.

8

I’ve been looking for a good wireless video solution for our office as well. Basically, we wanted the use case to be a wireless wire. That simple. There are a few options that are easier to get in the States. It depends on how much you want to spend.

9

With only S-Video and Composite inputs you’re a bit screwed as none of Apple’s machines supports either standard out of the box, nor does just about any PC. What notebook is it you have?
D-sub would’ve been fine, but alas…
Older PC graphics cards used to have TV-out, but that’s not the case any more and notebooks generally don’t have TV-out, unless you have a really old notebook and are really lucky in that it has a graphics card with TV-out.

Your best bet would be something like this dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.28789
The quality won’t be great though, but it’ll work.
Then you could go wireless with something like this
dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39956
Just expect the odd bit of interference and again not great quality. I had something similar in the UK a few years ago to get the picture from the Sky box into the bedroom, but I can’t say it was fantastic.

10

The OP is not really asking too much at all.

Especially when he can get a placeshifting device that operates on wireless from the PC and connects to the TV using component or HDMI. The OP can call me as I have said devices. PS runs on window and mac’s.

I thought you were a modern tech guy with all the latest information mr lostswede?

PS did I mention you can use your Iphone to control it as well? :smiley:

11

The OP is not really asking too much at all.

Especially when he can get a placeshifting device that operates on wireless from the PC and connects to the TV using component or HDMI. The OP can call me as I have said devices. PS runs on window and mac’s.

I thought you were a modern tech guy with all the latest information mr lostswede?

PS did I mention you can use your Iphone to control it as well? :smiley:[/quote]

Satellite, do you have any wireless HDMI or wireless VGA setups? Meaning no brains on either end… literally a wireless wire.

I am planning on picking up a setup in the states for our office but would rather get it from someone here.

12

[quote=“mabagal”]Satellite, do you have any wireless HDMI or wireless VGA setups? Meaning no brains on either end… literally a wireless wire.

I am planning on picking up a setup in the states for our office but would rather get it from someone here.[/quote]

Wireless VGA senders have been in electronics shops for ages… HD ones are also coming out on the market now. I don’t stock them though.

Now if you wanted to take a stream from say a DVD player or something with a composit or component output to say only 5 people there is a device that can do that. Each client just uses a pc client interface to connect to the streaming device on it’s own wireless sender unit, with a range of about 100m.

It would be better if you call me so I can understand exactly what you want to do.

13

I’d like to be able to do this but have no idea how to do it. Can you tell me how you did it? It would be great to be able to hear some English radio stations over my stereo once in awhile.

Of course, my stereo is old and crappy. I keep trying to convince my wife we need a new one but she just doesn’t understand about stereos. This could be another reason to get a new stereo.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

14

You’d need one with audio inputs for one and then something like this which connects to the stereo udn.gohappy.com.tw/shopping/Brow … pid=822913
It allows for the audio to be streamed over normal Wi-Fi, so any computer can stream to it.

15

Thanks. My stereo should be able to handle that. I’ll have to look into finding it.

Thanks for your help.

16

What I’ve always used for streaming to my stereo: Apple’s Airport Express. The Wifi signal goes from my computer to the Airport express, and then there’s a very normal cable that goes into the auxilliary ports on the stereo itself (what the stereo expects to be input from video). The jack on the Airport Express is a female… oh, whatever headphone jacks normally are.

This was easy to set up with my Mac computer about 5 years ago, but I’m not sure how well it plays with non-Mac computers. Note however that you can normally only stream through iTunes, and some radio station streams don’t play well with iTunes. (There is a Mac program called Airfoil that lets you get around this.)

Thanks all for the tips on handling the video side: I think I’m going to stick with the same system for now (this involves USB sticks and something that rhymes with warrant); anything more technical will wait until we get a new flat-screen TV (which goes in the queue below oven, AC for the living room, tuition, the microwave that just died, wherever we go for winter vacation…)

At least it’s another reason to get a flat-screen TV. We hate this giant block in the living room, and we’re looking forward to getting a flat-panel in a wall unit. But that’s not going to happen till 2011 or 2012.