Database Develop

Streaming local content

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/25/tip-you-can-play-local-video-files-through-chromecast/
We’re still playing around with the Chromecast, and will have some thoughts on it later, but we wanted to point out a feature that you may not have been aware of after watching yesterday’s demo from Google. Chromecast can play local video files from your computer to a TV. That means you aren’t stuck with YouTube or Netflix or uploading your current collection to a cloud service – you can grab files already on your computer and then stream them to a TV.
Outside of owning a Chromecast device (which is sold out everywhere), all you have to do is install the Chromecast extension on your PC, then find the file path of a local video file that you’d like to play, paste that path into the address bar in a Chrome browser, and then press the Chromecast button to cast it on over. It really is that simple.
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Nice!
I don't have my CC yet but I tried dragging a few videos into Chrome. An MP4 file worked. An MKV played video without audio. An AVI file did not play at all.

This is part way to what I really want. I'd like to be able to navigate to content on my phone and play it on the Chromecast. I would like it to properly play h.264 and still successfully play DD, DTS and so on through my receiver.
Hopefully we can somehow get this support.

You can also hit CTRL+O while a tab is focused to open a file dialog box

What would be the best way to show still images on my Android smartphone on the Chromecast? Can the image gallery show up on the TV?
Skickat från min HTC One via Tapatalk 2

I can imagine alot of chrome extensions that would make the Chromecast more useful. A VLC media player extension maybe?

Tuborg68 said:
What would be the best way to show still images on my Android smartphone on the Chromecast? Can the image gallery show up on the TV?
Skickat från min HTC One via Tapatalk 2
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I was thinking since they have this functionality built in to the gallery for other devices, that it would be a simple add on.

So... I have a rooted SII, when it get's 4.3 will I be able to use it with Chromecast?

ArchTrivium said:
So... I have a rooted SII, when it get's 4.3 will I be able to use it with Chromecast?
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I don't think you need a special OS version for Chromecast. The ability is built into Netflix, Google TV/Movies, Google Music apps from Play Store. Maybe you might need a minimum of ICS to get the versions of the apps that support Chromecast.

I got my CC today, and tried using the native file explorer in Chrome, which unfortunately sucks. I downloaded Plex media server, set up it quickly, and cast the tab I had it open in to my TV....Works like a charm, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how nice and neat Plex is. I think it's definitely the better of the two options, and only took about 15 minutes to set up.

Evo4gLI said:
I got my CC today, and tried using the native file explorer in Chrome, which unfortunately sucks. I downloaded Plex media server, set up it quickly, and cast the tab I had it open in to my TV....Works like a charm, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how nice and neat Plex is. I think it's definitely the better of the two options, and only took about 15 minutes to set up.
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Sweet, glad to hear! How powerful is the computer you streamed from? Did you try 720p video?

I dragged and dropped my media folders to my bookmark toolbar.
It's not a pretty interface like XBMC but it works and put's syncs to all my chrome browsers.
Now I have to finally set up my WD hard drive for streaming. It'll be nice to plug this in to a hotel TV and stream my collection to it instead of my laptop or tablet.
I'm stoked I ordered 2!

My computer isn't anything special. About 5 years old....Dell XPS 420, Quad-core Intel Core 2... I picked the highest quality, which is 720p with high bitrate, and it streamed without any lag whatsoever.

Evo4gLI said:
My computer isn't anything special. About 5 years old....Dell XPS 420, Quad-core Intel Core 2... I picked the highest quality, which is 720p with high bitrate, and it streamed without any lag whatsoever.
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OK. My desktop is even older, Pentium Dual-Core E5300 @ 2.60 GHz. That might meet the cutoff for standard def but unlikely for high-def. I guess I will find out.
And it turns out that Google says streaming video from a Chrome tab in Windows XP is not supported. All my laptops are still on XP and single-core... cause I stopped using my laptops regularly when iOS/Android came to prominence and never bought a new one.

Evo4gLI said:
My computer isn't anything special. About 5 years old....Dell XPS 420, Quad-core Intel Core 2... I picked the highest quality, which is 720p with high bitrate, and it streamed without any lag whatsoever.
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Nice, that was local content not a stream from the web?

This thing is awesome! I'm sitting at work and decided 'f it I'm going to try this thing out'. So I set up my HTC VIEW (the 4g version of the Flyer tablet) and had it run as a wifi hot spot. I connected my laptop to it and plugged the chromecast into one of the TVs we have in my office. I installed the Google Cast extension to chrome, set up the chromecast and was ready to go. Next I opened a new tab, dragged over an episode of Futurama and hit cast. With about a 1/2 second delay from when I hit play it started playing on the TV. Once it started playing it had zero lag and it worked flawlessly. Frankly I'm impressed.

StormMcCloud said:
This thing is awesome! I'm sitting at work and decided 'f it I'm going to try this thing out'. So I set up my HTC VIEW (the 4g version of the Flyer tablet) and had it run as a wifi hot spot. I connected my laptop to it and plugged the chromecast into one of the TVs we have in my office. I installed the Google Cast extension to chrome, set up the chromecast and was ready to go. Next I opened a new tab, dragged over an episode of Futurama and hit cast. With about a 1/2 second delay from when I hit play it started playing on the TV. Once it started playing it had zero lag and it worked flawlessly. Frankly I'm impressed.
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Of course it would work. Bender is 40% chromium!

Found this out on SlickDeals
On your PC in Chrome (u will want the Chromecast extension too)
Type D:/ into the navigation bar
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Click to collapse
(or whatever path you want to see)
Then you'll be able to play local content from your PC to the TV (plays most formats well, MKVs not well tho)
edit:
Looks like its explained above but hopefully this will help someone

Yup, local content off one of my hard drives, but I've had the same results with streaming content.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

If the android chrome app gets cast support that would be king! I love the device and I plan to use it alot. I wish the chrome brower could play avi files though

Evo4gLI said:
I got my CC today, and tried using the native file explorer in Chrome, which unfortunately sucks. I downloaded Plex media server, set up it quickly, and cast the tab I had it open in to my TV....Works like a charm, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how nice and neat Plex is. I think it's definitely the better of the two options, and only took about 15 minutes to set up.
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Click to collapse
Evo - can you provide a little more info on how you set up your plex server to goto the Chromecast - I have a Plex server and would love to use this on the bedroom TV that is not a smartTV with the plex app.. This is ideal for me since the big Samsung already has Plex client and the server is already set up for that...

Better Way To Stream Local Video?

Does anyone know if there is a better way to play local video through Chromecast? I know we can play certain video types through the Chrome browser but it seems to create noticeable frame dropping.

czonin said:
Does anyone know if there is a better way to play local video through Chromecast? I know we can play certain video types through the Chrome browser but it seems to create noticeable frame dropping.
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In the chrome extension for casting the tab, there is a drop down next to where it says BETA. In the drop down you can change setting between tab and the whole screen.

indiajones2012 said:
In the chrome extension for casting the tab, there is a drop down next to where it says BETA. In the drop down you can change setting between tab and the whole screen.
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Tried this as well, still a good amount of frames dropped.

Plex support coming soon
https://plus.google.com/117336216609274144137/posts/5StfogFS5Au
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

david279 said:
Plex support coming soon
https://plus.google.com/117336216609274144137/posts/5StfogFS5Au
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Playing the video in the browser with Plex and then casting that works great.

Yea but native plex will be better. In my case my pc is not near my bedroom TV with the Chromecast so I would have to get up walk all the way to the pc bla bla to get it done like that.
I'm not putting casting down because it's been quite smooth for me put I can't wait for native plex.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

i'd like a casting button to be built into mx player. that way, i can can browse samba shares from my server/nas from es file explorer and play the video with mx player, then cast to the screen. is that possible?

foghelmut said:
Playing the video in the browser with Plex and then casting that works great.
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Click to collapse
I had some strange aspect ratio problems when I tried this. Admittedly I only played around with it for 10 minutes.
heiNey said:
i'd like a casting button to be built into mx player. that way, i can can browse samba shares from my server/nas from es file explorer and play the video with mx player, then cast to the screen. is that possible?
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Not as of today. If the devs add it in (and Google approves the app) it is possible.

tnt118 said:
I had some strange aspect ratio problems when I tried this. Admittedly I only played around with it for 10 minutes.
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Yeah, the web player seems to convert 2.35:1 to 16:9.

heiNey said:
i'd like a casting button to be built into mx player. that way, i can can browse samba shares from my server/nas from es file explorer and play the video with mx player, then cast to the screen. is that possible?
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Click to collapse
I do something similar with the BubbleUPnP app. My Dish Hopper and Asus Cube are DLNA capable so I choose one of those as my rendering device. Then I pick my shared videos as the source. The built-in media players of the Hopper and Cube then play the files over my local network that I select on my tablet. This also works for files on my tablet if I choose that as a source. I don't think this will work with Chromecast, though, as it is not DLNA capable nor does it support many codecs out of the gate.
When the Chromecast service gets pushed to the Google TV devices this fall, they will fill most everyone's needs. It will give the DLNA support for local files and the internet streaming capabilities of Chromecast with device control. If they also make a mobile PrimeTime app, then you will no longer need to use D-pad navigation for large libraries or channel guides.

Problem casting live YouTube streams

Have a problem trying to cast live YouTube streams. Now I can cast the whole tab and maximize on a PC fine but if I press the cast button on the vid itself or try to cast from iPad or phone it gives me problems. Anyone getting the same thing?

Seconded... "There was an error playing this video."
Edit:
I was going to try and provide feedback to them about this and came across this in the help pages...
YouTube on Chromecast does not currently support optimized playback of private videos, YouTube Live streaming videos, or videos from Paid Channels. A simple workaround to this is to use the Google Cast Extension in a Chrome browser rather than the Cast button in the youtube.com player or YouTube app. You may get a warning message that says “Cast-enabled page; use controls in the page for an optimal experience. Learn more," just ignore it in this case. Learn more about the difference between optimized playback and Casting a tab.
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Click to collapse

tnt118 said:
Seconded... "There was an error playing this video."
Edit:
I was going to try and provide feedback to them about this and came across this in the help pages...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, thats what I ended up doing. Hopefully they sort it out. Would be nice to be able to cast and do other stuff on the PC without the video maximized. Or do it through a mobile device.

Fling Any media files to Chromecast from PC Download

Fling is the latest in a string of applications designed to stream content to Google’s Chromecast device. Fling is a Java application (so it will work on pretty much every platform) that streams media content directly to Chromecast from your PC. Technically, it is possible to do this anyway, but it requires opening the video or song you want to stream in a Chrome tab, and then casting that tab to the device. Fling does away with that nonsense though, allowing for media to be dragged-and-dropped into the application, whereupon it will begin streaming to the Chromecast.
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Youtube http://www.youtube.com/embed/fehncl0nTAE?feature=player_embedded
Download http://goo.gl/HAc9ex
Source http://ausdroid.net/2013/08/21/fling-media-files-to-chromecast-from-pc-with-new-app/

Looking good. MP4's go over with no problem...But, of course I see you have some transcoding options set up for other formats (like mkv). How will that work? Is this implemented already?
Thanks for the nice app and hard work.

agarp said:
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/embed/fehncl0nTAE?feature=player_embedded
Download http://goo.gl/HAc9ex
Source http://ausdroid.net/2013/08/21/fling-media-files-to-chromecast-from-pc-with-new-app/
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Click to collapse
Looks great. Anyone tried an .mkv with ac3 yet?

lexluthor said:
Looks great. Anyone tried an .mkv with ac3 yet?
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Click to collapse
Just found this:
https://plus.google.com/117916055521642810655/posts/23BrB267QHJ

buddhatown said:
Just found this:
https://plus.google.com/117916055521642810655/posts/23BrB267QHJ
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Click to collapse
MKV works great! Streaming from my NAS box now. However, the black line for 16:9 is only on top, and picture is at bottom of screen.
However, there is no way to fast forward or rewind.

Wow, this works wonderfully!
I can stream pretty much any video I have on my PC and get video and audio.
Also, you can use the andoid app remotecast https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.benlc.camcast to pause and adjust volume from your phone.

does anyone know how to remove the padding around the videos? when mine plays on the tv it is not centered and the top of the video is cut off

ez4nick said:
does anyone know how to remove the padding around the videos? when mine plays on the tv it is not centered and the top of the video is cut off
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Click to collapse
add height=480 and width=760 to your perameters. This will mess with your aspect ratio but it's the only solution I've found. If you can transcode HD then try 720x1280

buddhatown said:
Looking good. MP4's go over with no problem...But, of course I see you have some transcoding options set up for other formats (like mkv). How will that work? Is this implemented already?
Thanks for the nice app and hard work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not my work buddy, Yes Implemented, you can download with from the link in the first post

I don't understand. This isn't working at all for me. Tried both Chromecasts I have on different TVs, but every video file (AVIs and MP4) I try does nothing on the app or on the TV. Sometimes I see a track time start running on the app, but still, nothing but the ready to cast screen TV...
Did I miss something? Running Win8.
I also just updated VLC and still doesn't cast anything at all.
Also, does the config.properties file that creates automatically have to stay in the same location as the .jar file? Do we need to keep this at all?

just4747 said:
I don't understand. This isn't working at all for me. Tried both Chromecasts I have on different TVs, but every video file (AVIs and MP4) I try does nothing on the app or on the TV. Sometimes I see a track time start running on the app, but still, nothing but the ready to cast screen TV...
Did I miss something? Running Win8.
I also just updated VLC and still doesn't cast anything at all.
Also, does the config.properties file that creates automatically have to stay in the same location as the .jar file? Do we need to keep this at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't see anything happen to the app. There's a 10 second delay before video starts on tv.

golden_35 said:
You won't see anything happen to the app. There's a 10 second delay before video starts on tv.
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Click to collapse
I don't expect to see anything on the app, but most of the times, the counter for the movie never starts, and even when it does eventually, nothing ever shows up what so ever on the TV. So forget a 10-second delay, I've waited minutes and nothing lol.
Also I noticed that sometimes after loading the .jar, it only finds one Chromecast instead of my 2, or it finds NONE- until I hit refresh.

Ya I can't get it to work either for any video formats. It finds my Chromecast, but when I drag a file, my TV just goes black.

lexluthor said:
Also, you can use the andoid app remotecast to pause and adjust volume from your phone.
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Click to collapse
Were you able to resume playback with Remotecast? In my short test I was able to change volume and pause, but not able to resume playback.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Can still images be flung?
From my Note 2 running Beans 21

drjboulder said:
Were you able to resume playback with Remotecast? In my short test I was able to change volume and pause, but not able to resume playback.
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Click to collapse
Yes, in the videos I tried, both pause and then play to re-start worked.
Jumping forward/back doesn't work though.

In my test most videos pause like aircast and cheap cast. Fast Internet connection but I just don't think chromecast was built to stream media over local area networks without issues... But what do I know.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Hey all.
I tried using Chromecast today and it just isn't the same anymore.
When trying to play a "Personal Video" there's no option to stream it to the TV.
The only available icon is to share the video, which I did by accident, and now everything is being shared on Google Plus and I can't seem to find a way for this to stop either.
I'm using a Nexus 10, firmware 4.3, and it's not rooted.
Any help or ideas on what has changed recently?

Sees chromecast from ubuntu, nothing on windows
Fling doesn't find my chromecast using windows. but sees it using ubuntu. However nothing plays.

This is sweet!

Chrome extension to push any video....?

So... in theory,
Should it be possible to write a chrome extension, and a chromecast app, to push whatever video you liked to your Chromecast (assuming the relevant codec worked on chromecast).
This is instead of pushing the whole webpage, instead just pushing the video. I'm thinking specifically about BBC iPlayer, but various other videos too...
James

Koush is working on something along those lines...

Full-screen tab-casting with the existing Chromecast extension for Chrome already does that. It just doesn't do it very well. Needs more buffering I think.

Check this out, it may be what you're looking for. https://dabble.me/cast

That's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for, I'll try it out later!
Thanks.

jamesking420 said:
So... in theory,
Should it be possible to write a chrome extension, and a chromecast app, to push whatever video you liked to your Chromecast (assuming the relevant codec worked on chromecast).
This is instead of pushing the whole webpage, instead just pushing the video. I'm thinking specifically about BBC iPlayer, but various other videos too...
James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this page out. This is called "VidCast"..this page just talks about this Chrome "bookmarklet" and give ya a brief run-down of what the little script does..
VidCast

DJames1 said:
Full-screen tab-casting with the existing Chromecast extension for Chrome already does that. It just doesn't do it very well. Needs more buffering I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except Chrome doesn't play all video types, which op was referring to I believe.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

VidCast is interesting, but also very limited:
- only supports MP4 and WebM, and not all of those (for unknown reasons it doesn't like some absolutely basic standard MP4 files)
- doesn't work with Plex at all
Also a few key requirements to get it to work at all:
- must update Chrome to the latest version
- must disable Flash plugin for sites which may use Flash player (otherwise none of the buttons in the player window will function)

DJames1 said:
VidCast is interesting, but also very limited:
- only supports MP4 and WebM, and not all of those (for unknown reasons it doesn't like some absolutely basic standard MP4 files)
- doesn't work with Plex at all
Also a few key requirements to get it to work at all:
- must update Chrome to the latest version
- must disable Flash plugin for sites which may use Flash player (otherwise none of the buttons in the player window will function)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using it quite a bit today and haven't needed to disable Flash plugin to let it do it's thing.
It is limited, but Facebook/Vimeo/Daily Motion casting is a heck of a lot more than we had two days ago

nightfishing said:
I've been using it quite a bit today and haven't needed to disable Flash plugin to let it do it's thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on the site. Sites that default to Flash player won't work unless Flash is disabled and they'll switch to HTML5 (it's mentioned in the detailed instructions)

I'm talking about a chrome extension that pushes the video only to the Chromecast, directly. In the same way that YouTube and netflix work, for example
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

How about "Vget". There is a chrome extension and android app.

adobrakic said:
Check this out, it may be what you're looking for. https://dabble.me/cast
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Click to collapse
put bookmarklet on bookmark bar, nav to their vimeo demo, clik on bookmarklet, click on play, click on cast icon. nothing happens....

Make sure to have the latest version of Chrome and the Chromecast plugin. Also, for whatever reason, having the flash plugin enabled causes this to not work sometimes. It doesn't happen for me, but that's what others have reported.

adobrakic said:
Make sure to have the latest version of Chrome and the Chromecast plugin. Also, for whatever reason, having the flash plugin enabled causes this to not work sometimes. It doesn't happen for me, but that's what others have reported.
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Click to collapse
did all that... nothin

https://plus.google.com/110558071969009568835/posts/5fWK26rqitc

burnitdown said:
https://plus.google.com/110558071969009568835/posts/5fWK26rqitc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is this supposed to show?

Here is Vgethttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/...o-down/hniladkejehjfchadikcbjmgjaogciic?hl=en link
I'm not sure how Vget works but when I was viewing a page that the vidcast bookmarklet couldn't add casting to, Vget gives the option to cast it.
@aiiee
The vimeo video didn't work for me too... If you change your browser user agent to an android tablet/phone or possibly ios , I only tried android tablet, after it reloaded the UA it did work. But before I changed the user agent I clicked the Vget icon and it gave the option to cast the video in mp4 while video on the page was an flv I believe. So I think the Vget is able to check if the video url returns a proper format video for chromecast. Most sites video will play in formats according to the user agent presented.

smartymcfly said:
Here is Vgethttps://chrome.google.com/webstore/...o-down/hniladkejehjfchadikcbjmgjaogciic?hl=en link
I'm not sure how Vget works but when I was viewing a page that the vidcast bookmarklet couldn't add casting to, Vget gives the option to cast it.
@aiiee
The vimeo video didn't work for me too... If you change your browser user agent to an android tablet/phone or possibly ios , I only tried android tablet, after it reloaded the UA it did work. But before I changed the user agent I clicked the Vget icon and it gave the option to cast the video in mp4 while video on the page was an flv I believe. So I think the Vget is able to check if the video url returns a proper format video for chromecast. Most sites video will play in formats according to the user agent presented.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
of course, the one thing I, I mean THEY forgot thanks.
Huh, no change, vidcast still won't cast when user agent set to AND. Maybe fool with it some more later, maybe...