Database Develop

Stream video from PC to Xoom

Hai!
I've been seeing alot of people wanting to stream video from thier Home PC or HTPC to thier Xoom. I've also seen some really hard ways to go about it, srsly.
Here's an easy way that does not require you to install anything on your PC.
1. Share out your video folder on your PC, allow full access to everyone.
2. On Xoom, connect to your WiFi then goto Market, search "bs player" and download and install it, and the ARM7 addon next to it.
3. Open BS player, in top right menu, select LAN Mode.
4. Add your host(IP) and share: 192.168.0.2/downloads (this may not work for, is only example), add your username and password for the PC (your Login). You may need to add // infront of your IP address in some cases, not sure why.
Done.
BS player also plays most files inc .avi. Streams 720p quite fluently.
Also there is a way to do this over the net, but your net would probably die and it takes longer to explain and i'm at work, and i'm lazy ^_^.
Ciao.

You could do the same thing from your file explorer and have any player play the files from your computer. I switch to LAN in Honeycomb HD File Explorer and put my home IP in and now I can watch any of the files on my Xoom.

I installed tversity server on the pc and shared the video folder
I installed bubbleUpnp on the xoom..
open bubbleUPNP, browse to the folder, click the video and watch it on MX Video Player (or others)
Works beautifully

There are a few ways to do it.
This appears to be one of the easiest ways, along with sharing and using it through HD Explorer, which i do more than the way i posted.
But having to install software on your PC just to stream videos, in my oopinion, is unacceptable.
My PC has way more than enough power to do it as it was built for gaming, but I'd prefer not to add software that i don't need to.
But everyone has their way of doing it, this was just for those who aren't overly computer savvy and wanted to know how.

Qloud Free does a really good job of streaming video as well. Adjustable bit rate before you start each video even allows you to take in to account how powerful the CPU on the PC you are streaming from might be.

I followed your instructions, but nothing will play. Every file on my WHS server that I click on just crashes with "Unexpected error occured". I tried MP4, AVI (Xvix and Divx), and WMV files. I can see all my files under the folder I shared, none of them will play though.

I use Splashtop. What it basically does is lets you control your PC from your Xoom. Not sure if thats what you need. On the same network its pretty smooth.
If you are just looking to play it directly on your Xoom without it playing on ur PC then there are several softwares/apps available that let you view your PC files on your tablet.
What I would do is enable web sharing on my PC and then access the URL from my tablet's browser.

don't forget gmote 2.0. Its been streaming brilliantly for me

There is also Zumocast. Originally it was only available for select motorola phones, but you can find it in XDA forums...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1276410

Grabbing Plex is also a good way, though it isn't free. If you have a wide array of video formats (I have a large mix of SD, 720p, and 1080p content), something that can transcode is pretty much the only option, and Plex is much cheaper than the paid version of TVersity.
The Plex Media Server app catalogs videos with metadata like XBMC does on the PC, but requires their paid app from the market to access it. It handles real-time transcoding for videos that would otherwise be unplayable on the Xoom (ie 1080p high profile).

I agree with splashtop. I though about streaming other ways but didnt want to leave my video folder open to the entire network. Splashtop works perfectly.
I also use splashtop to get the video onto my xoom and then plug it into the tv with hdmi rather than carrying my laptop around or using a media streamer.

I personally like Remote Potato on windows 7. There is an app in the market called Remote Media Center that works real nice.
You will need Windows Media Center for this to work. I like it because I can also stream Live TV and the Guide.

Playing video from netgear readyshare storage

Background:
I have a netgear WNDR3400v2 router that has a readyshare USB port (no DLNA server though). I have loaded a few chromecast compatible video's on a usb drive and plugged it into my router. I have also copied the exact same files on my android device.
I am using avia for casting.
Scenario 1: (when video is stored locally on my android device) - WORKS
I open avia, lookup the video to play and cast it to chromecast. all works well.
Scenario 2 (Same video is stored in my router storage. Avia is NOT casting to chromecast) - WORKS
I open ES file explorer, and lookup the network storage. Locate the video and play it to avia player from ES file explorer.
AVIA window opens and video is played flawlessly.
Scenario 3 (Same video is stored in my router storage. Avia is casting to chromecast) - DOES NOT WORK
I open ES file explorer, and lookup the network storage. Locate the video and play it to avia player from ES file explorer.
AVIA window opens and only casts audio to chromecast. No video is displayed on my TV, only audio is casted.
Has someone faced this issue and solved it? please share how did you make it work.
Ideally, I would like to store all my local media on a USB device and attach it to my router, and then be able to cast it to chromecast.
Appreciate any help.
Thanks and a very happy new year to you all!

smrsxn said:
Background:
I have a netgear WNDR3400v2 router that has a readyshare USB port (no DLNA server though). I have loaded a few chromecast compatible video's on a usb drive and plugged it into my router. I have also copied the exact same files on my android device.
I am using avia for casting.
Scenario 1: (when video is stored locally on my android device) - WORKS
I open avia, lookup the video to play and cast it to chromecast. all works well.
Scenario 2 (Same video is stored in my router storage. Avia is NOT casting to chromecast) - WORKS
I open ES file explorer, and lookup the network storage. Locate the video and play it to avia player from ES file explorer.
AVIA window opens and video is played flawlessly.
Scenario 3 (Same video is stored in my router storage. Avia is casting to chromecast) - DOES NOT WORK
I open ES file explorer, and lookup the network storage. Locate the video and play it to avia player from ES file explorer.
AVIA window opens and only casts audio to chromecast. No video is displayed on my TV, only audio is casted.
Has someone faced this issue and solved it? please share how did you make it work.
Ideally, I would like to store all my local media on a USB device and attach it to my router, and then be able to cast it to chromecast.
Appreciate any help.
Thanks and a very happy new year to you all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only a few Options for you right now...
1 - Re-Encode (Transcode) All of your video Library to MP4/H264/AAC 4-8Mbps VBitrate. All files in that format should play without issues on the CCast (exception bad Network congestion or Reception. aVia should work for you in this example as will anything that has CCast support. (See #3 as an add on to this Option as it might give you a better Interface)
2 (and obviously the BEST Option) - Run a DLNA server that does Transcoding on the fly. Map the drives on your Router to the machine running the DLNA server and add that drive to the DLNA Server Library, Plex and Twonky are both considered the best DLNA servers out there and Plex gets a plus for having an Android App that is far superior as far as Display and it supports CCast directly. Twonky doesn't have an App that supports CCast but you can use aVia with both of those DLNA Servers. But Ples Server with Plex app is probably the best most complete solution right now (Transcoding and a few bugs not withstanding)
All Options that follow will require you doing Option 1 because they do not Transcode, and having aVia Player installed
3 - Get Movie Browser UPnP (another Paid App), Set up sources via UPnP (Your router seems to support this and if not) or Samba. When you try and play a Video for the first time it should ask you what Player to use, Select aVia.
(sorry forgot to add #4)
4 - Install Playon Server on your Desktop, It will aggregate all media the Desktop can see and if you use aVia as a Player for now that will work. PlayOn is promising CCast support in their App soon so when they do aVia will no longer be needed. PlayOn I hear DOES do some transcoding but aVia doesn't and until they support CCast natively I can't say for certain if you could skip Option 1 using this method.
So you pretty much have two choices. Re-Encode all of your Library or Set up a DLNA server that will transcode the source files for you on the fly and as needed.
Thats the best method for supporting media streaming to ALL of your devices.
If you have an old computer laying around that has more than a Pentium 4 Proc then Throw Linux on it, get Plex for Linux and it should be powerful enough to transcode for you. Windows would take up too many resources but Linux is lean enough to get away with an older proc.

smrsxn said:
Background:
I have a netgear WNDR3400v2 router that has a readyshare USB port (no DLNA server though). I have loaded a few chromecast compatible video's on a usb drive and plugged it into my router. I have also copied the exact same files on my android device.
I am using avia for casting.
Scenario 1: (when video is stored locally on my android device) - WORKS
I open avia, lookup the video to play and cast it to chromecast. all works well.
Scenario 2 (Same video is stored in my router storage. Avia is NOT casting to chromecast) - WORKS
I open ES file explorer, and lookup the network storage. Locate the video and play it to avia player from ES file explorer.
AVIA window opens and video is played flawlessly.
Scenario 3 (Same video is stored in my router storage. Avia is casting to chromecast) - DOES NOT WORK
I open ES file explorer, and lookup the network storage. Locate the video and play it to avia player from ES file explorer.
AVIA window opens and only casts audio to chromecast. No video is displayed on my TV, only audio is casted.
Has someone faced this issue and solved it? please share how did you make it work.
Ideally, I would like to store all my local media on a USB device and attach it to my router, and then be able to cast it to chromecast.
Appreciate any help.
Thanks and a very happy new year to you all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read your scenario 2 and scenario 3 a number of times and I can't figure out what's different in the setup between the two.
The result is different, but both lead up with opening in ES File Explorer and playing it via Avia?
I must be missing something...?

I find that DNLA feature on many routers is often buggy. My USB drive connected to one of my routers will show mp4 files as music on any Android DNLA media player. However, mkv files will show up as a video file.
My solution was to rename mp4 extention to mkv. Now Avia sees it as video and cast away.

bhiga said:
I read your scenario 2 and scenario 3 a number of times and I can't figure out what's different in the setup between the two.
The result is different, but both lead up with opening in ES File Explorer and playing it via Avia?
I must be missing something...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Differnce is that avia is not casting in scenario 2, but casting in scenario 3.
When avia is not casting, then video plays fine on my device.
When avia is casting same video, then only audio plays on chromecast.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

Asphyx said:
Only a few Options for you right now...
1 - Re-Encode (Transcode) All of your video Library to MP4/H264/AAC 4-8Mbps VBitrate. All files in that format should play without issues on the CCast (exception bad Network congestion or Reception. aVia should work for you in this example as will anything that has CCast support. (See #3 as an add on to this Option as it might give you a better Interface)
2 (and obviously the BEST Option) - Run a DLNA server that does Transcoding on the fly. Map the drives on your Router to the machine running the DLNA server and add that drive to the DLNA Server Library, Plex and Twonky are both considered the best DLNA servers out there and Plex gets a plus for having an Android App that is far superior as far as Display and it supports CCast directly. Twonky doesn't have an App that supports CCast but you can use aVia with both of those DLNA Servers. But Ples Server with Plex app is probably the best most complete solution right now (Transcoding and a few bugs not withstanding)
All Options that follow will require you doing Option 1 because they do not Transcode, and having aVia Player installed
3 - Get Movie Browser UPnP (another Paid App), Set up sources via UPnP (Your router seems to support this and if not) or Samba. When you try and play a Video for the first time it should ask you what Player to use, Select aVia.
(sorry forgot to add #4)
4 - Install Playon Server on your Desktop, It will aggregate all media the Desktop can see and if you use aVia as a Player for now that will work. PlayOn is promising CCast support in their App soon so when they do aVia will no longer be needed. PlayOn I hear DOES do some transcoding but aVia doesn't and until they support CCast natively I can't say for certain if you could skip Option 1 using this method.
So you pretty much have two choices. Re-Encode all of your Library or Set up a DLNA server that will transcode the source files for you on the fly and as needed.
Thats the best method for supporting media streaming to ALL of your devices.
If you have an old computer laying around that has more than a Pentium 4 Proc then Throw Linux on it, get Plex for Linux and it should be powerful enough to transcode for you. Windows would take up too many resources but Linux is lean enough to get away with an older proc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I have ensured that video is chromecast compatible already.
When I copy the video to my sdcard on my tablet, and cast via avia, then I get both video and audio on my tv. (1st scenario in my list.)
When I delete the video from my tablet's sdcard, and instead lookit up from my routerstorage via es file explorer, then only audio plays..no video.
So it's not a transcoding issue.
Steps to reproduce
- copy any video file that works with chromecast from your device to another network location.
- use es file explorer to lookup the file on network and play it to avia
- this time avia will not cast the video. Only audio will come on the tv.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

smrsxn said:
Differnce is that avia is not casting in scenario 2, but casting in scenario 3.
When avia is not casting, then video plays fine on my device.
When avia is casting same video, then only audio plays on chromecast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ooooh I think I understand now.
In Scenario 2, Avia is not connected to Chromecast, but in Scenario 3, Avia is already connected to Chromecast?
I'm not sure whether ES File Explorer's Send to/Open makes a copy of the remote file locally before opening - I think it might.
If that's the case, it might be a difference of available bandwidth between scenarios 2 and 3.
In scenario 2, ES File Explorer copies the remote file to local.
In scenario 3, ES File Explorer is copying the remote file to local while Avia is trying to send the incoming data back out to Chromecast.
The copy action is probably bursting/clogging the wireless connection so the Avia-to-Chromecast transfer isn't able to send the video data fast enough to Chromecast. The video data is getting to Chromecast too late and Chromecast is throwing them away instead of showing them.
That is, of course, if I'm correct that ES File Explorer's network browse makes a temporary local copy or cached chunk.

Possible diagnosis... atleast its adding up.
Let me try with low bitrate mp4 and see if that changes anything.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

SOLVED!!!
Happy to report that this issue is solved by using vget to stream network media.
It works excellent... i will start a new thread as vget does much more than just network storage casting...
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

Not sure of best way to stream from computer

Well I have had a Chromecast for some time now. I have been lurking for some time now but can't quite figure out what is the best solution for me.
Here is what I am looking to do.. I have quite a few workout dvd's that the Wife and I use, Yoga and the such. I want to eliminate the need to use the dvd player... my goal is to have everything ripped to my desktop, then use my phone to control what is displayed on the chromecast? especially since i have multiple chromecasts.....I just can't figure out what combination of apps I need to accomplish it... I have used ALLCast but the video will mess up during streaming... (Galaxy S3)
I am assuming I need some sort of media server service running on my desktop..(Plex?)
Any thoughts or suggestions would be great!
cdrshm

Rip the DVDs to MP4 files on your computer using some video tool like Handbrake. Enable the DLNA server function in Windows if you haven't already, and add your video folder as one of the shared media folders. Install BubbleUPnP on your Android phone. Select your computer as the source, Chromecast as the destination. Select your desired video and cast it to the Chromecast, controlling it with BubbleUPnP.
Plex is certainly an alternative, but you would have to install and set up Plex Media Server on your computer, and currently you have to pay $4/month for Plex Pass to use Plex with the Chromecast. For what you want to do the above combination is simpler and free.

@DJames1 hit it on the head.
Since I have multiple players, I'm waiting for My Movies to release Chromecast support, but I suspect it might be a while...

DJames1 said:
Rip the DVDs to MP4 files on your computer using some video tool like Handbrake. Enable the DLNA server function in Windows if you haven't already, and add your video folder as one of the shared media folders. Install BubbleUPnP on your Android phone. Select your computer as the source, Chromecast as the destination. Select your desired video and cast it to the Chromecast, controlling it with BubbleUPnP.
Plex is certainly an alternative, but you would have to install and set up Plex Media Server on your computer, and currently you have to pay $4/month for Plex Pass to use Plex with the Chromecast. For what you want to do the above combination is simpler and free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW! This works perfect! Thanks for helping me out! It works better than expected!!
Thanks Again!!
cdrshm

+1 to DJ!
Only thing I would quibble with is I'm not sure the Windows Media DLNA is a very good option but it is free and requires no installation.
Bubble requires SOME DLNA server since it does not have this function built in yet and instead aggregates media from other sources.
Something I suspect Bubble will soon add to it's arsenal!

You can also browse files in the chrome browser, such as your movie folder. And simply cast from that. Works instantly, easily, casts in the same quality the file is in, and requires no additional software or set up.
For instance, my data drive is F, I just browse to file:///F:/ on chrome, select my movies folder and start the video then cast from the browser.

^^ That's tab-casting. While it works as long as your computer is fast enough, it has several issues compared to the recommended solution:
1. It puts a heavier workload on your PC due to Google's rather inefficient tab-casting code.
2. Even with a high-performance PC, the video tends to stutter a little when tab-casting.
3. It has to be controlled from the PC. The OP said that he has an Android phone he wants to use as the controller.
If the OP were interested in trying streaming from Chrome, he would be better off to use the newly-renamed Videostream extension for Chrome mentioned in another thread here. It offers much smoother performance than tab-casting.

I use serviio on my computer and Avia on my devices. Works great.

I use Logitech Media Server with avia and it works perfectly...
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

^^ Also good solutions, but Avia isn't quite free, and they would require the OP to install a new media server on his PC.

Any good solution for mac os?

2fastkuztoms said:
Any good solution for mac os?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plex is probably the easiest option but it currently requires PlexPass subscription as it's still getting the kinks worked out.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.

You could use any DLNA server that runs on Mac along with BubbleUPnP as the controller on Android. I would probably choose Serviio.

Asphyx said:
+1 to DJ!
Only thing I would quibble with is I'm not sure the Windows Media DLNA is a very good option but it is free and requires no installation.
Bubble requires SOME DLNA server since it does not have this function built in yet and instead aggregates media from other sources.
Something I suspect Bubble will soon add to it's arsenal!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed Windows Media Server sucks. Install the free BubbleUPnP Server side app on your PC. Pay for the pro license of BubbleUPnP on Android and not only can you stream your PC media to Chromecast but you can stream through your PS3 and you can remotely watch all of your videos on your Android device or anyone else's media server in the world
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

[chromecast] [Android APP] y2cast v1.02 is released - DLNA/UPnP

y2cast is released.
You could download it from google play store.
y2cast is a DLNA/UPnP media render, which could forward media to chromecast.
You could push media from iphone/ipad, android phone/pad, PC (windows, linux, mac) etc to y2cast.
e.g.: wondershare, moliplayer, pptv, kuaishou, targetv.
Keyword: chromecast, googlecast, DLNA, UPnP
User guide:
code.google.com/p/y2cast
1. Select your chromecast.
2. Press "Home", go to your video APP, e.g.: wondershare, moliplayer, pptv, kuaishou, targetv.
3. Play a video in your video APP.
4. Select "Push" in your video APP.
5. Select y2cast as DLNA/UPnP render.
6. Done.
You could cast local media, LAN, online video to y2cast, then to chromecast.
y2cast could let xbmc cast to chromecast too:
http://www.xbmchub.com/forums/threa...oid(Y2Cast-amp-Moliplayer)-to-Chromecast-Free!

http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.liby2cast.app
Thanks I'll check this out when I get home.
making CCast a DLNA Renderer is one of the things I always thought CCast should do but doesn't.
It should really do it as part of the default home page as Google insists on a 5 Min receiver app timeout if idle.
I'm assuming that timeout is present and if you don't select media within that time frame we will have to re-activate the renderer app?
Or have you found some way around that on the sending side instead?

Neat idea! I'd like to see a PC app/service that could present a DLNA renderer for every Chromecast on the network and do transcoding. I'd rather not use up my batt on the phone and a universal dlna->chromecast mapper running on a fast PC would be sweet!

rkirmeier said:
Neat idea! I'd like to see a PC app/service that could present a DLNA renderer for every Chromecast on the network and do transcoding. I'd rather not use up my batt on the phone and a universal dlna->chromecast mapper running on a fast PC would be sweet!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, y2cast is only a render (DMR), not a player (DMP).
After you push media to y2cast, y2cast will forward media to chromecast.
chromecast will get the link of media, and starts to play it.
After chromecast started to play it, you could even quit y2cast.
Media file will keep playing on chromecast since chromecast already gets the link.
If you want to push a new media or control playback (pause/seek), you could run y2cast again.
After connected y2cast to chromecast, you could pause/seek the media which is still playing.

heres a dropbox link for them in a zip file.
its 172 files. not sure what happened with my chrome extension but i got them, probably with duplicates. I'm too lazy to sift through them though
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o7a8zruliyilz7l/Chromecast Wallpapers.zip

mimepp said:
Actually, y2cast is only a render (DMR), not a player (DMP).
After you push media to y2cast, y2cast will forward media to chromecast.
chromecast will get the link of media, and starts to play it.
After chromecast started to play it, you could even quit y2cast.
Media file will keep playing on chromecast since chromecast already gets the link.
If you want to push a new media or control playback (pause/seek), you could run y2cast again.
After connected y2cast to chromecast, you could pause/seek the media which is still playing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting... Thanks for the clarification.

I don't understand step 4. Select "Push" in your video APP. Basically I play a video in my favorite app moliplayer or mxplayer but I can't see an option to "push" at all. What am I doing wrong?

kawaiichi said:
I don't understand step 4. Select "Push" in your video APP. Basically I play a video in my favorite app moliplayer or mxplayer but I can't see an option to "push" at all. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In moliplayer there's an option (select the settings menu while playing a video, render to : ) to select a external rendering device
If you have ys2 running in the background, then it will show up in moliplayer, which will then cast it to your cc
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk

drivenby said:
In moliplayer there's an option (select the settings menu while playing a video, render to : ) to select a external rendering device
If you have ys2 running in the background, then it will show up in moliplayer, which will then cast it to your cc
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I found it in moliplayer, but not in mxplayer

kawaiichi said:
Thanks, I found it in moliplayer, but not in mxplayer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it should be noted that this requires using a player app that can target DLNA Renderers.
I do not believe MX Player supports that feature.

Hi,
To push from an Ipad, you have to first start the y2cast program from an Android phone. So, why wouldn't you just also push from the Android phone instead of the Ipad. Am I missing something or is an Ipad version of y2cast coming where you wouldn't need the Android phone? Or would this work with 2 Chromecasts at the same time once you started y2cast, one for the phone and one from the Ipad?
Thanks

Think about this case:
You have an Android phone, your wife has a ipad.
She'd like to use ipad to push media file to chromecase, not operate on your Android phone, right?

Hi Again,
I was trying to get this working on my computer without a phone using Bluestacks, an android emulator. It works the same as on the phone except the cast button doesn't show up on Y2Cast. Is there any way to get the cast button to show up that you know of or is it not possible.
Thanks

I do not try bluestacks, but please make sure y2cast and chromecast is under the same LAN, otherwise, it could not find chromecast.

it seems bluestacks has different IP address, and it could not be changed.

vincent1964 said:
Hi,
To push from an Ipad, you have to first start the y2cast program from an Android phone. So, why wouldn't you just also push from the Android phone instead of the Ipad. Am I missing something or is an Ipad version of y2cast coming where you wouldn't need the Android phone? Or would this work with 2 Chromecasts at the same time once you started y2cast, one for the phone and one from the Ipad?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on what people are watching. Because not all apps on Ipad are available on Android and vice versa. Or you may prefer how smoothly certain apps run on Ipad versus Android, or vice versa. I've tested it from our Ipad Air and I think it's brilliant.
Yes, it would be nice and tidy if y2cast was available for IOS. But this is a very cool work-around. Keep in mind you're still relegated to using apps that support DLNA. What would make y2cast even cooler is if it supported Airplay. Because I also tested apps on the Ipad that only support Airplay and the Airplay button was grayed out. I was hoping for some miracle that it would allow me to Airplay to y2cast. LOL! But it can't. You need DLNA supported apps.

The seekbar is definatelt smoother than allcast, shows the timer changing but the seek head returns to the beginning

ermacwins said:
The seekbar is definatelt smoother than allcast, shows the timer changing but the seek head returns to the beginning
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which app are you using with y2cast? moliplayer?

mimepp said:
Which app are you using with y2cast? moliplayer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep moliplayer, forgot to mention it

All cast .avi video support from my android
I'm finding that I can't cast .avi files with Allcast or this app. Will there be any support? Mp4 files are the only video types I see. Further more, I've tried a lot of other cast apps for .avi files on my android nexus 7 and they just give a black screen and broken audio. Anyone had any success? Do tell!
Thanks.

Alternative's to "Cast your entire screen"

Hi,
I've only recently found out about Chromecast, reviews were very praising so yesterday I went out and bought one. Unfortunately, my initial enthousiasm has almost disappeared because I can't successfully do the 2 most important things I was planning to do with such a device: 1) Stream my desktop for 720p/1080p video playback and 2) Stream/Cast my Nexus 6 screen (I get a green screen when I connect it, separate apps do work though).
Focusing on the pc casting, the video playback is lagging a lot even if I switch to 480p which is of course unacceptable for watching HD movies. I am not talking about the 0.5 - 1 second input delay, I don't care about that as I don't want to play games with it but rather for the constant speed dropping/pausing/catching up. I have a 50/10 mbps connection which I would think is enough for this but to its defense, I have only tried it through a 2014 Macbook Pro i7/16gb ram running Windows through bootcamp. Could that be the cause of slow performance? Bootcamp may be adequate for basic stuff but the computer does not feel at all like an i7 / 16gb ram unit should.
If the pc is not the issue, are there alternatives to cast your desktop at an acceptable level through other apps? I saw vnc2cast in another thread. Also, is it an option for Chromecast to work if i connect my pc through Ethernet instead of wi-fi for better performance?
Thanks

Why do you need PC video playback on CC? Its smth like record a video of playing movie by phone and then watch it, instead of copy the file to phone and then open it... You could find some FAQ first...
1.Google Cast extention for Chrome Browser will let play compatible formats of video to CC. Just drag&drop the file to a tab and hit the Cast button. It also has "Cast Entire Screen" option.
2.Videostream extention will transcode and play most of the unsupporded files, including .avi, besides the regular ones
3. Share the folder to local net, use ES File Explorer + ES File Explorer Chromecast plugin. Find the shared folder in LAN section then play with plugin.
4.KMP Player for android+KMP Connect on PC.
5.BubbleUPnP android app+BubbleUPnP server on PC for transcoding any file.
6.Plex Media Server + Plex android app
7.ANY Media server on PC (Twonky, Plex, Serviio, BubbleUPnP etc) + Any program that see DLNA (Avia for example). If an app has "open with" option, one can use VEGA Cast, AllCast, Avia, ES Cast Plugin etc...
For Screen Mirror try Koush's "Mirror" app. First join ClockWorkMod beta testers Google+ group, then it will be available in Google Play.

playahate said:
Why do you need PC video playback on CC? Its smth like record a video of playing movie by phone and then watch it, instead of copy the file to phone and then open it... You could find some FAQ first...
1.Google Cast extention for Chrome Browser will let play compatible formats of video to CC. Just drag&drop the file to a tab and hit the Cast button. It also has "Cast Entire Screen" option.
2.Videostream extention will transcode and play most of the unsupporded files, including .avi, besides the regular ones
3. Share the folder to local net, use ES File Explorer + ES File Explorer Chromecast plugin. Find the shared folder in LAN section then play with plugin.
4.KMP Player for android+KMP Connect on PC.
5.BubbleUPnP android app+BubbleUPnP server on PC for transcoding any file.
6.Plex Media Server + Plex android app
7.ANY Media server on PC (Twonky, Plex, Serviio, BubbleUPnP etc) + Any program that see DLNA (Avia for example). If an app has "open with" option, one can use VEGA Cast, AllCast, Avia, ES Cast Plugin etc...
For Screen Mirror try Koush's "Mirror" app. First join ClockWorkMod beta testers Google+ group, then it will be available in Google Play.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reason for pc video playback is I'd like to see movies from my local drives without having to set up a media server/NAS thing. I guess the extensions you mention in 1) and 2) can do that? I'll try them out.
Now if I understand correctly 3-7 regards sharing files from pc to phone and then streaming them to CC? I'd like to avoid that if possible as it requires the phone to act as an intermediate between pc and CC If I am not mistaken.

mclisme said:
Reason for pc video playback is I'd like to see movies from my local drives without having to set up a media server/NAS thing. I guess the extensions you mention in 1) and 2) can do that? I'll try them out.
Now if I understand correctly 3-7 regards sharing files from pc to phone and then streaming them to CC? I'd like to avoid that if possible as it requires the phone to act as an intermediate between pc and CC If I am not mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is basically a remote to initiate and control the cast from the remote device/storage for all / most of these options (definitely for Plex and the BubbleUPnP options). It's not doing any heavy lifting.
Plex is probably the most adaptable option.
Also beware that casting local high bandwidth media from a wifi networked device/storage via router to chromecast may never produce consistent results as performance is often impacted by network conditions. Tweaking various arcane settings on your router can help but it's a pain.
For me there were huge differences in performance depending on whether the host device was is the same room as the router (very good) or in it's normal location a floor up and 20-30 yards away (pretty poor) or wired (excellent). I ended up resurrecting an old laptop heading for recycle with a fresh linux install to be permanently wired to my router to host a Plex server and media. Never looked back.

playahate said:
2.Videostream extention will transcode and play most of the unsupporded files, including .avi, besides the regular ones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I tried Videostream and I find it amazing. Even its interface is so simple and smooth and with the remote control app for the phone I think it's great. So watching my movies is solved.
Now, another reason I was looking for "cast your entire screen" alternatives is that I can't seem to get a specific video streaming service that I often use to work properly. If I cast the tab, for some reason the video does not show up in CC even though the rest of the page like pictures and video controls show up fine. I guess it has to do with the fact that this specific service is encrypted and does not allow HDMI connections, if it detects one it just stops. So maybe it similarly blocks Chromecast plugin from capturing the video off it and sending it to CC?
The only way to fool it is to cast my entire screen. Then the video works fine but at a rate below 24 fps which makes it almost unusable. I even switched to 480p but still the video is slow for live sports. I guess when screen-casting, the load is too much for CC to handle?
So If there aren't other ways to improve screen-casting to a watchable level (24fps) either by 3rd-party apps or CC hacks/mods, I can only hope something is developed in the future I guess...