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UK broadcasters unenthusiastic

Some disappointing news from the UK: http://m.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2338217/uk-broadcasters-shun-google-chromecast. Catchup TV is particularly scathing as they say that the CC simply isn't powerful enough to handle live TV. I put this to the test by tab casting a live iplayer broadcast and it was fine, maybe a little slow.. If I was casting directly from the app, it would surely have been even better. I do have a fairly speedy connection though, 100 mbps cable. What we other people's experiences with casting live TV?

Rooksx said:
Some disappointing news from the UK: http://m.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2338217/uk-broadcasters-shun-google-chromecast. Catchup TV is particularly scathing as they say that the CC simply isn't powerful enough to handle live TV. I put this to the test by tab casting a live iplayer broadcast and it was fine, maybe a little slow.. If I was casting directly from the app, it would surely have been even better. I do have a fairly speedy connection though, 100 mbps cable. What we other people's experiences with casting live TV?
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Sounds like a cop-out to me. Sounds more like they don't want to put the effort into it. A proper live stream would simply pull from an Internet stream, same as the current apps do.
A live stream may not have as many flavors or quite as much compression as a pre-recorded stream can, but that doesn't stop it from working. More likely either their live encoder hardware is simply not tuned for a Chromecast-compatible compression profile, or they don't want to put the effort into modifying their app to transfer credentials to Chromecast (otherwise any viewer who accessed the same URL could get the live stream for free).

Lots of Content providers who already have access to the big screen via Tuner will be hesitant...Because they feel they already support and have the Big Screen model they prefer and it makes billions for them!
Their foray into Tab and Mobile streaming is merely to capture those screens which have no tuner support.
And their mindset is that if they support the Big Screen via CCast they will lose out on all the money they make on the Tuner subs.
They aren't wrong about that part but what they don't seem to realize is they are going to lose that money anyway as more content is available via the Web and people start cutting cords.
And as more of their competition realizes and adds support for this new Big Screen methodology they will either jump onto the ship or risk it sailing away without them.
It's difficult to get a business to change the way they make money when the old method has made it for them for half a century and switch to a new way of making even more money by cutting out the middleman.
They could charge more for a sub than they get per subscriber from the cable companies now.
And people would pay it provided they got to pick and choose which networks they pay for (ala Carte) and could view it on any screen they may own.
Music Industry once faced this same dilemma, they picked wrong and look what happened to their industry!
The same will happen to TV if they don't open their eyes and smell the Data!
They will lose the subs, People will pirate the shows they want to see, No way to record ratings or views and if that happens they won't even have the money to implement the new methods or create new programming...

Rooksx said:
Some disappointing news from the UK: http://m.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2338217/uk-broadcasters-shun-google-chromecast. Catchup TV is particularly scathing as they say that the CC simply isn't powerful enough to handle live TV. I put this to the test by tab casting a live iplayer broadcast and it was fine, maybe a little slow.. If I was casting directly from the app, it would surely have been even better. I do have a fairly speedy connection though, 100 mbps cable. What we other people's experiences with casting live TV?
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Live streaming via iPlayer app over WiFi works just fine with CC, so I don't really know what the TV Catchup issue is or what their "extensive tesing" actually involved. Do we even know why YouTube doesn't support live streams on CC? Since they point to this as justification. Some of the comments seemed odd - like the one suggesting that the app needed to stream to CC directly, rather than CC playing the given URL, or that VOD content was only "okayish" (have they even tried the Netflix or Play Movies apps?)
The other UK broadcasters as we know are just talking out their backsides as usual.
Having said that, there's little value for me in streaming live channels via CC when they're just a button press away on my TV ...

ghtop said:
The other UK broadcasters as we know are just talking out their backsides as usual.
Having said that, there's little value for me in streaming live channels via CC when they're just a button press away on my TV ...
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Yes. I've had iPlayer on my Chromecasts since it launched but never watched live TV. Why would anyone in the UK want to watch PSB broadcasters live this way - unless their TV was broken or something. I accept there is a market among expats but that would be irrelevant to the broadcasters.
Anyway, just tested it for the first time on 40" and 19" sets and live streams work perfectly. Better than direct from the website in fact since there is none of the trademark judder. To be fair though it is only a matter of time before the BBC starts to offer live 720p streams (the Winter Olympics feeds worked beautifully for those with good connection speeds) so perhaps our sticks would cope less well with these?
But the whole point of these players is for catch up TV - this is a very disappointing cop-out and even more reason to praise the BBC for getting their app up and running with Chromecast so promptly.

This post is relevant to me as I am UK based, have two chromecasts and my second TV does not have an aerial connection.
I've followed TV Catchup's position on this and I have to say I agree that it is a complete cop-out on their part. More fool them. If iPlayer, Redbull TV and (monday update of) BT sport can integrate casting then their excuse that the CC is not powerful enough is wide of the mark.
My experience of live streams from iPlayer is top notch but I have an excellent fibre optic connection.
So, for my second TV I have embarked on a quest to find a work around.
TV Catchup + Mirror app. Works OK. Resolution is as you'd expect, watchable but no where near HD. Sound quality also suffers. So whilst this solution is boarderline acceptable. It's not great.
XBMC =AVIA. Awesome. ALMOST a fully comprehensive solution for me. I am using the XAF version with 1channel, icefilms and Mashup with playercorefactory set up for Avia. This is great for ondemand services BUT live streams fail to start. This is particularly annoying for me as I subscribe to Offside Streams (for my sports) and I cannot get this to work outside of casting a chrome tab. THIS is my holy grail.
Plex Channels = The Plex live channels I have found to be hit and miss. There are not enough channels of interest and it is a lottery if they work.
BUBBLE UPNP - So I have set up a transcoding server for Bubble. It's delightful. When casting local/network/server files from Android the PC does the grunt work. It pretty much maxes out my quad core 8GB rig, but playback is perfectly acceptable for me.
What I would love to do with Bubble UPnP is fire up a live stream which is transcoded by my server rig and cast to the CC. This would offer me the solution I crave but I have no idea if it is even possible.
New Tasker Plugin - AUTOCAST. This has promise and I will be spending a few more hours setting it up. It is not for the less tech/tasker savvy. So far I have combined it with AutoShare to share local media files direct from the galley or a file explorer. It even runs videos from the chrome browser IF the website is compatible. IF more websites were compatible, this would be my casting of choice. I really like it's functionality once it has been set up correctly. The dev is publishing some guides on this from Monday.
I am watching you JW PLAYER. Now JW is the player of choice for many large companies websites. They have just announced chromecast support (to be rolled out) and I think this will open the door to new horizons.
Obviously, I'd love to see ITV player, 4OD and Demand Five release both Chromecast support and live streaming from their respective apps. I won't hold my breath. BBC, I am not fond of your general operations but I have to applaud you as an early adopter. BT sport is an added bonus. SKY and SKY GO is as closed shop as they come so let's write that off before we begin.
I have every faith that some smart dev will release a player that can pull flash and html5 video from websites and cast to chromecast. I'd love to see a JW Player app but I think MX Player will be the first there.
GO DEVS GO, I have cash waiting.

Funny I don't think Google intended the Chrome cast to be powerful. The new Amazon TV can handle lots. Roku 3 pretty solid. I am more disappointed that to get the most out of Chromecast you have to be in the USA for one thing and the UK for another. Using a VPN is possible but more complicated then other devices I have. It is cheap.
Sent from my Xoom Wifi using XDA Premium HD app

Drizwaldo1 said:
.....
What I would love to do with Bubble UPnP is fire up a live stream which is transcoded by my server rig and cast to the CC. This would offer me the solution I crave but I have no idea if it is even possible.
.....
I have every faith that some smart dev will release a player that can pull flash and html5 video from websites and cast to chromecast. I'd love to see a JW Player app but I think MX Player will be the first there.
GO DEVS GO, I have cash waiting.
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BubbleUPnP can cast live streams from the browser - I'm just not 100% sure on compatibility and how it integrates with the Server. So far I've only tried mp4 streams which just work and don't need any transcoding.
The way it works for me using Firefox browser - 1) go to streaming website and open your video - often Firefox itself can't play the video. 2) Long press the video to bring up a share menu - one of the options is 'open with app' - click that and BubbleUPnP is an option. 3) Select BubbleUPnP and if the Chromecast is already set as the Renderer the stream is on your TV.

neu - smurph said:
BubbleUPnP can cast live streams from the browser - I'm just not 100% sure on compatibility and how it integrates with the Server. So far I've only tried mp4 streams which just work and don't need any transcoding.
The way it works for me using Firefox browser - 1) go to streaming website and open your video - often Firefox itself can't play the video. 2) Long press the video to bring up a share menu - one of the options is 'open with app' - click that and BubbleUPnP is an option. 3) Select BubbleUPnP and if the Chromecast is already set as the Renderer the stream is on your TV.
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BubbleUPnP can transcode (if necessary and provided that BubbleUPnP Server is installed) videos from any source, including http video URLs sent from web browsers or any other app.
As for streaming live content not web related, I've got report of users streaming live TV streams in TS format served by some specialized boxes (like the HD HomeRun), and transcoded by BubbleUPnP Server on the fly to be compatible. Theorically it should also work with any media server serving live streams like MythTV and others.

Best Chromecast app for android

Hey guys, i'm looking for best android apps to stream videos to chromecast. The problem is that most of them only support mp4 files. I found only one that supports all file formats, it transcodes the file on the fly on your phone and streams directly to chromecast. its called Megacast. Does anyone know anything similar?

I usually just stream from es file explorer
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

BubbleUPNP and Localcast
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

Yeah bubbleupnp is q pretty solid app, especially with transcoding for Chromecast.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Whats the difference compared to screen mirroring? At least compared with ES Chromecast Player the screen mirroring runs much smoother.

Solid Explorer is IMO by far the best I have used. Plays anything from anywhere. 1080p is laggy, but everything else I throw at it works fine. Streaming from phone, NAS and ftp...
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I think people are missing the point of the question about transcoding. While there are many good Chromecast-enabled video players on Android (e.g., Avia, AllCast, BubbleUPnP, LocalCast, Plex, AllConnect being just the few that I have on my tablet), mostly they don't support on-the-fly transcoding because phone processors simply aren't up to handling the task smoothly yet, and it would drain battery power at an alarming rate if they could. Some like Plex and BubbleUPnP support transcoding using a remote server. But really it's easier just to transcode all your videos to a common mp4 format that's compatible with everything instead of worrying about on-the-fly transcoding.

DJames1 said:
I think people are missing the point of the question about transcoding. While there are many good Chromecast-enabled video players on Android (e.g., Avia, AllCast, BubbleUPnP, LocalCast, Plex, AllConnect being just the few that I have on my tablet), mostly they don't support on-the-fly transcoding because phone processors simply aren't up to handling the task smoothly yet, and it would drain battery power at an alarming rate if they could. Some like Plex and BubbleUPnP support transcoding using a remote server. But really it's easier just to transcode all your videos to a common mp4 format that's compatible with everything instead of worrying about on-the-fly transcoding.
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Sometimes, just the audio track of videos must be transcoded (DTS, AC3) and Android devices are powerful enough for this task (which BubbleUPnP can perform locally).

There are lots of chromecast apps available over the web which you can install on your device. But I find an amazing list of best chromecast apps android. Why don't you check it out.

I like this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.videostream.Mobile&hl=nl

ViCast HD Google Cast (Chromecast) player
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No audio for some movies and tv shows in pegasus app. S6 edge plus MM

It works on some smaller yify rips but not most of my bluray rips or tv show archer for example

It's mostly because your videos use audio codecs the app cannot support without paying fees to the patent owners. There are ways to side load a codec library that support these codecs.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GearVR/comments/5c75g1/best_video_player_out_there/d9ub3bl
This does not work on Android 7 yet.

Streaming webbased 3D content with 3D subs

Hi guys,
First, apologies if I might break some netiquette or rules, but I'm getting a bit desparate. I've searched for ages, both on here and on Google.
Here's my issue.
I want to stream 3D content that is webbased from my phone (Sony Xperia Z1) to my Chromecast. I don't have a PC at the moment.
Which isn't the problem on it's own.
However, as I'm not a native English speaker, I'd like to have some subtitles. I've already found a nifty app that converts .SRT files to either .SSA or .ASS.
Now, I've tried using a bunch of apps to achieve this, but never with 100% success (more apps than the ones below, buy they all kinda had the same functionality).
- MXplayer accepts SOME 3D streams, and can show the 3D subs. It cannot stream on its own, without sharing to en external app.
- If the abovementioned stream works on MX, and I stream it to LocalCast (or use LocalCast to open the stream directly), I can add the 3D subs (supports only 1 format though), but I get the error that Chromecast can't play the stream, and that LC can't fix it.
- If I use WebVideo Cast (which I would normally use), I can play all streams just fine, but it doesn't support 3D subs.
Does anyone know of an app that supports both casting to Chromecast AND 3D subs?
Much obliged

Chromecast with Google TV only casts 2-channel Audio with Many Apps including YouTube TV

If you are an Apple device user, stick with Apple, otherwise....
I've been into Home Theater for 30 years and try to keep up with everything, get best bang for the buck, make sure I'm using all my equipment to its fullest potential.
The Chromecast for Google TV has a well-designed interface, especially if you are willing to use their YouTube TV service for all your live channels as it is well integrated. However over the past three weeks with the goal of finally cutting the Comcast/Xfinity cable (which I did and am saving $80/month), this is my experience in a nutshell.
Chromecast with Google TV - YouTube TV & Hulu stream in 2-channel PCM. If you have a mid to high range AVR, it can spoof surround though quite well using DTS Neo 6 or Dolby Pro Logic 2 but still not as "clean" as a true 5.1 source signal.
Roku Streaming Stick + - A close competitor to the latest Chromecast with Google TV. Works well for people that want a simpler menu/interface to just navigate to each of their streaming services without a lot of other stuff/recommendations in your face. Has voice control from the remote. Hulu streams in 5.1. HBOMax streams in 2-channel PCM!!! Returned it.
Tivo Stream 4K - Streams every service in 5.1 (or Atmos Dolby Digital+ if service supports it). Better remote than the Chromecast with Google TV as it has more buttons including a very useful Info button that works in some apps like being able to see the video and audio stream specs in realtime of your Netflix stream to verify you are getting 4K and Atmos. Also if you can link your Tivo account to your Sling account, and Pluto, and Locast which allows the TIVO Guide to combine all the channels into one guide. Unfortunately though it doesn't have the option to add YouTube TV into the Tivo native channel guide. I'd still use this device over Chromecast with Google TV just because it streams Hulu in 5.1 instead of 2-channel PCM (currently.)
What is strange is essentially these are all Android TV Operating System Devices. So initially I thought it was the developers of the particular streaming service's fault that they are streaming their audio in 2-channel PCM. But apparently, it is both a combination of the hardware and app software, as otherwise why does Hulu stream in 2-channel PCM on the Chromecast and 5.1 on the Roku and Tivo or conversely why does HBOMax on the Roku stream in 2-channel and in 5.1 on the Chromecast? They are all Android TV Software Apps!
Story of my life in trying to get the most for my money -- end up spending tens if not hundreds of hours testing, talking in forums, troubleshooting, chatting with first-line tech support that has no clue about advanced technical issues, etc. This is where the Apple people can chime in an assert that Apple is wortth he extra money to avoid wasted time making everything "work" but Apple has it's issues drawbacks too.
I've kept my Chromecast and the Tivo Stream 4K. So if the Chromecast with Google TV gets their act together with the respective streaming devs, I may go back to it. But I'm no longer using YouTube TV as I watch very little live TV so the $70 with tax per month isn't justified. I'm lucky enough to have Locast.org for my areas, combine that with the Streamium DVR app (free or $5/month donation) and I use Sling for CNN and ESPN, and I'm quite happy on the TIVO Stream 4K.
Bottom line: Chromecast with Google TV has a great interface but it's just not up to speed on the audio streaming capabilities on all streaming services. Pretty disappointing.

jazee said:
What is strange is essentially these are all Android TV Operating System Devices.
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Just a quick note that Roku is running RokuOS, not Android TV. Sure, if you go deep enough, they share a same core (Linux), but that's pretty much it. They're completely different operating systems.

jazee said:
stream in 2-channel PCM
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I can't speak for everybody, but I only have 2 ears, so I'm perfectly happy with 2-channel audio.
As long as the device is secure and stable (read as: not some half baked made-in-china trash that spies on you and keeps crashing), and can run the software that I WANT (read as: I don't give a damn about "streaming services"), then the box works perfectly.
The main thing that bothers me about this chromecast are;
1) The included launcher has ads that can only be partially disabled,
2) The remote has THREE useless buttons.