HP Dreamscreen & Twonky
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:30 am
I bought an HP Dreamscreen not long ago.
Some of the initial hands-ons and interviews listed it as UPNP DLNA compliant. However, now that I have one, the reality is that it ONLY worked with the media sharing function of WMP. I already have a NAS and did not want to leave a computer on just for WMP.
I tried the latest Twonky version (5.1 I guess) and treated the dreamscreen as a windows device and it was able to see the server, but would crash when trying to play files. I can browse directory structures (empty), but when I get to a directory with files inside I have problems.. Dreamscreen just hangs up and requires a hard reset. Only windows type device settings in Twonky would result in the Dreamscreen detecting the server.
So... I eventually found that I could use Twonky 4.4.18 and treat the device as an XBOX360, and it will see music and photos. There is no album art, and some Exif data causes Twonky problems (I think it is twonky) with photos. If there is no Exif data, pictures are sent to the Dreamscreen and it scales them as it should. Lots of Exif data and Twonky appears to only send the thumbnail from the jpg, which has horrible resolution when scaled up by the dreamscreen.
So I dont really have a question, just would like to state what I have found so that hopefully maybe a future Twonky can support the HP Dreamscreen properly and fully. I have also hated on HP's support boards about how the device isnt actually compliant, but honestly I dont expect them to ever fix it. They don't claim on the packaging it should be, but their marketing people didnt stop reviewers and testers from saying publicly it was.
Thanks All!
Some of the initial hands-ons and interviews listed it as UPNP DLNA compliant. However, now that I have one, the reality is that it ONLY worked with the media sharing function of WMP. I already have a NAS and did not want to leave a computer on just for WMP.
I tried the latest Twonky version (5.1 I guess) and treated the dreamscreen as a windows device and it was able to see the server, but would crash when trying to play files. I can browse directory structures (empty), but when I get to a directory with files inside I have problems.. Dreamscreen just hangs up and requires a hard reset. Only windows type device settings in Twonky would result in the Dreamscreen detecting the server.
So... I eventually found that I could use Twonky 4.4.18 and treat the device as an XBOX360, and it will see music and photos. There is no album art, and some Exif data causes Twonky problems (I think it is twonky) with photos. If there is no Exif data, pictures are sent to the Dreamscreen and it scales them as it should. Lots of Exif data and Twonky appears to only send the thumbnail from the jpg, which has horrible resolution when scaled up by the dreamscreen.
So I dont really have a question, just would like to state what I have found so that hopefully maybe a future Twonky can support the HP Dreamscreen properly and fully. I have also hated on HP's support boards about how the device isnt actually compliant, but honestly I dont expect them to ever fix it. They don't claim on the packaging it should be, but their marketing people didnt stop reviewers and testers from saying publicly it was.
Thanks All!