Supported Streaming Formats

General discussion about the media server. Feature requests. Hints, tips and tricks.
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DaemonBeetle
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by DaemonBeetle » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:04 pm

If you want something that simply shares the media as a file server to any networked client, then you are looking at the wrong product. That isn't what Twonky is about, it is a media server for DLNA/UPnP clients not a general purpose media organiser.

It isn't handicapped, it is simply that it isn't designed specifically for your use. Many people (myself included) use it every day. As for it not knowing about the client, that says that the client isn't a DLNA/UPnP client. If it was then it would understand the broadcasts that Twonky makes and connect to Twonky.

That you can use the Flash interface says that Twonky supports the file format, you just need to ensure that your DLNA client is correctly configured in Twonky server. Obviously it also needs to be a DLNA client.

However, can I suggest that it would make more sense for you to ask all these questions in your own thread, separate from the list of the file formats Twonky supports. That way we avoid confusion.
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NewToTwonky
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by NewToTwonky » Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:46 pm

You are right a separate tread for every one of the many many inconsistencies I have issue with, is understandable. You may misunderstand me, I think the product is great, it may even fit the bill, unfortunately every feature depicted in the how to videos which I've attempted so far has failed miserably and I'm just getting started here. maybe it's me? I've only had this product installed for 24hours and found so many issues and inconsistencies with what is advertised to do and actually being functionally able to perform. So i figured I'd inquire about a few here where they seem most appropriate like the issue of media support... If there is a misunderstanding on my part then the how too videos have all failed to portray the correct procedure of operation, right?


More on Topic: Why is the ts format supported when the similar and more commonly used m2ts format is not supported? m2ts is a standard format for all blue ray for example yet it's not listed as being supported and in fact isn't supported.. ts format on the other hand is not listed as being supported. Either way the OP in this thread has not been updated with either??? m2ts and ts are both formats designed for streaming over internet Protocols which you would think is supported on a network media manager?? Maybe the team is working on including both, am just asking??


Twonky Media Manager displays this error message " The Local renderer could not play back the selected media. Please make sure you have the proper codec installed and try again" This makes no sense!! yet happens on almost all media using the Tonky Manager. which brings us back to format inconsistencies again.

NewToTwonky
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by NewToTwonky » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:00 pm

ts format stands for "Transport Stream" m2ts stands for Mpeg2 Transport Stream, how is it that m2ts is not supported please?

Hang on, I just had a thought, maybe simply changing the name to comply with AVCHD's 8.3 naming convention will help?

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DaemonBeetle
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by DaemonBeetle » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:13 pm

.mt2s files are for the BDAV format, which is not designed for IP streaming, but for BluRay. DVD and streaming use .ts format files.

However, they are just containers, like .mp4 and .mkv files. What matters more are the codes inside. Indeed, since it is serving up the files, but your client is failing to play them, says that Twonky does support the file format (it does look to be supported, though the log suggests that it needs to transcode it for my TV). The problem is simply that your client is unable to render them. It does sounds like you are confusing file formats (containers such as AVI, BDAV, MKV) and the media stream formats (such as H.264, MP3). MP4 is often a source of confusion since it is both a container (MPEG-4 Part 14) and a stream format (MPEG-4 Part 2 and MPEG-4 part 10).

The best thing to do, with any forum, is when you have questions to start your own thread. Then it avoids your issues being confused with somebody else's issues. It would help us too if you were to tell us what you're trying to view the files on (make, model and revision - eg Samsung B650 series TV with firmware 3001.1) and the exact files you're trying to view (I'm guessing .m2ts files).
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DaemonBeetle
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by DaemonBeetle » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:20 pm

Just confirmed, XBMC can stream a .m2ts file from Twonky just fine. This means that Twonky supports the file format, any problem is with your client.
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NewToTwonky
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by NewToTwonky » Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:47 am

Clearly there is more to file support than simply "any problem is with your client." This statement is not correct.

Maybe here is a terminology misunderstanding, So the client, XBMC (if you mean renderer by the term client) plays all media on the network without the use of Twonky Server clearly indicating the client has no problem playing any media.

Anyhow, after further investigation I find that these specific container issues, error messages and lack of support for m2ts etc are related to Twonky Manager. These error messages

"The Local renderer could not play back the selected media. Please make sure you have the proper codec installed and try again"
and
"That item cannot be played by the local renderer because it is not a recognized file type"
are related to Twonky manager and only occur when using files within the manager, or when dragging files onto the renderer in Twonky Manager.

When selecting m2ts files in PlugPlayer on the iPhone the media is played directly on XBMC renderer using Twonky Server only. The ability for Twonky Manager to play m2ts files (and others) is broken.

Phew!! Glad we isolated that problem to Twonky Manager and not Twonky Server. I'll be honest though, I assumed they were one and the same entity.


BTW the new Twonky Manager appears to have a media player however I'm not sure if the player has it's own codec support or uses system codecs. The player is referenced also in the help guide..
Last edited by NewToTwonky on Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

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DaemonBeetle
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by DaemonBeetle » Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:59 am

NewToTwonky wrote:Anyhow, after further investigation I find that these specific container issues, error messages and lack of support for m2ts etc are related to Twonky Manager. These error messages

"The Local renderer could not play back the selected media. Please make sure you have the proper codec installed and try again"
and
"That item cannot be played by the local renderer because it is not a recognized file type"
are related to Twonky manager and only occur when using files within the manager, or when dragging files onto the renderer in Twonky Manager.

When selecting m2ts files in PlugPlayer on the iPhone the media is played directly on XBMC renderer using Twonky Server only. The ability for Twonky Manager to play m2ts files (and others) is broken.
Twonky Manager is, has already been said, NOT a media player (and neither is Twonky Server). It has some limited built in support for your locally installed media players, but it does not itself play any media. It is designed, as explained in the product page to make it easier to play your media on your client.
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NewToTwonky
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by NewToTwonky » Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:02 am

Ok will revisit this later, more important issue to resolve.

In reference to the Twonky Server and remote access mode, how is it that selecting a ts video file using mpeg2 streams the twonky plugin attempts to open the media using the Quicktime plugin?? Obviously it hangs and never plays the video.

Second question where can we manually specify the handlers for specific file formats?

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DaemonBeetle
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by DaemonBeetle » Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:28 am

That's handled by your web browser and/or operating system.

Instead, why don't use use a DLNA media player - which is how you're supposed to use Twonky. XMBC will do that if you can't find anything else.
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tommo
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by tommo » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:43 am

New to this Twonky Server stuff.

I've got a Windows 7 Media Centre PC which records to a WTV file. The DLNA Sony TV I have can successfully stream these files and view them 100%. When I copy the files to a WD MyBook Live NAS which has Twonky server on it, teh TV cannot see or stream these same files. Any ideas?

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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by Twonky_Rick » Tue Oct 25, 2011 12:49 am

I don't think this is supported today, but I sent your request to our developers. It's a common request.

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bram00
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by bram00 » Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:08 pm

Hi,
Though VOB is a supported streaming format, my system does not succeed in streaming the included subtitles of the vob-files on my TV.
I have a QNAP TS-412 NAS linked to a Playon Media Player that is also linked to my TV by a hdmi-cable.
The subtitles are well-shown on my my PC.
- Is that a well-known problem of the Twonky-Server?
- Can the NAS or the Media Player pointed to be quilty on that problem.
Resuming: Can any-one help me with my problem and perhaps help me on my way to solve it?
Thanks!!!!!

Twonky_Rick
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by Twonky_Rick » Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:34 pm

Currently subtitle support is limited. It only works on some Samsung TVs.

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jeroensky
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by jeroensky » Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:56 pm

Hello. I have a enigma2 tuner/pvr with twonkeyServer 6 installed.
I can stream *.ts file with mpeg2 in it. (Standard Definition tv recording).
But when i try *.ts file with h.264 & Dolby Digital (High Definition tv recording), then the player can't play because it doesn'treceive anything.

When can Twonkeyserver6 support *.ts with h.264video + DolbyDigital audio?

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parnott
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Re: Supported Streaming Formats

Post by parnott » Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:07 am

jeroensky wrote:Hello. I have a enigma2 tuner/pvr with twonkeyServer 6 installed.
I can stream *.ts file with mpeg2 in it. (Standard Definition tv recording).
But when i try *.ts file with h.264 & Dolby Digital (High Definition tv recording), then the player can't play because it doesn'treceive anything.

When can Twonkeyserver6 support *.ts with h.264video + DolbyDigital audio?
According to this wiki entry (http://wiki.oppodigital.com/index.php?t ... formats.3F) your device only supports H264 in MKV or MP4 containers.

avuzel
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Vorbis support gone after upgrade from twonkyserver 6.x to 7

Post by avuzel » Sat Dec 13, 2014 11:31 am

Evidently this whoie thing isn't just a matter of decoder libraries but has other reasons too.

When Qnap upgraded its firmware from 4.0.1 to 4.1.1 they upgraded the twonky version from 6.0.38 to 7.x (two versions, the latest being 7.2.8 provided as an "app", installalble separately)

My Onkyo TX-NR525 from then denied playing vorbis files, and only vorbis files with error message "cannot play". Flac still works, other formats too.
Looking into the config files I found out that now a special ONKYO profile was provided and applied, listing a Quirk "FORCE_FORTH_FIELD". Before, the Onkyo was working fine with just one of the defaul profiles.
But setting this profile "Generic media player" in Settings didn't help with version 7.
While WD TV live still plays vorbis with version 7.x and my linux desktop does too, the ONKYO player support with vorbis now is broken. My whole Music collection is encoded in vorbis, I could try transcoding now, but it seems there should be a more ressource sparing solution as version 6 twonkyserver worked fine.
Any similar experience or idea what to do to bring vorbis support back in this situation?

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