Best DLNA server software?

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NetTechie

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
251
I see there are a lot of choices. I'm looking for something to stream to a WD TV Live, is there one that is recommended?
 
I've only ever used what's built into windows.

What formats is the device capable of playing? I don't know if there were any dlna servers that are capable of real time transcoding, but that might be something to consider.
 
The WD TV Live plays makeMKV files, which is what I'm planning to rip my blu-ray movies to.
 
Plex is a fine DLNA server. It will transcode if need be and it will send along fancy metadata like poster art to the DLNA renderer.
 
teh_chem said:
I've only ever used what's built into windows.

What formats is the device capable of playing? I don't know if there were any dlna servers that are capable of real time transcoding, but that might be something to consider.
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This is what did i used my wdtv, found it work better dlna. But if you have different devices thats one thing, I had good results with PS3 mediaserver, it will transcode if needed.

But now I don't use DLNA much so I just use whats built into windows media player. I play most of my media through windows media center now.
 
I'm staying away from Plex, as they are moving into software as a service territory and want you to pay a monthly fee. I have a issue with that and so run Xbmc, which you can run on almost anything. I'm going to buy a couple of the new bay trail NUCs for bedroom systems , myself.
 
Does Plex charge just for the server feature? I see they have for-pay services, but is the server feature just a trail that will then cost money after like 14 days?
 
NetTechie said:
Does Plex charge just for the server feature? I see they have for-pay services, but is the server feature just a trail that will then cost money after like 14 days?
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The plex server is free. You can run the server on a computer (or compatible NAS) without paying anything, and it will do the basic library of media, plus real-time transcoding, and allow you to share your library with other Plex users. You end up paying for the mobile apps, and then for various beyond-basic services (which I don't know off the top of my head) with a subscription fee.

Given the bugs I had with plex, I would never spend a dime on it. I couldn't use it successfully even 1/3 time time (and it was not user error). I wouldn't even recommend it being free, though others swear by it, and never had the issues I did.

If you don't need real-time transcoding, you can get away with XBMC and SMB network locations for your files (assuming they are located on your network). You could even get fancy and set up a mySQL database which will help manage cross-device playback status (i.e., resume play from previous location regardless of the device).

I don't know if there are any extensions for XBMC that will do real-time conversion ala Plex.
 
Mezzmo hands down.

Custom Navigation view > anything other servers have to offer.
 
teh_chem said:
The plex server is free.
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Great! I like it so far, works with a Vizio smart tv, unlike serviio which wouldn't list any media files, even though it showed up as a DLNA server. MediaMonkey showed them on my laptop though, so it was the tv not working with it. The Vizio also crashed when accessing Universal Media Server, wouldn't even load the list. So far Plex is the only one that's worked with the TV. Seems these media servers are simple stuff, from a user interface perspective, all they do is list the media to then access with the device to stream.
 
NetTechie said:
Great! I like it so far, works with a Vizio smart tv, unlike serviio which wouldn't list any media files, even though it showed up as a DLNA server. MediaMonkey showed them on my laptop though, so it was the tv not working with it. The Vizio also crashed when accessing Universal Media Server, wouldn't even load the list. So far Plex is the only one that's worked with the TV. Seems these media servers are simple stuff, from a user interface perspective, all they do is list the media to then access with the device to stream.
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Great, glad it's working better for you than it did for me!
 
Plex just has some advanced and usually just new features for plexpass subscriptions. Then they eventually roll out the features to all users for free.

Plex has gotten a lot better and a lot less buggy the past couple months. I used to not like it but I've been liking it a lot more now recently.
 
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