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PS3 Video Server, Media Server Preliminary Setup and Tests

184K views 416 replies 53 participants last post by  duder1982 
#1 ·
The mission I chose to accept is one Jim Phelps would probably have turned down! ;)

Here is the objective outline.

I have a substantial DVD library, somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200-1300 DVDs. A lot of these are movie series boxed sets, or TV series on DVD. The PS3 is much more than just a game console, so I decided to put it to the test and see what this thing can really do.

Most are aware that it can be used as a media server- You can store photos, music, movie clips or even full movies on the internal hard drive, but 60GB can fill up quick. Those four USB ports on the front of the PS3 are for more than just joysticks and open up the door for a lot of add on devices.

I picked up a 320GB My Book external USB drive. One thing to keep in mind is that the PS3 uses the FAT32 system. That imposes a file size restriction of 4GB, so until NTFS is an option it doesn't look like any major High Def content will be practical, but for what I need to do that is not a problem. USB drives come preformatted in FAT32 so this worked out nicely.

The first test was to check if the PS3 could recognize the drive and play a movie from it. That worked like a champ, Sony even fixed the sub folder problem people were complaining about.

The problem I did run into though... how to get the DVD over to the hard drive with the best quality conversion?

I first used DVD to PS3 Converter. It took HOURS to convert one DVD. When I say hours I mean set it up at night and go to bed. I can say I definitely was not pleased with the video quality. It looked like a worn VHS tape- This was a major setback. I can try the setting that converts to 1080p, but I am skeptical at this point if that will really do anything. Also the audio quality wasn't DVD quality either.

Next I downloaded PS3 Video 9. This looks pretty much like DVD to PS3 Convertor but it's free. It too took over eight hours to do just ONE .vob file. Seeing that my test movie has four, this obviously is too time consuming to be practical to anyone. I am still checking out both of these programs, there is probably some settings that will improve the PQ, but they are still slow.

Next up is a trick that I am going to check out. You can rename a .vob file to .mpeg and it will play on Windows Media player and supposedly the PS3 will play it as well. Theoretically this should be the exact same image quality as the DVD source. Problem #2... As of now the PS3 does not support play lists. What this means is it plays one video file at a time. So you would have to go back to the drive and select the next file of the movie, and do this four times which is unacceptable.

I am going to run a test where I rename the .vobs and then join them. Also DVD Decryptor will output a single .vob file.

Now, I want to state this and make it perfectly clear. This is NOT a topic for pirating and no questions will be allowed on that topic. I own all the DVDs I am working with, I just want to consolidate some of the series onto a drive for convience and the coolness factor.

So far for this project, if it can be done easily it would definitely be a 9.5 rating. The ease factor is definitely a 4 rating as of now, and the coolness factor is probably a bazillion or something like that. ;)

Anyone out there that has done this? Specifically with a USB HD? So far the preliminary test are promising... the PS3 will recognize the drive and it will play movies from it. Now the problem is making this easy and keeping the quality good.
 
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#341 · (Edited)
Wryker, I'm confused, why aren't you using the PCH in your living room as the main streaming device? Is it in a more dedicated home entertainment room so you need the WDHD to stream in your living room? I really only watch my media in the living room so I assume I'd be able to get away with just the PCH there? Also, when you're streaming from your PC, are you able to do that to both your PCH and the WDHD. I'm curious how that works, as most that I've read says streaming HD content doesn't really work well. Thanks.
 
#342 ·
Hello all,

we are using the PS3 extensively for video (and games by our son).
Initially we plugged in an external USB drive, it works well and is quiet. However the PS3 does not show the files on the drive unless we hit the green button.

We then hooked up an Buffalo Live network drive to the network, the PS3 did not see this drive until the latest firmware upgrade, now it works like a charm. It took 2 years to get the firmware fixed .....

While being annoyed by the buffalo I purchased an Iomega 1TB network harddisk that worked like a dream directly out of the package. The only thing is that the hard disk spinning is quite audible. It is thus better to keep the disk in some out of the place location.

Which brings me to our specific problem with wiring and/or wireless setups. For HD contents I strongke advice a wired connection, in my experience wireless can not keep up. I have not tested N-type networks though.
We are in a rental property with concrete / brick walls, which severly limits possibilities for laying wiring and using wireless. I am trying to use ethernet of powerline, but the powerline is lousy here in the country (we are on a generator about 8 hours a day :hissyfit: ) so I ended up putting the Buffalo server disk on the same Gigbit switch as the PS3, uploading content to the Buffalo takes a bit more time, but playback is now fine.

For audio we now use an old Squeezebox connected through optical digital out to the home-cinema receiver.

Regards,

Hjalmar
 
#343 ·
First welcome to the Shack Hjalmar!

You discovered the first rule of media streaming... Do Not use WiFi!

I know your plight. I own my place but it is a 160 year old Victorian with lath and plaster walls and running any wires is a major undertaking.

I looked into the Powerline option and it most likely isn't going to work for you. The problem people run into, and I know I would have this issue, is that Powerline doesn't deliver the advertised speeds and will only come close if you are on the same physical breaker. If you are not on the same breaker, you have to be on the same side of the breaker box, but your speeds will be slower since you're not on the same line. If one room is on one side and the other on a different side then Powerline won't work.

A better option is to go old school in a way. If you have cable run throughout your apartment and there is cable wired in the room where your computer is and also cable run to the room where the PS3 is then try to find a couple of Verizon Actiontec MI424WR Routers. These will connect to your existing cable system and then on one end you will plug the PS3 into the four port hub, and on the other end you will plug the PC into the four port hub.

I say 'old school' because a lot of people look at this and say wow and think it is cool and new technology but it isn't. Cable has been used for computer networks long before most people ever even thought of having a PC in their house. Thicknet was the standard in the day. There used to be a very thick and rigid coax run between floors in an office building. The IT tech would take what was called a vampire connection and screw it into the coax. It was called vampire because it had metal spikes or 'teeth' that would pierce the cable and make connection with the center conductor. Then they would run thinner and more flexible coax runs to the networked PCs.

The coax used was a bit different than what we use for cable TV but modern cable TV coax will support ethernet along with cable/internet. The one exception is if you are using satellite such as Direct TV or Dish Network because the operating frequencies interfere with the ethernet operating frequency.

If you have cable run to the rooms, and are not using a satellite system... the Actiontec MI424WR may be what you are looking for! It delivers speeds up to 100baseT, which is more than enough for streaming even full HD over.

Good luck, and once again welcome to the Shack!
 
#344 · (Edited)
rizzi_nyc
True- streaming HD content is not possible in my home. I have a "man's room" where the PCH resides (upstairs) while downstairs in the living room is another large screen TV. The "man's room" is where I watch all my TV (except for the plasma in the bedroom). Downstairs in the living room is where my better half watches TV during the day and if I'm watching something she doesn't at night. I ripped all my DVDs to drives attached to the PC as a central HUB to stream them. Streaming DVDs to either my PCH or WDHD works like a champ. I've tried streaming HD (meaning ripped BDs or HDDVDs) from all three units (PC, PCH, & WDHD) to each other (not testing, of course, from the PCH or WDHD to the PC). Each attempt would cause 'stuttering' or 'freezing' of the content. It depends on how many bits the HD content is trying to send (for example the first 5 -10 minutes of one Harry Potter BD rip didn't stutter going from the PCH to the WDTV.)
SO for any BD she wants to instantly watch I rip to the WDTV and the PCH (otherwise the PCH first and if she wants it downstairs I 'copy' it from the PCH to the WDTV.) Redundant? - yes - but it accomplishes what I wanted. Instant viewing of whatever we want. Over 700DVDs and currently @200 BD/HDDVD rips. HD content from cable (we have 2 HDTiVo's) that's ripped to the PC and re-encoded to .mpg play fine to either unit (but for some reason sound gets dropped). I purchased diplexers and connected those to my cable to see if by 'splitting' the signal into digital and analog would increase the bandwith but it didn't do anything for my set-up (others have had success.)
Feel free to PM me with any other questions!
Also - to wbassett's post: i have several Motorola NIM100 Cable Modems connected to my cable to get a wired connection in all my rooms. While true it can support 1Gbps speed that only will work if EVERY connected device in your home is 1Gbps. That means every router, bridge, PC, etc must be at that speed to 'hope' you achieve. If any item connected does not support that speed (PCH does not for example) than the entire speed for the connection is 'lowered' so HD is impossible to stream. If you are starting from scratch - have Cat6 wired everywhere and THEN you should be able to stream HD everywhere!
 
#349 ·
Also - to wbassett's post: i have several Motorola NIM100 Cable Modems connected to my cable to get a wired connection in all my rooms. While true it can support 1Gbps speed that only will work if EVERY connected device in your home is 1Gbps. That means every router, bridge, PC, etc must be at that speed to 'hope' you achieve. If any item connected does not support that speed (PCH does not for example) than the entire speed for the connection is 'lowered' so HD is impossible to stream. If you are starting from scratch - have Cat6 wired everywhere and THEN you should be able to stream HD everywhere!
Actually this is true of anything on the network. Things will only travel as fast as the slowest point. Well... if a workstation is 10/100 and everything else is Gigabit then everything except that workstation will run at Gigabit speed. Now if the router or switch is 10/100... forget it. Everything is bottlenecked now.

Same thing goes with Ram and just about anything that shares a common point- it always runs at the slowest speed in the link.

For video though, and this applies to anything out there and not just the PS3- WiFi is bad, stay away from it unless you're in the same room and only a few feet away and even then don't expect everything to be perfect 100% of the time. Powerlink- Very very cool concept and over in Europe there are places that have been using power lines for Internet ISP providers for years now like we have been using cable for our high speed Internet. So the concept is cool... but so far I don't know anyone that is really happy with their PowerLinks.
 
#345 ·
Hello,

wbassett can you explain how you run ethernet of coax cable.
The place I have rented has a coax output for cable TV in every room.
All of the cables terminate on one splitter. Using it for ethernet would be ideal.

A problem I am having with the PS3 is that is cannot handle .MKV video files. Transferring them to a m2s file format costs a lot of computer time.

Regards,

Hjalmar
 
#347 ·
The Verizon Actiontec MI424WR Routers connect to your existing cable and has a four port 10/100 hub built in. You connect one MI424WR to the cable in each room where you want to extend your network and it will bridge the network over the cable run..

For the .MKV files, I believe you will need to transcode those. Try something like PS3 MediaServer and see if that works for you.

Note: BTW- PS3 MediaServer is an excellent little program and it works for more than just the PS3. It also works very well with the XBox 360 and other media players as well.
 
#351 ·
Where did you get your NIMS?

I like that they have a cable in and out, the one turnoff was the one network connection. It would really be nice if it had a 4 port switch built in :)
 
#353 ·
Same here, I was looking for them too. I got the Actiontecs for next to nothing but then the guy didn't send the power adapters so I had to order them. Royal Pain!
 
#355 ·
I'm tempted to pick up a couple even though I already have the Actiontec's.

Right now I am finally putting together my media server to feed the PS3 as well as an ASUS O!Play

Once I get that built I will be setting up a network though my cable system.
 
#357 ·
I didn't read everything on it but it does look interesting... also a bit expensive for something that doesn't seem to offer anything more than the PCH at the same price range.

We're starting to see a glut of these devices, and naturally each company will say their product is the best. This is where it gets hard for the consumers that have to actually wade through everything.

I'm not saying this unit is bad, so don't anyone infer that! I am saying though that companies are jumping on the band wagon. Typically though when you really dig under the hood of things, there usually is only one or two companies that actually make the guts and everything else is rebadged and a slighly different bios/OS to give a different look. Again I am not saying that is the case here, just pointing out this is common throughout the electronics industry.

I still stand behind the PS3 because it is something that a lot of people already have but didn't know it can also play media. Probably the biggest issues I have with the PS3 is the lack of NTFS support for USB drives, and lack of ISO file playback with full menu support. The NTFS issue will never change, however streaming from a media server resolves that issue- and besides, once a person gets more than a couple My Books they probably should start looking into a media server just to house and arrange their content in an easier to find way. The ISO menu support issue is something that 'could' be rectified with a future firmware update. Note I didn't say it 'would', I said it 'could'.

So other than those two items, the PS3 supports a boat load of file formats, and so far has played everything I have thrown at it. I'm sure there are formats that it doesn't do well, but that really can be said about all of these media players... they all have their strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion what they need to work on is better and more polished interfaces.

Right now the units I recommed are (and in no particular order) the PS3 of course, the PCH, WDTV Live, and the ASUS O!Play.

Now if AC Ryan wants to send me a unit to test and evaluate... ;)
 
#363 ·
HD content streams fine and lots of people are doing it even on 100baseT networks. If you are streaming multiple things at a time to various TVs then there could be a problem. If you are using wireless... then a definitely no to HD content.
 
#359 ·
Indeed you can rip BDs with PS3, but you'll have to install Yellowdog Linux, or use SAK (swiss army knife) for this to happen... ;)
 
#361 ·
Indeed it's worth it if you want to have a backup of your BDs in the nmt. I have both PS3 and PCH A110. I am under the impression the PQ of the PS3 is supperior to the PCH. That just may be an impression. Can anyone confirm or deny?
 
#362 ·
I use the NMT streaming from networked drives and haven't done a sidexside with blu-ray, but I have compared a DVD image vs the original disc on the popcorn hour vs. an Oppo 981. Not really a fair fight, but the Oppo did have superior pic quality, just not enough to outweigh the convenience of the Popcorn Hour. The Oppo now lives with my dad.
 
#368 ·
I definitely would be interested in that seeing I will be adding to the PS3 to have streaming devices in every room in the house that has a TV.

The PS3 is a great option and one of the purposes of this thread is to utilize it to do everything it can. If someone was going to buy a device just for streaming, the PS3 is too expesive just for that and there are less expensive options out there... like the Playon for instance.

I still can't PM you yet, but you can go to my profile and then under contact information you can send me an email.

I definitely look forward to testing a unit out and putting it through it's paces.
 
#372 ·
you can select send a message via email to wbassett.

I'll have to check with Sonnie as to why your PM function isn't showing up. I thought it became active after 5 posts and that it is setup that way to prevent someone from joining and spamming everyone and then never coming back. In any advent if there isn't a clickable link to send me an email let me know and we'll get this resolved so we can talk offline about the details of getting a unit for review. I would love to check it out and I promise to he honest and fair. :)
 
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