Home Media, uPNP and DNLA

Hello again,

In this entry I would like to share some of my experiences with uPNP and using Nseries and Playstation 3 together with a PC.

First a bit about uPNP (Universal Plug and Play) you can learn about it in wikipedia or other places, but basically is a protocol to connect various devices and share content over a wide range of connectivity options.

The uPNP and DNLA both have certifications and lists of certified products, I'm still confused a bit about what does it mean to be DNLA or uPNP certified. But at least these sites are resources to find out if the products you have are certified.

Now let's go back to more practical things. If you are not yet using uPNP, then there are several options to start your set-up. One of the simplest ones would be to have a PC with Windows Media Player 11 installed, and a WLAN router. NOTE: It may be possible to also do this using ad-hoc wlan connection but I've had limited success doing this.

In WMP11 you can enable uPNP sharing by going to Tools --> Options

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Then in the Library tab select the Configure Sharing button and you get this:

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Select to share then OK.

From this point on, even if WMP is not running the computer is "listening" for uPNP devices to share content with. After you turn on Sharing in your Nseries device a pop-up window will come in the PC to inform you that there is a new device you need to click on it to allow the device to connect to WMP11.

In the phone you will go to Menu --> Tools --> Connectivity --> Home media

From here a wizard will start to enable you to set what gets shared and which connection method to use, etc. Also when it connects to WMP11 you have to answer YES in the phone to allow it to connect to WMP11 as well.

Select Browse Home and you should find the computer and be able to browse, play, and transfer media files that are in the WMP11 library to the phone. It's very straight forwards. See screenshots. There are many limitations though. On the plus side, the computer just needs to be ON, WMP11 doesn't even need to be running and you don't need to LOG-into windows for this to work. On the bad side, only content that WMP11 can "see" meaning that it's in the WMP11 library can be shared. So MP4 and AVI files are not there by default, there are ways to make WMP11 "see" this files and add them to the library but that's outside the scope now. Also you can't control playback on the PC from the phone.

The next option is to install the Home media PC application called "simple center". You can install from here.

It's also fairly straight forwards. Simple center takes you to the next level. It allows you not only to share things from the PC to Phone but also the other way around and allows you to control playback of Music, Images or Videos directly from the Phone, so that it acts as a remote control for your media. If you buy the full version of Simple Center you can also access the files across the internet and not just on your local LAN.

I was going to post some screenshots but I've been mighty busy lately so I'm posting this AS IS. Leave a comment if you want some specific help about this post.

Until next time, keep on watching!...

ImTOO 3GP encoder and H264

Since my early posts I've been advising people that I'm a user of
ImToo encoding solutions. I bought these encoders because they were cheap and got good feedback from other users of these solutions. Also because I wanted something to make the conversion from DVD to portable format easier.

I ended up buying the bundle of ImToo 3GP Suite that includes both the DVD to 3GP Encoder and the 3GP Encoder (Above).

First I recommend you download the software and try it before buying. Usually ImToo tools allow you to encode short videos or encode up to 5 minutes. This is great as it will allow you to try out the different format and settings until you feel comfortable that this is what you want.

Since I started using ImToo there's been a flood of encoders in the web. Mostly due to the popularity of the iPod video and other PMP devices. Back in 2002 when I started creating videos for mobile phones there were not a lot of options and the Nokia Multimedia Converter was one of the only ones available to do 3GP and h263. Real also had RealProducer which is a good software if you want to use realvideo format. But I've stuck with them since it works for me and if ImToo doesn't work with something then I can always use SUPER.

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Some things to keep in mind...

• The bitrate, frame rate and resolution you set will only work if it's a combination that's supported by your phone. For more information see here.
• The ZOOM option in Imtoo encoders work in conjunction with the Aspect setting in the Video section of the settings. I tend to use the ZOOM option and not play around with the Aspect ratio setting. But you may want to try to use either.
• Further, zoom only works reliably if the source video doesn't have black bars as part of the picture frame. If they do then the black bars will be part of the video. See here.
• 3GP, 3GPP2, MP4 and MPEG-4 AVC all work in Nseries devices but you got to have the right settings.
• If using h264 codec don't forget to expand the Expert section of the settings and set the coder to 0 (zero).
• DVDs are all created differently. The same settings that work for 1 dvd will cause audio synch problems with another dvd or a jumpy picture.
• This is also due to the fact that some DVDs are encoded at 23.987 fps others at 29.97 fps others at 24 fps
• Some dvds have interlaced frames others have progressive frames.
• Some dvds have AC3 audio some have ProLogic2 or other audio formats. Some have only PCM audio.
• Remember to select the right Language track and right subtitle if you want to have those enabled
• TIP: Try first to encode one chapter of the dvd and try it out, if something is wrong right click on the chapter and play around with the settings. Email Imtoo support to get some more tips on how to solve specific problems they usually respond within a day or two.
• If it doesn't work sometimes it's not the fault of the encoder or the device or you, but a combination of different factors. No matter how hard you try sometimes some dvds are just difficult to find the correct settings to encode.
  
• Other DVD encoders may be more robust/smarter than Imtoo. So again shop around, try different solutions and if you find something that totally blows aways Imtoo please share in the comments so I can also try it! :)
• Have fun!, that's what it's all about.
  

Take control of your videos

Hello and welcome back!

In this post I would like to share with you some useful shortcuts and other controls you can use with Nseries devices to control playback of the RealPlayer.

Keep in mind that when you use Video Center or the Gallery to play videos then RealPlayer will be used also. In some streaming cases also RealPlayer is used so these shortcuts should work.

I'll look at the Flash Player in a separate post. I haven't been very successful with it so I need to spend more time with it before I can make any intelligent comments :)

Ok, now on to the shortcuts and other tips.

1. If your phone has dedicated player controls
1. Press Play to play and pause playback
2. Press Skip forward or Rewind to jump to the end or begining of the current video
3. Press Stop to stop. TIP: Use this to re-start at this point when in Video Center
4. Press AND hold Skip Forward or Rewind to search within a video. TIP: Keep an eye on the timer, as you keep pressed longer the timer will accelerate helping you search within long video files.
5. Use the volume control to increase or decrease the volume. In many cases you can also use the rocker or joystick up or down (depending on the orientation) to act as volume control or as Skip and Rewind keys.

1. If your phone doesn't have dedicated player controls (or they are hidden)
1. Press UP on the directional pad or joystick to increase the Volume
2. Press DOWN on the directional pad or joystick to decrease the Volume
3. Press LEFT on the directional pad or joystick to Rewind or jump to previous Video
4. Press RIGHT on the directional pad or joystick to Skip or jump to next Video
5. Press CENTER select to PLAY/PAUSE

In Some models you can switch between FULL SCREEN (landscape mode) and Partial Screen (portrait), by pressing the 2 or 5 key. In some models this will NOT change the orientation of the video but just remove the menu bar.

In the N95 8GB new V20 software and N82 to change to FULL SCREEN turn auto rotate on and just flip the phone sideways.

Remember that pressing and holding the REW, FFW keys lets you search within a video.

In Video Center for N95 8GB you can skip to next video or previous video by using the REW, FFW keys.

Cluster of controls N95 8GB
Detailed names of Controls

If you have comments or questions feel free to drop me a line or two in the comments.