Home media server setup for sony. What is UPnP? Creating a home media server (DLNA) - installation instructions

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This article will talk about setting it up on your computer. This technology is useful because it allows you to view media content from your PC on your TV.

This is possible when connecting the TV and computer to the same network, or when connecting directly. After that, all that remains is to launch DLNA and watch the desired movie or photo. This is quite convenient, because it is much more pleasant to show a large company photos, videos, or make a presentation on the big screen.

There are many different programs that allow you to do this. Among them, it is often recommended "Home Media Server (UpnP, DLNA, HTTP)". And indeed this application has shown itself well in practice. Therefore, in today's article, we will show an example using this particular program.

This home media server is quite universal and is capable of running a DLNA server that is compatible with any TV (and indeed with many devices, for example, game consoles) that can work using this technology. If the TV is capable of connecting wirelessly, or has a connector for connecting a network cable, then there is a high probability that it supports DLNA. In general, the program itself has many different settings, so standard applications for TVs are very inferior to it.

Today’s article itself will be useful to owners of TVs from almost any manufacturer. After all, as already noted, a home media server is a third-party program that has great functionality and broad capabilities, which allows it to work with any equipment. And it's also free.

Today we will look in detail only at ways to give TV access to the necessary folders on a computer, instructions on how to create a server and watch movies using it.

For reference, this example used an LG 32LN575U TV, an ASUS RT-N13U router, and an ASUS R56CM laptop.

Establishing a connection between the TV and computer

As you already understood, in order to be able to watch video from a computer through a TV, you need to establish a connection between these two devices. If you have them already connected to each other, then you can skip this step and proceed to the next one.

Well, if your TV is not yet connected to your PC, then you can do this through a router. Thus, without unnecessary hassles, you can connect the TV itself to your computer via Wi-Fi. Another TV can be connected using a router. The most important thing is that both devices work with the same router.

In case there is no home Wi-Fi

When you don’t have a router, and therefore don’t have a wireless network at home, you can connect your TV to your laptop using a network cable directly.

It will look like this:

This connection method is quite reliable, so there should not be any problems here. The downside is the presence of a cable that connects these two devices. Even if the TV does not see such a connection, you can still play multimedia files through the Home Media Server program.

It is quite possible that it is possible to actually connect a TV to a computer. But we have not yet begun to check this and look for ways to implement such an idea. Most likely, you can do this using your laptop as a router.

Having connected the computer to the TV, we proceed to the settings for the DLNA server.

Setting up “Home Media Server”

Of course, first of all, we need the program itself. You can download it from the official resource https://www.homemediaserver.ru/index.htm and then install it. On the developers website, click on the download button.

After this, save the archive with the program to your PC. After which, it must be unpacked. There will be a “setup” file, run it and follow the instructions to install the application. When the program is installed, a shortcut will appear on your desktop. Start Home Media Server.

Now we will specify in the settings all types of multimedia files and folders that will be available for viewing on the TV. We go into settings, at the top of the program window there is a corresponding button.

In the settings window, go to the media resources tab. Several standard folders with music, pictures and videos will already be indicated there. Here we can add our own and edit the type of files that will be displayed on the TV.

In order not to rummage through folders too much in search of the desired video or photo, it is better to open access to local drives. Check the box next to the appropriate item (or make sure it is there).

Activating this option will provide the ability to access from the TV any files that are on all local drives.

In order to add individual directories with files or, for example, an external HDD, click on the “Add” button on the right. Then find the desired folder or external device and select it.

The plate in the center displays all the folders that are accessible to the TV. This shows the type of files that can be viewed in these directories. In general, this is the main setting necessary for us, but the program has many other useful parameters that can be configured.

After you're done, you'll need to save these settings. Click on the “OK” button and agree to scan the directories.

The program will scan the selected directories for some time. After this, you can start starting the DLNA server. On the top menu, click on the start button. A message indicating that the server started successfully should appear.

We turn on our TV and open, on the computer, in the program, the tab with playback devices. In the right corner, click on the “Update” button. After this, the TV should appear in the list.

If this does not happen and the Home Media Server does not find anything and the connected devices are not shown on the TV itself, then you need to check the connection itself. Make sure your TV and PC are connected.

In some cases, the operation of the media server may be blocked by antivirus programs and firewalls. In this case, add this application to the exceptions and try again.

If everything is successfully detected, you can start viewing media files. We'll start with photos. In the top menu, select the desired file type, in this case it is a photo.

Next, in the central part of the window, you can select the desired directory and find suitable files in it. When the desired photo is selected, simply right-click on it and move the cursor to the “Play to” line and then select your TV.

This photo will instantly appear on the TV screen.

In the same way, you can launch and play videos and music. This is just one way to play files by running them from a media server. But this method is not very comfortable. In many cases, it is much more convenient to search for the necessary files on the TV itself and then launch them.

By the way, if you close the window of a running program, it will be hidden in the notification panel.

But the server itself will not stop and will continue to work.

Opening files via TV

After the server is started, we return to our TV.

Typically, TVs have a special program that allows you to work with a DLNA server. In our case, this is Smart Share. But perhaps, in other examples, it could be a completely different program.

If you have a TV like in our case (LG), then you need to go to the Smart TV menu (press the blue button on the remote control) and then find and launch Smart Share. True, if, but it supports DLNA technology, then everything may be completely different. Open it and go to the “My Computer” folder, where there will be all available files and directories to which access is open.

You can open any one and start the desired video, look at a photo, or listen to music

Let's sum it up

Whatever one may say, “Home Media Server” is quite an interesting program that opens up new possibilities for your TV. And by the way, this program has many other useful functions. For example, if you watch a long enough movie, the computer may go into sleep mode and the TV will stop showing it. To prevent this, there is a special parameter in the settings that can be used to prevent the PC from going into sleep mode.

In this article, I want to once again talk about how to create on a computer (laptop, netbook) DLNA server. This will allow you to watch movies and photos on your TV, as well as listen to music that is on your computer.

But, as it turned out, there are many problems with the Smart Share application. Either it does not start, then it produces various errors, or it closes on its own. You can read about this in the comments that visitors left on the article, the link to which is above.

There is a very good and absolutely free program “Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)”, which is an excellent analogue of Smart Share from LG, or for example AllShare from Samsung.

“Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” is a universal program with which you can launch a DLNA server and connect to it from almost any TV that supports DLNA technology (and if your TV has Wi-Fi or a network connector, then it most likely supports this technology). In principle, a DLNA client can be not only a TV, but for example a game console.

This instruction is suitable for TVs from different manufacturers: LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, etc. Compared to branded applications such as Smart Share, “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” has a large number of settings.

We will not delve into all the nuances, but will only consider how to open shared access to the necessary folders or drives. How to create a server and how to start watching a movie using DLNA technology on your TV.

Connecting a TV to use DLNA technology

Before we start setting up the program, we need to connect the TV to a computer or laptop. If you already have everything connected, for example through a router, then you can move on to the next step.

We need to connect the laptop and TV to the network. If you have a router installed at home, then just connect your computer to this router, via cable or via Wi-Fi, it doesn’t matter. And you need to connect the TV to the same router. You can connect your TV the same way, or via Wi-Fi (see connection instructions ) .

Our task is to ensure that the TV and computer (in my case laptop), were connected to the same router. I have a TV connected to my router via Wi-Fi LG 32LN575U and laptop Asus K56CM. This instruction will be based on their example.

What to do if you don't have a router?

In this case, you can connect the computer to the TV via a network cable directly. Just take the required length of network cable (it can be crimped at almost any computer store), and connect the TV to the computer.

It looks something like this:

Connecting this way should work fine. But my TV refused to see the server created on the laptop. But, in the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program, the TV was displayed and I could start viewing photos from the laptop itself, and the photo appeared on the TV.

She also has an idea on how to connect them without a cable and without a router. But I’m not sure what will work and this method is only suitable for TVs that have the ability to connect to Wi-Fi.

You can try to create a computer-to-computer connection on a laptop, which I wrote about in the article ““. Then, connect the TV to the created access point and try to access files on the computer.

I think we have sorted out the connection. Let's move on to setting up the server.

Setting up the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program

First, we need to download and install the program itself. I recommend downloading from the official website: https://www.homemediaserver.ru/index.htm. There is always a new version and it is safer.

Save the archive to your computer. To install, simply run the setup.exe file, which is located in the archive. I will not describe the entire installation process, it is simple. Follow the instructions.

After installation, launch the program with a shortcut on the desktop.

Let's go straight to the program settings. We won't do anything special there. We will simply indicate local drives, flash drives, external hard drives, or folders whose contents we want to see on the TV. For example, you can open only a few folders with movies, photos and music.

A settings window will open. In the first category, Media resources, we need to indicate which drives or folders we want to see on the TV. By default, standard folders with photos, videos and music are open there.

The program is trying to sort everything. And in order not to get confused in all these folders on the TV, I advise you to open shared access to local drives. By default, if I'm not mistaken, access to them is already open. Check if the checkbox next to Local disks.

If installed, this means that you can open any file on your TV that is stored on these local drives (drives C, D, E, etc.).

You can also specify individual folders, or, for example, an external hard drive. To do this, click on the button on the right Add, and select the desired folder, flash drive, or hard drive in Explorer.

We can see which folders and drives we have opened access to. We can delete selected folders. These are the basic settings, if you look, there are a lot of settings there, I won’t go through them all. To save, click on the button Ok, and agree to scan media resources.

We wait while the program scans the folders and disk. Next, you can start the DLNA server itself. To do this, simply click on the “ Launch“.

We see a message stating that the server is running.

Now, just turn on the TV. If everything is connected correctly, it should appear in the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program. To do this, go to the tab Playback devices (DMR), and on the right, click the button Update.

If our TV appears, then everything is fine. You can try to start viewing photos directly from the program.

If the TV does not appear in the program, and the server we created is also not visible on the TV, then first of all, check the connection. Is the TV connected to the network and is the laptop connected.
Then, completely disable antiviruses and firewalls. They can block access to the server.

To do this, in the main program window (above), select one of the tabs: movies, music, or photos.

In the left window, media content will appear that is located in those folders and drives to which we have opened access. Right-click on a photo, for example, and select “Play on“, then select our TV.

The photo should immediately appear on the TV screen.

In the same way, you can start playing video and music. This means that we can start playback on the TV screen from the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program.

But this is not always convenient. It is much better to go through the TV and open the necessary files. To do this, leave the server running. You can hide the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program. Click on the red cross (close the program), and it will hide in the notification panel.

At the same time, the server will work and you will be able to access your computer from the TV.

We start viewing files via DLNA from the TV

This means the server is running on the computer, files are open for viewing.

Now, on the TV, we need to go into the program that is responsible for working with DLNA technology. For example, in LG, this is Smart Share. On other TVs, this application may be called differently.

For example, to launch Smart Share in LG, go to Smart TV (blue button on the remote control) and select Smart Share. If your TV does not have Smart TV, but does have DLNA, the process may be different.

Open the folder My computer, and we see our local drives there, and other folders to which we have opened access.

Afterword

“Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” is actually a very cool program, with a lot of settings. We only considered opening file sharing and starting the server. When I started watching a movie through the Smart Share program, the laptop went into sleep mode and playback was interrupted. “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” has a lock that prevents the computer from going to sleep when it is being used as a server.

I hope everything worked out for you and you are now watching your favorite movies on the big screen TV using DLNA technology.

If something doesn’t work out, write in the comments, we’ll try to figure it out.

In this article we will set up a media server (DLNA) on a computer for a Philips TV. After setup, you will be able to watch movies, photos, and listen to music on your TV that is on your computer (laptop). All this using DLNA technology. This means that the TV can be connected to a computer via Wi-Fi. More precisely, the computer and TV must be connected to the same Wi-Fi router. Via network cable or wireless network.

I'll explain in more detail. Do you have a Philips TV (in this article we will talk about these TVs), with the support (if you have a Smart TV, then there is definitely DLNA support). Your TV is connected to the Wi-Fi router (via Wi-Fi or cable). Also, a computer is connected to this router. We launch the DLNA server on the computer, open the necessary folders with videos, photos, or music, and simply start watching on the TV. Everything is over the air, without wires. It’s very convenient; you don’t have to write movies to a flash drive all the time. We simply access the computer, select the desired movie and watch.

Using the method described below, you can run a DLNA server on Windows 7, Windows 8, and even Windows 10. To launch and manage the server, we will use the free, simply excellent program “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)”. I recently showed how, where we launched a server using a proprietary program. Since Philips does not have such a program, we will use the “Home Media Server”. The program is really very simple and cool.

We will need:

Philips TV with DLNA support. There must be a TV, or. I will show the example of Philips 43PUS7150/12 with Smart TV (Android TV).
A computer that is connected to the same router as the TV. It can also be connected via a Wi-Fi network, or via LAN.
The program "Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)" for setting up a DLNA server.

You can do without third-party programs and configure everything using standard Windows tools. I wrote about how to do this in the article.

In fact, a server launched in this way will be able to see absolutely any TV: Philips, Sony, LG, Samsung, etc. Sony, by the way, already has models on Android TV. So, the instructions for them should also be suitable. Unless access may differ before viewing the contents of the DLNA server on the TV itself.

Setting up a DLNA server for a TV using the Home Media Server program

First, download and install the program "Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)". I recommend downloading it from the official website: https://www.homemediaserver.ru/index.htm. Click on the button Download opposite the EXE version. The file size is approximately 35 MB.

Save the file, then run it and follow the instructions to install the program.

Launch the program using a shortcut on your desktop or from the Start menu. First of all, we need to configure access to files on the computer. We can open only certain folders, all local drives, or even removable media for the TV.

In the program window, click on the button at the top Settings. We are interested in the first tab, Media Resources. There will already be three folders open there. These are standard. To open access to all local drives on your computer, check the box next to Local disks. To open access to removable drives, check the box next to Removable drives.

If you want to open, for example, only one local drive or folder, then do not check these boxes, but click on the button Add. And in Explorer, select the drive or folder that you want to open for viewing on your TV. The folder will appear in the list. You can delete a folder by simply highlighting it and pressing the button Delete.

I think the meaning is clear. You can open only one folder, which contains, for example, your movies. And you can open all disks. I recommend checking the box next to Local disks. Then, the My Computer folder will be displayed on the TV, in which you can view all files.

At this point, the setup can be completed by pressing the button Ok. If you want, you can also go to the tab on the side Server, and change the name of your DLNA server. It will be displayed on the TV.

Click the button Ok to exit the settings.

To start the DLNA server, click the button Launch.

If your TV is turned on and connected to the router, then in the program window, open the tab Playback devices (DMR), you will see your TV. This means everything is fine. If the TV does not appear, then check the connection, and see the tips at the end of this article.

The program can be minimized. You can proceed to setting up DLNA on your TV.

Watch DLNA movies on your Philips TV from your computer

Press the button on the remote control SOURCES.

On the menu Sources choose Network (media). Or run the program Media from the Android TV menu.

Select the server running on your computer from the list.

If you have opened all local drives, then you will have a My Computer folder. Select it, all the disks will be there. You can open the desired folders and start watching movies, photos, or playing music from them. If you open one of the standard folders: Movies, Photos, or Music, then all available content will be there, sorted into different categories. To view content by folder, select Media Resource Catalogs.

Select the folder with your movies and simply start watching the desired file.

That's all the setup. From the TV we got full access to the videos, photos and music that are on your computer. The program "Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)" will prevent your computer from falling asleep and interrupting movie playback. You can also control viewing from the program itself on your computer. There are a lot of settings and possibilities there, I think you’ll figure it out.

Why is the DLNA server (files) not displayed on the TV?

The most common problem when setting up such a scheme is the lack of a running server on the TV. When files are from a computer, they simply do not appear.

In such situations, the first thing you should always do is check the connection of the TV and laptop to Wi-Fi, or the connection via cable. Perhaps one of the devices simply turned off. Turn off and on the TV. You can also restart your computer and start the server again. You can also try disabling the antivirus, which may be blocking the TV connection.

If a DLNA movie plays with delays, it's glitchy

In such cases, you most likely started watching a very difficult movie. And the router cannot cope with transmitting information. Typically, this problem appears on cheap routers and when connected via Wi-Fi. Large movies, in high quality, that do not want to be played via DLNA, are better watched from a USB drive or hard drive.

If, when opening a video, the TV says "Format not supported"

There are times when the TV does not want to play a video file. Most likely, the standard player simply does not support the format, there is no codec. In this case, if you have an Android TV, you can install VLC player from the Google Play Store. It can also play files from a local network. And most likely, it will play videos that were not opened by the standard player.

Home media server (UPnP)- a universal program that provides access to the contents of your computer’s hard drive to electronic devices such as TVs, players, game consoles. Data is transmitted via the UPnP (DLNA) protocol. This program works with TVs, game consoles, stereo systems, mobile phones and smartphones.

Today, human life in modern realities is very difficult to imagine without high technology. Each of us is surrounded by laptops, computers, televisions, and stereo systems. It often happens when you really want to watch your favorite movie on a big TV or play a computer game through a console. The multifunctional home media server software package for Windows is designed to solve such problems. With its help, you can organize full access to all media contents of your computer’s hard drive.

Download Home Media Server for free

The Home Media Server program is small in size. You can install a home media server in just a few minutes. Its main capabilities include transcoding video and audio into a form that is supported by a TV or tape recorder. You can also customize subtitles, select the desired picture size for any screen, and select audio tracks yourself. The user has the opportunity to send Internet radio or television directly to the TV or player.

If you can't imagine your life without digital television, you can also download a home media server. It supports all modern digital formats (C, S, T), works perfectly with the VLC Media Player program and can, using the Digital Media Renderer function, transmit a digital signal to other electronic devices.

The home media server in Russian has wide functionality. It is possible to save transcoding profiles. Their use greatly simplifies setup when connecting new devices. Downloading a free home media server (DLNA) is recommended for owners of Philips, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Toshiba, Samsung TVs and players. Each of them has all the necessary connectors for interaction via the UPnP protocol with a personal computer. Thus, with the help of this program you can significantly expand the capabilities of these TVs.

All novice users are advised to take a look at the official website of this application. There is a wonderful forum where solutions to the most common problems are described in detail. You can also learn how to effectively connect a particular device.

You can download the home media server without registration and SMS on the SoftAttaka website. We always provide the latest and most relevant updates.

A free application that allows you to open folders with movies, music or pictures to play it all on your TV screen, audio player, PDA or tablet.

To become familiar with the program's functions, you will need a little understanding of the UPnP abbreviation. This is a set of protocols that allow you to connect several devices and then exchange data between them.

Now imagine the situation: you have long wanted to watch some movie, but it’s still not on the TV program. Thanks to the media server, you can turn on the movie on your computer/laptop, and the image will be on the TV screen. In addition to transmitting video, you can stream music (for example, to a player), online radio and TV.

It is worth noting that the Home Media Server is quite simple to set up. All you need to do is open the program, add folders in the settings from which the broadcast will be carried out, select a device (all detected devices are automatically connected) and turn on the desired movie, song, picture.

You can download the home media server for Windows 7, XP or 8.

Possibilities:

broadcasting media content to TVs, players, tablets;
playing online TV and radio on devices;
opening a file on several devices at once;
a parental control function that gives you permission to view only the files you select on a specific device;
transmission of subtitles for video;
limiting the broadcast time on the selected device.

Advantages:

Russian interface language;
Home media server is distributed free of charge;
large list of supported devices.

Things to work on:

outdated interface design;
Some devices do not sync well with the program.

If you have a lot of electronics in your home that support the UPnP protocol, then this application will make your life more comfortable. The only negative is the outdated interface design, but it does not at all affect the quality performance of the program’s functions.