Is there any way (hardware or software) to stream the actual Windows desktop to a DLNA TV? I know you can stream certain media files (and this is working fine) but I would need to stream normal Windows applications to a remote TV via the local network.
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What do you mean stream a Windows application? Streaming is usually defined to mean playing media. Do you mean display an application window remotely?– Brad PattonMay 17, 2013 at 14:14
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Yes, as in show the output of the Windows desktop itself (and whatever is diplayed on it) such as a web browser or slide presentation etc, to a TV mounted on the wall. Ie I presume any solution would require a software app on the PC which encoded the display into a DLNA compatible stream decodable by the remote TV. I used "stream" as effectively it's a real-time continuous video feed rather than fixed slides/screenshots.– NickGMay 17, 2013 at 15:01
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1It seems most DLNA devices can decode a variety of formats such as h264,mpeg4,mjpeg etc. So I'm wondering why nobody's made a Windows app to make Windows into a DLNA host. As RDP/VNC etc are possible then DNLA is therefore possible too - I'm just trying to find out if anyone's actually done it yet.– NickGMay 17, 2013 at 15:04
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Is using DLNA a requirement?– KeltariMar 25, 2014 at 20:50
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You can use Plex as a media server plex.tv/downloads– Michael HaephratiJun 21, 2014 at 5:43
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3 Answers
I think this might be possible if you setup your PC as a DLNA server and then use VLC player to turn the content of the screen into a video stream that can be displayed on the TV.
I haven't tested this yet but the full tutorial can be found at http://alenblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/stream-computer-desktop-to-tv-using-dlna-tversity-and-vlc/
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4A little late, but would it be possible for you to briefly summarize the content of the post here? Not all the details, but at least some of the steps, in case the link goes down.– slhckJul 6, 2014 at 7:22
The answer is no.
The other proposed answers is 'it should work', but not one person has done it. The fact that there is only one guess should be a huge indication.
I consider myself a pretty advanced user, and very familiar with video, networking etc. and I have tried for over 2 days. I found no combinations of packages/codecs that would work, all though all 'should work'.
VLC claims to stream, but I found it very buggy. It often would lock up or fail in some other way. This makes it very difficult to determine if the problem is wrong parameters or a program lockup. I determined this by streaming the web camera instead of the desktop and 3 out of 10 times it would freeze on the first frame. I also read comments in a few places where people had resorted to V1 builds as the current versions are so bad.
I eventually developed a methodology where I would run ffmpeg in a cmd window to check validity of streams. Occasionally, VLC would produce a clean stream without errors, but it was rare. When it did, I immediately tried the stream on my TV, served by Serviio DLNA server. In every attempt the file was invalid, or the device disconnected. Serviio is able to serve up everything else I have, including test live http streams, so I have faith in it and the TV.
Searching Google for answers shows a surprisingly large interest in the subject, and nothing but 'it should work' answers, but not a single 'I got it to work on Windows'. Even the link posted in another answer ends with '(it doesnt really work, but it should)'
Stream what your Hear is freeware and at least partly solves the problem for audio. (Tested. Myself.)
Good enough for streaming background music to your hifi equipment. As long as you don't expect it to be in sync. (from my experience it has a fair amount of lag, but plays without hickups then. But that could also depend on your stream-receiving playback device aka renderer, which their FAQ section claims).
