streaming video to N800
 

I´m looking for ways to stream live video and video files to the Nokia N800.
I already found some information but maybe some of you can add experiences.

Using the latest firmware I´m able to stream live video using Orb 1.0 in real media file format to the build-in media player of the N800. The 3GP format doesn´t seem to work in orb .
I didn´t test Orb 2.0 because it seemed to have some problems with Opera when I last tested it on the previous firmware of the N800.
http://www.orb.com/

On the Maemo wiki I also found information about streaming to the Nokia 770 using Helix server and producer. I havent been able to duplicate that because I´ve been having trouble setting that up (the helix community webpages and the real website are terrible, you can´t find anything on them)
http://maemo.org/maemowiki/RealVideoStreams
anybody have any a how to guide in setting up the helix server?

I also tried the guide for streaming to real one player in the S60 nokia phones using VLC and Darwin. saddly it doesn´t work on the N800, because it doesn´t seem to accept .sdp or 3gp files for streaming. (but it does work on real player for windows)
http://s60.webhop.org/

strangely I did find a site that uses 3gp files that the N800 was able to stream.http://video.xs4all.nl/mobile/
BUT only if you open the download link! streaming with the stream link does not work.
BUT If I put the 3gp files on my own local webserver it does not stream. I really would like to know how to set up streaming using 3gp on my own server, can anybody help me?

The last options I found was using VLC on the PC to stream and Mplayer on the N800. sadly It didnt work for me (because of the latest firmware?), and in any case I dont really wan´t to use mplayer because it seems very buggy. Did any of you have better luck using mplayer?
http://labs.morpheuz.eng.br/blog/06/...ming-with-vlc/

Re: streaming video to N800
 

Ouch, big subject! I have the feeling you are pretty knowledgable on the subject, but just in case:

First of all you have to differenciate between streaming (using RTSP/RTP) and progressive download (using HTTP).

Let's start with the easy one, progressive download. You need an HTTP server (i.e. Apache) and a normal 3GP file (for example generated with QTPro). Normally, the only thing you have to do is put the file on the server and give the address to the browser (http://server/path/file.3gp).

For the second one you need a STREAMING server (Helix or Darwin). It wont work with a web server.
Then, depending on the server, you will need specific 3GP file.
The process of streaming consist in taking each media track (audio and/or video) and split it in small pieces (network packets). This process is called "hinting". It can be pretty complexe because of real time and bandwidth constraints. Hinting can be done "on demand" (Helix server) or "offline" (Darwin). The darwin server does not know how to do this hinting, so the file you provide to the server must have been specifically generated for streaming for it to be usable by Darwin. On the other hand, the Helix server does know how to hint, so you can provide it any 3GP file.

So I would first check that you have the right combination of streaming server / streaming content.

I haven't tried streaming on the N800 yet, but I'm very interested by the idea.

If you need more advices, please feel free to PM me (in French?).

Re: streaming video to N800
 

You've prompted me to try this out myself. I'm starting my testing with on-demand video, rather than live, but settings for one should work just as well for the other.

I've found that a 700Kbps, 320x240, 15fps clip encoded with RealVideo 10 and 64Kbps stereo music high response plays back locally on my N800 fairly well. It briefly drops frames just after playback starts, but then seems to get up to speed and play the rest of the 60 second file well. Audio playback is good throughout.

Unfortunately, for on-demand streaming, I had to encode the same content with much lower settings: 225Kbps, 240x180, 15fps, RealVideo 10, and 32Kbps stereo music high response. It drops a few frames, but fewer than with local playback of the 700Kbps file.

I have not yet tried any MBR files. I'm curious to see if they work, and if so, which rate the N800 selects.

I've never encoded a 3GP file, and I suspect I'd need to upgrade to Helix Mobile Server 11 for good support for that format. I'll have to investigate that.

Re: streaming video to N800
 

Take a look at this one:
http://developer.apple.com/opensourc...ing/index.html

This is what the U.S. Army uses to stream live feeds of various public events to troops scattered all over the world. It works pretty well and I've tested it not only on my N80i but my N800 as well.

A buddy of mine in the U.S. also setup his Slingbox to run through the Darwin server somehow and I can watch whatever he's watching in Virginia from anywhere on the planet. Once in a while it's laggy, but most of the time it's lag-free.

Re: streaming video to N800
 

I'm using FUPPES (http://fuppes.ulrich-voelkel.de/) to stream audio/video from my Ubuntu box to my N800. I use Media Converter (https://garage.maemo.org/projects/mediaconverter/) for my videos, since I've found it works the best for me. Granted, it's UPnP but it's nice and easy for me; besides, this way I can also stream easily to my girlfriend's laptop.
The one issue I've had so far, as I like using Canola, is that it refuses to play my audio but plays the video wonderfully. However, Media Streamer will play all my audio just fine and tends to be hit or miss with the videos. Now, I have as yet to flash the new update, so I can't tell you if these things have improved or not, and I'm sure it's probably an issue with Canola rather than with my N800, but it's just my two cents. All in all though, FUPPES is wonderfully easy to use :D

Re: streaming video to N800
 

I also experimented with the Darwin streaming server (see above) but It didn't work on my N800 for some reason.

What encoder do you use to live stream the media over the streaming server?

Re: streaming video to N800
 

I did a few more tests and had some good results using:
the N800 with the latest
RX-34_2007SE_3.2007.10-7 firmware
and the latest Mplayer: mplayer_1.0rc1-maemo.13.800

I also needed a command line interface:
Osso Xterm (advanced)

On my Windows XP system I installed VideoLAN
vlc-0.8.6a-win32.exe

I was able to stream using the MPEG 1 encapsulation and using the ASF container. the MP4 and MOV container did NOT work for me!
ASF seemed a bit better, but sometimes it didn't start right on the N800)

I used VLC to open my DirectShow device (a WinTV PVR 350) and stream live television to my N800 over local LAN (Wifi).
For a asf stream from my PC I used a bat file with the command (please note that it should be on 1 single line):

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" -vvv -I rc --ttl 128 dshow:// :dshow-vdev="Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture" :dshow-adev="" :dshow-tuner-channel=3 :dshow-tuner-country=31 :dshow-tuner-input=2 :sout=#transcode{vcodec=WMV2,vb=512,scale=0.5,acod ec=mp3,ab=128,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access =http,mux=asf,dst=:1234}}

a little explanation:
"dst=:1234" here 1234 is the local port used.
"dshow-tuner-country=31" is the country code for frequencies used (I live in the Netherlands so it is "31")
"dshow-tuner-input=2" is the input frequencies from the medium (either antenna or cable)
"dshow-tuner-channel=3" is the channel you want to watch. (I altered the frequency table to make it identical to my cable providers list, so this would be "Nederland 3" a dutch TV station)

for streaming in the MPEG container I changed the last part of the command in:
:sout=#transcode{vcodec=mp1v,vb=384,scale=0.5,acod ec=mpga,ab=64,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access =http,mux=mpeg1,dst=:1234}}

In order to start the TV on the N800 I opened the xterm command terminal on the N800 and ran:
mplayer http://192.168.0.1:1234

Here is "192.168.0.1" the local IP of the computer you are using (you can check on Windows XP by opening the command prompt and running "ipconfig")
and "1234" is the local port used.
If it doesn't work you should check if a firewall program isn't blocking port 1234 (try and temporally disabling the windows firewall)

It works perfectly on local LAN, but even if I lower the bitrate to REALLY low levels it doesn't work well using an Mobile phone Edge connection. (Real player and Orb does work very well)

Re: streaming video to N800
 

It seems some other people are also working on ways to watch TV on the N800 using Myth TV:
Using a program called GMyth :

http://gmyth.sourceforge.net

Here is a cool video:

http://labs.morpheuz.eng.br/blog/04/...r-your-videos/

And it seems somebody has also had luck using MP4 encoding and VLC (that didn't work for me):
http://www.oliverbrown.me.uk/2007/01...the-nokia-770/

I' looking forward to Gmyth and a bit more detailed (=simple) installation instructions
But for now it seems that Orb 1.0 and the normal media player is the best working sollution for streaming live TV to the N800.

BTW. I also tested Orb 2.0 again, It does work (the Real media output is best). But sometimes the streams keeps stopping and buffering no matter the bitrate. (I did not have this using Orb 1.0)
I wasn't able to get the UPNP option of Orb 2.0 working for video using the N800 media streamer. And Also the build in flash player doesn't work well ( only the low quality flash player works and that is FAR worse than the Real output)

So I'm using Orb 1.0 for now (most extra Orb 2.0 features either don't work on the N800 or I don't use them)

Re: streaming video to N800
 

Bear with me - I'm on a steep learning curve. I'm trying to stream movies from my iMac (intel) to the N800. Two questions - I installed the Darwin server you referenced (darned easy - nice). But, I can't see it in the Media Streamer nor Canola.

Second, what format should I be saving the movies in? I'm using Handbrake and saving them as MP4.

Thanks for your help!

Re: streaming video to N800
 

Continuing on my learning curve ...

I've figured out that video needs to be encoded with hinting. And that the format has to be 3gp.

So. If I export a movie in QT with hinting on - then convert it to 3gp - I can watch it with Media Streamer on the N800. (Using Twonky for Mac as my server).

However, this is waaaay too much like work.

What I really need is a Mac universal program that will rip a DVD (that I own :)) to a HINTED 3gp movie. And I haven't found it.

Does anyone know of such a beast?

Thanks!!