cannot get DLNA to work on my TV
majorben
Newbie

Hi,

Newbie here to the forums.  I have searched this topic, and tried to follow the suggestions as best that I can, but I am still unable to get DLNA on my TV to connect to my server.  I have the Actiontec MI424WRI router and a Sharp Aquos TV LC-46LE830U.  The TV is DLNA compatible, there is a built in app for it, and I know that it is connected to the internet as I can see the Mac Address listed in the router.  I think that I have done everything that I could by following the posts of others in the forum to view photos from my laptop (my server) that is running Windows 7 on my TV, but I still can't get it to work.  Can somebody please help me by posting step by step instructions to make sure that I covered every base?  By the way, I do not want to purchase the Belkin Miracast Video Adapter.

As a side note, I've had Fios for a few years now, and I remember when the Media Manager App used to have a feature that would allow me to flick photos from my iphone to display on my TV, but it looks like Verizon has done away with that feature in the app.  Does anybody know if that can be done another way?

Thank you in advance for the help.

 
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Re: cannot get DLNA to work on my TV
DarkKnight2
Enthusiast - Level 1

Respectfully, this has nothing to do with Verizon, and is a user error issue. 

DLNA is a protocol; which is to say it's not an 'app' that you run. It's a set of standardized underlying technologies that are in theory supposed to allow you to play audio/video from any compatible 'server' such as a phone, tablet, or laptop to any compatible 'player' such as a TV, bluray player, or STB. Note that devices like tablets, phones, & PCs can be both server & client depending on how you are using them.

In practice it can be flaky, unreliable, and especially problematic between different manufacturers. That's not to say it doesn't work ever, just that you'll have more luck trying to push media from a Galaxy device to a Samsung TV than you would to an LG. Back when I was using it, I had no problems pushing photos & music from my SGS3 to my Samsung TV. However, take that same phone to someone else's house with a Westinghouse (supposedly DNLA comp) TV and it would error out. 

There is a whole other issue of compatibility regarding file types and codecs that you also need to be aware of. Not all players can display all content from servers even when you get them to connect. 

According to the manual for your TV, these are your supported file types:
 
Photo file format:JPEG
Music file format: LPCM, MP3
Video file format MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, WMV, ASF, MP4, MOV, AVI
 
Pretty limited IMO, but it covers the basics. Not sure the source for your photos but, jpeg is the most common type. What desktop application are you using to push the photos to your TV? Windows photoviewer for instance doesn't include a provision for streaming photos, AFAIK.
 
Anyway, all of this stuff is inside your network, and while verizon's router may be how you're connecting up your devices, it doesn't make it a verizon problem. Streaming media can be a really complicated process depending on your equipment.
 
Super simple, but more expensive route is to use an Apple TV Set Top Box (not a while new TV) as a player. Since you indicated you have an iPhone, Airplay is more or less Apple's problem free version of DLNA. The downside is that Airplay is part of the Apple ecosystem and to use it requires Apple hardware. That said, it also means tested & guaranteed compatibilty between devices. I've never encounted a problem pushing media between Apple devices. Just don't try to push it to non apple hardware unless you like pulling your hair out.
 
Less simple, but cheaper would be to attempt using a DLNA enabled app on your phone to act a server, and push your photos from there. You can find a list of apps as well as some basic descriptions here:
 
 
Good luck.
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Re: cannot get DLNA to work on my TV
majorben
Newbie

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.  I kind of knew that the DLNA function on my TV wasn't an app.  It is just where Sharp put it - with the other apps.  As you wrote, it is quite limited as far as file types, but I wanted to try to get it to work anyway.  I've been trying to get Windows Media Player to push photos to my TV after setting that up my laptop as a server, but I haven't been successful as my TV will not connect to the server.  I had thought that maybe there were some settings in the router to get this to work which is why I posted.  I never said that it was a Verizon problem.  I was just looking for some help or incite into it to get it to work.   I didn't realize how "flaky" DLNA is, and had I known, I probably would have either not even tried or I would have given up sooner.

Even though I may be a newbie to the forums, I am definitely not a newbie to computers or electronics which is why I thought that I could get this to work.  Apparently, it is more technical than I can handle. 

As a side note, I will have to look into the iOS apps in the link that you provided.  I had found 2 different apps, and they both did not allow me to push the photos on my phone to my TV.  Again, I must not be smart enough to get this to work.  As you wrote, this is a "user error" issue.  I guess that I just wish that Verizon didn't get rid of the function in their iOS app.

Thank you again.

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Re: cannot get DLNA to work on my TV
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Have you tried looking to see if there is a Sharp forum where you might get assistance?

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Re: cannot get DLNA to work on my TV
majorben
Newbie

Hi,

I have checked the web for a Sharp forum with no luck.  Sharp support is pretty much non-existent, and Sharp no longer makes TV's in the states.  What I did find though is that others have had a problem with their DLNA TV, and those TV's were not all Sharp.  What they did have in common though was Fios TV and the Actiontec router.

I wish that I had tried this when I first got the TV in early 2012.  I'm not saying that I probably could have gotten DLNA to work back then, but there was an Aquos Net option (Sharp's internal web access site) on the TV that no longer works because Sharp doesn't support it for older TV's.  With that, I can no longer access the internet with this TV.  So much for it being a "smart" TV. 

Thank you for any and all help.

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Re: cannot get DLNA to work on my TV
viafax999
Community Leader
Community Leader

@majorben wrote:

Hi,

Newbie here to the forums.  I have searched this topic, and tried to follow the suggestions as best that I can, but I am still unable to get DLNA on my TV to connect to my server.  I have the Actiontec MI424WRI router and a Sharp Aquos TV LC-46LE830U.  The TV is DLNA compatible, there is a built in app for it, and I know that it is connected to the internet as I can see the Mac Address listed in the router.  I think that I have done everything that I could by following the posts of others in the forum to view photos from my laptop (my server) that is running Windows 7 on my TV, but I still can't get it to work.  Can somebody please help me by posting step by step instructions to make sure that I covered every base?  By the way, I do not want to purchase the Belkin Miracast Video Adapter.

As a side note, I've had Fios for a few years now, and I remember when the Media Manager App used to have a feature that would allow me to flick photos from my iphone to display on my TV, but it looks like Verizon has done away with that feature in the app.  Does anybody know if that can be done another way?

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

Add a roku stick to the tv and load the plex client on that and the plex server on the laptop.

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