Seeking streaming media advice

[absinthe]

My question is rather broad, and I had a hard time deciding which forum to post in. But let me just start with what, in the best of all possible worlds, I'd like to accomplish:

- I'd like to have one central storage device (say, an NAS, or HDD attached to router) on which to store media.

- It would be great if I could stream that media to any device in the house. That's any of 4 TVs. I'd also like to get some kind of wireless speaker, such as the Logitech Z515 or the Creative D100, or something along those lines, for music playback at any location in the house or yard.

I haven't done a lot of streaming in the past, but my home network and proliferation of devices is getting awfully complex. I probably have more than 25 devices considering computers, laptops, 2 game systems, a wi-fi TV, 2 Roku boxes, Internet phone (Ooma), wireless printer, an AT&T MicroCell for cell phone signal, plus various cell phone and iPods. I've just ordered an Asus RT-N56u router to beef up my network. I'm getting Amazon Prime at Christmastime, and I'm thinking of ordering a higher level of bandwidth from Time Warner after Christmas (getting 10 Mb/s now, with 15, 50, and even 50 Mb/s packages available).

I guess my question (regarding streaming) boils down to: On which device does the decoding of the file take place? Is a video, for instance, decoded on the local machine and then streamed to the receiving device? Or is the file itself streamed and then decoded at the viewing/listening device?

Can my Roku boxes, for instance, stream media from a network device? Please forgive my ignorance on this question as my 2 Roku devices are actually still boxed up for Xmas so I haven't had a chance to experiment with them.

I'd also like to know more about DLNA - is this just basic Bluetooth technology? Are there NASs available that are equipped with DLNA?

I hope I've accomplished a bit more than rambling here. Anyway, all advice is appreciated.

-abs

 

[thiggins]

I guess my question (regarding streaming) boils down to: On which device does the decoding of the file take place? Is a video, for instance, decoded on the local machine and then streamed to the receiving device? Or is the file itself streamed and then decoded at the viewing/listening device?

"Streaming" tends to imply that something magic is going on. The reality for playing files on your network is quite simple. The player first has to find the file. It then opens the file and plays it, if the player supports the format of the file. There is usually no transcoding done by the device that serves the file, and especially real-time transcoding. The compute requirements are simply too large.

Can my Roku boxes, for instance, stream media from a network device?

As above, the device has to be able to support the content format. Rokus are very limited in the file types they will play. They are tuned for Internet streaming, not local. Players like the WD TV Live support many more formats. See Two $100 Streamers Compared: WD TV Live vs. Roku 2 XS .

I'd also like to know more about DLNA - is this just basic Bluetooth technology? Are there NASs available that are equipped with DLNA?

DLNA has nothing to do with Bluetooth. DLNA is primarily focused on helping devices that don't support general network browsing to find and transfer files. See http://www.dlna.org/digital_living/how_it_works/

 

[absinthe]

In connection with my thread in the NAS forum, I'm now starting to consider just buying a good DLNA-equipped NAS device. This could be a way to prep for a future in which I always make sure to buy DLNA-ready media players.

 

[thiggins]

That's fine. But realize that not all networked media players require DLNA. Some, like the WD TV Live can browse network shares directly.