Support for Sony KDL-40HX700

[paul49]

Hi All,

My first post here.

I've just started experimenting with DLNA. Relevant equipment is a Sony KDL-40HX700, a Topfield 2400 PVR (which is producing the video files) and a Sony BDP-S370.

I'm recording free to air TV with the inbuilt tuners in the Topfield, FTP'ing the mpegs to a PC and attempting to stream them to either of the Sonys. Have had some limited success with a free DLNA server via which the TV would play some of the files. I haven't had any time to do any serious config with the free server, so I thought I'd install a trial version of Mezzmo and see if it worked out of the box.

Unfortunately, the TV won't play any of the files served by Mezzmo. It connects to the server and displays all the mpegs but just reports "Playback not available". It also reports incorrect durations for the programs - showing around 10 hours for a 1 hour program. The Mezzmo console also shows the same (incorrect) durations.

All of the files will play on VLC Player and VideoRedo will play and edit them as well.

Australia broadcasts DVB-T and I "think" I remember that VideoRedo reported the files as MPEG_TS_SD_EU. The DLNA certificate for the Sony includes that format and it appears in the SonyBraviaKDL.prf profile. I have read that the Topfield doesn't modify the transport streams as it records them (but perhaps that's not the case).

That's as far as I've got so far. Hopefully I'll finally get some time over the weekend to get my head around the formats and protocols and see if I can get one of the servers to talk to the Sony. I assume that it's just a configuration issue and needs some time and effort on my part to solve.

I was wondering if anyone has solved this particular combination of PVR/files/TV yet and can point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Paul.

[Paul]

Hi Paul,

Can you please post FFmpeg information on one of those recorded files (in Mezzmo right-click on a file and use the "Get FFmpeg Information" command).

Also, there's an updated device profile available for the Sony TVs and BDPs - if you send a message to support (at) conceiva (dot) com I'll send it out to you to try.

[paul49]

Hi Dennis,

I'll try to get some time to do that tonight. Thanks for the quick response.

The level of vendor support on this forum is very impressive.

Cheers,
Paul.

[Paul]

Thanks!

[paul49]

Update...

Firstly, Many Thanks to Dennis for prompt and helpful support.

I've decided that there is something about most of the Topfield files which the Sony's don't like. Maybe if I do some more work on the profiles, I might get somewhere.

However, with some updated profiles from Dennis, the TV will play an occasional file straight from the Topfield, and it now no longer complains about the other files being un-playable. Instead it accepts the files and "acts" as if it is playing them - ie it consumes data over the network from Mezzmo, fast forward, rewind etc display the correct icons on the screen but there is no video or sound.

However, if I run them through a video editing program and cut out the initial padding, they all play fine. ffmpeg reports essentially similar data for the "before and after" files except that I'm saving them as MPEG PS instead of TS and the subtitle and data streams are no longer present. (I'm pretty sure that if I saved them as TS they would still play after editing.) If anyone is interested, I can post some ffmpeg dumps.

ffmpeg reports this in the original files:-

[NULL @ 017c6f50] start time is not set in av_estimate_timings_from_pts

I had a bit of a look in Google but most references to the above are bug reports so I'm not sure whether this is the reason why the Sony won't accept them.

In any event, I'm very pleased with Mezzmo and am more than happy to buy it. With Dennis' updated profiles, even the BDP will play the files but the TV is just a touch easier to use - fast forward and rewind at three different speeds, pause, and even a progress bar where you can navigate quickly to any place in the file. Exactly what I've been trying to achieve!

Dennis,

Do you have a guide explaining all the parameters in the .prf files?

Cheers,
Paul.

[Paul]

Thanks Paul!

There is no real guide to device profiles, but feel free to ask about bits or tell me what you wish to achieve and I'll let you know the best way to do that Device profiles are still dynamic and we add features to them on a need-to basis (that's one of the reasons that there's no official documentation that's publically available).

If you could send me one of those non-playable files, I could try to play around with it here and see what's happening. Maybe it's the aspect ratio, maybe the frame rate, maybe a combination of something else. It can also be as simple as an incorrect mime type or dlna profile id - the Sony is quite picky about those, actually. Of course it could just be the file itself as well.

[paul49]

Hi Dennis,

All understood on the profiles. I'm happy with the way it's working now but it would be nice to solve the problem. I've been a programmer for over 25 years and, for some reason, I still enjoy a challenge.

The smallest file I have is 4GB so I might record something much shorter and send that to you instead.

The only disappointment so far is that none of my colleagues or technically inclined friends have a clue what I'm talking about when I tell them what a great DLNA server I've found...

[Paul]

Hi Dennis,

All understood on the profiles. I'm happy with the way it's working now but it would be nice to solve the problem. I've been a programmer for over 25 years and, for some reason, I still enjoy a challenge.

Well, I suspect audio/video codecs, network streaming and hardware compatibility will keep on giving enough challenges to solve for a while

The smallest file I have is 4GB so I might record something much shorter and send that to you instead.

Sure, a few minutes will be enough of course. We probably won't be able to accept it via e-mail, so can you please upload it somewhere like www.megaupload.com

The only disappointment so far is that none of my colleagues or technically inclined friends have a clue what I'm talking about when I tell them what a great DLNA server I've found...

The term is not that popular *yet*, but compared to where is was 2 years ago, it has made a lot of progress. But I know what you mean - not many people I talk to know what it is either. On the other hand it gives one a great chance to talk about something and educate people (or get them really bored ).