Any way to "play to" tv from ubuntu (not a media server)

Question

Like the title says... i'm looking for a way to play music/videos from my media player TO a Tv on the same network. Basically like you can do with windoze media player and have been able to do for a while... surely Linux can do something the same or better?

I'm not looking to install a media server then use the TV to browse the media server and find files, which I have done already and the media browser on the TV is a bit frustrating when you have many files.

Solution

Set up a DLNA server (like MediaTomb) on the host, import media, etc. I thought MT had its own "play to" functionality through its webui but it's been years since I last played with it.

If it does, that's your whole solution there. If it doesn't you'll need a controller.

If you're looking for control from a computer, GUPnP-AV Control Point is a fair bet but control point software is widely available for all sorts of devices, eg: BubbleUPnP.

Comments

[Oli]

What sort of TV? Are you talking about sending video to a DLNA endpoint (something that some smart TVs are)?

[Luckdragon]

yes, its a samsung smart TV. it can connect to dlna servers and play that way but browsing media on the tv itself is quite bad. in windoze media player there is a "play to" option that finds the tv on the network so i can find what i want to play on the pc and just send it to the tv.

[NoBugs]

Good question - apparently there are some 'smart tvs' that work as a client to view videos on your 'server' computer software? However there are few if any articles on the cheaper common hdmi dongles that allow Androids and laptops to share screen!

[Luckdragon]

that GUPnP-AV Control Point looks pretty cool :P going to play around with that one for a bit. only had a brief look at mediatomb but will give that one another look over and see whats possible.

[Oli]

@Luckdragon If you don't get on with MediaTomb (I had problems with some transcoding), MiniDLNA worked well for me but that really is a very Spartan sharing tool. For that to work you will need a remote (or to browse from the TV).

[David Tod]

For me, MiniDLNA failed with most videos (e.g. avi/divx). Serviio somehow works (see minidlna and samsung tv file format doesn't support for details). But still, I'd like to have a possibility to "beam my screen" to the TV (e.g. show what's in the browser, or some presentation, etc.), like if it was another "cloned screen".

[John Rose]

After installing MediaTomb from Ubuntu 12.04 repos, I get (with the Chrome browser) MediaTome UI disabled: check configuration. I've checked MediaTomb's support forum and there are no answers to this problem. Any ideas?

[John Rose]

I'm also not sure if I should be using MediaTomb. I want to view an flv file (though I can convert it to mp4 if necessary) on my new Sony TV which I can see on my home network, it's connected to my router by ethernet as device MT8520-1 with an IP address allocated by my router. I've looked up Sony's manuals on their web site and they give no info about using the ethernet connection.

[Philippe Gachoud]

MediaTomb worked directly after setting it and adding videos on my samsung TV!