[Jman5150]

So ive been wanting to try something for awhile and finally tried today and im lost.

Not sure if I misunderstand how this tech works so any clarification would help.

I currently have a shield pro running kodi connected to synology nas. Im playing 4k/bluray isos. Looks great!

However i have two 4k bluray players, oppo 203 and panasonic ub900. Id like to try a setup (if possible) having kodi be the gui to select the movie and the playback runs through one of the 4k blurays (using cec to trigger the receiver to pick the right input).

Basically i like the oppo for dolbyvision and the ub900 i prefer the hdr playback from it.

The problem of course is can the 4k player do this? Receive the file via ethernet and play? Or something similar?


Can dlna with kodi and 4k players work this way? To trigger the 4k movie to playback on the 4k player after kodi menu selection?

….Or do i misunderstand the technology. I tried setting it up today and kinda got lost. I thought i got the idea wrong but then ill read a bunch of post that sound like others doing something similar!

Hope that made sense. It felt hard to describe.

[selfcontained]

That would be pretty sweet - but I can't see how it'd work. There are professional media controllers (https://www.extron.com/product/vca100 & crestron, et al.) but they're designed to interface with playout devices with appropriate I/O for commands (even a basic RS232C port would help.) But then the extron devices would need to take "orders" from a PC with extron software AND Kodi. Kodi could have a skin widget that initiates an extron macro - theoretically. I don't even know if any of that is doable.

More direct (but still not likely) would be a hacked Oppo or a "ChinOppo" clone that can run Kodi - then Kodi could just (maybe) treat the Oppo as an external player? But even that - I dunno.

Still it would be great though.

Anyone else have any ideas?

[jbinkley60]

However i have two 4k bluray players, oppo 203 and panasonic ub900. Id like to try a setup (if possible) having kodi be the gui to select the movie and the playback runs through one of the 4k blurays (using cec to trigger the receiver to pick the right input).

Basically i like the oppo for dolbyvision and the ub900 i prefer the hdr playback from it.

The problem of course is can the 4k player do this? Receive the file via ethernet and play? Or something similar?

I can try to help a bit with the DLNA piece of this.  Here's a link on my Wiki page which describes the various DLNA functions including showing the DLNA Play-To function (DLNA casting) from my setup.  What you are describing can be done DLNA with some caveats and limits.  Via DLNA you can tell a DMP or DMR device to play video, music or show pictures.  In your case your 4K players would need to support the DLNA DMP or DMR function.  Many devices do but many don't.  My Yamaha AVR, does it for music so I use the DLNA Play-To feature to send music to it.  Next you need a DLNA DMS server for the 4K player to get the video from because what you are really saying is 4K player go play this video which is passed as a URL so it needs to be served as a URL (which I think a Synology NAS can do but not sure how well).  I use Mezzmo, which can do this).  Lastly, DLNA cannot do Blu-Ray menus but if your DMS can extract videos from the ISOs and serve them up you can still play the videos but without the menus.  DLNA was never extended to support DVD / Blu-Ray menus as a standard.  Some folks have done it via nonstandard proprietary means.  Mezzmo does support DMS serving of videos from within Blu-Ray ISOs but I haven't played with it much.  I rip my videos natively to control the format and such.  Also, I don't believe UHD ISO extracts are supported but I have no problem playing 4K UHD full bitrate content.  

This all may sound a bit complicated but it is actually fairly simple with the right software and understanding some limitations.  The starting point, for a DLNA approach, is whether your 4K players support the DLNA DMP / DMR function and accept a Play-To command.  That is typically a little bit of reading the manual time.  To your point about Ethernet cabling and connectivity, I play Bu-Ray and UHD quality over wired or wireless.  That shouldn't matter as long as the wireless connectivity has enough bandwidth.  Here's my setup where I run what I have described.


Thanks,

Jeff

[Jman5150]

That’s a sweet setup. Sorry for the delay. It’s a project on work in in spurts. The oppo 203 does have the requirements.

so far it’s having issues. The network through the 203 clearly see the shield and nas. However selecting play to oppo 203 isn’t triggering any mkv. Movie files to play.

is there any nuance to the networking cables? I have the shield and nas and oppo on a hub for what’s it’s worth.

when you say wired do you mean video via Ethernet cable or HDMI? I’ve assumed Dlna is through network cable in play to functions but maybe wrong and it’s the opposite HDMI input…although not sure why one would need Dlna with that.

or maybe nuance with the mkv? My test file is a 4k hdr avenger civil war file.

I have a Synology nas so I’m looking into the option you mentioned however it seems others on here get it to play without that if you have any input.

[selfcontained]

I certainly don't want to disuade you from making either of your UHD Blu-ray players act as external players for Kodi. @jbinkley60's approach may well get you closer to that; but the most direct approach for attaining the same results seems to me the use of an Ugoos AMB6 Plus (with firmware using AMLogic kernel no later than ver. 4.9 https://discourse.coreelec.org/t/homatic.../19596/682) + Monsoon's abandoned Kodi build (search these forums for links). These play the following files with all the appropriate auto switching of: frame-rate, colorspace, resolution, etc.

1. single-track/dual-layer Dolby Vision HDR profile 7 (with FEL)
   
2. single-track/dual-layer Dolby Vision HDR profile 7 (with MEL)
   
3. Dolby Vision HDR profile 8.1 (pretty much the same as profile 7 w/MEL)
   
4. Dolby Vision HDR profile 5 (from streaming sources)
   
5. HDR10Plus
   
6. HDR10
   
7. HLG HDR
   
8. SDR
   

I believe @ragico has had the most experience with this combination.

[jbinkley60]

That’s a sweet setup. Sorry for the delay. It’s a project on work in in spurts. The oppo 203 does have the requirements.

so far it’s having issues. The network through the 203 clearly see the shield and nas. However selecting play to oppo 203 isn’t triggering any mkv. Movie files to play.

is there any nuance to the networking cables? I have the shield and nas and oppo on a hub for what’s it’s worth.

when you say wired do you mean video via Ethernet cable or HDMI? I’ve assumed Dlna is through network cable in play to functions but maybe wrong and it’s the opposite HDMI input…although not sure why one would need Dlna with that.

or maybe nuance with the mkv? My test file is a 4k hdr avenger civil war file.

I have a Synology nas so I’m looking into the option you mentioned however it seems others on here get it to play without that if you have any input.

Yes, DLNA is over the ethernet side (wired or wireless).  In general the cabling won't make that big of a difference for small home networks.  It can but that is generally rare nowadays.  I presume your Oppo 203 is using its own internal player to try and play the MKV files on your NAS ?  If so, how is your NAS sharing the MKV files ?  This is the part where DLNA could come in or there are other methods like SMB and such but typically Blu-Ray players don't support this, from my experience.  Most do support some form of DLNA from a DLNA server sharing media content.  I did a little research and the Oppo 203 does appear to support DLNA/UPnP.


Thanks,

Jeff

[Jman5150]

Thanks, I started to realize the shield was a great player but  didn’t set up a server side…currently trying Emby (any thoughts on Emby or using kodi server would be appreciated by anyone) it’s slow and I needed to adjust some of my file formats so still working on it but I’m pretty sure the Dlna won’t work well without a media server setup…. But initially thought kodi automatically did it or the nas did. we’ll see if it fixes the issue.

[Jman5150]

…..I’m currently on a Mac with Synology nas…so the windows option you showed won’t work but thank you (unless there a way to use it on Synology is or Mac (I have parallels but it has issues)….if I get a windows machine I’m eager to experiment with it…..probably will at some point.

[Jman5150]

I certainly don't want to disuade you from making either of your UHD Blu-ray players act as external players for Kodi. @jbinkley60's approach may well get you closer to that; but the most direct approach for attaining the same results seems to me the use of an Ugoos AMB6 Plus (with firmware using AMLogic kernel no later than ver. 4.9 https://discourse.coreelec.org/t/homatic.../19596/682) + Monsoon's abandoned Kodi build (search these forums for links). These play the following files with all the appropriate auto switching of: frame-rate, colorspace, resolution, etc.

1. single-track/dual-layer Dolby Vision HDR profile 7 (with FEL)
   
2. single-track/dual-layer Dolby Vision HDR profile 7 (with MEL)
   
3. Dolby Vision HDR profile 8.1 (pretty much the same as profile 7 w/MEL)
   
4. Dolby Vision HDR profile 5 (from streaming sources)
   
5. HDR10Plus
   
6. HDR10
   
7. HLG HDR
   
8. SDR
   

I believe @ragico has had the most experience with this combination.

H wow lots to explore! Why was it abandoned?

[jbinkley60]

Thanks, I started to realize the shield was a great player but  didn’t set up a server side…currently trying Emby (any thoughts on Emby or using kodi server would be appreciated by anyone) it’s slow and I needed to adjust some of my file formats so still working on it but I’m pretty sure the Dlna won’t work well without a media server setup…. But initially thought kodi automatically did it or the nas did. we’ll see if it fixes the issue.

I don't have any experience with Emby. Others here might be able to provide more input.  Kodi can be used as a UPnP/DLNA server.  It isn't its target use case so your mileage may vary.  The Kodi sharing Wiki is a good place to start for DLNA solutions.  Each has strengths and weaknesses.  I concur with your thinking about the Oppo needing a DLNA server to get content from.


Jeff

[jbinkley60]

…..I’m currently on a Mac with Synology nas…so the windows option you showed won’t work but thank you (unless there a way to use it on Synology is or Mac (I have parallels but it has issues)….if I get a windows machine I’m eager to experiment with it…..probably will at some point.

There are some DLNA servers which run on a NAS device.  Again, others here may be able to weigh in on their experiences.  I believe Jellyfin and  Plex are two that can but with a NAS pay attention to the details.  Not all NAS solutions are the same and depending upon the HW capacity of the NAS, your performance may vary. 


Good luck,

Jeff