New Synology software allows streaming direct to Apple TV

[AlfaLavala]

According to synology's notes of it's latest beta software - here

8. Video Station
Supports streaming videos to Apple TV (Requires DSM 4.2).

I don't own a synology, but can anyone test this out?

Could be the answer we've all been waiting for

[blueroom]

Link is broken. I'd be happy to test it when I can get it.

[Pyromonkey83]

I'm gonna poo a little if this is the case. I have been waiting for this on my Synology for quite some time! I may wait a bit for the stable release though...

[blueroom]

It'll be downright amazing if it works, usually it's just the uber crappy Firefly DAAP software which the Synology already has.

Link working, downloading now. Can't test till I'm home though. Will post ASAP.

[linds15]

if this works itll be the feature that finally gets me to buy one of their units

[mic j]

Originally Posted by linds15

if this works itll be the feature that finally gets me to buy one of their units

+1

[blueroom]

Originally Posted by linds15

if this works itll be the feature that finally gets me to buy one of their units

I've been a big fan of Synology for some time, it's one of the nicest peripherals I've ever used. Stable, easy to use, reliable, constant updates and fully featured. Even if the ATV streaming is a bust I'd still recommend it highly.

[roidy]

If you read down the bottom of that linked page under the Hardware Compatibility Notes it says:-

3.AirPlay Devices
•Apple TV 3
•Apple TV 2
•AirPort Express 802.11n

So this may just be Airplay from the NAS to the ATV and not real homesharing, I hope I'm wrong as proper homesharing from a NAS would be fantastic.

[salohcin]

Originally Posted by roidy

If you read down the bottom of that linked page under the Hardware Compatibility Notes it says:-



So this may just be Airplay from the NAS to the ATV and not real homesharing, I hope I'm wrong as proper homesharing from a NAS would be fantastic.

Even if it is just Airplay, that would be awesome. But you're right, it would be much better if it was homesharing.

[roidy]

Originally Posted by salohcin

Even if it is just Airplay, that would be awesome. But you're right, it would be much better if it was homesharing.

Not really, because if it's just Airplay then you'd still need a way to choose the media on the NAS to play, like a computer with an open web browser or an iDevice.

[salohcin]

Originally Posted by roidy

Not really, because if it's just Airplay then you'd still need a way to choose the media on the NAS to play, like a computer with an open web browser or an iDevice.

That's still a lot better than it is now. An iDevice is usually a lot more convenient than a computer.

[roidy]

If you happen to have an iDevice

The whole point is that with proper homesharing you would only need 2 devices your NAS and your ATV. Once you start adding a third device then you may as well just run iTunes on a computer or like I did build a small WHS that runs iTunes instead of a NAS.

As I said I hope this is a full implementation of homesharing, but I highly doubt it.

[blueroom]

Installed the beta 4.2 & Video Station.

So far (and maybe I'm doing it wrong)

It's like a broken iTunes as far as dishing it out. Media that was formatted by Handbrake and works in iTunes gives a "An error occurred loading this content." on the ATV3.

It is not Home Sharing, the ATV3 cannot see it under computers. Appears you still need to run iTunes to get that. Ah well.

On the plus side it seems to support the HDHomeRun ATSC tuner! Hmm, might be able to function as a DVR for OTA. Further investigation required.

[Pyromonkey83]

I also just installed and have 3 things to report.\

1. All DiskStation apps now correctly support quick connect which is quite helpful. You can use the quickconnect id to connect outside fo the network like normal and seems to work flawlessly with no bugs.

2. AirPlay works through the Video Station package and app for iOS. IT IS NOT HOMESHARING. It works by opening Video Station (Or Video DS for iOS), selecting your movie, pressing play, then pressing the AirPlay button in the bottom right corner. It works exactly the same way as iTunes.

Originally Posted by blueroom

It's like a broken iTunes as far as dishing it out. Media that was formatted by Handbrake and works in iTunes gives a "An error occurred loading this content." on the ATV3.

I also got this error the first time. I fixed it by either A) allowing the video to play for a couple seconds before AirPlaying or B) After you get the error, press the Play button on your computer/phone again. Both of these will solve the problem. It also seems to be random which ones of my files will produce the error. Some will, some wont.

3. Transfer speeds from my Mac have increased DRAMATICALLY. I was getting constant transfer rates of between 30-40 MB/s, I am now getting closer to 70 MB/s on a constant basis and have spiked to 90MB/s on more than one occasion. The speed increase is immense and really helps with network transferring!

This is on a gigabit wired LAN system through a Netgear 5-port switch and a 1 year old Airport Extreme.

[roidy]

Originally Posted by blueroom

It is not Home Sharing, the ATV3 cannot see it under computers. Appears you still need to run iTunes to get that. Ah well.

That's a shame, but not entirely unexpected. It would be highly unlikely that Apple would allow 3rd party devices to use home sharing.

[blueroom]

They've also added DNS Server, Radius Server, Bluetooth, Hardware and Task Scheduler controls. I've removed the Video Station for now, not terribly useful for my setup.

[silver8ack]

Originally Posted by Pyromonkey83

I also just installed and have 3 things to report.\

1. All DiskStation apps now correctly support quick connect which is quite helpful. You can use the quickconnect id to connect outside fo the network like normal and seems to work flawlessly with no bugs.

2. AirPlay works through the Video Station package and app for iOS. IT IS NOT HOMESHARING. It works by opening Video Station (Or Video DS for iOS), selecting your movie, pressing play, then pressing the AirPlay button in the bottom right corner. It works exactly the same way as iTunes.



I also got this error the first time. I fixed it by either A) allowing the video to play for a couple seconds before AirPlaying or B) After you get the error, press the Play button on your computer/phone again. Both of these will solve the problem. It also seems to be random which ones of my files will produce the error. Some will, some wont.

3. Transfer speeds from my Mac have increased DRAMATICALLY. I was getting constant transfer rates of between 30-40 MB/s, I am now getting closer to 70 MB/s on a constant basis and have spiked to 90MB/s on more than one occasion. The speed increase is immense and really helps with network transferring!

This is on a gigabit wired LAN system through a Netgear 5-port switch and a 1 year old Airport Extreme.

Help me understand this... Is it AirPlaying directly from the Synology NAS to the AppleTV? Or is it still passing through an iOS device?

[TomiY1]

Can someone try sending a 1080p mkv from the Synology to an AppleTV3? (via iphone/ipad)? Im wondering if it beams it up in full resolution and w/out stuttering or pixelation.

[AlfaLavala]

That's a shame about no home sharing support. I believe PLEX media server is commonly used with iOS devices to then airplay on ATV.

Some of other improvements looked useful though - particularly the improvement in HFS sharing. Their website quotes ~50% speed improvements!

[Pyromonkey83]

Originally Posted by silver8ack

Help me understand this... Is it AirPlaying directly from the Synology NAS to the AppleTV? Or is it still passing through an iOS device?

You can do either. Synology supports AirPlaying directly from the NAS unit itself now, however in order to do so you must use the web interface from a Mac or PC. You can also AirPlay from an iOS device as well (going NAS -> iOS device -> TV), the iOS apps have been updated to fully support AirPlay (it used to only do it through AirPlay mirroring on your phone).

[ataylor2009]

Originally Posted by Pyromonkey83

You can do either. Synology supports AirPlaying directly from the NAS unit itself now, however in order to do so you must use the web interface from a Mac or PC. You can also AirPlay from an iOS device as well (going NAS -> iOS device -> TV), the iOS apps have been updated to fully support AirPlay (it used to only do it through AirPlay mirroring on your phone).

Well, blah. I would call this "bait and switch," but there's really no "switch." Synology is just flat-out lying when they say "Supports streaming videos to Apple TV." They make no mention of needing a separate iOS device to make it work, and I cannot figure a way to make it work otherwise. There is no option on either my ATV (3rd Gen) or within the Video Station app to make the two units talk to each other.

[Pyromonkey83]

Originally Posted by ataylor2009

Well, blah. I would call this "bait and switch," but there's really no "switch." Synology is just flat-out lying when they say "Supports streaming videos to Apple TV." They make no mention of needing a separate iOS device to make it work, and I cannot figure a way to make it work otherwise. There is no option on either my ATV (3rd Gen) or within the Video Station app to make the two units talk to each other.

You most definitely can get it to work without an iOS device. Play the video using the video station app on your laptop/desktop and it will open a new window with the video player. In the lower right hand corner you will see the AirPlay icon and you can stream it directly to the ATV. This works for both Mac and PC.

[blueroom]

Originally Posted by Pyromonkey83

You most definitely can get it to work without an iOS device. Play the video using the video station app on your laptop/desktop and it will open a new window with the video player. In the lower right hand corner you will see the AirPlay icon and you can stream it directly to the ATV. This works for both Mac and PC.

This is true, now only if I could get it to actually work with my .m4v (Handbrake ATV3) files (gives a content error).

Would have been something if it actually supported Home Sharing, but that's very unlikely.

[Pyromonkey83]

Originally Posted by blueroom

This is true, now only if I could get it to actually work with my .m4v (Handbrake ATV3) files (gives a content error).

Would have been something if it actually supported Home Sharing, but that's very unlikely.

If it gives you the content error, just press the play button again in the window and it will begin. It seems to be a streaming bug that Synology says it is aware of and a fix is being prepared.

[ceraz]

In my experience non-itunes media is transcoded to 720p max.

Read the small print : http://www.synology.com/dsm/home_mob...eo.php?lang=us

Limited control over metadata, no support for nfo files like in XBMC.