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Is There An App To Stream Your Shared PC Videos To The iPad?

I too just use Splashtop when I want to stream video from my PC. Probably worth buying a dedicated app if you plan to do so a lot though.
 
macbook123 said:
I just tried AirVideo thanks to this thread, and all I can say is: holy crap, what a nice app!

There seems to be no non-painful way to get AVCHD videos onto the iPad, so I suppose streaming from the mac is the way to go...
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You can stream AVCHD videos to your iPad? I have some of these that I have not yet burned to DVD yet (Both BD% and BD9) but didn;t know they could be streamed since they were in file folders and not an actual raw file file that can be played.

Hmmmm ... now I don;t what route to go.
 
Adam-Jobs said:
Good informative thread. How did you get on VLC Streamer?
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They have an app for it on the marketplace and server app for your PC to stream just like AirVideo etc.

Seemed like a crazy resource hog though when converting and the user interface on AirVideo seems smoother and cleaner.


Update on findings: I played an .MKV file streaming while converting from my PC through the free version of AirVideo and ohhh my lord .... pixelized like Crazy!!! Does it looks like total crap cause its converting while streaming or what? Looked like a 100mb bad riped xvid or something.

Am I missing something when it comes to quality here? I did notice that this program takes a lot less resources when converting that say VLCStreamer did.

I am bound and determined to find the best well rounded clear looking player out there ... still havent figured out which one that is though.
 
Just tried splashtop, as I owned it already. Easy to use. A bit laggy though. Could be due to my connection who knows.
 
Just used the Free LogMeIn ..... When you sign up for the first time it gives you a 2 week trial of the $40 LogMeIn Pro.

Great looking quality in HD I have to admit but when playing a video ... pure choppyness. Played with a .MKV tv show with VLC player and it looked horrible.

I do like the look but the controls are a bit blah ... I love Splashtop WAY better then this LogMeIn just for remote desktop use (minus the fact splashtop doesn't have the beautiful HD look though).

For videos it really looks like the only route is a app like AirVideo, VLCStreamer, Plex, Etc. to get great quality video playback .... I hate the fact it has to convert and slaughter the PC's resources but it still gives killer quality video playback.

Still testing some stuff out but I think the best route and the cheapest at that is Splashtop for remote desktop use and AirVideo for remote video viewing.
 
falconman515 said:
Update on findings: I played an .MKV file streaming while converting from my PC through the free version of AirVideo and ohhh my lord .... pixelized like Crazy!!! Does it looks like total crap cause its converting while streaming or what? Looked like a 100mb bad riped xvid or something.

Am I missing something when it comes to quality here?
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There's a setting in AirVideo (the "global settings" button in the upper right corner) where you can set the bitrates while streaming. I'd try 2048 or 2560.
 
falconman515 said:
So with Air Media as opposed to Air Video ... Air Media doesn't have to convert? It just plays on the fly like it should?

I am looking for an app that will just play the video .... really shouldn't be that much I wouldn't think. I mean if I load a video on the iPad then it will play with a player such a VLC or AVPlayerHD ..... but why can't there be an app that will play a streamed video as it comes in? Ya maybe it buffers for a few before it starts but why in the world is the PC converting while it plays?

This all just seems odd to me that there is no app that can do this without conversion.

I want to try out this Air Media but they don;t have a free trial one like the others ... and if I pay 2 bucks for a player that converts just the other 2 I have tried (AirMedia and VLCStreamer) then it was a waste of money if it works just the same cause I think AirVideo is probably a better overall player from what I have reviews on.

Any help out there?

Am I just asking to much to have a streaming app that "Doesn't" have to convert while it streams? I hate seeing all 4 cores max out and resources go to max on my pc while I'm streaming a simple little video on the iPad.

Thanks again for all the help guys.
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I'm not sure if Air Media converts, but I will tell you the seeking time and buffering time is way less than Air Video. Watching videos just seem faster. The only drawback is you don't get subtitles or all the options in Air Video like 30 second seek, you'll just have to judge by yer finger. IME, Air Media works better and for $2 I think its worth a try :cool:
 
rhett7660 said:
Have you looked at streamtome: http://projectswithlove.com/streamtome/

Granted I have not looked into how much processing it does when streaming.

Here are the formats it supports:

http://projectswithlove.com/streamtome/support_file_formats.html

I haven't done any mkv only avi's and had very little problems.
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This is the one I picked when I tried a bunch of apps a few months ago. Quality seemed the best for video, and it supports music and pictures as well. (quality is better if you're on WiFi, but 3G is fine also)

Converting DivX/XviD and low res stuff doesn't take much ressources. The worst I've seen is when playing a 1080p .mkv, my Core i5 quad-core will jump to 60-70% CPU usage, but everything plays smoothly.
 
Sugadaddy said:
This is the one I picked when I tried a bunch of apps a few months ago. Quality seemed the best for video, and it supports music and pictures as well. (quality is better if you're on WiFi, but 3G is fine also)

Converting DivX/XviD and low res stuff doesn't take much ressources. The worst I've seen is when playing a 1080p .mkv, my Core i5 quad-core will jump to 60-70% CPU usage, but everything plays smoothly.
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Very nice. This is one that I have been using just for video's. I didn't like the way it handled all of my music. But for the amount of video's I have it was fine.
 
Dude seriously, those are like 3-4 dollar apps. Just buy AirVideo and you'll be surprised of the user friendliness of the App.And if you don't luke it (which I can't imagine), just buy another one. The 2,99 won't kill you ;).
This is of course, if you only want to stream video. If you want to use remote desktop and all of that you might want to try an other App.
 
mrbinkels said:
AlPlPlLE said:
OP and EVERYONE that has replied or sees this thread. Use this app. It's called "Splashtop Remote Desktop". I use it daily and have used it for many many things.


Does this app work with wake on LAN on the PC?
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I have used Splashtop for for the last year now .... great for accessing your PC but not for anything else like watching videos etc.

The graphics are Horrible .... pixeled and grainy since it doesn't have HD built in like LogMeIn does. I tried the free demo of log me in pro and OMG ... as far as using it really is the same but it actually utilizes the HD retina display and everything looks crystal clear HD whereas Splashtop just looks horrible and looks even worse with videos.

For videos I think there is no other option than using an actual video app but for accessing your PC desktop now and again it works for me .... Sure wish I had LogMeIn though cause it is so crystal clear with a higher screen resolution at that.
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Thanks for the info. I was able to get it to wake on LAN and I only do a few files here and there so this seems to be the best option for me.
 
I use Airplayit which is free to stream large MKV files from my pc to my Ipad 1, 3, and iphone 4s and it works perfectly for me, surprised no one else seems to have mentioned it :)
 
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