Whole Home Video Streaming
Just like so many folks, over the years I ended with quite a large collection of DVD and Blu-Ray based video. The challenge was two fold - how to store and access all of this and how to avoid the media itself from getting destroyed from use - especially my grand-daughters movies that she would watch over and over again.
I have tried several approaches to managing that content and trying to make it easily available for my family to browse and enjoy - but often those approaches were expensive or not very user friendly. I know this - if it doesn't pass the wife test - so basically point and click - then the effort was unsuccessful.
The following discussion is on what I use for the content I have purchased on physical media and how I created a library and ability to stream that to any TV in the house.
I used the same approach to whole home video as I did with my whole home audio projects - I looked at three key criteria...
- Content - what did I want to be able to watch ?
- Control - how could I easily browse and select content ?
- Distribution - how would I make this content available throughout my house and devices ?
The answers seemed pretty simple...
- Content - I wanted to watch my DVD/Blu-Ray/Home video
- Control - I wanted to browse by Cover Art and see metadata like movie description, actors, etc.
- Distribution - I wanted to store all my content in one location and make it available to any TV or Home Theater in the house as well as I-Pads.
The technologies to do this have been around for a while in various forms - but in the last couple of years I found a group of simple tools that have made this a great experience.
The technique I have used is simple..
- Rip the DVD or Blu-Ray content to my home server
- Convert and Compress the content into a common format that is controllable and I can distribute to multiple devices.
- Add the Art work, description, etc to make it easy to browse the collection.
- Have singular library and method for distributing and syncing content.
- DVDFab to copy the content to my PC
- Handbrake to convert the content to a common standard - H.264 - in a .mp4 container
- Meta-X to add the artwork and metadata to mp4 container.
- Distribute via Home Network to Media Streamers
What is also great about this process is A) you can remove all of the previews / commercials / etc from a DVD and B) you compress the size of the content dramatically while still having HD quality experience
For example an average DVD ranges from 4 to 7 GB in size. Running through this process - the resultant .mp4 container file is often less then 1GB. this means I can copy the resultant file to a iPad if I want and it plays great. What is also nice is that because the .mp4 container format includes the space to hold the artwork and metadata - the video is now completely portable and still easy to browse and play regardless of device
The same is true for Blu-Ray but at a larger scale. A typically Blu-Ray is some 40 - 50 GB in size. The resultant .mp4 is often in the 12 - 16 GB range - and so while not quite as portable to mobile devices, it is great for streaming in the home.
I will not get into the step by step for each tool since they are well documented - but I will provide some guidance on best experience....
First - be prepared with storage. Initially you will have a full copy of your DVD or Blu-Ray and the resultant .mp4 container. This can add up very quickly. Figure 1 TB for every 200 DVD and 20 Blu-Ray. The good news is storage prices have returned to "normal" levels following a couple of years of very high prices due to the supply constraints caused by the floods in Thailand - so now your talking about $30 - $45 / TB. I recently purchase a 3TB drive for $130.
Second - Understand your endpoint strategy and requirements. The good news is that because H.264 is an industry standard - playback is supported across many platforms, from Windows to Mac to Linux to TVs, etc.
With that said, you then have to look at the overall user experience of how you interact with that device to browse and select content. You can use DLNA based sharing that is often built into TVs, DVD and Blu-Ray players or you can use any number of media streaming devices from Apple. Roku. Google, whatever. I have had very good experience with Apple TV and at a $99 price point it is relatively affordable. It provide a really easy consistent interface and easily integrates into both simple bedroom or home theater systems.
Depending on you endpoint devices, you may need to add a second audio track to your .mp4 container to support both Dolby Digital and PCM devices. The Techniques for adding this track to your file are well documented and a little initial trial and error will get you where you need to be to cover your endpoint portfolio.
Third - be patient - While ripping the content from the original media can be relatively quick - anywhere from 10 - 12 minutes for a DVD and 20 - 40 for a Blu-Ray - the second step on conversion into H.264 format and .mp4 container can be time consuming. It can take 2 hrs or more to convert a Blu-Ray for example and that timing will be determined by factors such as how many cores your CPU has, how much RAM, etc. The approach I've used is to perform conversations in batches of 10 to 20 videos at a time. Tools like DVDFab and Handbrake do support queuing up multiple conversions at a time.
Fifth - A word about wireless. Yes you can stream over a wireless home network. If you have 802.11n support on your router and devices at either 2.4 or 5Ghz connections it will work. Will you potentially having buffering and/or fragmented playback issues - yes - it's just the nature of the beast. You really need a good solid 100Mbps connection to support streaming video - if you can't achieve that - then you will not have a great experience. It at all possible - wired 1GB connections are always best.
Last - Some of you may have Blu-Ray devices that can "uplift" DVD 480p content to HD. They do this via the various electronics in the device - you will NOT be able to that with this method - even if you stream the video through that same device.
Bottom line - With tools available today you can easily convert your existing DVD, Blu-Ray, Home Video libraries into a common format like H.264 and easily make then available to almost any device connected to your home network.
I will not get into the step by step for each tool since they are well documented - but I will provide some guidance on best experience....
First - be prepared with storage. Initially you will have a full copy of your DVD or Blu-Ray and the resultant .mp4 container. This can add up very quickly. Figure 1 TB for every 200 DVD and 20 Blu-Ray. The good news is storage prices have returned to "normal" levels following a couple of years of very high prices due to the supply constraints caused by the floods in Thailand - so now your talking about $30 - $45 / TB. I recently purchase a 3TB drive for $130.
Second - Understand your endpoint strategy and requirements. The good news is that because H.264 is an industry standard - playback is supported across many platforms, from Windows to Mac to Linux to TVs, etc.
With that said, you then have to look at the overall user experience of how you interact with that device to browse and select content. You can use DLNA based sharing that is often built into TVs, DVD and Blu-Ray players or you can use any number of media streaming devices from Apple. Roku. Google, whatever. I have had very good experience with Apple TV and at a $99 price point it is relatively affordable. It provide a really easy consistent interface and easily integrates into both simple bedroom or home theater systems.
Depending on you endpoint devices, you may need to add a second audio track to your .mp4 container to support both Dolby Digital and PCM devices. The Techniques for adding this track to your file are well documented and a little initial trial and error will get you where you need to be to cover your endpoint portfolio.
Third - be patient - While ripping the content from the original media can be relatively quick - anywhere from 10 - 12 minutes for a DVD and 20 - 40 for a Blu-Ray - the second step on conversion into H.264 format and .mp4 container can be time consuming. It can take 2 hrs or more to convert a Blu-Ray for example and that timing will be determined by factors such as how many cores your CPU has, how much RAM, etc. The approach I've used is to perform conversations in batches of 10 to 20 videos at a time. Tools like DVDFab and Handbrake do support queuing up multiple conversions at a time.
Fourth - Plan for Chapters, SubTitles if needed. Tools like DVDFab and Handbrake provide a multitude of options for how the conversions are performed as well as what is included or not. My recommendation is to check the vendor wikis and communities to get a feel for what folks are experiencing and how to best tune for your situation.
Last - Some of you may have Blu-Ray devices that can "uplift" DVD 480p content to HD. They do this via the various electronics in the device - you will NOT be able to that with this method - even if you stream the video through that same device.
Bottom line - With tools available today you can easily convert your existing DVD, Blu-Ray, Home Video libraries into a common format like H.264 and easily make then available to almost any device connected to your home network.
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