Talk:UPnP Client Info

Other Devices

The scope is just UPnP devices at this point. But, another section for alternatives could be useful (e.g. Roku HD1000 w/ MythRoku, AppleTV (if it is ever workable with MythTV), or even Mac Mini with the OSX mythfrontend).

Format

Use a standard Table or List format? Or, just leave it free-form?

Duplication

Possible duplication. This page is very similar to the "UPnP-client hardware" section of the "UPnP" MythTV wiki page. So much so that I updated the client list here with missing clients from that page. I also added links from the "UPnP" page to pages here. I think, eventually, the information on the "UPnP" page regarding hardware clients should move here. But will want to know more of what others think.

Only the list of UPnP clients is duplicate info. This page was created to go beyond that, and provide specific information about using UPnP devices with MythTV and how it behaves. I think placing the "commercial" link after each device confuses things. It makes it look like that is the information, not the more valuable wiki Link (I initially missed the new device reports..) It would be fine to just put a link to the UPnP page saying "more devices are shown here", and just link the user reports here. Or, doing more obvious links links "Device Name/Model [User Report Link] [Vendor Link]" would be more clear.

I changed the DSM-520 section, as a proposal for what I think is a more clear layout.

So, as far as the duplication is concerned.. the question is whether to include all the devices in the list, or just the ones with user reports -- to avoid duplication.

I was thinking along the lines where we would list all known devices here and, perhaps, later remove them from the "top" UPnP page. But I don't think it is critical. I did add several links on the "top" UPnP page to these pages.

I like the wiki/vendor link style and changed all to follow this format.

Page Intent / Structure

The original structure of the page was:

I. List of relevant information about UPnP devices being used with MythTV

II. Device user reports -- filling in the above information for each device being tested

III. Other links -- Not specifically answering the questions above, but relevant to MythTV / UPnP usage

UPnP general information, and links to manufacturer www sites is available on the UPnP Wiki page. Non-UPnP information is on other pages.

Another section that may be useful, perhaps before the relevant info template, is a brief overview of MythTV in a UPnP mode.. general tradeoffs, scope of features that are possible via UPnP, strengths and weaknesses. This will help give Myth users an idea what to expect from UPnP devices, then move into specific strengths and limitations of each device.

Added a Brief Overview section near the top of the page. This is just my guess at what people will see w/Myth2.0 and other clients as well as my speculation on how things work. Hopefully, I remained vague enough not to offend anyone but at the same time provided some useful information. I you see any errors, please feel free to correct them. And, of course, add any missing information!

Looks like a good start.. I think we may want to tighten it up a bit & get more definitive on some of the capabilities (if noone knows for sure, we should leave it out for now and keep an "open questions" list on this discussion page. Also, phrasing it in the third person would give it more of a documentation feel.

Here are my thoughts on an intro for this page:

MythTV 0.20 added support for UPnP AV, an open standard method for sharing multimedia content. This allows for a MythTV backend server to share its videos with UPnP clients.

These UPnP clients have some advantages over MythTV backends, in that they are designed solely for multimedia playback, and are more suited for a home entertainment environment than many general purpose PCs. They are usually smaller, quieter, and use less power than a full MythTV frontend.

However, since they are not full MythTV clients, they do not have the full MythTV feature set. These devices simply support playback of videos stored in the MythTV backend, and potentially accessing music and photos. The video playback support varies from device to device, but none support the full capabilities of a MythTV client, such as automatic commercial skipping, bookmarks, and flexible FF/REW playback controls.

This page attempts to better document the capabilities of the various UPnP client options, and show MythTV users what to expect when using them.