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So far I am seeing about the same thing. No lag when streaming via DLNA. If adding a movie and you want it converted you could try using the Pogoplug Browser/Uploader.
It will convert the video while sending it to your Pogoplug.
Categories: Other Pogoplug Enabled Devices
My ultimate goal is to be able to stream all my movies on the PS3 in my living room. Previously, streaming HD video from the pink Pogoplug (v2) to the PS3 rendered some not-so-HD quality...it was actually pretty horrid quality.
With that said, my plans for the Series 4 was to use it as a media server ONLY.
Last night, I setup my Series 4 next to the rest of my Pogoplugs and plugged in a 4 Gig, USB 2.0 thumb drive to test it out (I've yet to buy a USB 3.0 drive). After registering it, I went into the settings (via the web UI) and set that device to be seen by the PS3. I turned on all the media settings for that drive then I dropped an HD trailer of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" on the Series 4. I then went into the living room, booted up the PS3. The PS3 immediately found the Pogoplug and, with high hopes, I frantically navigated to the HD video clip. I hit "Play" and held my breath as the video began. It was in HD! No skipping, no missing audio, no grainy image...it looked/sounded just as good as if I had hooked my laptop up to my TV with an HDMI cable.
At this point, I was feeling ambitious and decided to test out a full length movie. I converted the movie with HandBrake, put it on the Series 4 and went to the PS3. When I streamed the video, the quality was less impressive...but mind you, it was a regular DVD...not a 1080p video like the one I previously tested. So I went BACK to the HD video clip and streamed it only to find out that the quality had diminished since my previous experience.
Now, the only thing that I can think of as to why the quality WAS phenominal but then became simply "okay" was that the second video file I added slowed things down. My guess is that because the Pogoplug was trying to transcode the 1.5GB file while I was trying to stream another file...things got a little ugly. Right now, the video isn't finished transcoding, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that once that's done, my Planet of the Apes clip will be in HD again. I don't know what the internal difference between this device and the pink one is, but I was never able to achieve HD streaming with the pink Pogoplug. Bottom line: I'm hopeful that the Series 4 will finally allow me to store and stream all my movies to my PS3. If all goes well once I've finished testing, at that point I'll go out and buy 2 USB 3.0 external HDD's (one for video, one for music).
I'll update this thread with the results of the HD video streaming once the movie has finished transcoding. Stay tuned...
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December 15, 2011 11:41 AM
December 16, 2011 10:35 PM
I ordered one yesterday morning and I got a message stating that it is backordered. I want to use it to play videos to my WD TV Live without transcoding. My WD TV live can play almost anything when a HDD is connected directly to it so I am hoping it plays the same way while connected to the Pogoplug series 4. I am just tired of having to use a thumb drive when i download stuff at work and transferring them to one of my HDDs and I already have 4 TBs worth of videos I dont plan on converting in anyway to accommedate the Pogoplug.
December 17, 2011 10:40 AM
Okay it's taken a little time, but I've gotten to the bottom of this problem...
It can all be summarized in one word: transcoding. When the Pogoplug transcodes a video, it makes it suitable to be played on mobile devices. Naturally, the quality becomes diminished once the transcoding has occurred. Going back to the original post, the first time I streamed the Rise of the Apes trailer, it streamed in 1080p and looked fantastic. The second time it looked like garbage. Between the first and second stream, Pogoplug transcoded the video...so when I went to play it the second time, I was actually watching the more mobile optimized version of the video.
To test my theory, I disabled the automatic transcoding in the settings menu and added multiple video files to the drive. I then had SOME of those files transcoded, and left some untouched. Sure enough, the ones that were transcoded looked like garbage on my TV and the ones that were not look the way they should: awesome!
So now we have a predicament: you either have to choose to have your videos optimized for the small screen but be unbearable on the big screen, OR have them look great on the big screen but suck up all your bandwidth (assuming you're connected via your mobile data connection) on smaller screens.
For me, I really don't watch videos on my phone or tablet all that much so I'll make sure none of them are transcoded...no biggie. However, I know some people want the best of both worlds and they will probably be frustrated when they come to this realization.
If someone else could test this theory on their Plug and confirm that the results are the same on your end that would be great...
December 17, 2011 12:21 PM
updated: December 17, 2011 12:45 PM
JJ said: Okay it's taken a little time, but I've gotten to the bottom of this problem... It can all be summarized in one word: transcoding. When the Pogoplug transcodes a video, it makes it suitable to be played on mobile devices. Naturally, the quality becomes diminished once the transcoding has occurred. Going back to the original post, the first time I streamed the Rise of the Apes trailer, it streamed in 1080p and looked fantastic. The second time it looked like garbage. Between the first and second stream, Pogoplug transcoded the video...so when I went to play it the second time, I was actually watching the more mobile optimized version of the video. To test my theory, I disabled the automatic transcoding in the settings menu and added multiple video files to the drive. I then had SOME of those files transcoded, and left some untouched. Sure enough, the ones that were transcoded looked like garbage on my TV and the ones that were not look the way they should: awesome! So now we have a predicament: you either have to choose to have your videos optimized for the small screen but be unbearable on the big screen, OR have them look great on the big screen but suck up all your bandwidth (assuming you're connected via your mobile data connection) on smaller screens. For me, I really don't watch videos on my phone or tablet all that much so I'll make sure none of them are transcoded...no biggie. However, I know some people want the best of both worlds and they will probably be frustrated when they come to this realization. If someone else could test this theory on their Plug and confirm that the results are the same on your end that would be great...
I will once I get it. I have videos that are 10 gigs with dolby master audio, dts, Aac, and flac, and they all play on my WD TV Live plus. I dont care about streaming and if I did I would convert the files myself. Its just that I have alot of TB HDD,s and I end up having to plug and unplug and use thumbdrives to move files. If it works the way I am hoping, I will make sure to get some USB 3.0. HDDS.
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