How to determine renderer capabilities?

[DevlshOne]

Hi all! New to the forums but not to the software...

I've added a 2nd PS3 to my network, a WDC Live TV Media Hub and now a Toshiba (Android ICS-based) Excite tablet. The configuration files are easy enough to understand when using the example PS3 file as a base but can anyone tell me how to get specific encoder information for devices? How do I know what my tablet can handle as far as transcoded streams are concerned? It's definitely not posted on their website and the owner's manual is USELESS! Is there a resource that people use to determine capabilties of a device based on the hardware? For instance, how do I know what my best audio encoding / decoding options are for my Onkyo HT-RC360 receiver based on what protocols and special hardware it has?

Also, I've looked read, re-read and re-re-read the Windows Home Server site for help with configuration of PS3 Media Server as a service but I continue to have issues with it mysteriously vanishing from my Media Server lists. Has anyone got this down to an exact science, yet?

Lastly, is there any documentation on the logback.xml file? I think it could possibly help me troubleshoot all of the above! I tooled around with it when I was trying to create a render.cfg file for my Media Hub and I think I may have done more harm than good.

Thanks and keep up the GREAT work! (donation on the way)

[chocolateboy]

is there any documentation on the logback.xml file?

The only change that's needed to troubleshoot adding support for a new renderer is enabling trace logging.

I think I may have done more harm than good.

FAQ: Resetting PMS back to default

[DevlshOne]

I guess I wasn't very clear. It's not the creation a new renderer file that I'm asking about. More about how to tweak all of the specific transcoder settings so that they are "tuned", so to speak, for specific rendering devices.

Many thanks for the great info, though. After a few hours of tinkering with the logback file and thorough examinations of the debug logs I have successfully added both Playstations, my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Onky HT-RC360 (audio only) and my Toshiba Excite tablet ( all WITH icons!! ). They are all recognized and configure flawlessly although I'm still having issues with streaming video lag. A few more hours of tweaks on the Transcoding settings and I should be in good shape.

[Vylen]

Any chance of sharing that .conf file with people like me who have a Toshiba Excite too?

[DevlshOne]

Any chance of sharing that .conf file with people like me who have a Toshiba Excite too? :)

Happy to!

Excite10_Rndr.zip

Toshiba Excite 10 Renderer configuration (Exciite.conf) including icon

(7.07 KiB) Downloaded 63 times

[DevlshOne]

After pulling some better capabilities from the Toshiba website, here is an update version of the CONF file..

Code: Select all

# ps3mediaserver renderer profile for Toshiba Excite 10
# Refer to PS3.conf for help

RendererName=Excite
RendererIcon=Excite10.png
UserAgentSearch=Android/4.0
Video=true
Audio=true
Image=true
SeekByTime=false
TranscodeVideo=MPEGPSAC3
TranscodeAudio=MP3
DefaultVBVBufSize=true
MuxH264ToMpegTS=false
MuxDTSToMpeg=true
WrapDTSIntoPCM=false
MediaInfo=true
MuxLPCMToMpeg=true
MaxVideoBitrateMbps=0
MaxVideoWidth=0
MaxVideoHeight=0
#
MediaInfo=true
# --- video ---
Supported = f:mpegps|mpegts   v:mpeg1|mpeg2   a:ac3|dts|lpcm|mpa|mp3   m:video/mpeg
Supported = f:mpegts   v:h264|vc1   a:ac3|dts|dtshd|truehd|aac|lpcm|mpa|mp3   m:video/vnd.dlna.mpeg-tts
Supported = f:mp4|m4v   v:mp4|h264   a:ac3|dts|dtshd|truehd|aac|lpcm|mpa|mp3   m:video/mpeg
Supported = f:avi|divx   v:divx|mp4   a:ac3|lpcm|mpa|mp3   m:video/mpeg
Supported = f:mkv   v:mp4|divx|h264   a:ac3|dts|dtshd|truehd|aac|lpcm|mpa|mp3   m:video/vnd.dlna.mpeg-tts
Supported = f:wmv       v:wmv|vc1   a:wma   n:6   m:video/x-ms-wmv
Supported = f:ogv   v:ogv   a:ogv   m:video/ogg

# --- audio ---
Supported = f:wma   n:2   m:audio/x-ms-wma
Supported = f:mp3   n:2   m:audio/mpeg
Supported = f:ogg   n:2   m:audio/ogg
Supported = f:oga   n:2   m:audio/ogg
Supported = f:spx   n:2   m:audio/ogg
Supported = f:aac   n:2   a:(?!alac).+   m:audio/x-m4a
Supported = f:wav   a:dts|lpcm   n:6   s:48000   m:audio/wav
Supported = f:wav   n:2   s:48000   m:audio/wav
Supported = f:lpcm n:2 s:48000 m:audio/L16

# --- image ---
Supported = f:jpg        m:image/jpeg
Supported = f:png        m:image/png
Supported = f:gif        m:image/gif
Supported = f:tiff       m:image/tiff


[fall3n]

@DevlshOne - I am using your conf file for my Toshiba Thrive and everything is working really well, except for some mkv files with dts audio. Do you know if the Excite can handle dts while the Thrive cannot? Also, can PMS transcode dts to a format the thrive can handle? I was able to find the attached pdf about the Thrive. i'm not sure if it'll help.

Thank you.