ELMEDIA Please make sure that your receiving device (e.g. Samsung TV, LG TV, Chromecast, etc.) and Mac are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. If you have problems… Read full answer
It might not work in such circumstances. Your Mac might be able to find the devices to which you want to stream on a different subnet, but the receiving device might not be able to get the video/audio stream from your Mac. In that case, please always make sure that your Mac and the receiving device are connected to the same subnet.
Yes, in the firewall settings, you should allow for incoming connections for the app. To make this change, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall:
Click on the lock to make changes and select Firewall Options.
Do not select “Block all incoming connections”. If you do this, the receiving device won’t be able to reach your Mac and start media streaming. Select “Allow incoming connections” for Elmedia Player.
To stream media files your Mac should be able to connect to the device you want to stream to and communicate with it. The receiving device should be able to communicate with your Mac, too. Some router settings may prevent communication and lead to media streaming failure.
Check your router settings for the following points:
- Make sure that you have the latest firmware update for your router on the manufacturer’s website.
- If you have a dual-band router, use separate names for the 2.4GHz and 5Ghz networks. Check out that both the Mac and the TV are connected to the same network. E.g. if your Mac computer is on 2.4Ghz, the receiving device should also be on 2.4Ghz.
- In case your router has MAC address filtering, add the MAC address of the receiving device to the list of filtered devices.
- Disable Access Point/Client isolation on your router.
- Disable IGMP Proxy on your router.
- Disable any Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or proxy servers on your router and/or computer.
- Enable UPnP/Multicast on your router.
- Enable IGMP on your router.
You can solve this problem either in Elmedia Player or in the system preferences on your Mac.
- Go to Elmedia Player Preferences > Interface. Find the Disable screen saver option and select Always.
- Go to System Preferences > Energy Saver. Make sure that the following option(s) are checked: “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off” and “Wake for Wi-Fi network access“. The option “Put hard disks to sleep when possible” should be off.
In most cases, this error means that your TV does not support the file format natively. Try to uncheck the “Use native playback when supported” option on the Streaming tab in Elmedia Preferences and restart the playback.
Disabling this option allows Elmedia Player to transcode the file on the fly when streaming.
Elmedia app can play your files natively on any device if they fit the device’s native player capabilities. Your files should:
- be stored in a compatible file container;
- be encoded in a compatible bitrate;
- be encoded with compatible codecs;
- have a compatible resolution.
Consult the documentation for your device to make sure that it meets these requirements.
When Elmedia Player reproduces your video natively, it sends your file directly to the device without changing it. No CPU is required on a Mac to stream with Elmedia Player.
Elmedia Player allows you to enable/disable the native playback on the Streaming tab in Elmedia Preferences. In case you disable the native playback, every media file will be transcoded. This can be useful if there are problems with video playback on particular devices.
If the video/audio format is illegible, Elmedia Player will convert it into a proper format by using its transcoding feature on the fly (in real-time).
Audio transcoding needs very low to moderate CPU usage on a Mac running Elmedia Player. Video transcoding (including subtitles) requires high to extreme CPU usage.
The transcoding speed depends on the speed of the CPU of the computer that runs Elmedia Player. The faster the CPU, the faster it can transcode. If your computer is several years old, it may simply not be powerful enough to perform the transcoding with the speed you need.
When you stream a video, the receiving device downloads it in small pieces and only then plays these pieces back to you. This process is called buffering. If your Mac running Elmedia Player is not powerful enough to support a video transcoding in real-time, the streaming can look choppy. That is why Elmedia Player takes on some part of buffering. With its pre-buffering feature, Elmedia gathers file segments to make streaming smooth and without interruptions. The re-buffering is also possible if the player runs out of segments, but to continue streaming enough media segments should be gathered.
By default, Elmedia Player has automatic buffering, but you can adjust the number of seconds that the app buffers before playing your content. For this, go to Preferences > Streaming tab. Type the number of seconds you’d like the app to buffer in the “Buffer” text box. The default value is 100, but you can change that if you’d like to increase or decrease the buffering time.
Tips:
- Increase the buffering time if you have a slow network connection and your streaming videos or music pauses frequently while playing.
- If you don’t have playback problems, try to reduce the value. The playback will begin sooner after clicking “Play.” You can try to change different values to optimize your playback.
The quality of media streaming may depend on a few main factors:
- the quality of your home network. The wired connection is always preferable, especially for streaming HD videos. If you use a wireless network, make sure that the signal is strong, the device is located within a reasonable distance from the router, and the Wi-Fi channel you are using is being used by as few people as possible. A high-quality router is always a good investment, especially if it’s designed for high bitrate operation;
- the power of the computer running Elmedia Player. It concerns transcoded videos that may require considerable resources from your Mac, especially CPU, to be played smoothly;
- the way the file has been encoded. Some top-quality video files may be ‘too heavy’ for your device with its limited processing power and memory. There might be stuttering in fast-moving scenes.
Yes, it does. Elmedia Player uses 3 methods to stream subtitles…Read full answer
Yes, both internal and external. Some Smart TVs support internal audio tracks and you can switch to the desired audio track in the playback settings directly on the device.
Note: Switching to another audio track in Elmedia Player will trigger the playback restart with on-the-fly transcoding of the media.
Some functions may not work if there is an error in the content or container. If the Index Table has an error, the Seek (Jump) function will not work.
4K videos are usually encoded in HEVC/h265 which is more difficult to transcode on the CPU. That’s why you will need a modern Mac and a good network to stream 4K movies.
4K content usually has a higher bitrate than the other content, so make sure that you have enough bandwidth to stream 4K files in their native resolution. If you need to transcode the video to 1080p there is no use in 4K.
Make sure that your receiving device can natively play 4K format without transcoding it. If you need to transcode the video, any quality you had will be instantly lost. Native playback of 1080p/720p will be a better solution than transcoding 4K.
- Check Firewall settings. In many cases, the firewall on your computer may prevent the devices from communicating. See here.
- If the antivirus is installed, turn off the Firewall in it or add the player to the exceptions. Antivirus apps often have their own firewalls and network traffic blockers. It’s easier to fully disable these apps while testing for connection, then re-enable and make adjustments later.
- See if you have any of the following software installed, and if so, make sure it is configured to let Elmedia Player make the connection: Radio Silence, Lulu, Little Snitch, Murus, Vallum, Hands Off, Netiquette, TCPBlock.
- In the Streaming > General settings enable the “Use native playback when supported” option and start the broadcast.
- If steps 1-4 did not help, turn off the “Use native playback when supported” option in the Streaming > General settings and start the broadcast.
- If step 5 did not help, reduce Quality and/or Bitrate in the Streaming > General settings and start the broadcasting.
Unfortunately, not all devices support multi-channel audio decoding. Therefore, when streaming video files with sound in AC3/E-AC3/DTS formats to such devices, playback may be without sound.
In this case, enable the “Downmix audio to stereo” option in the Streaming-> General settings and restart playback.
