Oh really?
Any SmartTv out there has DLNA/UPNP support.
Can't see how it is becoming extinct.

And I can't honestly understand why ACRyan can't address this issue.
Again, any SmartTv out there these days can play an AVI/MKV and it's external subtitle file as long as they are named identically (extension apart).
If it's not the box then whose fault is it?
I feel pretty much cheated on this deal!
Should have bought a SmartTv instead.
If I had noticed this a couple of days earlier, I would have returned the product to the store immediately.
Besides, ACRyan still hasn't answered any of my 4 emails on this issue.
Very bad post sales team.
It's a pitty because the box looks sleek, the software is nice but then it lacks a fundamental feature such as subtitles through DLNA.
Sounds a whole lot like M$. Yuck!
Cheers

Why use UPNP/DLNA if you can use a direct samba/nfs network connection to your video files ?


if you go to your nas or shared file folder on your pc or external hdd through network for filebrowser you can simply stream the videofile with subs included.



Upnp/DLNA was orginal implented for Photo view etc. and also has his limitations.

They're right, UPNP/DLNA is a mess, I do use it, but only for streaming to my tablet and phone, using TVMobili (which also allows me to stream over the web), but if I had any other choice I wouldn't use it. I'd certainly never use it for streaming to my TVs - my Mini 2's do a far better job streaming the native files without needing another bit of software to help them.

Take what you said about smart TVs streaming AVI and MKV for example, neither of which are supported in the UPNP/DLNA standards. My Samsung "Smart TV" won't play them over UPNP/DLNA unless I use a server to transcode or remux them on the fly. Servers like Twonky, PS3MediaServer and TVMobili are capable of transcoding/remuxing (including adding subtitle support). Some manufacturers (like LG and Samsung) are making their own modifications to the specs to allow them to play those files natively, but those mods are proprietary, they don't need to be adopted by other manufacturers. These solutions are workarounds to get around limitations of the UPNP/DLNA specifications and don't mean that players that don't support them are "broken".

Ray Von

If it is a mess or not, that doesn't concern me. As long as it works. Properly!
We're talking about a standard feature that was built to aid people stream stuff easily between different vendor equipment. It is enforced by hundreds of members.
All the big sharks are in that list: Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Sony Electronics, etc.
They are not only members or contributors. They actually run the show!


It is your choice. If you buy a vacuum cleaner with a special tool for cleaning carpets it is your choice to use the carpet cleaning tool or not.
Heck, you may not even own carpets in the first place and still want to buy *that* vacuum cleaner!

Let's say you go out to buy an STB media player because you want to play your FLACs in the living room HiFi. You stop by your local shop and they show you a PlayOnHD. Yep, the specs sheet says the box has FLAC support. If it has the FLAC logo on it then I am expecting it supports all FLAC features such as..."FLAC tags" or "Vorbis comments" as they are usually known.
They are in FLAC's specifications which is an open standard.
If for some reason it doesn't support FLAC tags and it carries the FLAC logo, I don't know about you but I feel damn cheated! This was just an example, don't even know if this is true. It better not be.


Come again?


The problem usually starts when somebody "credible" says something trivial.
Now, because it seems so trivial and because of that guy's credibility among the community nobody else go check to see if it's true or not.
Sort of like an urban myth. Or a decease that quickly spreads everywhere.
Sad stuff but true.

To those who keep claiming that subs are not within DLNA specs, would you please read by yourselves?
http://www.supportforum.philips.com/en/showthread.php?2704-DLNA-streaming-support-for-external-subtitle-files-srt&p=33833&viewfull=1#post33833

And this comes from one company that is also in the board of directors of the DLNA...
Now, all I want is a product that is fully compliant with the specs and from this point onwards please bear in mind that the specs do include subtitles.
I have the right to feel cheated by AC Ryan and all the other companies that publish the DLNA logo and then don't implement the standard as they should.
If I was in the US and I had a lawyer I would sue them immediately.
But no, I am a stupid Portuguese chap that spent roughly 20% of his monthly wages just to find out a few months later that he had been ripped off big time!
AC Ryan should do the right thing, which by now you all know what it is: fix the damn issues in the firmware.
I mean, even Popcorn Hour can do better than this.
Pardon my French...
Just venting out what has been stuck in my throat for the past months after 4 email complaints without response.
Cheers

I have nothing more to say other than:-

You are wasting your time with DLNA/UpnP
I doubt whether it will ever be fixed as there is a distinct drift away from DNLA/UpNP
You would be better off spending your time on getting the files streaming direct from your shares.

To use an analogy though, would you like to have the AC Ryans Cinivia protection compliant just because Sony have instigated it?

You may have had a frog n your throat and have got it out, but you now have to get back in the real world and achieve what you can with what is available to you.

What makes you think that I have something else other than a DLNA streamer to feed my favorite media to my PlayOnHD?
I don't have a NAS, no server, no desktop computer with Linux/Windows to serve my media to the PlayOnHD.
All I have is a Thomson TG784n router with an external USB HDD attached to it which perfectly supports the DLNA standard.
DLNA is so well supported that it can feed an srt subtitle file to XBMC running on a friend's laptop that I brought home to try.
Also, the very same router model at this friend's works fine with an LG 47LW5500 SmartTV.
Both movie and subtitles render fine without an extra transcoding which on a not-so-recent PC takes at least one hour to complete.
By your saying, currently my only option is to spend >200USD on a NAS device and another 100USD on a 2TB HDD and take the hurdle of setting up CIFS/NFS on the damn thing.
All this because I bought something that on the box says something that clearly ain't true.
Way to go ACR!

I'm not going to get into a flame war over this. You just need to be realistic.

I am giving you the thoughts and experience of someone that has been developing and testing media players and DNLA servers for over 10 years.If you do not wish to take this advice, that is certainly your perogative.

To be quite honest, if I was AC Ryan or any other media player manufacturer, I would cut DLNA support totally. The only reason that your SmartTV manufacturers are using it is that their player firmware has not caught up with genuine media player firmware which has supported shares for about 4 years and the SmartTV manufacturers cannot be arsed supporting network shares because it is beyond the knowledge of a lot of users.

If your router was as good as you claim, it should be a trivial effort to set up shares on it!!

Either work with what the player will do or take it back to your place of purchase and don't keep on about it.

Who said anything about a flame war? I don't want a flame war and I certainly don't understand why you think I want a war in here. All I want is for people to do the right thing. The right thing for AC Ryan is to fix something they know is not working as they advertise thus scamming everybody that buys it. That's all buddy.



I can agree with you on this one. But only on new models because the current models have been sold advertising this feature.



You fail to see the obvious? I don't see DLNA as the holy grahal but I have to admit that it is damn easy to setup. You just enable it and suddenly you can browse 3 magical folders full of media.
When working as advertised DLNA is a must have on any media product out there.


Who said anything about my router being good?
I just said that it works properly AND that it supports DLNA as every other product that advertises DLNA should. It sticks to the specs and it feeds media+subs.
Other than that it is a plain common off-the-shelf cheap router with no special features.
Obviously, being a cheap router it doesn't allow for network shares setup.
But there's no reason for me to take it back to the store because it works as advertised .


How on earth do I take the player back?
It's been months since I bought it and started complaining about it here.
By the law, the store accepts no-questions-asked returns within 30 days.
After that it's no longer with the store, it is with me and AC Ryan.

Standard Dlna is supported and also working i can use dlna on my phone and this way i can stream photos and movies from my hd2.

If your Tv uses a non standard dlna.Upnp you can't blame A.C. Ryan it's not wokring.

Blame your tv

You haven't been reading, have you?
DLNA standard fully supports subtitles. From day one!
It is specified in the DMR profile by using e.g. <SubtitlesMimeType>text/srt</SubtitlesMimeType> .
Go read this thread.
Besides, my TV doesn't support DLNA, that is why I bought a media player.
My friend's TV does fully support DLNA. It is fully within DLNA specs and it renders movie and subtitles from a DLNA enabled router with an USB hdd attached to it.
If AC Ryan's DLNA implementation works for you, great!
If you lived in a country that only used subtitling you surely would think differently.
It isn't something that I could ask AC Ryan. It is something that AC Ryan should have implemented since day one because it is part of the specs.
Plain and simple for anybody that wants to read.
Cheers