Encoding and Streaming to your Pocket PC [Archive]

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Philip Colmer

08-25-2003, 05:00 PM

Have you ever found yourself sitting in your garden, wishing you could have an almost limitless supply of music or video on your Pocket PC? Well, you can ... and if you want to find out how, just read on ... <!> If you've got a Windows PC, this article will show you how to get audio & video content from your PC onto your Pocket PC. There are two ways of doing it:<li>By encoding the source material into a format suitable for the Pocket PC and then copying the files onto the device or <li>By using a network (preferably a wireless one!) and streaming the encoded data over to the Pocket PCWhat You'll Need This article is going to focus on using the following:<li>A Windows PC <li>A Pocket PC with Pocket PC 2002 or 2003 <li>Windows Media Encoder <li>Windows Media Player on the Pocket PC <li>A wireless network (optional)There are other ways of achieving the same end results with other pieces of hardware and software. If you don't want to use some of the above, hopefully this article will help you to use the items of your choice. Getting Started Before your Pocket PC can play audio & video, the material needs to be in the right format. If you are using Windows Media Player, this means Windows Media Audio and Video files. If you've already used Windows Media Player to rip a CD onto your home PC, the files on your PC are Windows Media Audio files, so you can just copy the files onto your Pocket PC and start playing them. Video is a bit harder :-). Luckily Microsoft has a free tool to make life easier for us - Windows Media Encoder. There are two versions of the encoding tool available for download - <a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/winmediatech40/wmenc71/7.1/W98NT42KMe/EN-US/wmencoder71.exe">Encoder 7.1</a> and <a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/1/f/81f9402f-efdd-439d-b2a4-089563199d47/WMEncoder.exe">Encoder 9</a>. Please note that the latter is, according to Microsoft's site, only for use with Windows 2000 and XP. Which one should you use? By preference, you should use Encoder 9 as it is the more up-to-date encoding application but, as noted above, it does require Windows 2000 or XP. Otherwise, use Encoder 7.1 - it does the job just as well even though it isn't using the latest algorithms from Microsoft and the user interface is a bit awkward compared to Encoder 9. Most of the PC screenshots in this article will be from Encoder 9. If there are significant differences in appearance from Encoder 7.1, I'll point them out. So what does the encoder software do? It takes your source material and converts it into a format that the Pocket PC can handle. In the case of video, this involves making the picture smaller (e.g. 208x160) and fewer frames per second (e.g. 8 instead of 29.97 for NTSC and 25 for PAL). Enough detail - let's get our hands dirty! The Encoding Process By this point, you should have downloaded & installed one of the encoding applications. Fire it up - you'll find it on the Start menu under Windows Media. Encoder 7.1 starts by giving you the choice of using the New Session Wizard, create a custom encoding session, open an existing encoding session or a recent encoding session. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-01.gif" /> Figure 1: The opening choices with Encoder 7.1 Choosing the New Session Wizard and clicking on OK presents you with the available wizards - broadcast a live event, capture audio or video and convert an audio or video file. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-02.gif" /> Figure 2: Encoder 7.1's encoding wizards Encoder 9 takes you straight into the choice of Wizards, making it easier for you to set up the encoding session. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-03.gif" /> Figure 3: Encoder 9's New Session window For now, choose the "Convert a file" wizard. Both encoders then display a window asking you for the source file and the output file. Do take account of the tip that is displayed in the window - always use the highest quality source file. Re-encoding a file that has already been processed in a way that has resulted in some loss of the source data will not be as good as encoding the original source file. Once you've picked your source & output file names, click on the Next button. The encoder then asks you how you want to distribute your file. If you are using Encoder 9, choose "Pocket PC" and click on Next. You will then be asked how you want to encode your audio and video. Leave the video option set to "Pocket PC standard video" but change the audio to "Voice quality audio". Click on Next. If you are using Encoder 7.1, choose "File will stream from a Web server or play directly on a computer" and click on Next. You will then be asked which profile you want to use. If you've got an old Pocket PC or you want to play safe for now, choose "Video for color PDA devices (150 Kbps)" and click on Next. If you've got a newer Pocket PC, you might want to try the other PDA profile (225 Kbps) as this offers 20 frames per second instead of eight, but playback may be choppy if your Pocket PC isn't fast enough. If you've followed the above steps carefully then, regardless of which encoder you are using, you should be looking at a window that allows you to specify information about the content. This allows you to enter the title, author, copyright, rating and description information. Enter as much or as little information as you like and click on Next. The wizard will then display a review of the options you have picked. Click on Finish! The encoder window will then be displayed, showing audio bars on the left, with input and output video windows next to them and details of the encoding process underneath. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-04.gif" /> Figure 4: Encoder 9 encoding away Encoder 9 does the video encoding in two passes. During the first pass, there isn't any output displayed. In either case, once the encoding has finished, copy the "wmv" file onto your Pocket PC, start up Windows Media Player, click on Select, click on your file and then on the play icon. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour! The above steps can also be used to take audio files and convert them for the Pocket PC. By following the above steps and picking an audio file instead of a video file, the encoder will automatically produce a WMA file. The only thing you may want to play around with is the bit rate used to encode the audio. The lower the bit rate, the lower the quality, but it all comes down to taste :-) If you are using Encoder 7.1, the profiles will automatically be restricted to audio-only and you can pick one for a bit rate that suits you. If you are using Encoder 9, it gets a little bit more complicated because the choice of profiles is based on your answer to the content distribution question. What I would suggest is that you use these steps:<li>When you get to the Content Distribution page, choose Pocket PC as before <li>Leave the audio setting as "CD quality audio (CBR)" <li>Enter any display information <li>On the "Settings Review" page, deselect the "Begin converting when I click Finish" option and click on Finish <li>In the Encoder window, click on the Properties button. The Session Properties window will appear within the Encoder window <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-05.gif" /> Figure 5: Changing the properties of an encoding session in Encoder 9 <li>Click on the Edit button next to "Destination: Pocket PC". The Custom Encoding Settings window will appear <li>Click on the "70 Kbps" tab <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-06.gif" /> Figure 6: Picking a different audio bit rate <li>Choose any bit rate you like from the drop-down window BUT ensure that you pick one that says 44KHz and not 48KHzWhat About The Almost Limitless Supply? OK, so you may be thinking to yourself "well, yes, but I've still got to copy files onto my Pocket PC and I haven't got a limitless amount of storage, so what can be done about that?" ... or maybe not :-) What we've looked at so far is how to encode, or convert material that is on your PC into a format that the Pocket PC can handle. We are now going to take what we've learned and take it to the next step - sending it across a wireless network ... or streaming it, to use the posh term. :-) The significant point, though, about streaming from Windows Media Encoder on your PC to the Pocket PC is that you can then use the "capture from device" to your advantage. For example, if you set up Windows Media Player on your PC to play a list of tracks that lasts a couple of hours, you can stream from the sound card device to your Pocket PC without having to spend ages downloading the files to the Pocket PC first. If you've got a TV tuner card in your PC, you can even stream television to your Pocket PC ... bliss! So What Is Streaming? Streaming, at its most literal, is the continuous supply of data. If you've ever watched a movie trailer on the Internet, it is likely that it has been streamed to your PC or Pocket PC. Streaming avoids the need to download the whole file before you can start playing it. That becomes particularly important if you want to watch or listen to a live broadcast ... it becomes a bit difficult trying to download that :-) What Are We Waiting For, Then? Nothing much! Start by running the encoder application. If you are using Encoder 7.1, leave the first option selected and click on OK then pick "Broadcast a live event from attached devices or computer screen" and click Next. If you are using Encoder 9, select the "Broadcast a live event" wizard and click on OK. Both encoders will then display a window that allows you to specify the devices you want to use as your source material. If you want to just stream a single file, it can be done, but you need to set up a custom session in order to achieve that. I'll cover that near the end of the article. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-07.gif" /> Figure 7: Specifying the devices to be used for the source material You have to stream at least audio - the video part is optional. So the first step is to turn off the video option if you only want to stream audio. Let's do that for now - we can come back and do video later. Make sure that your sound card is selected as the device and click on the Configure button. The window that appears will allow you to select the recording input on your sound device. If you want to stream what Windows Media Player is playing, your sound device must offer something like "What U Hear" or "mixer" - in other words, the output of the sound card. Select that from the "Pin Line" drop down menu, select the checkbox next to Enable and click on OK. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-08.gif" /> Figure 8: Specifying the input on your audio card (If your sound card doesn't give you the option of using its output as a recording input, there is a workaround given in the section "And I Can Do This With Video Too?" below). Click on Next in the Wizard window to move on to the next step - the broadcast method. If you are using Encoder 9, make sure you select "Pull from the encoder" and click on Next. Both encoder applications will then display the Broadcast Connection window. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-09.gif" /> Figure 9: Encoder 9 broadcast method choice <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-10.gif" /> Figure 10: The Broadcast Connection window Unless you want to change the HTTP port being used, leave it alone and click on Next. For Encoder 7.1 users, you are now looking at the Profile Selection, so pick the audio profile you want to use. For Encoder 9 users, you are looking at the Encoding Options window. By default, Encoder 9 tries to provide multiple bit rates over the stream, with 135 Kbps as the initially selected rate. Leave the settings like that for now - you can experiment later :-) Clicking Next takes you to the Archive File window, where you can archive a copy of the broadcast to a file. You probably don't want to do this ... Clicking Next again takes you to the Display Information window. As before, put as much or as little information in here and click Next. If you are using Encoder 9, deselect the "Begin converting" checkbox. With both encoders, click Finish on the Settings Review window. If you are using Encoder 9, you need to go back into the session properties, click on the Compression tab, click on the Edit button, click on the 135Kbps tab and change the audio format from "128kbps, 48kHz" to "128kbps, 44kHz". Click on OK to close the Custom Encoding window and then click on Apply to keep the change you've made. With both encoding applications, you can now start the encoding process. Since we are just broadcasting audio, there won't be any video windows shown in the encoder window, but the encoder should be showing activity in the audio bars and the time in the Progress area should be increasing. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-11.gif" /> Figure 11: Encoding and streaming in action Ready to start receiving the broadcast on your Pocket PC? OK - here are the steps:<li>Start Windows Media Player <li>Click on Tools <li>Click on "Open URL" <li>Enter the URL in the format <a href="HTTP://ip">HTTP://ip</a> addr:8080 where ip addr is the IP address of your PC. Using the IP address avoids any potential problems with the Pocket PC trying to translate your PC's name into its IP address. <li>Click on OKWMP will say "Buffering" in the status area and then, after a while, change to "Playing". If you've got the speakers on on your PC, you will notice that there is a lag between what your PC is playing and what your Pocket PC is playing. This is normal and is down to the time taken to encode, send the data across the wireless network and then decode it before it can be played. And I Can Do This With Video Too? Yes! If you've got a capture card or TV Tuner card in your PC, you can choose this as an input device right at the beginning of the steps discussed above. Your PC will then encode and stream the video across the wireless network. As above, there will be a lag, but the streamed video and audio will be in sync with each other, so you won't notice it if you aren't able to see the original source at the same time :-) Alternatively, if you've got a video file that you want to stream, you can do this as well, but the steps taken vary depending on which encoder you are using. If you are using Encoder 7.1, choose "Create a custom encoding session" when you start the application. The New Session window will appear. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/colmer-stream-12.gif" /> Figure 12: Creating a custom session in Encoder 7.1 With the Sources tab selected, click on New. The "New Source Group" window will appear. By default, the video source will be set to "Screen capture". Click on the drop-down menu and choose "Browse for file". You can then specify your source video file. For the audio source, you can select a device or a file containing the audio (which may be the same file as that being used for the video). When you are happy with your choices, click on OK. You can add as many sources as you like, thus making the broadcast as long as the combined length of the files. This is also an alternative way of broadcasting audio if your sound card does not have the ability to treat the output sound as a recording source. Once you are happy with your source material, click on "Display Information". As before, enter the information you want then click on the "Profile" tab. Here, pick the same profile you used when you were encoding files. Finally, click on the "Output" tab and ensure that "Broadcast encoded output" is selected and "Archive to file" is deselected. Click on OK and the encoder window will be displayed. Click on the Start button and the encoder will start encoding & streaming the output. If you are using Encoder 9, the process is very similar. You start by defining your sources, be they files, devices or a mixture. You can also specify what the encoder does at the end of the list - stop, loop, roll over to next source or roll over to first source. Once you've specified your source material, you click on the "Output" tab to select "Pull from encoder". You can then click on the "Compression" tab and ensure that the destination is Pocket PC and that the audio is "Voice quality audio". Click on "Apply" then "Start Encoding" ... and away you go :-) Gotchas You may be wondering why, if you are using Encoder 9, I kept on telling you to change the audio settings. The reason is because, by default, the encoder likes to use a 48kHz audio format - which Pocket PC 2002 doesn't like. I don't have Windows Mobile 2003 device, so I can't confirm whether or not that behaves the same way. Anyway, the problem is documented in Knowledge Base article 813693 if you want the MS line on this and how to permanently fix it. Conclusions Hopefully I've been able to help two audiences with this article - those who want to encode audio & video material for their Pocket PC and those who want to stream that material over a wireless network. By using the encoder application, the process is actually reasonably painless - once you've got the hang of the various settings :-) So go on - set your PC up, recharge the battery on your Pocket PC and go and sit in the sun and enjoy the stream!

claud9999

08-25-2003, 05:58 PM

I have all of the components necessary, PPC 2002 (with WiFi), CIFS fileserver accessable via WiFi, but I've yet to get the two to talk to each other let alone "stream" music. I do not want to run a server app and shouldn't need to.

If you know of a solution that is tried and true, post it here or send me e-mail at [email protected]

gohtor

08-25-2003, 06:17 PM

ppc 2003 should handle the 48bit window media audio codec 9 (since it comes with windows media player 9) quite disappointed that there's no update for ppc2002 users.

an alternative url that should work for streaming is mms://ipaddr:port this url will trigger media player to launch if it is being typed or clicked from pocket internet explorer.

I still wait for the day that streaming becomes simply a 1 step process. it's getting close but i would prefer to see some more friendly remote side control for those wanting to activate their streaming video when they're not at home =). I currently have to remote to my desktop using terminal services to do that. lol i have had to "clean" up my desktop just to make navigation abit easier from the ppc.

on a side note you should increase the buffer just to make the video streaming abit better. you end up with a delayed feed but it's better off especially on cartoons.

if you really want ease of use. wait till msn6 comes out for ppc (hopefully they will have webcam service) redirect your msn profile's webcam to your tv tuner and enable auto webcam upon chat (i think this is currently possible) there is like 0 delay comparable to that of existing voip services!

<sigh> i can't wait till i see the updated msn!

cherring

08-25-2003, 07:27 PM

I did it at work a while ago the last time this howto was posted. I use my passthrough connection with the pocketpc as I don't have wifi access at work. It does work like a charm.

phenderson

08-25-2003, 08:19 PM

I love using my TV tuner (I have ATI 9700 Pro All-in-wonder), to stream the cable broadcasts across to my laptop or my Axim, but I hate the encoding rate for the Axim. To get it nicely synced up, I have to use a lower encoding rate (150kbps), which means grainy video. BUt it was neat when I ran up to my wife and showed her the TV screen on my Axim.

Axim has terrible video... I might have to by a better device...

David C

08-25-2003, 10:01 PM

When I do conversion, I usually drop the frame rate by half. I use 11.88 for example when converting from film content. I was able to get my e-200 to play up to 320x136 at 12fps at around 220k bps or so. It has 206Mhz, and pocket windows media 8.5.

It would definetly be nice if microsoft offers wmv9 for ppc 2002.

MikPAQ

08-25-2003, 10:14 PM

Okay, I have everything necessary, however I can't get sound to work.

What I have
Dell Axim X5 running PPC 2002
Windows Media Encoder 9
Netgear Wifi CF Card

I have my ATI Video/TV Tuner Card as Video Source, This works like a charm

However I have SBLive! Audio [DCE0] as Audio Source. Volume is on, PPC and computer. I can hear audio on the PC but none on the Dell Axim.

I can't change the audio "Pin Line Input" setting. The apply button is grayed out. It defaults to MIDI Synth.

Any suggestions?

Bichcake

08-25-2003, 10:37 PM

This is the first thing i wanted to do with my new 2210. I didn't want to go through this process with the windows encoder and all and found that there is a much easier way to stream music and video. also i like .ogg files more than wma files and don't want to re-encode everything.

the easiest thing to do is use resco file explorer. i'm only using the demo version now but it expires in two days and i am thinking of buying it just for this purpose.

first connect wirelessly to your computer. i guess with wifi you automaticaly have network access, but if you are using bluetooth then this can be a pain. there are other threads that go into detail about how to get this to work and i'm not going to repeat it here. it is posible, and worth it, if you have a device with built in bluetooth.

now you need to have folders on your computer that are shared to the network. you can do this by going to windows explorer and right clicking on a folder, for example my music. go to "sharing and security" and check the bok that says "share this folder on the network." the name you pick has to be 12 characters or less for your ppc to see it.

then, in resco, just select "map network drive". it should automaticaly detect your computer and show your shared folders. pick my music and tap "share" and now you can access all the files on that drive. resco makes the shared folder act like a storage card, so you can access it from the normal file explorer.

This is better than using the encoder because you have access to all the files on your computer, not just media stuff. mp3's stream pretty well, but .oggs are better because of the lower bitrate. bluetooth is a little too slow sometimes, so you will hear pauses occasionaly, especialy if you are far from your computer. video over bluetooth doesn't work, really.
another con is that there is no option to enque files, and media player won't play .ogg. i'm using winampaq, but it's not great. i can't wait for a nullsoft ppc winamp version.

alternately, there are some free programs to use like netuse, or t2tnet, but i couldn't get either of these to work.

good luck and happy streaming!

David C

08-26-2003, 12:06 AM

Okay, I have everything necessary, however I can't get sound to work.

Any suggestions?

maybe you can try a lower bitrate on the audio, or change it to 22Khz instead. I have a radeon 8500dv and SBlive also. I use AUX for sound, and I have to go in there and turn it up higher.

Mexico

08-26-2003, 04:31 AM

Okay, I have everything necessary, however I can't get sound to work.
Make sure you have the right source selected under the recording mixer, not the playback. (Double click the speaker on the system tray, go to the options menu and select properties, select recording, click OK, select the appropriate source).

Good luck!

rhmorrison

08-26-2003, 08:52 AM

Warwick

08-26-2003, 10:55 AM

FYI I have found variable bit rates to work better on the PPC than constant bit rates. I have streamed entire movies over bluetooth in decent quality and with no pauses.

Cheers.

ctmagnus

08-26-2003, 05:43 PM

FYI I have found variable bit rates to work better on the PPC than constant bit rates. I have streamed entire movies over bluetooth in decent quality and with no pauses.

Cheers.

Indeed. Anything I encode for use on my Pocket PC is VBR. Although that isn't as much of a necessity with Windows Media 9 on Pocket PCs.

hindencm

08-26-2003, 05:52 PM

Is there a tv tuner cf card for Pocket PC???

MikPAQ

08-26-2003, 06:32 PM

Thanks for your help, I got it working!!!

Now, if only there was a way to change channels I could actually have real streaming anywhere(within WiFi range) TV.

I thought maybe I could use gotomypc.com to actually run my computer over the connection, I will try this and see.

Thanks again.

PPCRules

08-26-2003, 09:44 PM

Now, if only there was a way to change channels I could actually have real streaming anywhere(within WiFi range) TV.

VNC worked good for me with audio streaming; no impact on sound. I have not tried it with video streaming, but it should work; wouldn't be watching while switching, anyway.

Bichcake

08-26-2003, 10:33 PM

Actualy i think i have a pretty good idea of what streaming is, and your wrong.

streaming is sending the file over the connection in little pieces, as it is needed. another way of saying this is "in real time" but it doesn't mean the source has to be created as it is sent.

However, if each piece is to big to be sent over whatever connection you are using, for example a phone line, then a program can re-encode the file so that it can be sent.

but just because i don't need to re-encode the file to send it over my connection doesn't mean i'm not streaming the file. i'm still getting it in little pieces. the whole file isn't transfered over to my device before it plays.

now, you know this, but i didn't want someone to read your post and get misinformed. i just wanted people to know that if they wanted to listen to music then there is an easier way. if you want to watch live tv then follow the article.

PoweriPaq

08-26-2003, 10:46 PM

I was looking into a streaming video software for quite sometime now. Snapstream was able to do the same, but it cost $50. While Windows Media Encoder 9, is free and simple. I manage to stream my live tv at home to show off at work.

I use snapstream program to play all of my wmv and mpeg videos to play over the internet as well, but I was able to pause, rewind and fast forward, which is not a real streaming media.

I always thought streaming media would mean a live media streaming over a data network without able to pause, rewind or fast forward? What is the real word to use for streaming a live media? Without TiVo, TV Broadcast would be streaming since you can't pause or rewind, or is it still called Streaming without the capable of pausing, and rewind? Wow, very confusing. I really could careless, but since we're on this subject, it made me curious.

moorashj

08-27-2003, 01:26 AM

MikPAQ

08-27-2003, 05:04 PM

I have read everything here but cant get the sound...i have tried on my laptop..i get the pic just fine but no sound. i have checked the soundcard and it appears fine..when i initially set encoder 9 to tv tuner i get sound..then i click ok then sound is gone..any ideas would be greatly appreciated

After you start the encoder click on the "mixing" button, lower left hand side, if audio is viewable. Then edit the settings for pc sound and place a check mark in the option you want. try aux or what u hear.

esc76

08-28-2003, 06:02 AM

Does anyone know if Windows Media Encoder 9 can broadcast live to a Pocket PC 2002 device with Windows Media Player 8 (or 8.5)? I've tried with no luck.

I also tried using Encoder 7.1 instead, but when I try broadcasting live tv, I get an error message indicating its missing codecs.

Philip Colmer

08-28-2003, 09:15 AM

Does anyone know if Windows Media Encoder 9 can broadcast live to a Pocket PC 2002 device with Windows Media Player 8 (or 8.5)? I've tried with no luck.

It can't broadcast, per se - you have to tell the Pocket PC to connect to the PC running the encoder software and pull the stream.

But if you mean can Encoder 9 produce data that is compatible with WMP8, the answer is yes. The settings that I've suggested in the article do work - I tested them exhaustively on a PPC 2002 device.

I also tried using Encoder 7.1 instead, but when I try broadcasting live tv, I get an error message indicating its missing codecs.

On which device? The PC or the Pocket PC? If the former, I would suggest uninstalling the Encoder software and trying again. If the latter, I would suggest that WMP is upset and needs a clean installation.

--Philip

Costjim

08-31-2003, 05:02 PM

Hi

This works great but what I am looking for is the same thing but without using my laptop. I want to just use my Ipaq and stream directly to it. Is this possible?

Cheers

Jason Dunn

08-31-2003, 08:51 PM

This works great but what I am looking for is the same thing but without using my laptop. I want to just use my Ipaq and stream directly to it. Is this possible?

But what would you be streaming? You need a piece of hardware to generate the stream...?

Costjim

09-01-2003, 03:12 AM

Can the pocket pc do the streaming directly?

I have another program that allows me to listen to radio directly but the stations are limited.

I would love to have windows media for pocket pc stream directly using my wireless card.

I hope I am explaining myself.

Cheers, Jim

Jason Dunn

09-01-2003, 03:37 AM

Can the pocket pc do the streaming directly?

Yes, it can, but you need a Web site to stream from. :-) This article was about making your own streams from your own video/audio...

chief2tanka

09-12-2003, 06:32 AM

Philip Colmer

09-12-2003, 07:44 AM

I followed the instructions on how to stream tv capture to a pocket pc using version 9. Even managed to see the preview on Media Encoder. The problem is windows media player on my axim gives me a "...cannot play this file" error. I tried streaming just audio but still gets the same error. I read earlier on this thread that no issues with encoder 9 and wmp 8.5 on ppc2002. So what's going on? Getting frustrated. :evil:
Try breaking the process down into a series of steps to see where it is going wrong. The following might help:

1. Encode audio to a file, copy that over to the PPC & play it.
2. Encode video & audio to a file, copy that over & play it.

If you get stuck with either of these two steps, please let me know and I'll try to help you figure out where the fault lies. The advantage of taking these steps is that you are isolating the encoding process from the streaming process. It also means that, if it is appropriate, you can send me the results of the encoding and I can try them on my PPC to see if they work here.

Once you've got encoding to work, the streaming aspect of it should also work because that is just a process of moving the encoded data. If you've managed to get the above two steps working but you still can't stream, let me know and I'll try to help further.

--Philip

chief2tanka

09-12-2003, 07:50 PM

What I'm really trying to do is stream from my TV tuner card to my Axim. I assume that I don't need to encode to a file.

Philip Colmer

09-12-2003, 08:06 PM

What I'm really trying to do is stream from my TV tuner card to my Axim. I assume that I don't need to encode to a file.
No, you don't need to encode to a file.

However, by splitting the problem into two parts, it might make it easier to find the cause.

--Philip

chief2tanka

09-13-2003, 04:37 AM

Philip Colmer

09-13-2003, 10:21 AM

I figured out the problem with the video stream. Turned out I had to open the ports from my firewall. However, I only get the video but no audio. I also noticed that there is no activity on the audio status bar from wme preview window. I tried all the listed audio devices and pin line settings but still no luck. I'm wondering now if there is another port I have to open to get audio. Any clues?
Yes - the clue here is that you aren't getting any activity on the audio status bar.

Remember that you need to select a recording input - not an output. The best way to see what I mean is if you double-click on the speaker on the system tray in XP - this opens the volume control window. This shows all of the playback sources. The encoder can't use these. If you go Options -> Properties and change the "Adjust volume for" setting from playback to recording, you will see what sources you have. On my PC, for example, I have: MIDI Synth
Line-In 3
Line-In 1/Mic
S/PDIF-In
"What U Hear"
Line-In 2
Wave/MP3What I would suggest is that if you can see an entry like "What U Hear" or "mixer", you should start by using that. This will allow you to stream the audio that you can hear through your computer's speakers.

If you haven't got an entry that looks like either of those suggestions, please post what your recording options are.

--Philip

chief2tanka

09-13-2003, 05:42 PM

I finally got everything to work! For some odd reason, I would lose my sound from the tv tuner after I establish a session or change config in wme. I don't get audio stream because there is no audio to stream in the first place. I had to "reconnect" the sound by cycling through the source button on my tv tuner control panel until the sound comes back up again then I start my encoding at this point. I don't know if this is a common problem or just because I have a cheap oem tv capture card. Also, I read an article on this site about incompatibility with bit rate from wme 9 and wmp on ppc. I changed the default audio settings on the Pocket PC template as instructed in article http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,13371.
I hope this would spare someone the frustrations that I had. Thanks for your patience.

Philip Colmer

09-14-2003, 10:17 AM

Also, I read an article on this site about incompatibility with bit rate from wme 9 and wmp on ppc. I changed the default audio settings on the Pocket PC template as instructed in article http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,13371.
You didn't read the Gotchas section of my article carefully, or follow all of the steps beforehand, did you :wink:

The audio encoding rate is a rather frustrating problem to hit but I'm glad you found the answer to all of your issues in the end.

--Philip

dammitjim

09-23-2003, 09:31 PM

I only have the following options in my Sound Blaster AWE64 Properties for Pin Line: MIDI, Line-In, Microphone, and CD Audio. Which one should I use?
Has anyone been able to use an ATI Bt829 Capture card for video?
Thanks!

koro

12-04-2003, 07:12 PM

I'm trying to get TV streaming to my new Ipaq 4150

Followed the instructions here and on BigD's excellent site (http://www.bigdsvideo.com/bigdsvideoencodingguides/index.html)

I'm having an issue with the video capture - sound is fine.

When I try to encode from my TV card as a source, I get an error message "Codec not found" or words to that effect.

The card is an MSI TVanywhere.

Any ideas?

dfo

08-29-2004, 06:21 PM

hey, i'm encoding video using drc-500 card and its software. i've tried wme, everything's fine.. but the sound :) input must be drc-500, recording device is my sound card. right? what device should i choose in wme? if i understand well, there's nothing to change in sound card properties. it works with drc software well.. what else? the same issue if i output to file.. any ideas would be appreciated.

GroovBird

11-07-2004, 09:42 AM

I hook my Sony to my firewire, and stream that. Also, I check "deinterlace" in processing because I think it improves video quality.

hezahonker

03-18-2005, 11:45 PM

OK, help me out here. First I want to commend the author on a fabulous tutorial in which I have happily connected to streaming audio as I have not video or tv card...at least that I know of...that area is grayed out. I have never inserted such an animal that I know of so I assume it is not installed.

However, I must ask a stupid question. What good is all of this if I have to go to my computer's media player, open it up and then play something. I am already there at the computer I might as well just sit there and watch it. Ya know? Then the thing that I am playing (msnbc top stories) stops and then I have to go back the next day and open it again to hear the new stories of day... please tell me I am missing something here. I guess if I didn't have to go to my computer and do anything then that would be great, but otherwise this seems to be redundant.

saadku

05-08-2005, 05:56 AM

help me i keep getin this error

1 error(s) occurred during this session. Click Error Log for details.

Action: Live broadcast

Sources used: D:\Software\Software\New Folder\New Folder\One night in Paris (Paris Hilton).avi

Broadcast: Port 8080 (HTTP)

Content duration: 00:00:00:00 (dd:hh:mm:ss)

Session:
Bytes encoded (total): 2.91 KB
Bit rate (expected): 218.05 Kbps
Bit rate (average): 218.05 Kbps

Video [186.0 Kbps]:
Bytes encoded (total): 0 bytes
Bit rate (expected): 186 Kbps
Bit rate (average): 186 Kbps
Frames per second (expected): 20.00
Frames per second (average): 0.00
Frames (total): 0
Frames (dropped): 0
Profile conformance: @

Audio [32.0 Kbps]:
Bytes encoded (total): 2.91 KB
Bit rate (expected): 32.05 Kbps
Bit rate (average): 32.05 Kbps
Samples (total): 4
Samples (dropped): 0
Profile conformance: L2

and thanks anyways

sea_weedie

06-09-2005, 10:23 PM

http://www.pocketmedialive.com/pocketmediasoftware.aspx

grinny11

12-02-2005, 12:07 AM

sanjaypills55

10-21-2006, 03:38 AM

I know that you can stream music using an encoder using wifi ..but anybody tried just using wifi & just log on to any internet radio station.. does it work....
Please tell me if it is poosible...

sanjaypills55

10-21-2006, 03:52 AM

Hi,
I know that streaming on pda can be done tru encoder via wifi...
But what i wanna know is
Is is possible to just stream music on the pda via wifi by just loggin on to a radio station on a pda eg.. yahoo launchcast

Please let me know if it is possible...

Thanks
Sanjay

onedementedsmurf

10-21-2006, 06:12 AM

I just got a qtek 9100 and upgraded from a audiovox 5600. this worked great on my audiovox but when i try it on my 9100 it get "invalid parameter" i don't understand what is invalid about it. i keep testing it out with my audiovox and other computers and it works fine. MS must have done something with media player 10 for WM 5. anyone have any ideas

I get this exact same problem... I've got a cingular 8125 and it says "The parameter is incorrect" but when I connect from my laptop it works perfect aside from the deafening it gave me the first time i did it lol

onedementedsmurf

10-21-2006, 06:15 AM

Isn't there maybe just a way to add network files to your library? I can connect to the folders with my music without any problems I would think WMP would be able to do the same... dunno though it is microshaft after all I think they want you to pay for everything