Playing divX over network

[greensteed]

I have some divx format movies (I don't think the format is the issue) which play perfect on the PC they are on using Divx player V2. If I place the files on another PC on my network and open them with the player from my PC they play but the picture is jerky as though pauses happen.
(My network is a 10/100 switch. One PC with a 100M card and the other PC with a 10M card, protocol is netbios over IPX/SPX, TCP/IP is unbound).
File transfer between these PCs is fast ~8Mbps.
So it doesn't seem network capacity is the problem, but maybe its a protocol issue.

Any ideas ? Or is it not possible to play movies over a network like this ?

 

[Not Bman]

it is possible, your getting crapy pictuer because your playing it from a program on your comp and watching it from another, its gonna have crapy picture, unless you put that program on the other comp !!

 

[dreamliner77]

Essentially, you're trying to stream the Divx. And unfortunately that really doesn't work. I'd suggest just to copy the divx to the comp you want to watch it on. Shouldn't take that long, and then you can just delete it when done

 

[Zedric]

Opening a DivX over a network isn't a problem. I do it, and it works very well. 10Mbit should be well enough I guess. I use 100 on both however.

 

[Reg]

I stream DivX too. The problem is probably your player. You need to use a player that can buffer the file before it begins playback. I use Windows Media Player to playback files streaming over my network.

 

[Zedric]

Well it's not really streaming is it? I mean, in this case you can access any random position in the file at your will (or the player's). In streaming you can't. Playing over the network (through a Windows share) should be no different than playing straight from the harddisk. It's probably a configuration problem in the player or the codec or something.

 

[Reg]

No, it's not actually streaming. What is happening is that when you load a non-streaming file such as an .avi or DivX (most DivX use the .avi exstention), the file has to download to a temporary directory on your HD before playback can begin. However, some players do not attempt to do this (for example, the DivX player from DivX.com). They simply start playback immediately. Since DivX is a compression based protocol, information is stored in a set pattern in the file. Audio is broken down into MP3 and video is compressed and sampled in various places. When player begins immediate playback, it decompresses what is in memory and plays it. The result is a garbled picture and in some cases, garbled sound (the sound is rare due to the fact that the MP3 audio transfers faster than the video. The most common problem is out of sync audio/video). When you playback the files in something like RealOne or Windows Media Player, the player will begin a buffer on the file (since the location is not on the PC) and buffers a few seconds of the file ahead of the playback. This buffer allows for the video patterns to be intact so that the video and audio play perfectly. You never notice the buffer because the player does it in the background on UNC connections rather than up front using IP connections.

 

[beatlesdb]

Why are you using IPX?? you got a Novell server??
anyway - I used Windows Media Player to watch Divx movies with the Divx patch v5.02.
I use a laptop which has a TV out and watch movies on the TV - the file runns of my server with a 100mbps cross over cable and works fine for me.

 

[greensteed]

Well I am using the Divx patch V5.02. I also use Media player or the Divx player on my laptop and I use TVout just fine with the TV. I'm using a combined wireless router/10-100 switch.

I use IPX because I have to communicate with Company laptops which use IPX.

I agree with Zedric ir should be like just another mapped drive. Maybe I have a network tuning problem.

 

[w0lv3rin3]

Reg just basicly said it.
beatlesdb, using Novell or IPX wont cause the problem.

use WMP, i am able to play DivX fine.