And the winner is... TVersity!

[mx6bfast]

There is another thread on this topic regarding the next generation User Interface (UI), which is rumored to include a "re-tooled" component supporting media presentation.

The lack of any changes with MediaShare for some time appears to support these rumors, but no documented facts have yet been provided anywhere.

If you look at the latest iPad application for DirecTV, it sports a new UI which might give us some inkling what we might see...only speculation.

How this will impact the use of TVersity in the future is unknown.
Could you please provide a link for the thread? I just did a quick skim and didn't see anything. Am curious.

[mborner]

I'm trying Tversity for the first time. I have it installed on a W7 PC and it recognizes my HR-21. From my DVR I can access Mediashare and stream music from my PC but how do I access Tversity from my DVR's UI? When I go to the menu, it shows "music, movies, and more" (something like that) but how do I find Tversity on my DVR? I can control the DVR with the iPad app just fine, so I know the network is setup properly.
Thanks.

[hdtvfan0001]

Could you please provide a link for the thread? I just did a quick skim and didn't see anything. Am curious.
Sure....a simple search under "UI" brings this up too...

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=191586

[somguy]

I'm trying Tversity for the first time. I have it installed on a W7 PC and it recognizes my HR-21. From my DVR I can access Mediashare and stream music from my PC but how do I access Tversity from my DVR's UI? When I go to the menu, it shows "music, movies, and more" (something like that) but how do I find Tversity on my DVR? I can control the DVR with the iPad app just fine, so I know the network is setup properly.
Thanks.

You won't find TVersity per say on your dvr. Under Menu, yes, you'll now see Music, Photos, and More. When you select it you'll see My Computers. Select that and you'll see the name of your PC. Select the name and then you'll have choices for audio, video, etc. which is how your music is streaming in the first place. TVersity is allowing you to do this and stream compatible videos, music, and more!! Yes, it is just as simple as that!!

[mborner]

You won't find TVersity per say on your dvr. Under Menu, yes, you'll now see Music, Photos, and More. When you select it you'll see My Computers. Select that and you'll see the name of your PC. Select the name and then you'll have choices for audio, video, etc. which is how your music is streaming in the first place. TVersity is allowing you to do this and stream compatible videos, music, and more!! Yes, it is just as simple as that!!

Thanks, somguy, but that's what I'm doing now, and it's not because of Tversity. I was able to do that using Mediashare, before Tversity was installed. I can stream music from my PC to my DVR but the Directv UI is nearly unusable. After pressing the down button 400 times to get to a ZZ Top album, if I go back 1 level in the menu to select another album, I have to start all over again at "A". Not very user friendly. I have to ask the question, what is Tversity good for? I installed it because I thought I would be able to see and use the Tversity GUI using the DVR menu. Is that not the case?

[somguy]

Thanks, somguy, but that's what I'm doing now, and it's not because of Tversity. I was able to do that using Mediashare, before Tversity was installed. I can stream music from my PC to my DVR but the Directv UI is nearly unusable. After pressing the down button 400 times to get to a ZZ Top album, if I go back 1 level in the menu to select another album, I have to start all over again at "A". Not very user friendly. I have to ask the question, what is Tversity good for? I installed it because I thought I would be able to see and use the Tversity GUI using the DVR menu. Is that not the case?

No, that unfortunately is not the case. You will not see the pretty TVersity GUI on your tv that you normally see on your PC. You'll just see the options that I mentioned previously. TVersity, a lot like WMP, allows you just to stream your media from your pc onto your big tv screen basically. Maybe try using just TVersity and not MediaShare you'll have better results; a faster response time. Thank G-d for TVersity which allows us to stream, and for free might I add!! D* won't support third party software of course but there are so many helpful people here on this forum I wouldn't really sweat it!!

[mborner]

somguy, I want to thank you for your input but I'm still not understanding it. This is a quote from the very first post in this thread:

"This afternoon I decided to try TVersity (http://www.tversity.com/). It was almost too easy. Here is what I did:
Download and install the software
Reboot the PC and verify that the TVersity service starts after reboot
Verify that your firewall allows the executable to accept incoming connections
Go to the Settings tab; under General change the 'Playback Device' to Xbox 360 and under Transcoder change 'When to transcode' to always (read these somewhere else here - not trying to take credit for them)
Restart the TVersity service
Restart the HR20
And just like that (about 30 minutes of effort), I have my entire library accessible on both HR20's - one hard-wired to the router and one using the Linksys Wireless Gaming Adapter.

So, if you were like me and REALLY wanted to get this cool feature working and were pulling your hair out, give TVersity a try. Hope this information can help some of you out!"

What exactly is he talking about? If I can access my entire library using Mediashare, what benefit is he enjoying by using Tversity? IOW, what is Tversity offering him that Mediashare isn't? I hear so many in this thread say "Tversity works great with my HR**" What does that mean, exactly?

I guess I was just hoping that I could sit down in front of my TV and navigate my music library, on screen, with a GUI that was easy and efficient to use. I'm just not understanding what Tversity does. I don't want to be sitting in front of my PC to listen to music.

[mx6bfast]

It doesn't matter what 3rd party app you have installed on your pc, your HD-DVR will ALWAYS use the same GUI. If you uninstall TVersity and install Media Tomb, the GUI on the HD-DVR will still look the exact same as it did with TVersity.

What these 3rd party apps do is let you choose from your tv, select pictures to view, video to stream, or music to listen to. It isn't the best GUI to use. So say for example you wanted to clean the house and your pc is upstairs but the TV has some great speakers. Navigate to the folder you want to listen to and play it. That's just one example.

[mborner]

It doesn't matter what 3rd party app you have installed on your pc, your HD-DVR will ALWAYS use the same GUI. If you uninstall TVersity and install Media Tomb, the GUI on the HD-DVR will still look the exact same as it did with TVersity.

What these 3rd party apps do is let you choose from your tv, select pictures to view, video to stream, or music to listen to. It isn't the best GUI to use. So say for example you wanted to clean the house and your pc is upstairs but the TV has some great speakers. Navigate to the folder you want to listen to and play it. That's just one example.

I guess what I'm asking is, why even install a third party app if I can access my pictures and music using Mediashare? As I'm sitting in front of my TV with my DVR remote, what will Tversity offer me that Mediashare doesn't? What does it mean when people say Tversity works great with thier HR**? I don't underdtand what that means. How does Tversity work with Directctv? Why do I need Tversity if nothing is gained using my DVR's UI. Could you give me some examples of what Tversity does and how I can use it to better my music streaming experience?

[loudo]

I guess what I'm asking is, why even install a third party app if I can access my pictures and music using Mediashare? As I'm sitting in front of my TV with my DVR remote, what will Tversity offer me that Mediashare doesn't? What does it mean when people say Tversity works great with thier HR**? I don't underdtand what that means. How does Tversity work with Directctv? Why do I need Tversity if nothing is gained using my DVR's UI. Could you give me some examples of what Tversity does and how I can use it to better my music streaming experience?
First of all I get very few things to work correctly with Media Share, no video at all, only photos and music, that are stored on my hard drives.

With TVersity, I can view Internet video, home made family videos (stored on my hard drives), and I can also stream internet radio stations to my HR20-700's and output them to my home theater receiver.

TVersity does a lot that Media Share can't do.

[mborner]

First of all I get very few things to work correctly with Media Share, no video at all, only photos and music, that are stored on my hard drives.

With TVersity, I can view Internet video, home made family videos (stored on my hard drives), and I can also stream internet radio stations to my HR20-700's and output them to my home theater receiver.

TVersity does a lot that Media Share can't do.

I see. So, the advantage to Tversity is content, even though the GUI does not change on the DVR. My DVR's GUI still says Mediashare in the background, is this normal, even with Tversity installed?

[loudo]

I see. So, the advantage to Tversity is content, even though the GUI does not change on the DVR. My DVR's GUI still says Mediashare in the background, is this normal, even with Tversity installed?
Do you see TVersity as a choice when you click on "MY Computers"?

Yes the GUI is the same for both Media Share and TVersity.

[somguy]

somguy, I want to thank you for your input but I'm still not understanding it. This is a quote from the very first post in this thread:

"This afternoon I decided to try TVersity (http://www.tversity.com/). It was almost too easy. Here is what I did:
Download and install the software
Reboot the PC and verify that the TVersity service starts after reboot
Verify that your firewall allows the executable to accept incoming connections
Go to the Settings tab; under General change the 'Playback Device' to Xbox 360 and under Transcoder change 'When to transcode' to always (read these somewhere else here - not trying to take credit for them)
Restart the TVersity service
Restart the HR20
And just like that (about 30 minutes of effort), I have my entire library accessible on both HR20's - one hard-wired to the router and one using the Linksys Wireless Gaming Adapter.

So, if you were like me and REALLY wanted to get this cool feature working and were pulling your hair out, give TVersity a try. Hope this information can help some of you out!"

What exactly is he talking about? If I can access my entire library using Mediashare, what benefit is he enjoying by using Tversity? IOW, what is Tversity offering him that Mediashare isn't? I hear so many in this thread say "Tversity works great with my HR**" What does that mean, exactly?

I guess I was just hoping that I could sit down in front of my TV and navigate my music library, on screen, with a GUI that was easy and efficient to use. I'm just not understanding what Tversity does. I don't want to be sitting in front of my PC to listen to music.

He never said that TVersity is so much better than anything else. He just explained how it worked. The cool feature is just being able to stream. Not everybody can stream using WMP or other 3rd party apps. Sometimes one app may work better than another. For most cases, TVersity works the best and has the best features overall. Yes, in the upper left-hand corner it will still say MediaShare even though you have TVersity installed. Of course you can listen to music using your home theater. Probably without TVeristy installed if MediaShare works for you using your PC, otherwise TVersity should work just fine for that as well. TVersity is pretty much the best 3rd party app to stream with and you get the best bang for your buck with it.....FREE!! I think you may be making this more complicated than it is.
On another note, if you're DVR is networked, you can use the right navigation arrow to bring up and install TV Apps where the GUI will look different per say; that's also FREE!!

[aa9vi]

You guys forgot about Play On: http://www.playon.tv/

[loudo]

You guys forgot about Play On: http://www.playon.tv/
That only streams preset videos from web sites. Wouldn't do half what TVersity does.

[aa9vi]

That only streams preset videos from web sites. Wouldn't do half what TVersity does.

ESPN3 isn't preset. it streams that just fine.

[neastguy]

so I installed tversity last night and tested it out this morning... it sees my pc but wont stream anything but my photos.. says it can't play my videos.. and it also says it can't play my youtube videos? but it sees everything.. any ideas?