Nvidia game streaming app

[sibbers]

Did a search but couldn't find anything, and thought this looks like a perfect application on NAS convenience.

Problem: I have a huge ugly PC with very high end graphics in my man cave. My nice quiet NAS is tucked away behind the TV to play films (wife acceptance factor values) but when I have my mates round I want to sit on the sofa when I play games and not in the 'comfortable-only-for-one' desk and chair setup of the spare room.

Solution: Nvidia shield streaming app built into Qnap

OK, so it doesn't exist and I'm not sure about the legalities of getting something like this working specifically for Nvidia. I don't even know if ATI/AMD have a similar tech, but if not then they should. It would be great, and from the looks of things - I can stream to my android device fairly easily, and that doesn't have any USB ports to accept controller input where our QNAP NAS's do.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=2505510

Is this thing a possibility? Anyone know of anything already in existence?

[sibbers]

To be clear, this would offer more use for those NAS devices that come with HDMI output.

[pwilson]

Did a search but couldn't find anything, and thought this looks like a perfect application on NAS convenience.

Problem: I have a huge ugly PC with very high end graphics in my man cave. My nice quiet NAS is tucked away behind the TV to play films (wife acceptance factor values) but when I my mates round I want to sit on the sofa when I play games and not in the 'comfortable-only-for-one' desk and chair setup of the spare room.

Solution: Nvidia shield streaming app built into Qnap

OK, so it doesn't exist and I'm not sure about the legalities of getting somethign like this working specifically for Nvidia. I don't even know if ATI/AMD have a similar tech, but if not then they should. It would be great, and from the looks of things - I can stream to my android device fairly easily, and that doesn't have any USB ports to accept controller input where our QNAP NAS's do.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=2505510

Is this thing a possibility? Anyone know of anything already in existence?

What good will this App do for your ARM-based NAS. which doesn't even have a Video output device on it?
What ARM-based Games were you planning to install on your ARM-based NAS, as it does not have a Video output device?
BTW I don't believe any QNAP NAS has ever used NVidia video chips.

[sibbers]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your reply, which I think must highlight my inability to explain myself properly. I'll have another go and see how we get on.

The intention behind the design would be to execute a PC title on a high specification gaming PC running Nvidia software known as 'Shield' in order to stream the display across the network to the QNAP NAS device which is connected to a television using the HDMI connector fitted at it's rear. Meanwhile, the NAS device would accept control input through a USB human interface device (or devices) sending that data back across the network to the API's made available in Nvidia Shield.

It may be that an Nvidia chipset is 'required by Nvidia', but based on the reading I've done (not much, mostly just the link posted in the original post) it's not due to any proprietary hardware decoding going on and all that is required is CPU horsepower coupled with an app. I'm not sure how much CPU time is required but H.264 @ 1080p represents most of the work done; this tech is reported to work brilliantly over wireless in a battery powered device which suggests use of responsible bitrates and compression. I have no idea whether or not an ARM device could do it, or whether or not an HDMI fitted QNAP NAS device is fitted with an Intel chip by definition, but in my case I use an Intel powered hdmi equipped QNAP NAS.

Perhaps I should investigate the idea more and see what would be required to get something like this going, but I am a rank amateur when it comes to code and it would be great to see a nice refined app made by someone who has the skillset. It may very well that there are other reasons that it is not possible, but something tells me you'll be able to help me there.

[pwilson]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your reply, which I think must highlight my inability to explain myself properly. I'll have another go and see how we get on.

The intention behind the design would be to execute a PC title on a high specification gaming PC running Nvidia software known as 'Shield' in order to stream the display across the network to the QNAP NAS device which is connected to a television using the HDMI connector fitted at it's rear. Meanwhile, the NAS device would accept control input through a USB human interface device (or devices) sending that data back across the network to the API's made available in Nvidia Shield.

It may be that an Nvidia chipset is 'required by Nvidia', but based on the reading I've done (not much, mostly just the link posted in the original post) it's not due to any proprietary hardware decoding going on and all that is required is CPU horsepower coupled with an app. I'm not sure how much CPU time is required but H.264 @ 1080p represents most of the work done; this tech is reported to work brilliantly over wireless in a battery powered device which suggests use of responsible bitrates and compression. I have no idea whether or not an ARM device could do it, or whether or not an HDMI fitted QNAP NAS device is fitted with an Intel chip by definition, but in my case I use an Intel powered hdmi equipped QNAP NAS.

Perhaps I should investigate the idea more and see what would be required to get something like this going, but I am a rank amateur when it comes to code and it would be great to see a nice refined app made by someone who has the skillset. It may very well that there are other reasons that it is not possible, but something tells me you'll be able to help me there.

Your Forum profile states:: NAS Model: TS-219P which an ARM-baed NAS. If you are talking about any QNAP NAS device which is not a TS-219P, then perhaps you should update your NAS model in your Forum profile, or actually share the model you are talking about. I would guess you are using a TS-x69 or TS-x70 model if it has HDMI.

Both of these models use Intel Video drivers. Such a utility would probably need to grab the "video buffer" in order to "stream" it to another device. The "currently available" ARM based devices don't any Video chip, and therefore have no "video buffer". HD_Station, as used in the TS-x69 and TS-x70 devices, runs as "chrooted" processes so grabbing the video buffer would be unlikely to work at all, or would be too slow to be useful.

I am not a programmer, so I could be wrong about this, but I sincerely doubt your desired feature can be added unless the Intel-provided Video driver can provide this capability. (I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just sharing why I still believe this is impossible, even after your clarification.

I doubt this would work regardless.

[sibbers]

Hey Patrick,

Try not to worry too much about the model of NAS I have, it's not actually that relevant as this is really just an idea about an app that might be wanted by many rather than a request for me personally; it seems like something that offers a significant convenience that NAS devices aren't primarily known for (such as with XBMC). These NAS devices we cherish so much tend to be associated with the mundane (backing up, web serving, and other essential but highly uninteresting activities) that would put most of us to sleep if brought up as a point of conversation for the usual punter. Anything useful that further enhances the gamut of experiences and associated prestige/buzz offered by QNAP current and future devices seems worthy of mention to me, and this part of the forum seemed a little lacking, so here it is!

Cheers for all your insights. Maybe if someone who is a programmer spots this and wants to put some time into having a go, then they have an opportunity to try something out. Stranger things have happened. Or they might be able to definitively put a nail in the coffin and stop anyone from wasting their time, as you have done for me.

All the best
Martyn.

[pwilson]

Hey Patrick,

Try not to worry too much about the model of NAS I have, it's not actually that relevant as this is really just an idea about an app that might be wanted by many rather than a request for me personally; it seems like something that offers a significant convenience that NAS devices aren't primarily known for (such as with XBMC). These NAS devices we cherish so much tend to be associated with the mundane (backing up, web serving, and other essential but highly uninteresting activities) that would put most of us to sleep if brought up as a point of conversation for the usual punter. Anything useful that further enhances the gamut of experiences and associated prestige/buzz offered by QNAP current and future devices seems worthy of mention to me, and this part of the forum seemed a little lacking, so here it is!

Cheers for all your insights. Maybe if someone who is a programmer spots this and wants to put some time into having a go, then they have an opportunity to try something out. Stranger things have happened. Or they might be able to definitively put a nail in the coffin and stop anyone from wasting their time, as you have done for me.

All the best
Martyn.

Fair enough. Your feature request is posted, so I guess we'll see what happens. (I actually hope I'm wrong believe it or not).

[sibbers]

Because it's such a great idea!

Thanks again

[tporter]

Any update on this? Maybe a port of moonlight from android as an HDStation app?

[ninjaj]

Any update on this? Maybe a port of moonlight from android as an HDStation app?

+1 for Moonlight.

It is open source, all it would take is one person with some motivation.

[dolbyman]

apparently hd station was just changed to closed source...
it closes possibilities for hombrew devs
but it might open access for drm programs (netflix amazon Hulu,etc)

got no proof for that theory..just a hunch