Projector client
The idea is to up an interface/client for the projector, in order to play & display video/audio over the network remotely. This will allow for less shuffling and more compatibility with a wider range of devices, for which we may not have all the cables. It also allows for mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, to share media to the projector directly.
Contents
Usage
- SSH Acces:
ssh -p 47382 pi@projector.fixme.ch
Linux
| Name | Functionality | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse VNC
Send display to projector |
Good | x11vnc -connect projector.fixme.ch:5500 -noxdamage |
| PulseAudio
Send audio to HiFi |
Good | Select pulse@projector from Sound settings
Doesn't work too well over WiFi |
Mac
| Name | Functionality | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| AirPlay
Audio/Video streams and screen mirroring |
Sometimes | Select 'Projector' in AirPlay |
| VNC
Connect from projector to your mac |
Good | vncviewer -FullScreen -ViewOnly your IP #on pi
Enable Scree Sharing in System Settings > Sharing #on Mac |
Windows
| Name | Functionality | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| VNC
Connect from projector to your PC |
Good | vncviewer -FullScreen -ViewOnly your IP #on pi
TightVNC |
Android
| Name | Functionality | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| DLNA/UPnP
Send photos/videos/pictures to projector |
Good | Select 'Projector' from DLNA/UPnP devices
Works with Samsung Video/Music/Photo default app, Bubble UPnP, Skifta, other DLNA/UPnP compatible apps |
| Chromecast
Send audio to HiFi |
Poor | Select 'Projector' from Chromecast menu
Please note that Chromecast is a new standard and third party implementations are not always fully functional yet. |
Goal
Data goals
- Presenters to broadcast their presentations or demonstrations remotely during workshops
- YouTube and other streaming video to be streamed directly to the projector
- Play music directly from personal library or music streaming services (e.g. Pandora)
- Share project photos or videos directly from personal devices
- Your idea here
Control goals
- Turn on and off projector using IR signals (to allow for cooling)
- Have a script that automatically launches the correct data source
- Maybe use a dedicated port for streaming, then run nmap every x seconds scanning for port, and then stream from the correlated IP?
- e.g 5905 for VNC
- e.g 1205 for HTTP x264 streams
- Maybe use a dedicated port for streaming, then run nmap every x seconds scanning for port, and then stream from the correlated IP?
- Link with trigger interface?
Component
Implemented
VNC
xtightvncviewer on Pi DISPLAY=:0 vncviewer -listen 0 -fullscreen -x11cursor #on pi (scripted already)
x11vnc or your favorite server on your laptop
Veency on iOS
DroidVNC or others on Android
AirPlay & Chromecast
rPlay is used for everything AirPlay and Chromecast. Sending music over airplay works fine, mirroring works intermittently. Chromecast works sometimes.
Chromecast using rPlay does not function very well, do not hesitate to suggest alternative servers.
DLNA/UPnP
Gmrender is used for DLNA/UPnP. This works quite well, apps on Android phones can stream music without difficulty to the sound system.
PulseAudio
Raspberry Pi pulse audio guide. This was a pain to set up, however now you can select 'bcm2835 ALSA Analog Stereo on pulse@projector' on your laptop that has pulseaudio. Doesn't work very well over WiFi.
Not Implemented
- HTTP x264/h264 Desktop Mirroring allows for less lag/higher framerate compared with VNC, seeing as the RPi has a hardware decoder, and compression helps overcome the RPi's bandwidth limitations (100mbit). Installing VLC with hardware acceleration on Pi. Using VLC for screen sharing. Status: to be implemented. First attempts failed.
- Limelight is an open-source Java client which allows you to stream games from your home PC (as long as you have an Nvidia GTX 600 or 700 Series graphics card and enough bandwidth on your home network) to the Raspberry Pi that’s attached to your television. Status: not implemented, may be installed if there is demand in the future.
- MPD is a music player demon that runs on a server, and is controllable from any device connected to the network. RaspyFi is a distro specifically made for this. Status: not implemented, this is currently handled by foo.
- PiCast opens links and plays streaming videos in fullscreen, Chromecast style. You can open links by sending it via an URL. Status: implemented but removed due to very poor performance and difficulty in setting up correctly. Not very useful either.
- Synergy allows for remote keyboard/mouse control. Status: installed, and then removed. Why? Because.
- MiraCast offers native screen sharing for many Android devices. Status: OSS implementation wasn't available when the project started, however there is one now (Piracast) which requires a TP-Link dongle and doesn't work with DRMd material. May be implemented in the future.
- RDP is a Windows remote desktop utility, although proprietary, there are open source clients such as FreeRDP. Status: in the future if there is demand.
Control
Use RPi to turn on/off projector via IR LED, also (maybe) change the input of the stereo system. [1]
Schedule
- December 2013 - Zephyz bought pi with 10 CHF contributions from gcmalloc, sasha and noskill. The SD Card was provided by fixme/rorist. Raspbian was set up and updated, ssh access was set up, and experimentation began.
- January 2014 - The Raspberry Pi was mounted in a custom 3D printed holder next to the projector, all the wires were hooked up. PiCast, VNC, Synergy and AirPlay were installed.
- February 2014 - Proper Airplay (with screen mirroring) and Chromecast were installed. An IR receiver and LED was hooked up in order to be able to control the projector remotely. A splitter was attached to the audio line to allow for playback from both MPD and the projector without switching.
- March 2014 - Synergy and Picast removed due to poor performance. A DLNA/UPnP receiver was set up on the Pi to allow streaming media from devices such as Android phones & tablets. A Pulseaudio sink was also installed. We experimented with an external DSP to amplify sound, however this didn't work. Reverse VNC now runs on startup so there is no need to run script each time.
