Device Settings

The Device Settings dialog lets you configure how your Mezzmo media server communicates with and delivers media files to particular devices.

Use the General Tab to set the name and device profile for your device.

Choose a name that will be displayed in the Media Devices dialog. For example, 'Kids Sony Playstation 4' or 'Bedroom TV'.

If the device is already known to Mezzmo (based on a pre-defined device profile), then the device will be given an appropriate device name. Otherwise it will have a name of 'Unknown Device' and, in this case, you should change the name so it is easy to recognize.

The IP address that the device has connected to Mezzmo server.

The MAC address (or Media Access Control address) is a unique identifier assigned to your hardware device and is used by Mezzmo to identify it on your home network. You can typically find the MAC address of a hardware device in the firmware settings of your device or printed on a label on the back (or underneath) your device.

Your computer may use multiple network adaptors - for example, a wired network card and a wireless network card. Multiple network adaptors can result in multiple Mezzmo servers listed on your devices. To remove the multiple Mezzmo servers, choose the network adaptor that your media device is connected to your computer. If you are unsure, then select Automatic.

Device profiles contain all the configuration settings that Mezzmo needs to know in order to stream music, videos, photos and subtitles to your device. They have been created by Conceiva software engineers after testing the device with Mezzmo. Each device profile contains the audio, video, and image formats that the device supports. Mezzmo uses these settings to transcode incompatible files to a suitable format so that you can stream practically any type of media file to the device.

Important: For best results, always make sure that the device profile matches the device. If a device profile is not listed that matches your device, then choose one of the Generic Device profiles. These are baseline DLNA profiles and should work with most DLNA-compatible media devices. If no Generic Profile works well with your device, then contact Conceiva Customer Support and we will assist you to get up and running with streaming to your device.

Click this checkbox to allow this device to connect to Mezzmo. Mezzmo will deliver media files to this device if this setting is enabled.

Use the Subtitles tab to set how subtitles are supported by your device.

By clicking this checkbox, Mezzmo will attempt to stream video files with external subtitle files to your device. External subtitle files are files located in the same folder as your video files. Mezzmo supports all popular external subtitle file formats, including SRT, SMI, TXT, XML, etc.

Tip: Go to the Options - Subtitles to set the external subtitle setting for all your devices.

By clicking this checkbox, Mezzmo will attempt to stream video files with embedded subtitle channels to your device. Embedded subtitle channels are contained inside your video files. Mezzmo will stream embedded subtitles to a device when streaming external subtitles is not possible for your device. Mezzmo supports all popular embedded subtitle formats, including SRT, SMI, DVD, Blu-ray, etc.

Tip: Go to the Options - Subtitles to set the embedded subtitle setting for all your devices.

By clicking this checkbox, Mezzmo will burn subtitles into video files and stream them to your device. Burning will occur when streaming embedded or external subtitles is not possible for your device.

Tip: Go to the Options - Subtitles to set the burning setting for all your devices.

The list of languages that you want to stream to this device. This is useful if you only want certain subtitle languages delivered to this device.

For example, for a particular device in your home, you may want to have German subtitles streamed. In this case, you would set the preferred language for that device to German.

Click the Edit button to change the preferred language list.

Tip: Go to the Options - Subtitles to set the preferred subtitle language for all your devices.

The list of languages that you want forced to be burnt into your videos for this device. This is useful if your device is not capable of displaying characters from certain languages. For example, your device may not be able to display Chinese or Korean fonts/characters when streaming embedded or external subtitles, so forcing them to be burnt fixes the problem.

Click the Edit button to change the language list.

The list of video containers that support streaming embedded subtitles and the list of video containers that do not support streaming external subtitles for this device. The default list is as specified by the selected device profile for the device.

Click the Edit button to change the video container list.

The list of embedded subtitle formats, external subtitle formats and encodings that are supported by this device. The default list is as specified by the selected device profile for the device.

Click the Edit button to change the subtitle formats list.

Use the Content Ratings tab to specify what files, folders and playlists are streamed to your device based on their content rating.

Click this checkbox to not stream files to this device that have not yet been rated. This lets you ensure that files that you have added to Mezzmo are not streamed to your devices until they have a content rating. This is useful when you add movie or TV show and Mezzmo could not find a content rating for it. In this case, the file has a content rating of Not rated.

Click this checkbox to set a content rating that you wish to restrict streaming files to this device.

Click the browse button to select a content rating that you want this device to be restricted to. The minimum permitted age of the selected content rating will be used to determine what files are streamed to devices or not.

Select this checkbox to restrict streaming based on content rating to a particular time period - for example, when your children are watching TV or listening to music. Outside this time period, there will be no content rating restrictions applied so you will be free to browse and play any file.

Example: Do not list or stream media files to this device with a content rating of 'R' or higher during 6:00AM to 9:00PM. Outside this time period all files will be listed and can be played on the device.

Enter a time when you want the content rating restriction to start.

Enter a time when you want to the content rating restriction to finish.

Use the Transcoding tab to turn on/off transcoding for your device.

Click this setting to instruct Mezzmo media server to transcode media files that are incompatible so that they can be played on your device. For example, if your device only supports MP3 audio, then Mezzmo will transcode all OGG, M4A, etc. music files to MP3 so that they can be played.

Click this button to delete all the transcoded files that have been created by Mezzmo or Mezzmo media server specifically for this device.

Click this button to reset all the preferred transcoded files for this device. When you pre-transcode a file for a device (or when Mezzmo media server auto-transcodes a file for a device), the transcoded file is automatically set to the preferred status. When a transcoded file has a preferred status, it tells Mezzmo media server that only the particular transcoded file is to be presented and streamed to the device - and no other variation of the original file.

Example: if you have a video file called 'cars.avi' which is an AVI (MPEG-4, MP3) video file and you have pre-transcoded it for your Sony Bravia TV to the MPEG-TS (H264, AC3) format. When the transcoded file is set to preferred status, then Mezzmo will present only the MPEG-TS (H264, AC3) to your TV via DLNA. When not set to preferred status, then your selected device profile and Device Settings (Advanced) will determine what format is presented to your TV.

Tip: You can reset the preferred status for an individual files using the Properties dialog (Transcoding tab).

Use the Performance tab to fine-tune how your device works.

If you are finding that your videos are stuttering or not playing smoothly on your devices, then you can use the Maximum bitrate setting to reduce the video bitrate when files are transcoded. This reduces the video data transmitted on your home network and also the CPU and memory requirements for transcoding video files.

Use the Presets button to choose common network bandwidth values. Choose the value that matches your home network (or external network if you are streaming externally).

Tip: It is recommended to set the maximum bitrate to about 20-30% lower than the maximum bandwidth of your home network. This will help ensure that transcoded videos can be delivered stutter-free on your home network.

Important:

• The maximum bitrate value should not exceed the bandwidth of your home network (or your external network if streaming externally). If it does, then Mezzmo may produce transcoded videos that stutter on your devices or web browser since your network is not able to deliver the video data quick enough.
• Mezzmo uses the maximum bitrate value when transcoding videos. This applies to both transcoding on-the-fly and pre-transcoding.

If your device is connected to a TV, then you can set the resolution of your TV using this setting. Or, if your DLNA media device has a maximum video resolution, then you should set it using this setting. The maximum video size setting assists performance and compatibility. For example, if you have a standard definition TV, then Mezzmo will not deliver high-definition video to this device. Instead, it will transcode high-definition to standard definition. This reduces the CPU and memory requirements when transcoding and reduces the data transmitted on your home network.

Use the Presets button to choose popular video resolutions.

If your videos are playing on your device with the wrong aspect ratio but you know that the video has the correct aspect ratio, then you can click this checkbox to get Mezzmo to correct the aspect ratio before streaming to your device. When checked, Mezzmo will analyze the SAR (Storage Aspect Ratio) for the video file and change non-square pixels to square pixels (1:1). This setting has three modes:

• Unchecked: No aspect ratio correction will occur.
• Fully checked: Aspect ratio correction will occur for all video files delivered to your device. This means all videos will require transcoding.
• Part checked: Aspect ratio correction will only occur for incompatible video files that require transcoding. Compatible videos will not be changed.

Click this checkbox if you want folder and playlist artwork delivered to your device. Your device may display this artwork instead of the default folder icons it displays. Artwork for folders and playlists can be set in Mezzmo using the Properties dialog for a folder or playlist.

Use the Shared Playlists/Folders tab to specify the top-level folders and playlist that this device can access. This is a useful feature for controlling what playlists, folders and files are listed and played on your device.

Example: Typically AV receivers can only stream music, so you may want to set up a shared playilist or folder just for your music files so that your videos and photos are not listed.

Example: For your children's game console (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3), you may want to set the top-level folder to be your collection of kids movies, TV shows and animations.

Tip: To display your full Mezzmo library, then remove all shared playlists and folders.

This is the list of top-level playlists and folders that your device will be able to access and list in its user interface.

Tip: To display your full Mezzmo library, then remove all shared playlists and folders.

Click to add a shared playlist or folder for your device.

Click to edit an existing shared playlist or folder.

Click to remove a shared playlist or folder.

Click to move a shared playlist or folder up in the list.

Click to move a shared playlist or folder down in the list.

Use the Advanced tab to specify what files are delivered to your device.

Important: These settings are for advanced use only. It is strongly recommended to use the default settings as they provide the best operation and performance.

When a DLNA media player connects to your Mezzmo media server and browses your library of files and playlists, Mezzmo media server delivers the contents of playlists and folders to the device. At this time, Mezzmo media server describes the type of each media file that is being browsed so that the device can decide to play it or not. Information sent to the DLNA media device includes the audio format, video format and image format of your files.

These advanced settings let you fine tune what information is sent to devices about the formats for your media files.

These file formats are fully supported by the device, as defined in the selected device profile for the media device. For example, a video file contains a video stream and audio stream that are fully supported by the device.

• Always Deliver - always deliver a description for fully supported files.
• Never Deliver - never deliver a description for fully supported files.

These file formats are partly supported by the device. For example, a video file may have a video stream that is fully supported by the device, but has an audio stream that is not supported. In this case, the file's audio stream will be transcoded by Mezzmo to a supported format (as defined by the device profile).

• Always Deliver - always deliver descriptions for these transcoded files.
• Never Deliver - never deliver descriptions for these transcoded files.
• Automatic Delivery - only deliver descriptions for these transcoded files if no fully supported description (above) for the same file has been delivered.

These file formats are preferred by the device. For example, it may be known that a particular device plays transcoded MKV video files better than any other format that it supports, so it makes sense to transcode incompatible video formats to the MKV format where possible.

• Always Deliver - always deliver descriptions for these transcoded files.
• Never Deliver - never deliver descriptions for these transcoded files.
• Automatic Delivery - only deliver descriptions for these transcoded files if no partly supported format (above) or no fully supported description (above) for the same file has been delivered.

Devices often support many video, audio or image formats. This setting controls whether you want to deliver all possible formats, as defined in the device profile. For example, for a particular video file, this setting will deliver all possible video formats (e.g. MKV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4) so the device can choose itself what format it wants to play.

• Always Deliver - always deliver all possible formats for a file.
• Never Deliver - never deliver all possible formats for a file.
• Automatic Delivery - only deliver all possible formats for a file if no preferred format (above), or partly supported format (above) or fully supported description (above) for the same file has been delivered.

The DLNA standard specifies certain baseline formats that a DLNA certified device must support. This setting controls whether you want to deliver the DLNA baseline formats to the device.

• Always Deliver - always deliver the DLNA baseline formats for a file.
• Never Deliver - never deliver the DLNA baseline formats for a file.
• Automatic Delivery - only deliver the DLNA baseline formats for a file if no all possible formats (above) or preferred format (above) or partly supported format (above) or fully supported description (above) for the same file has been delivered.

The selected device profile specifies the audio, video and image formats that the device supports. If a file is not supported, then this setting controls whether you want to deliver incompatible formats. For example, the device profile may state that your device does not support DivX video, but after a firmware update for your device, it may support it now. In this case, you may want to deliver non-supported formats until you get a new updated device profile from Conceiva.

• Always Deliver - always deliver descriptions for non-supported formats for a file.
• Never Deliver - never deliver descriptions for non-supported formats for a file.
• Automatic Delivery - only deliver the non-supported formats for a file if no DLNA baseline formats (above) or all possible formats (above) or preferred format (above) or partly supported format (above) or fully supported description (above) for the same file has been delivered.