Stream a second display to a second computer over a local network.
Posted: 28 Dec 2023 14:35
Hello!
I want to use VLC player in conjunction with OBS for live broadcasting on Windows 10-11.
The broadcast takes place in the church during Sunday service.
Additional details about our setup.
Two computers are involved in the broadcast:
Task: transmit a compressed (so as not to overload the network and router) video stream of the projector screen from PC #1 to #2 over a local network, so that OBS can receive the corresponding image (without sound) using the VLC plugin.
This is necessary because, in addition to words, the projector sometimes outputs videos, photos, PDF documents and presentations through other programs, such as PowerPoint, which do not have HTML output, as in Holyrics.
I spent the whole day at home trying to create test screenshots using VLC in this way:
"Media > Stream > Capture Device > Capture mode: DirectShow+screen-capture-recorder(or Desktop) > HTTP or UDP or RTP/TS or RTSP with checkbox Display locally > Transcoding MP4 H.264".
Unfortunately, I had the impression that the VLC streaming tool was unstable.
For some reason, it was only when using RTSP that I was able to get at least some kind of stable and non-static screen image in the viewport of the stream itself.
But on the receiving side through another VLC instance through the "Media > Open Network Stream" menu or through the VLC plugin in OBS, even on that same PC I have constant problems with playing the stream.
I was never able to receive live video, and several times I was able to get static or very delayed footage. And I have never been able to receive a stream on another device on the network, I only get errors (on another PC). The VLC versions are the same (latest), all network permissions are given in the Windows Firewall.
Unfortunately, I have little understanding of network flow protocols. And also, it seems to me that I am making a mistake at the stage of setting up the transcoding of the stream, which is why I get frame freezes. Perhaps several times I set insufficient Caching values, but even with 300+ ms I was not always able to get a stable stream (again, only in the preview window of the stream itself).
Example of generated stream output string that I am using:
? Questions:
I will be very grateful for your attention and for any help!
I want to use VLC player in conjunction with OBS for live broadcasting on Windows 10-11.
The broadcast takes place in the church during Sunday service.
Additional details about our setup.
Two computers are involved in the broadcast:
- #1 PC Win10 - for displaying lyrics and Scripture on the screen + recording/sound processing. The computer has a main monitor and a connection to the projector as a second screen in the “Extend these screens” mode. To display words and Scripture, the Holyrics program (analogous to Pro-Presenter) is used. The text of the scripture, separately from the background, is transmitted to computer #2 via a local network using one of the three HTML outputs that Holyrics provides.
- #2 Win11 laptop - for live broadcasting via obs. An Atem Mini Pro video remote control with two cameras is connected to this computer and processed audio from PC #1 is connected via the rca outputs of the Behringer UMC204HD sound card.
Task: transmit a compressed (so as not to overload the network and router) video stream of the projector screen from PC #1 to #2 over a local network, so that OBS can receive the corresponding image (without sound) using the VLC plugin.This is necessary because, in addition to words, the projector sometimes outputs videos, photos, PDF documents and presentations through other programs, such as PowerPoint, which do not have HTML output, as in Holyrics.
I spent the whole day at home trying to create test screenshots using VLC in this way:
"Media > Stream > Capture Device > Capture mode: DirectShow+screen-capture-recorder(or Desktop) > HTTP or UDP or RTP/TS or RTSP with checkbox Display locally > Transcoding MP4 H.264".
Unfortunately, I had the impression that the VLC streaming tool was unstable.
For some reason, it was only when using RTSP that I was able to get at least some kind of stable and non-static screen image in the viewport of the stream itself.But on the receiving side through another VLC instance through the "Media > Open Network Stream" menu or through the VLC plugin in OBS, even on that same PC I have constant problems with playing the stream.
I was never able to receive live video, and several times I was able to get static or very delayed footage. And I have never been able to receive a stream on another device on the network, I only get errors (on another PC). The VLC versions are the same (latest), all network permissions are given in the Windows Firewall.
Unfortunately, I have little understanding of network flow protocols. And also, it seems to me that I am making a mistake at the stage of setting up the transcoding of the stream, which is why I get frame freezes. Perhaps several times I set insufficient Caching values, but even with 300+ ms I was not always able to get a stable stream (again, only in the preview window of the stream itself).
Example of generated stream output string that I am using:
Code: Select all
:sout=#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=5000,scale=Auto,width=1920,height=1080,acodec=none,scodec=none}:duplicate{dst=rtp{sdp=rtsp://:8554/ 1},dst=display} :sout-all :sout-keep- 0. Is it generally advisable to use VLC for such purposes?
- 0.1 Is it possible to broadcast a second display in VLC, which in my case is connected to PC #1?
- 1. Please tell me what's wrong with my settings. If possible, please suggest more suitable settings for this task.
- 2. Please explain how to correctly create a stream for transmission and reception over a local network? I don’t understand what I need to enter when creating and receiving a stream: I found information that in the “outpus string” you need to enter the ip of the receiver’s computer, and others say that this is mandatory, you only need the port and name, although this depends on the protocol used transfers.
- 2.1 What should the link to my stream look like? As I understand it, for different flow protocols (http, udp, rtp, etc.) the receiving links are also used differently?
I tried: http://my_ip:port/stream_name; udp://my_ip:port/stream_name; rtp://my_ip:port/stream name; rtp(or udp)://@port/stream name etc... - 2.2 If there are different ways to generate a link to receive a stream, please write the most stable and suitable one for my situation.
- 2.3 Can I somehow copy the link from the current stream to its reception?
I will be very grateful for your attention and for any help!