Digital Media Distribution Within the Meetinghouse

I am looking for feedback.. I am planning on testing a new method of distributing media throughout the meetinghouse that would basically consist of these elements.

1. Stake Center fully equipped with 881 firewall and Cisco WAPS
2. PC secured in the tech room and connected to firewall
3. Western Digital Media Players secured to TV Carts

I would then put all of the Church's authorized media I could either download or digitize myself on the PC. Including Gospel Art Kit, Mormon Messages, "I'm a Mormon" videos, General Conference Videos, etc..

This media would then be made available through the buildings wireless network which would then be accessed through a menu system on any WD Media Player in any classroom of the building.

I recently spoke with a member of the Church's Technology Department and was told that this was something that was being looked into. I asked about network/firewall limitations to doing this and he thought it should work.

I plan on experimenting with this in the coming weeks/months so if anyone else is blazing this exciting new path, I would love to hear about it.

Any update on how your testing is going with this setup? I am interested to hear how it works for you. The main concern I have with using the WD media player is the user interface it has, compared to the user interface of the Roku. If WD has recently updated their user interface on their media players, I would be interested in checking it out, as I am trying to make it as easy as can be for some of the non-techican users in my stake. If they can't navigate the menu system, they won't use it.

One thing that I do like about the WD media device is that you could potentially store a vast amount of church authorized media on the HD and not have to rely on the wireless connection all the time.

I am trying to plan for a new building we have in our stake being built right now, and I am interest to hear what others have done and how it works.

Once thought of this as well.

https://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.p ... ouse-Media

heyring wrote:I am looking for feedback.. I am planning on testing a new method of distributing media throughout the meetinghouse that would basically consist of these elements.

1. Stake Center fully equipped with 881 firewall and Cisco WAPS
2. PC secured in the tech room and connected to firewall
3. Western Digital Media Players secured to TV Carts

I would then put all of the Church's authorized media I could either download or digitize myself on the PC. Including Gospel Art Kit, Mormon Messages, "I'm a Mormon" videos, General Conference Videos, etc..

This media would then be made available through the buildings wireless network which would then be accessed through a menu system on any WD Media Player in any classroom of the building.

I recently spoke with a member of the Church's Technology Department and was told that this was something that was being looked into. I asked about network/firewall limitations to doing this and he thought it should work.

I plan on experimenting with this in the coming weeks/months so if anyone else is blazing this exciting new path, I would love to hear about it.

I have a working solution already operative in our chapel along with most of the available LDS media.

Contact me via Skype if you would like a demonstation, Skype ID, nigel.giddey

All. I am quite interested in hearing about your experiences in providing media in your Ward Houses. Please feel free to drop me an email to discuss what you are doing and provide feedback on your experiences. We are discussing now all the opportunities available and what makes sense to do. Thank you for talking.

I just ordered some hdmi droid sticks for a digital signage project. Search the web for "Kimdecent Droid Stick A2" (its a mini PC packs a dual core Amlogic CPU). May be a great platform to write on and since the church already has some apps they could continue to build on those platforms and build additional video, audio, picture, lesson, conference and all media type streaming. Also I am sure these guys will run slingbox or something like it for meeting house streaming. The nice thing is they are priced under 100 and some models are going as low as $50. I will keep you posted on what I find.

I have a similar setup as above, each clerk computer has Plexapp media server running, as much content as can be downloaded has been done.

What is available on the Streaming?
Animated Scripture Stories
Bible Videos
CES Devotionals
Children Messages
Homefronts (Mormon Commercials through the years)
I Am a Mormon
Leadership Training Library
Mormon Messages
Mormon Movies (features)
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Our Heavenly Fathers Plan
Prophets and Apostles Speak
Seminary (pictures, music, and videos)
Sunday School Curriculum
The Holy Spirit
World Wide Leadership Training
Youth Messages

I have dropbox setup on all clerk computers where I upload the new videos as they come out. The clerk computers connect to the dropbox and copy the new files to the local computer where the plexapp media server makes it available to everyone in the meetinghouse.

Roku devices with the official Plex app are installed on TV's (providing access for both LCD and CRT tv's) - 2 in each meetinghouse. Additionally, anyone with Windows 8, Windows OS, MAC, IOS (iPhone,iPad) Android (phone/tablet) can access the solution on their own devices.

Rolling out this month to everyone has been interesting. The plex app is $5 if members want to access the solution, but on android it can be free using several other apps. Apple fans as stuck paying no matter what.

I find that most people these days can work through a menu system that is Netflix-like. My stake has a wide distribution of wards with young-hip-types to the Missionaries serving in Adam-Ondhi-Ahman.

John what affect does this have on the clerks computers. I would think doing this would bog it down. The last thing I want when I'm trying to do something in MLS on a Sunday is have it bog down because it being used for other purposes.

Computers were all imaged with Win7 64bit (they all had previously existing licenses, I did not purchase new licenses as they came from FMG with Win7 licenses) and have 4 GB RAM.

I've tested the computers with at least 12 streams running at the same time and the performance for CPU, Memory, and Network were next to nothing. You really couldn't tell anything extra was going on.

If those tests had shown impact on the clerk computer I'd have done something different. I've been a clerk in MLS running on a computer that didn't perform well and know just how frustrating that can be... it was part of the evaluation.

I doubt a similar experience would be had with 32bit Windows XP with 1 GB RAM, but I was lucky enough to have received computers in the last couple of years - luck through insistence.

I have a similar setup at home, we are nearly 24/7 streaming music to multiple devices (phones, stereos or TV's) along with running a movie or TV show that I've ripped to mp4 (to preserve the original DVD media from the wrath of kid!) The plexapp is running on our main computer in the family room where the kids have 1/2 hour blocks to play or do homework. haven't had any complaints so far (about 3 years of running a media server). Our home computer is a DELL Optiplex 580 with 2 GB RAM.. very similar to setup with the clerk computer.

Another Media Player alternative. WORKS REALLY WELL with mormon channel and LDS.org media.

So as a followup I just got my RockChip (UG802) Android Mini HDMI PC. This is an awesom little player that connects directly into your HD display via HDMI. It Runs Android so church devoped apps are ready to run. The device also has a External Mini SD slot so you can load up images music and video locally so if WiFi is not available you can still play your media using the build int media players. Wifi is 802.11n and the performance is outrite Awesome. Oh and cost is 45-65 depending the vendor and shipping. Mine was $54 on Amazon.

Below is a youtube video of the Rockchip Mini PC close up (Privately listed for LDS Tech Viewers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhAregzIv7o

And here it is working

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj5OCFD_ZdA

I was incorrect about the local storge. It actually has over a 1GB storage . But still nice to have an external Micro SD slot for larger storage.

crees wrote:Another Media Player alternative. WORKS REALLY WELL with mormon channel and LDS.org media.

So as a followup I just got my RockChip (UG802) Android Mini HDMI PC.

Can't say as I was too impressed with the Mormon channel, with the "Picture in a picture" type view. But the local playback performed well. Of course you need to add in the cost of at least the mouse to control it.

I think the ability to piggyback on existing Android development is a plus.

Does it have a way to used a wired Ethernet connection? WiFi creates too many problems - especially if you're receiving a webcast.

I have an android set-top-box that was around $60 direct from China. It has an Ethernet Port, RCA outs, and HDMI. It also has a USB port. We purchased to use as a webcast receiver that could re-distribute the audio/video through a meetinghouse previously existing AV setup. The Ethernet port was the important thing for me. Unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to test it yet, though our next Stake Conference is in March, we'll see how it goes there.

JohnShaw wrote:I have an android set-top-box...We purchased to use as a webcast receiver that could re-distribute the audio/video through a meetinghouse previously existing AV setup. ...Unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to test it yet,...

I would be interested in knowing what box you have, your setup, and how your test goes.

As the STS I have taken the approach to allow multiple ways to get the new media onto the available TV’s throughout our Stake.

To start with I tested different devices: a Roku, Apple TV and 3 different mini android PC’s and found that the Rikomagic MK802 II New Generation Mini Android 4.0 PC Google TV Box HD IPTV Player from amazon.com for $34.99 was the best (and cheapest) match for streaming the new media, so I got one for each of our ward buildings. The device plugs into a HDMI port on the TV and gets its power from a USB port on the TV. I installed the Gospel Library app for Android which now allows you to download the videos directly to the device (the 1 gig memory is ample to start with but you can upgrade with a micro sd card) and if you happen to be in one of the classrooms with good internet service it streams from the app perfectly. On the opening screen I placed bookmarks to lds.org, and the Come Follow Me page which allows easy access to the websites. Also the advantage that you need to make sure they have is the ability to have 2 separate USB ports. One is used for an optical mouse (I only had to purchase one as there were 3 hanging around in our FH Library) an onscreen keyboard comes up when you need to type, and the other USB port is used for a flash drive so the teacher can download the content from home and bring it to class. I only had one building with an older flat screen TV that I had to buy a plug in USB power supply for. The device runs similar to a windows pc and the navigation through the file manager or to the internet is very smooth, and if you have run the Gospel Library app for Android you’re right at home.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091U ... 04_s01_i01

The next things I purchased were cables to hook up different tablets and phones to the TV’s.

For the Apple users I got the AmazonBasics 6.5-Foot/2-Meter Composite AV Cable for Apple iPhone/iPad/iPod which is the 30 pin connector that goes to the RCA video and L/R audio for $22.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SB ... 02_s01_i01

For the Kindle I got the Fintie Micro HDMI (Type D) to HDMI (Type A) Cable For Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 Inch Tablet / Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Inch / Nexus 10 - 6 Feet Black for $8.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QX ... 00_s00_i00

For the Android people I had to get two cables:
Rocketfish HDMI to Micro HDMI Cable - 4' for $5.97
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006SL ... 02_s00_i00

And a Gold Plated HDMI to HDMI Mini cable, 1.83 m/ 6 ft 2 pack for $4.51
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00104 ... 02_s01_i04

I also got a HDMI cable for each building at $5.73 for a 2 pack
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014Z ... 02_s01_i03

Last for the computer users a RiteAV - SVGA Monitor Cable with 3.5mm Audio - 6 ft. for $5.14
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018M ... 04_s01_i00

By using the Mini-PC in place of the Roku, my Stake was able to equip the libraries with multiple ways to allow teaches to get the new digital media playing on multiple platforms; and at only a price tag of $83.21 (with Amazon Prime shipping is free). I have had all this in the libraries for a month now and given training on them in many of the wards (I like to follow the Stake after they do Ward Conferences) everyone is very happy to have ways to play the media and the only negative comment I have had is that we need a Mini PC for each TV with a HDMI port.

I have been testing a setup in my local ward that is working out well. I am using the $35 raspberrypi running the media center os. The setup consists of the raspberrypi, SD card with os, wireless USB dongle, small wireless keyboard/trackpad combo (about 6"x2.5") and an hdmi cable. I preloaded a lot of the videos on and setup RSS feeds to the lds media and conference talks. The device is attached to the back of the tv and powers on and boots pretty fast. It also supports AirPlay (still testing) so members with content already on their ios device and stream to the tv.

I heard from a fellow in northern Idaho (an STS, I believe) that the church is planning to distribute Apple TVs for media distribution within meetinghouses. Their stake recently received a shipment of such and will install them soon. I thought this sounds odd as it seems to assume all members use iOS devices and may tie the hands of Android users, et al. Surprisingly, I find nothing on the forum mentioning such a plan and am wondering if users or mods in the know, such as JonesRC, can confirm.

Having recently lost a newer flat panel to theft, we bought a replacement Samsung smart tv that plays appropriate video formats from usb. In our old brick building, the paltry number of APs can't provide wireless coverage for all the classrooms. Ironically enough, the YM and YW rooms have the worst coverage, but that is a local matter to work.

The Church is not sending out Apple TVs. There is a lot of discussion surrounding the use of media in the meetinghouse but to date no decisions have been made in regards to any given solution. Media in the meetinghouse encompasses multiple facets that include, but is not limited to, display devices, players, infrastructure, and media management. Outside the current information that can been found at mhtech.lds.org regarding Western Digital and Roku players, there are no plans at this time to announce anything new.

This is what one stake has done with the roku & usb stick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsF6GlqWvno

Need ideas for keeping the TVs safe
any? on how to store them?

Another tool is the Meetinghouse Library. For details and discussion, see this topic: Meetinghouse Library Project.