H265 H264 4K HDMI Video Streaming Encoder IPTV with RTSP RTMPS HLS M3U8 UDP SRT ONVIF, HD HDMI to IP Live Broadcast Streamer Hardware for YouTube Facebook and Other Servers

I was looking to allow streaming from my main television to other TVs and devices in the house. I was between this and an ATSC RF modulator and I'm really glad I picked this. Once you get it set up (which does take a bit of doing, more on that later), it works flawlessly. I really appreciate the ability to set up simulcast streams as well as integrate with other streaming video programs (I'm using it through Emby for streaming to Fire TV devices) and since it uses my existing network I don't have to worry about running coax to any TVs that don't already have a cable jack.Since I've hinted at them, here are my two nitpicks:- Network setup is not as plug-and-play as it could be for ethernet, but the instructions are very clear and not particularly difficult. By default it does NOT use DHCP and has a fixed IP address. You can connect to it directly to tell it to use DHCP which makes sense when you have to pick a wifi network but is a a bit annoying when it's plugged in via ethernet. Still, this adds 5 minutes so whatever.- I had some strange issues with perfect video but bad audio when I plugged it into an HDMI splitter regardless of what configuration I used; however, if I moved it upstream of the splitter it worked fine. Not sure why, but thankfully it was an easy enough fix.For the good:- I reached out to Linda for support after I had the aforementioned audio issue and got a quick and helpful response. Unexpectedly great service!- Tons of configuration options on the streams, I was able to play around with the settings and find something that worked best for my needs.- Tons of output formats allowing for integrations with a lot of different services. Like an astounding length of options.For my needs, this has been a really great solution. It works pretty much anywhere with any internet-capable video streaming device. This is not low latency, so don't expect a real-time encoder (nor will anything really be that is run over a network). If you want that then run an HDMI cable directly with a splitter (as I have done between mirrored TVs) or maybe consider an RF modulator. But if you're looking for more versatility you really can't get any better than this.

I'm actually quite impressed with this device's features and customization options however after playing around I found out that it's probably best not to stray too far from the defaults.First, the setup. Setup is the biggest hurdle you MAY have to clear. The device comes configured with a default IP address of 192.168.1.168. If your home network uses the 192.168.1.XXX subnet(range), which is actually the most common default for most home routers (another reasonably common default if 192.168.0.XXX), then you'll be good to access the device straight away over your network by just plugging into your network and entering http://192.168.1.168 into your browser. If your network assigns IP addresses in any other range than 192.168.1.XXX, then you need to take a few extra steps and connect the device directly to your computer and temporarily modify your computer's IP address so that is in the same range, then log into the device and change it's network address to one that is your network's default. The instruction manual takes great care to describe this process in detail, and this process isn't unique to this device, it's relatively common to need to do this when setting up any network device you want to access remotely. I'm a computer professional so this part was a piece of cake for me, but with the instructions should be doable by just about anyone.While setting up the device, I figured this was the best to update the firmware to the latest and greatest. Unfortunately, they do not have the latest (or any) firmware on their website. They direct you to contact them via email to request it. I wasn't happy about this as I figured it was going to delay my progress in setting up the device but I sent of the email thinking I'd get a response the next day or something. Instead, I received a reply within 1 minute. In fact, a short series of email exchanges with the support individual were so fast that it was faster than most chat sessions I've had with tech support. In the end, we determined that I already had the latest available firmware and an update was not necessary. They also sent me a PDF version of the user manual so I could keep it electronically. VERY RESPONSIVE SUPPORT.The device was up and running in a few minutes. I tested viewing it with VLC on my computer and it worked great. I also tested it with VLC on an Amazon Fire TV Stick attached to a bedroom TV to test watching on a regular TV instead of a computer and navigating the VLC app menus would sometimes cause screen glitches but that was within the VLC app and an VLC app issue. When VLC actually started streaming, the picture was clear and the experience excellent.I did have a couple of issues that most users probably will not encounter. I do not have the most common setup. That is: Source device (i.e. cable box, etc) -> Encoder -> TV. Instead, I have Cable Box -> Encoder -> Home Theater Receiver -> TV. It worked great until I turned off my TV, and actually via CEC control, the entire home theater system. The cable box remained on, as it should so that it could still provide a picture to the encoder and you could continue to stream the cable box source even if the attached TV is off. The encoder did continue to be reachable and you could stream, PERFECT (no problems here)! The problem happened when I tried to turn the TV back on. The TV / receiver would switch to the input but no video would be displayed until I turned the cable box off and then back on. It was as if the HDMI signal did not automatically "re-sync" through the encoder if the video source was never turned off and then back on. I could just turn the cable box off and on as a workaround, but the extra step I never had to do before bothered me. I changed the crappy HDMI cable I pulled out of the drawer to connect the encoder to the cable box to a certified cable I purchased on Amazon thinking that crappy cables sometimes cause these kinds of issues. Unfortunately, there was no change. And truth be told, the connection between the cable box and encoder always continued to work as I could continue to stream, it was between the encoder and Home Theater receiver and TV that the video link was broken. I contacted support for ideas, but this time they never got back to me. I never bothered following up, because the next day I also changed the cable between the receiver and the TV (still have not changed the cable between the encoder and the receiver) and re-ran my Samsung Smart TV's input detection which I had not re-done since the encoder was installed. I'm not sure which of the last 2 changes it was (the new cable between the receiver and the TV, or re-running the Samsung Smart TV's input detection) but the problem was solved thereafter. I'm willing to put money on it was re-running the Samsung TV's input detection. I guess there is a reason it runs through an input detection diagnostic. So keep that in mind if you have anything similar.Beyond that, running the defaults works pretty darn good. I can never leave good enough alone and turned up most of the quality settings way up. Could I see a difference remotely? Honestly, no, I couldn't notice any appreciable difference but I knew it had to be better. However, turning up the settings increased latency and also after hours would cause the device to not stream smoothly as if it was overwhelmed. Changing the settings back to something much closer to their defaults fixed all those issues and I can't say I'm upset as the picture still looks great. Moral of the story: Don't mess with it if it ain't broken.I purchased this device to replace my SlingBox, which is going end of life in November of this year, that I used to watch my primary home cable TV subscriptions at my vacation home. The SlingBox does have the advantage of transmitting back remote control commands so you can change channels and control just about bit of your cable box remotely. This device is only and encoder. It will only take the video signal, encode it and send it to your streamer. It has no source control capabilities at all. If you are using it to display fixed video stream like a camera then none of this applies. On the other hand, if you are using it to watch your cable box, then you need some other method to remote control your cable box. I already had a Harmony Hub integrated into my Home Theater system. I can use the Harmony Hub app on my cell phone as a remote control and it works remotely too! Also the Harmony Hub integrates with Alexa, so you can direct her to "Alexa, Change channel to Food Network", or "Change channel to 15" and she will do that through the Harmony Hub. Since my Alexa at my vacation home is on the same account, I can also give my echo show at my vacation home the same commands and it will control my cable box back at my primary home and change the video I'm viewing while streaming at my vacation home!. Cool! Again, this has nothing to do with this encoder as it just sends whatever video the cable box is outputting, the control is all via the Harmony Hub and optional Alexa integration, but the problem is solvable.As stated earlier, if you turn the quality settings up too high, the encoder works much harder to encode the video before sending it out so there is more of a delay in what you see relative to what the Cable box is outputting in real time. So, remote control commands can seem to take longer (or a long time, like a minute) to be seen remotely. When I lowered my quality settings a bit, the delay is acceptable. I can't say how long as it seems to be variable to a degree but acceptable. I'll probably play with the encoder settings again, maybe even reset them completely to default. I think at default they were ALWAYS under 5 seconds, maybe just 2-3 seconds.In Summary, this is a pretty impressive device that does it's just well. I can't say that I notice much quality difference between the h.264 and h.265 settings (a little if I look VERY closely) but the h.265 does have increased lag. If you watching a fixed video source, then probably even 10-20 seconds of lag is a non-issue. If you are trying to control the video source remotely, then it's like trying to drive while looking in the rear view mirror. You have to anticipate what is happening as you look at what happened 10-20 seconds ago. The SlingBox had the same issue with lag.I got this to work as I needed / expected. I'd purchase this again. I might even try and save some money and purchase the h.264 model next time as this I'm finding this model has an overkill number of features and settings I either don't need, or don't really provide benefit I notice streaming cable quality video.Nice device. Well made.

I'm reviewing this encoder as a software engineer with some experience with video encoding. I'm impressed by this encoder. It's well-made and well-designed. I was able to get it to work immediately out of the box with good results. Customer support was very responsive in providing me with a PDF version of the user manual. I've been using the encoder for a week now with no problems, including a continuous 10-hour encoding. It has a very comprehensive set of adjustments for every aspect of the encoder. They will be appreciated by technical people. They may overwhelm non-technical people, but not to worry. The default settings have been very well chosen. The settings include being able to specify an NTP server, which I thought as a nice touch. The HDCP support works for standard HD, but it doesn't support the level of HDCP required for 4K. Also it supports stereo sound but not multichannel sound (and doesn't claim to.) While I'd love to see those additions myself, I consider them as nice to have rather than expected. The encoder previews the video on its status web page, which is very useful. Another nice addition would be including audio level meters in the preview.. In summary, this is a very capable encoder that works well, and I highly recommend it.

I couldn't get the device to work properly. No sound and the picture to the television was effected and skewed. :(