Serviio

I am using Serviio with the Roku Media Player (Roku 4 premiere), and was wondering about thumbnails during FFW on the Roku.

Doing some web searches, I read, if the videos are indexed, the Roku is supposed to show thumbnails when doing a FFW.

Right now I don't have that, so I was wondering if this is a Roku thing, or if Serviio is responsible for it, and if there is a way to make it work.

Sorry if this has been previously discussed, but I could not find anything on the forum about it.

I don't believe I've ever seem thumbnails when using my Roku players. If what you've heard is accurate, then it's unlikely your files have indexes within them, as I don't think that's a "normal" thing within a video. When a file is transcoded "on the fly", as most DLNA servers do with media that cannot be played as is, I doubt an index is created. One exception might be if the video is transcoded with applehttp (hls). Since that process creates a file that has pointers to the individual video files created, that might work as an index. You do make me wonder, and I might try using the Chaneru profile and see if it provides thumbnails. That's the only Roku profile at this time that uses hls transcoding.

Nope, just tried the HLS format, and the Roku still doesn't show thumbnails. That's a Roku issue, not Serviio, so they are the ones that would have to implement such a feature.

I am not so sure about that last part.
I read Plex has an option to generate indexes, and as a result, you do get preview thumbnails when FFW on Roku with Plex.
If you FFW other streaming channels like Netflix or amazon on Roku, you get FFW preview thumbnails, so clearly Roku supports it and it would appear to be needed on the streaming server side.

So it makes me wonder if that is a feature that could be added to Serviio. It would be interesting to hear from the developer on this.

Those you mention all support that function within a channel (app). It's not the media provider (although most of those are the same company). Plex uses the Plex channel, same as Amazon and Netflix using their own. They've designed them that way.

There's nothing that can be added to Serviio to provide something that requires support by the player. Since I'm assuming you are referring to the Roku Media Player, Roku would have to add that functionality to the RMP. If you look on the Roku forums, RokuDale is the main Roku employee that is on the forum to support RMP, and he would be the person to discuss it with. That's why I say it's a Roku issue, not Serviio.

From what you are saying, the Serviio developer could develop a Roku app then that would have the functionality.

Given how widespread and popular the Roku is, it would make sense.

Yes, he probably could. But no, I don't think it would make sense. Serviio is a single person, not a company. If he attempted to expand by creating apps for devices, he likely would end up with no personal life at all. Since we know his family welcomed a new baby not that long ago, I'm fairly certain he wants to make time for family. Also remember, the majority of Serviio users have the free version. I believe we Pro users are in the minority. I doubt Serviio is a major income source for the developer, but personally I hope I'm wrong in that assessment.

I think that most people using a Roku player use it solely for the major providers like Amazon and Netflix. Very few of them are even aware that there is a way to store media on a home computer and stream it to their TV sets. If Roku suddenly offered HD audio bitstreaming (a significant feature constantly requested), it still wouldn't cause a massive increase of home DLNA servers. And remember, I'm a major fan of home DLNA. I just don't think the market is that large. A number of major companies have reduced or eliminated DLNA support from their Smart TV or Blu Ray Player lines. They know where the market demand is, and DLNA is a minor player at best. Personally, I wish it were otherwise.

I know you are right, I understand the situation of single developer project like serviio, and they indeed should put their life ahead of the project.

But we can always hope that down the line it could make its way in the limited time he can dedicate to his project

I am always glad for great developers like him who create such great products out of passion for what they do.

Have a great weekend.

I opened a thread in the Roku forum, and there may be a way for serviio to implement a solution, but it is not completely clear if it is possible within DLNA protocols.
https://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=101402

Answer from RokuDale:
"RMP will use .bif files if they are in the same file on the usb drive.
upnp/dlna hasn't defined a protocol to indicate a .bif file resource. I don't know if serviio is able to create a .bif file from the mediafile and include it as one of the resources links in the dlna protocol"

I saw that same post from Dale. Since the DLNA standard doesn't address it, there may be a way for Serviio to add it, but that's well beyond me to say if it's possible.