This guide is intended to describe
installation options you would use in
residential installations. If you
are a professional installer, remember
to include the cost of installation and
support when quoting your project.
NetPlay
Home
HDMI distribution:
(Slide illustration)
A NetPlay distribution system is a
"virtual matrix" switch. You can
add as many sources and displays as
needed. Because NetPlay is a
"decentralized" system, your sources do
not need to be grouped together in a
single location.
Live HDMI Sources:
NetPlay Home uses network HDMI encoders to
bring all your "live" HDMI sources into
the matrix system. This will be
any source device with a HDMI output
that does not fall into the directly
integrated categories below.
Use
NetPlay Ready encoders for each of
your HDMI sources.
Camera Sources: IP
cameras and most NVRs can be directly
integrated in the matrix system without
needing VTX encoders for these.
File Sources: File
sources such as movie and music
libraries can also be directly
integrated in the matrix system. Both
video and image sources or playlists can
be used.
Web Sources: Web
sources such as web pages or data feeds
can also be directly integrated in the
matrix system. Full support for HTML5,
WebGL, and embedded iframes.
Streaming Services Sources: NetFlix,
Amazon Video, Vudu, Hulu, and nearly all
streaming services are directly
supported as Apps running on your
NetPlay TV devices. Any service
which has an Android app is supported.
Gaming Sources: NetPlay
supports the latest game streaming
technologies for whole home gaming.
Please see our
NetPlay
Home Gaming page for more details.
If you are using older gaming consoles
(Xbox, Playstation, Wii) with an HDMI
output, we do not recommend encoding the
HDMI output for distribution.
Modern games requires zero latency, so
the small latency HDMI distribution
introduces would degrade the gaming
experience. These older gaming
consoles should be physically located
with the individual televisions.
HDHomeRun Sources: Low
cost HDHomeRun devices can be used to
integrate over the air (OTA) broadcast
and cable tv (cable card) content
directly into the matrix system.
GoogleCast/ChromeCast Sources: All
supported NetPlay TV devices include
support for GoogleCast/ChromeCast.
Either audio or Video can be directly
streamed to any display from Android
devices.
Android TV Displays: Sony
and Sharp TVs running Android TV can
integrate directly with NetPlay Home
without requiring any additional
equipment. NetPlayTV will run
natively on these TVs.
Standard TV Displays:
Standard TVs will use an external
Android or Android TV device (running
NetPlay TV app) to provide audio, video,
and control to the TV via HDMI and
optionally IR. Many popular
devices are compatible with NetPlay TV,
including Amazon Fire Stick 4K, nVidia Shield,
and more.
Mobile players: Mobile
devices (such as tablets and smart
phones) can play back NetPlay video
sources directly. NetPlay Home
NetPlay Manager includes the required
license for control and video preview on
all your mobile devices. Full
screen playback on mobile devices
requires a supplimental license
purchase.
NetPlay
Home
audio distribution:
Your NetPlay Home display devices will
receive synchronized audio via the same
network stream as the video. This
audio is always present on the HDMI
output, but some devices may also have
optical or analog outputs. Simply
route the audio to your TV speakers or
AVR just like any other source.
You can also use extra NetPlayTV
decoders to provide synchronized audio
at any location.
If you are using a fully "centralized" audio
solution with in-wall/ceiling speakers
that are hard wired back to a central
equipment rack, please use our
Audio Delay devices to provide lip sync correction for your audio matrix switch.
NetPlay Home is also compatible with
several Home audio streaming systems.
Please see our
NetPlay Home
Music page for details.
NetPlay
control distribution:
(Slide illustration)
For full details on system control,
please see
NetPlay system control options.
NetPlay Home integrates Ethernet, IR,
RS232, and CEC control for all your
connected source and display devices.
This control is provided either via
NetPlay Mobile app on your Android
Mobile devices or directly at each TV
using the NetPlayTV gui itself and the
included remote controls. In fact,
both control methods can be used at the
same time by different users.
NetPlay TV devices with USB ports can use
IRUSB to provide direct IR control
of the attached TV, speakers, or AVR.
IRUSB also provides full centralized
IP control (menu navigation, app
launching, playback control) of your
NetPlay decoder devices.
NetPlay Manager can use
IRUSB to provide direct IR control
of your HDMI source devices.
NetPlay Home can also be integrated in
third party control systems using our
existing drivers.
NetPlay Home network and wiring
requirements:
(Slide illustration)
(Retrofit Slide illustration)
NetPlay Home uses your standard home
network for audio and video
distribution.
Wiring can be via any combination of
ethernet technology. Cat5/5e/6 is
the easiest and should be used whenever
possible. For retrofit application, you
can use existing RG59/RG6 coax via MOCA
ethernet over coax. We recommend
the ActionTec ECB6200S02 adapters.
Wireless ethernet can be used as a last
resort, since interference can degrade
picture quality. NetPlay video
streams are ~20Mbps each. NetPlay
Mobile devices will use wireless
ethernet, but at lower data rates.
The network switch or switches will need
1 port for each NetPlayTV display and 1
port for each network HDMI encoder.
Switches can be cascaded as needed, but
make sure the interswitch connections
are 1000mbps. NetPlay can use the
same network as all the other devices in
your home.
The network router will need a DHCP
server enabled (this is default on
nearly all routers).
The network switch ports connecting to
network HDMI encoder devices should be 1000mpbs capable.
The ports for NetPlay TV devices should be
100mbps or higher. Most switches
support both speeds.
All NetPlay devices should be on the
same subnet if possible. If this
is not possible, routing rules must
exist between the subnets. VLANs
are not required or recommended.
Devices should have access to the
internet for app updates or cloud
streaming.