Video Streaming

1. To my mind, the Sonos audio product is practically perfect.

2. I would like Sonos to be a great commercial success. Anybody who makes a product this good deserves that success.

3. The current market for Sonos products is limited to a relatively small slice of the market.

4. If I were managing Sonos, I would be trying to expand my addressable market.

5. Video seems like a potentially large market.

6. Just streaming cable to mulitiple rooms does not strike me as a barn burner.

7. If Sonos can figure out a way to allow users to legally rip (or download) DVDs and other video content to a central storage location and then conveniently view it in any room, the product would be a huge hit.

But, there is a 40% market out there, users that really want to explore this market and have an active interest.I'm not sure I would take 31 votes at a techie forum to equal any market.
7. If Sonos can figure out a way to allow users to legally rip (or download) DVDs and other video content to a central storage location and then conveniently view it in any room, the product would be a huge hit.It's been done for a quite a while now... http://www.escient.com/products/dvdm552.php.

I'm pretty sure the escient products don't rip DVDs but they do control DVD changers.

I would like to have video centrally managed and accessible via a remote similar to the current Sonos remote. Even if it was via a DVD changer, the ability to access any of my titles either in the Home Theater, living room, or bed room would be very cool.

I'm pretty sure the escient products don't rip DVDs but they do control DVD changers.I meant to link to the kaleidescape... http://www.kaleidascape.com/products/server.html as it stores up to 825 DVDs. Here is an overview of the entire system... http://www.kaleidascape.com/products/ or http://www.kaleidascape.com/files/datasheets/Kaleidescape-Overview.pdf.

But, there is a 40% market out there, users that really want to explore this market and have an active interest.

That's just not true. There's around 17% who really want this, and another 17% who say "would be nice".

I also agree that this forum doesn't make a good market indicator.

I woould also say that market interest isn't always that useful anyway. Sure people want a streaming video solution, but what form factor? What price point? etc. These things make a big difference to what a product is like and whether people actually buy it.

Take audio streaming: it's been around for at least 10 years, but it took the likes of Sonos to package it appropriately to make it popular and desirable to non-techies. It also required the supporting technology (home networks, decent spec hardware, etc.) to be available.

The world already has good video streaming solutions in WME, MythTV, Apple, etc. which some on this forum already use.

Is it ready for primetime? My view is not yet. Should Sonos do something in this space. I would say a resounding YES, but only when the time (and the market, and the technology) is right and I'm not convinced that is now.

Cheers,

Keith

If SONOS had a product that provided the same features for Video as they do for audio then yes I'd certainly consider it because of the quality and features of their current solution.

They don't, so I currently have a Buffalo LinkTheatre for streaming video (and photos, and audio ... but of course I don't use the latter!) In fact for non-HD media the (802.11g) wireless network in my home is sufficient to stream video despite what is said in the bbc article. Though I do now have HD media, so have moved to a wired setup for it.

For less than 150ukp, with an upscanning progressive DVD player included, these media players are almost commodity items already. The LinkTheatre is excellent, though don't necessarily take that as a recommendation as there may be better options available now - I haven't looked at the market place for a few months.

Hmm would I buy new and more hardware for video.... NO.

I like Sonos for what it is...

Maqybe a video Sonos would be nice.. but it would have to support my bell express viuew and shaw digital cable.., controll them all and send.... na.. WAY WAY too much trouble.. HOWEVER.....

If it could access my tivo and stream out my tivo shows to whatever tv in the house.. well that MIGHT be kewl.

Not really necessary, but it would be nice, as long as it does not compromise any of the music features or the development of features for the music system and controler. I don't need video on the controler, but to connect a screen to a ZP and and have an extra category to stream from my nas to the screen, yes, nice.

Not really necessary, but it would be nice, as long as it does not compromise any of the music features or the development of features for the music system and controler. I don't need video on the controler, but to connect a screen to a ZP and and have an extra category to stream from my nas to the screen, yes, nice.

LOL I think you have resuscitated this thread from the dead. I notice that my previous post in this thread was almost 2 years ago.

I have subsequently became interested in having a video system that works in a similar way to Sonos - i.e. all my DVDs on a NAS with the ability to stream to different rooms. The technology to do this is available, but varies in quality and result. The system I've chosen actually works pretty well.

One of the key features for audio playback on Sonos (multi-room synchronisation) just isn't necessary for video playback. However you can't stream good quality video (DVD quality or above) wirelessly. Wireless just isn't fast enough. I manage to stream DVD (but not HD) over a 200Mbps homeplug network. The system I have works well for video but pretty badly for audio.

I still don't believe this is an areas Sonos should divert any energy into at present.

Being able to see and manage photo albums would be great. Unlocking the huge amount of digital snaps we all have next to our mp3 files