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HowTo Route Ethernet Audio To Computer's Internal Speaker?
An external camera is transmitting both audio and video via an Ethernet connection to an Inspiron 5490 AIO. The computer is communicating with the camera using Internet Explorer as the browser. Camera video is displaying correctly in real time, but the speakers are not providing any audio.
Settings/Sound/Advanced Sound Options/App Volume & Device Preferences shows Internet Explorer as an App. Its Volume set to 100. The IE App Output is designated as Speakers (Realtek) Audio, with Default as the other option. However the IE App Input is designated as Default, with no other option. Is there a way I can expand the IE App Input option to include the Ethernet audio? Is there another way I can route Ethernet audio to the speakers?
Thanks, Hank
jphughan
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February 14th, 2020 13:00
Fyi the fact that this is coming in over Ethernet has nothing to do with the issue. Ethernet doesn't support carrying native audio traffic anyway. It's just network traffic that happens to carry audio, but it's an application that decodes that network traffic into audio, and when that application is IE, at a system level an audio feed from a camera webpage is no different from any other website that plays audio of some kind. Try going somewhere like YouTube in IE and see if you can hear audio, which I'm guessing you will based on the volume settings and default playback device settings you've already checked. If that works, then there's nothing wrong with those settings you're talking about. If camera audio still doesn't work even though YouTube does, then my guess is that this is a problem with whatever browser plugin these cameras are using for audio. I remember a friend had some old D-Link cameras where audio became an issue because browsers moved on to new technologies and the firmware on those cameras never received an update to keep that plugin working after those updates.
But just as a sanity check, make sure there isn't a mute button within the camera viewer application/website itself. Some viewer applications have that -- again, like YouTube where there's a volume control and mute button in the video window, completely separate from the system volume control or even the application volume control.
Hank Coolidge
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February 14th, 2020 15:00
Hi, thanks for the reply.
The camera is receiving audio from an external mike, and transmitting it with the video. The audio output format options are MP3 and AAC. I currently have it set to MP3 because the camera's HDMI output is being remoted to a TV in a different facility. The remote TV audio and video are displaying with no problems. So the camera firmware does not appear to be the problem.
My application is slightly different from normal. The camera is installed to record church services for two purposes. The first purpose is to provide live reproduction in the Parish Hall for overflow attendance, especially funeral services. The second purpose is to record services so they can be uploaded to the church's website for viewing by shut-ins, hospital patients, and those travelling.
The easier solution would be to split the HDMI data stream to both devices. Unfortunately I have not found software to record the computer's alternate display (HDMI) input. However I do have software to record Ethernet input which is working fine for the video stream. My problem is routing the audio to the audio circuits where it can be captured by the recording software.
The camera manufacturer recommends using IE for communications. Since the video was working, I hadn't thought to test using Edge or Chrome. I'll try them tomorrow afternoon when I get back to the church. Also I'll test YouTube audio. I hadn't thought of that either. Thanks for the suggestion.