Getting "Play To" working on Windows 8 and a Playstation 3

Question

On Windows 8, "Play To" functionality has been integrated into Windows Explorer;

However, as you can see, "Play To" is disabled; and I don't know why.

When I hover over the option, I get no information.

If I do things the other way round (set my PC as the streaming server through Windows Media Player, and then search for my PC from the PS3) this works fine; but as I've got many hundreds of videos on my PC, I want to be able to select a video from my laptop, and stream that to my PS3 instead.

I was under the impression that:

• "Play To" works for any DLNA enabled device
• A PS3 is a DLNA enabled device

Sharing is turned ON for this network on my Windows 8 PC, and I've ensured (and proved via the alternate approach above) that the two devices can communicate.

If it's any help, I can't see the PS3 listed as a network device, nor can I see it when I search for devices.

Any help would be appreciated!

Answer 1

The Playstation 3 is not a Digital Media Renderer (DMR), which is what is required for PlayTo to work.

Whilst the Playstation 3 is DLNA certified, it is only a Digital Media Player (DMP), which means it can only pull content from media servers. Content can not be sent to it remotely.

For more information, see this answer on the Microsoft Forums.

Answer 2

I would assume you first have to install the PS3 as a playback device through the Devices application. Then it will become available in that dropdown menu.

The Windows help notes:

If your Play To device isn't listed with your other devices on the Devices page, it might not be connected to the network. To check the Devices page, swipe in from the right edge of the screen (or if you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen and move the mouse pointer down), tap or click Settings, tap or click Change PC Settings, and then tap or click Devices.

To fix problems with connecting your device to a network, see the info that came with your device.

I found a YouTube video of someone installing a WDTV on Windows 8 through DLNA.
As we can see, the device should come up in the Devices interface as a Digital media renderer:

Other stuff to try out (most likely unrelated)

Also, please check if Media Streaming is enabled:  

The PlayStation 3 Media Center documentation hints that Windows Media Player could be involved in this (but I doubt the text was written with Windows 8 in mind).