REQUIREMENTS & FAQ
What it needs. What it doesn’t do.
Both in plain words. You’d find the second half out anyway.
Supported platforms
What it needs
- One computer that stays on while anyone is watching. It’s the server; your videos live in a folder on it.
- A home network. The router you already have; Wi-Fi or wired.
- A browser on each watching device — including the TV.
Video formats
lantv serves your files as they are — whether a file plays depends on the browser doing the watching. H.264 MP4 with AAC audio plays on effectively every phone, tablet, laptop and TV browser. Newer codecs like HEVC and AV1 play on some devices and not others — lantv’s capability check tells you before you press play, not twenty minutes in.
Exact format matrix being confirmed — treat as provisional.
Honest limitations
These are real, and they’re deliberate scope — not fine print.
No search
You browse your folders; you can’t type a title. Manageable for a shelf of films, tedious for an archive.
No remote access
lantv works at home, full stop. The property that keeps your library private is the same one that means no watching from outside the house.
Plain HTTP on your LAN
Streams between your devices aren’t encrypted. They never leave your router — but on a network you share with people you don’t trust, know that.
Manual metadata
You name and sort your files yourself. lantv fetches no titles or artwork from the internet — nothing comes in, nothing goes out.
Converting needs video tools your computer can drive
Where your browser can open a file, lantv hands it the original bytes. Where it cannot, lantv repackages the film as it plays — which costs almost nothing and writes no second copy. But a film whose picture no browser here decodes has to be re-encoded, and that needs a video encoder lantv can actually drive on your machine. Where there is none, those titles say so rather than spinning, and you can point lantv at your own copy of FFmpeg in Settings. HDR colour is sent as it is either way, which on an ordinary screen can look washed out.
Your files, your responsibility
lantv is made for video you have the right to keep — home footage, personal recordings, DRM-free purchases. Because nothing is inspected, reported or uploaded, lantv can’t police a library: what’s in your folder is your call and your legal responsibility. We don’t encourage piracy, and lantv gives it no special help — no downloading, no sharing beyond your own network.
Questions we’d ask too
How much does it cost?
The first week is free. After that, one license is €9.99 and the three-license family pack is €24.99 — one-time, and a license covers one computer running the lantv server. Full details →
Does lantv phone home? Does this site?
Playback and your library: never — that all stays on your own network. The app talks to exactly one server, ours, to check for updates and confirm your license; here is every byte it sends: app version, OS, processor type, an anonymous code for your computer, and your licence key. The off switch is on the app’s Server page. This site loads no external fonts, no analytics, no trackers.
Do people in my house need accounts?
No one needs an account, including you. lantv approves devices, not identities: one yes per screen, remembered.
Will it work on my TV?
If the TV has a browser that can open pages on your network, yes. If it truly has no browser, lantv has no other way onto it.
Can my Xbox watch?
Yes — the Xbox ships with Edge. Open the browser, type the short local address lantv shows, and it plays like any other screen. The same goes for any game console with a browser you can open; a console that has none, or keeps it out of reach, gives lantv no way in.