Stream from Mac to Samsung UN32J5205AFXZA

Environment

  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011) OS X 10.10.5
  • Samsung TV UN32J5205AFXZA
  • Both devices working on a 1,000 Mbps home network

Problem

I am trying to stream video from the Mac to the TV but have not been successful yet.

Attempts

My first attempt used VLC (version 2.2.1) on the Mac to stream a video to the TV. I followed these instructions. Then on the TV, according to the user manual, I should go to Network > Multimedia Device Settings and see the Mac listed there. The list is empty though. The video being streamed is in .mp4 format. According to the TV user manual, that format is supported.

Questions

  1. How do I make VLC stream video to the TV?
  2. If VLC cannot do it, which other free options can?

Thanks for all the recommendations and troubleshooting tips. Eventually I ended up using Universal Media Server. It's been working well so far, and it's free.