Stream hard drive movies to new TV
- Thread starter Rupp
- Start date
To be honest, I would stick with an external mediaplayer/extender type unit. I am sure the TV won't support all formats out there if you do find one that doesn't have a huge premium for this feature. This is what makes the HD300 such an interesting option, since it's very affordable now and can be used as a stand alone unit.
Lagerhead
Active Member
I mention this as a caution. I have the Sony BDP-S370 which is supposed to source content from BluRay, DVD, IP and USB, outputting HDMI. It has been a disappointment. This unit's support for the multitude of video formats is extremely thin (and not being a video conversion guru I am rather helpless here). Have also had problems with simple jpegs. Comments on the boards have suggested that content protection trumps everything and that Sony's claims for the device are borderline deceptive. Gives new meaning to "Make.Believe"?
Rupp
Senior Member
Dan,
Do you know if users are having success using the HD300 wirelessly?
As long as both the TV and your system (Media PC, NAS, etc) have DLNA, it should work (for certain file formats of course).
I agree with Dan though, I would stick with an external box to handle this for now. The Boxee Box is actually really good at this now (after some initial hiccups at launch). It also has Vudu (soon to have Netflix) and others. I returned mine because I am not quite there yet with my NAS setup, but it was a pretty good little system.
You can even get an AppleTV, 2nd generation, and jailbreak it to run XBMC on it. XBMC can read network shares and play all sorts of media files.
The first thing you need to do is decide what media formats you will want to play then work from there. I rip all of my DVDs to MKV and Boxee works great with those.
I agree with Dan though, I would stick with an external box to handle this for now. The Boxee Box is actually really good at this now (after some initial hiccups at launch). It also has Vudu (soon to have Netflix) and others. I returned mine because I am not quite there yet with my NAS setup, but it was a pretty good little system.
You can even get an AppleTV, 2nd generation, and jailbreak it to run XBMC on it. XBMC can read network shares and play all sorts of media files.
The first thing you need to do is decide what media formats you will want to play then work from there. I rip all of my DVDs to MKV and Boxee works great with those.
I have an Onkyo TX-NR905 receiver. It came out in 2007. It does have web configuration, albeit limited. Besides unit information, you can configure network settings and Internet radio urls. I would expect that 2010/2011 receivers would have more capabilities.
Kevin
pete_c
Guru
I'm doing this today with my $50 Patriot Memory PBO. It'll stream HD or Internet. It does Netflix. It's a tiny little box. Two of the three I have in the house also have 1TB 2.5" SATA drives for local content. Works fine for me. I've installed a remote basic browswer interface which allows me to update the box, change the RSS links, see the OS memory utilization, etc.
With the speed of the changes in the methodogies of video algorithmes of various codecs from the Internet content; you would be kind of stuck if this resided on your TV or MM Reciever with difficulties to update or event swap out video processors.
I guess that's why I still haven't updated my MM reciever yet and keep looking.
Technologies have already changed logarithmically from what they were 2 years ago. My PBO is now a "throw away" $50 NMT box 1/4 the size of the first gen $250 NMT box; so its not even worth keeping it after the technology changes. I would think different of my TV or MM Reciever.
With the speed of the changes in the methodogies of video algorithmes of various codecs from the Internet content; you would be kind of stuck if this resided on your TV or MM Reciever with difficulties to update or event swap out video processors.
I guess that's why I still haven't updated my MM reciever yet and keep looking.
Technologies have already changed logarithmically from what they were 2 years ago. My PBO is now a "throw away" $50 NMT box 1/4 the size of the first gen $250 NMT box; so its not even worth keeping it after the technology changes. I would think different of my TV or MM Reciever.
tmbrown97
Senior Member
Lagerhead - I have the Sony BDP-S370 as well - it's sad to hear it doesn't handle content streaming well yet. So far I've used mine a lot for Pandora, Netflix and Hulu Plus - and I've been pretty satisfied; but I was searching for a way to stream ISO DVD's to it... Unfortunately I haven't found the time and the solution hasn't been as easy as hoped - but I did find some interesting articles on streaming .ISO's housed on a Windows Home Server through a desktop PC in the house running Windows 7 and making the content available to streaming devices - I'll have to figure out which PC I left that favorite saved on. If you have any better luck, please do share.
I have the s370 also. It does not play iso. Through DLNA, I am only able to get it to play mpeg. It doesn't seem to play anything with menu or chapter. Through usb, it supports more formats (like mkv). But still no menu and chapter.
I got fed up and bought a western digital tv live plus ($55 refurb). Through network share, it plays dvd iso with full menu and chapter support. Much better than the s370.
I got fed up and bought a western digital tv live plus ($55 refurb). Through network share, it plays dvd iso with full menu and chapter support. Much better than the s370.
I will vote for the PS3 as well. It streams anything and plays Blurays, and you get the "dvd" remote for it for 25$, also works with Harmony with an extra adapter.
pete_c
Guru
A friend of mine in search of a new 50" LCD called me in January about a new TV.
I suggested first to have a look at Consumer reports and what LCD's they gave high marks to.
He then went shopping some. (calling me about his experiences). The sales folks all basically "pushed" 3D TV, Internet access, etc.
He prefers to buy locally at whatever big box store is offering versus any internet shopping.
He is installing the 50" LCD in a "great" room with the couch (pit style) about 25-30 feet from the TV. (this is the house he's been building now for 3 years).
I told him to basically concentrate on the TV picture (forget about the sound for the time being) and look at a Blue ray disk from about 25-30 feet from the various models of TV's and see if you can tell the difference between the newest model 50" LCD at 25-30 feet versus a model from last year which are currently heavily discounted.
He didn't see any difference and purchased a 50" Samsung discounted to less than $1000 with no bells and whistles a couple of days ago. It works for him.
I suggested first to have a look at Consumer reports and what LCD's they gave high marks to.
He then went shopping some. (calling me about his experiences). The sales folks all basically "pushed" 3D TV, Internet access, etc.
He prefers to buy locally at whatever big box store is offering versus any internet shopping.
He is installing the 50" LCD in a "great" room with the couch (pit style) about 25-30 feet from the TV. (this is the house he's been building now for 3 years).
I told him to basically concentrate on the TV picture (forget about the sound for the time being) and look at a Blue ray disk from about 25-30 feet from the various models of TV's and see if you can tell the difference between the newest model 50" LCD at 25-30 feet versus a model from last year which are currently heavily discounted.
He didn't see any difference and purchased a 50" Samsung discounted to less than $1000 with no bells and whistles a couple of days ago. It works for him.
Hi, Pete.
Your friend wouldn't see any difference. At 25-30' he's definitely not experiencing HDTV with a 50" screen. The maximum distance for 1080P for a 50" is a little over 7', with 5' being optimal.
Here's a site that gives info on viewing distance vs screen size. http://www.hdhes.com/tv/hdtvviewdistance.aspx
Kevin
Your friend wouldn't see any difference. At 25-30' he's definitely not experiencing HDTV with a 50" screen. The maximum distance for 1080P for a 50" is a little over 7', with 5' being optimal.
Here's a site that gives info on viewing distance vs screen size. http://www.hdhes.com/tv/hdtvviewdistance.aspx
Kevin
