Streaming movies from pc to tv?

thenashlegend

Is there any cheap (ish) way of doing this? Have a stack of movies and series on the pc in one room, that I'd like to be able to play on the TV in the other room over the Christmas.

I know of things like XBMC, Raspberry Pi and the Apple TV box, but will these allow what I'm after?

This wont be wireless as I have network ports in the corner where the tv is. But what's the best way to go about it that wont limit me to playing only certain formats?

Thanks in advance!

Remouad

Get a raspberry pi and a class 10 memory card (doesn't have to be a bit one).
Stick Raspbmc on it and you're sorted.
You can use your phone as a remote(if you have a smartphone)
If you have a smart TV you might be able to use it to control xbmc

otherwise you get get one of these to do the same thing

andy1249

thenashlegend wrote: »

Is there any cheap (ish) way of doing this? Have a stack of movies and series on the pc in one room, that I'd like to be able to play on the TV in the other room over the Christmas.

I know of things like XBMC, Raspberry Pi and the Apple TV box, but will these allow what I'm after?

This wont be wireless as I have network ports in the corner where the tv is. But what's the best way to go about it that wont limit me to playing only certain formats?

Thanks in advance!

The Apple TV has no networking capabilities other than connecting to the apple store or sharing from itunes , you cannot access other devices on your home network.

Raspberry Pi assumes some knowledge of how to set up one of these hobby kits as a media device , and may choke with some material depending on which model you buy. Large media libraries are beyond this device.


For something that works out of the box , try one of these ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-TV-Live-Media-Player/dp/B005NYOKC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385380606&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+tv+live

Plays just about everything, all you have to do is share the folder on the PC containing the media , and the WDTV will pick it up.

Smartphone remote as well if you want it , via the WDTV app.

Dave 101

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-TV-Live-Media-Player/dp/B005NYOKC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385380606&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+tv+live


can you get one of these with Netflix?

magnavox

I'd recommend trying the sky nowtv box, there's a big thread on bargain alerts if you want to have a look. Basically its a wireless only streaming box for about €15.

Buy it, side load Plex onto it (very easy), Put plex on computer, and hey presto. Wireless streaming.

For €15 I'm very impressed. Read through the tread to see if it'll suit your needs.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057001096

Fazer6

Hello Dave 101.

Yes, it does have Netflix.
I have one of these boxes and I use it for Netflix and streaming stored media from my PC to my TV. It works great with very little need to set it up.

Fazer6.

BionicRasher

Nice machines too
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roku-3-HD-Streaming-Player/dp/B00E37LZVY

superleedsdub

andy1249 wrote: »

Large media libraries are beyond this device.

What do you consider to be large? My 2 Raspberry Pi`s cope pretty well with my 5Tb library:-)

The Now TV is a good option, but bear in mind that it can only connect to your network wirelessly (no Ethernet port on it).

magnavox

superleedsdub wrote: »

What do you consider to be large? My 2 Raspberry Pi`s cope pretty well with my 5Tb library:-)

The Now TV is a good option, but bear in mind that it can only connect to your network wirelessly (no Ethernet port on it).

Have you ever had any problems with audio sync issues with your Pi's? I use one with XBMC and an external hardrive plugged into it. Almost every video there is some noticeable lag and it takes ages to correct it. The videos are fine played on the computer?

Tom Dunne

magnavox wrote: »

Have you ever had any problems with audio sync issues with your Pi's? I use one with XBMC and an external hardrive plugged into it. Almost every video there is some noticeable lag and it takes ages to correct it. The videos are fine played on the computer?

Yes, I have. I think it more depends on how the video is encoded, though. I haven't encountered issues that are specific to reading from the hard drive vs. the memory card. It appears no matter where I play the problem file from, it has lag.

LowOdour

Id recommend the NowTV box also...cheap and easy to put plex on it. But because its a wifi only box, you would need an access point, which would be simple enough to do with a second hand router...plug it in wgere your points are. I have tried doing similar with the Rasp PI...it worked, but gave more hassel than its worth.

LowOdour

Id recommend the NowTV box also...cheap and easy to put plex on it. But because its a wifi only box, you would need an access point, which would be simple enough to do with a second hand router...plug it in wgere your points are. I have tried doing similar with the Rasp PI...it worked, but gave more hassel than its worth.

martyc5674

XBMC running on an android box will do this seamlessly for you... And a whole lot more if you want!
There's a nice looking Linux box aswell on adverts called a jynxbox that looks real good.
I use a mx xbmc box to do exactly what your after and it works 100%.
The rasp pi is a great piece of kit to play with but it doesn't have the processing power of other boxes out there.
Type Xbmc into adverts.ie.
Marty.

Lukehandypants

If u have a blue ray player with network capabilities u can download serviio it's a media streaming programme.
After downloading it run it and then add the folders with ur media in it.
Then go to the blue ray player and it should come up as an option.
I use this for my music films pictures.
It streams nearly all files mkv mts video with DTS audio.
Audio wise it can do flac files.
It works really well on Sony blu rays with a wired network, I tried it with wifi but it just stuttered alloover the place epically when playing back a mkv file in 1080 with DTS just not enough on wifi, perfect on a world connection.

longshotvalue

A Samsung Smart BluRay player is the best value way to do this and probably the simplest.

For about £100 you will get

Plex media player, blue ray player, netflix, rte/tv3/4od player and also if you have unblockus bbc/itv etc.. Also the Plex client on the Samsung looks better that the plex client on the now tv, and seems to stream the movies at a higher quality..

Value wise it cant be beat (only possibly by the nowtv box), but if you want more than just films on your hard drive it looks a better option than most of the media players out there at a similar price that dont have blu ray..

I have a wdtv, the now tv boxs and a couple of samsung smart tvs and there is no comparison..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-BD-F6500-Smart-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B00BXJJGHK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388483952&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+smart+blu+ray+player

A Samsung Smart BluRay player is the best value way to do this and probably the simplest.

All new Bluray players released from Feb 2012 onwards - including the linked Samsung - have cinavia DRM so I don't recommend Bluray players for playing ripped content. Some previous models have it also but from Feb 2012 it became mandatory.