General question about playing video on tv

[bob581]

Hi everyone,

this is my first post here, I hope this forum can help me with my issue.

The issue I'm trying to address is that I want to be able to play videos on my tv, The videos are located on my computer. It's a fairly simple task, so I hope the answer is also fairly simple.
As I understand it, this forum is mainly for android TVs, but my question is actually broader: I'd like to know what is the easiest tool that I could use to reach this objective, whether buying an android TV or not, and if so, then which one should I buy.

Here are some additional constraints / remarks:
- Video quality: up to HD
- Video encoding: I want to be able to play virtually all encodings (such as the ones supported by vlc)
- The TV is not in the same room as the computer
- The TV has various unused HDMI ports
- The TV does not have the ability to read data present on the network (no wifi/ethernet)
- I don't want to set up a long cable between the two rooms (such as a long HDMI cable)
- I don't want to have to go to the PC to manage the videos (such as choosing which video to play, or use pause, next, forward, ...), which is what chromecast requires, from what I gathered
- I do not need any other feature provided by the android TV except for this one, so if there's a better or cheaper option, I'd gladly take it instead

With all that in mind, is the best option an android TV + a NAS server ?

Thanks.

[mitchell4you]

Hi, and welcome to freaktab

Well.. a pc uses alot of power vs a android unit
So, if you have a external powered usb2harddrive (under 2tb ) and buy a android tvbox... you should be oke

other options
Make the PC a NAS, like installing Kodi and enable sharing your lib.. then accessing your lib using android/kodi (wiki/kodi has a howto* )
or
use windows filesharing.. then access the files using android/kodi ( * )
or
use your router with usb to share your collection..then use android (or your pc) as player connected to tv
or
connect pc to android using powerline adaptors.. (pc nas / android as player)

So, how big is your collection?
Is this your first android tvbox?
whats your price range?
whats your setup? av reciever? dolby/dts/5.1/7.1.. ?
do you have a wifi router? is the range within pc and tv ?

Cheers

[Lurker]

I would purchase either an MXIII-G or Tronsmart MXIII Plus and then decide on the best option of those suggested above to read the video files wirelessly from the PC. An android TV box will allow you to access your media in many different ways using just the supplied remote control or a cheap airmouse (<$9).

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_202596.html

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Trons...ug-349164.html

Reviews of MXIII-G
http://forum.xda-developers.com/andr...eview-t3160863

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmKn2dwSFxQ

[paulsiu]

You have several options, but also multiple issues.

First, is your wireless capable of streaming HD? You may for example have interference from the neighbor's wireless or your TV is far away from the computer. You an do a proof of concept test by streaming the movie to a laptop or phone near the TV.

Once you have established that this is possible, you can weight in on your options and how much effort and money you want to expend. Here are some ideas:

1. If you have a blueray player, most of them can't stream off a windows computer, but many do have a DLNA client that can access a DLNA server. You can run DLNA server on your PC like Serviio and you will be able to browse the video and play them back. The problem is that the blueray typically only support a handful of file formats. Your DLNA server will need to transcode the stream to something that the blueray can read. Transcoding a HD format may require a fast PC, which you may or may not have.

2. Another simple solution is to buy Media player box like WD Media Player. The box hooks up to your TV and you can stream files off your PC. The WD Media player appears to be discontinued, but there are similar products from Netgear. Compare to android set top boxes, they are kind of slow, but the software is mature and gets the job done.

3. If you have a chromecast and have a later android phone (like Lollipop release), you can cast your screen to the TV. I have use a combination of ES Explorer and MX Player to do this.

4. If you buy a android tv, you should be able to do the same thing as #3 since it is just Android after all.

Paul

[bob581]

hello, thanks for the answers and sorry for the delay.

To answer your questions:
- collection about 2tb, but could grow
- my first tv box
- no price range, just looking for the best option
- no av receiver, or sound setup
- wifi router, within range of both tv/pc.

so do you reckon I shoud buy a MXIII-G ? Is there a better alternative, with better specs, even if it's more expensive ?
And if I should go for a NAS too, what would you recommend ?

----
oh and I don't get all your answers about kodi, I don't really know what it is, how does it apply to my case ? Where is it that I should install kodi ? On the android TV, or the computer ?

[Lurker]

You can't really go wrong with an MXIII-G. It's a pretty decent standalone media player and you have a huge range of different options for streaming media from your PC either via a LAN cable or wirelessly. There are more capable devices available but I don't think that you will gain much by spending more money. The NVidia Shield is the best android TV player currently but at a cost of $200 would only make sense if you require the 4K Netflix streaming or playback capabilities or the advanced NVidia gaming features.

Both DealsMachine and Geekbuying have specials on the 2/8GB unit currently - $49-99 and $56-99 but there might be more convenient sources depending on where you are located?

http://www.dealsmachine.com/best_254452.html

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/MXIII...65-362247.html

Personally I would first purchase the unit and then experiment with a few different methods to access your stored media before deciding on further hardware. You could even use the MXIII-G to download content directly to USB storage etc.

Kodi is an all-in-one media player which can stream on demand content from multiple web based sources, thousands of different live IPTV channels as well as stored content from internal flash, USB sources, other devices on your LAN such as PCs or NAS etc. It usually comes preinstalled on most android TV boxes but can also be downloaded free of charge from the Google Play Store etc. You should be able to access the stored content on your PC directly from Kodi.

The Tronsmart S95 Vega Telos which has a SATA connector for an external hard drive or SSD might also be of interest but you should still expect some teething problems as it has only been available for a few weeks.
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Trons...TA-359700.html

[vidtek]

Without more information on your physical set up it's hard to know where to start. Most responders have suggested nas and external devices of all types, may I suggest a different approach?
When in Perth, I had a rather noisy HTPC that was in my garage. I used a HDMI over cat5/6 to pipe the output of it to my Samsung ES8000 Smart TV. This worked brilliantly until I relocated from Australia back to Bournemouth where it's no longer needed as the distance between the TV and computer is just the other side of the wall.
There I was able to use the tv as my computer monitor and watch my whole library through Mythtv, using the HDMI over cat5/6 device's infra-red pass-through, and a bluetooth wireless Keyboard and mouse from the comfort of my reclining armchair. I still have the HDMI to cat5/6 converter if you want it you can have it for £25. Most of those kits are £100 plus, and that's for a single cat5 cable, this uses dual cat 5/6 cables.

Tony.

[prahjister]

Mk808b plus is fantastic inexpensive. Load kodi and point it to your shared collection. There are several ROMs to choose from. If strictly video openelec works fast and easy to load.