Pop
Member
Registered: 8th May 03
Location: Reading
User status: Offline
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Hey,
I know quite a few of you already do this and I'm looking for some guidance.
Basically, I'm looking to put our DVD and Blu-ray collection onto a hard drive to stream through our TV. Ideally I would want it stored on an external drive. What would people recommend?
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dannymccann
Member
Registered: 9th Aug 06
Location: Doddington, Lincolnshire
User status: Offline
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I've a Samsung 4 series (I think) TV - wasnt marketed as having any sort of HD support I dont think but it has USB ports so I hooked up my 360GB external with a few pics and music on it and it all worked perfectly fine - believe there was an AVI file on there (MPEG4 possibly) and it played that too.
You say stream though, does that mean wirelessly? I have no idea what that would entail 
Might be trial and error? (if you want to bodge it obviously, there will be some hideously complicated and expensive solution no doubt!)
[Edited on 14-09-2014 by dannymccann]
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Pop
Member
Registered: 8th May 03
Location: Reading
User status: Offline
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I have Apple TV so could load it to ITunes and network it; however, I don't really want to be connecting a hard drive to my laptop every time I want to watch something.
I may be able to connect a hard drive either straight to my TV or through an AV receiver
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jacko198
Member
Registered: 1st Mar 07
Location: Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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Could do it with a PS3?
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Dom
Member
Registered: 13th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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Firstly, see if you're TV supports playing from media/storage drives and has a USB connection; secondly, if it does, then what media and formats does it support; thirdly, use a decent 'portable' external drive that doesn't require an external power supply; and fourthly, rip all your films (if you want to stay 'legal') using a combo of MakeMKV and Handbrake to a format that the TV supports - most recent TV's will support MP4/MKV containers and H264 codec for video with MP3/AAC for audio etc.
If you fail at the first hurdle then you're going to need a media player. If your Apple TV is a gen one or two (i believe it's only the recent third gen that hasn't been unlocked) then you can install XBMC/Kodi, in which case you'd just connect the external drive to your Apple TV (or stream off a NAS if you have one). Otherwise look at WDTV's or perhaps a Raspberry PI (isn't quite plug and play though).
[Edited on 14-09-2014 by Dom]
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Pop
Member
Registered: 8th May 03
Location: Reading
User status: Offline
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Cheers for the responses, I will have a look at what format it can support.
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