Playing Downloaded Movies/TV Shows On Non Smart TV

[Intimidator88]

Hello all! I am wondering how i can play downloaded movies and TV shows on my non smart HD TV? I have a bunch of these downloaded onto my Desktop computer so is there an device that would allow me to access it through the network and play it on my TV? Maybe the Roku or Chromecast would suit my needs?

 

[Deleted User]

Connect your computer to your TV via HDMI and use your TV as a monitor, drag the player you use onto the TV monitor.
Or a PS3+a media server like Plex could work, too. And that might work with a PS4 too, I don't know, though. I don't have one.

 

[Intimidator88]

Connect your computer to your TV via HDMI and use your TV as a monitor, drag the player you use onto the TV monitor.
Or a PS3+a media server like Plex could work, too. And that might work with a PS4 too, I don't know, though. I don't have one.

Problem is that my Desktop and TV are not in the same room so that would be alittle troubleson to do. I just need something that would be able to access files from my Desktop and play them on my TV wireless through the network. I didn't think of the PS3...Maybe i could try that and see if it works

 

[mrtofu]

deleted

 

[Deleted User]

Problem is that my Desktop and TV are not in the same room so that would be alittle troubleson to do. I just need something that would be able to access files from my Desktop and play them on my TV wireless through the network. I didn't think of the PS3...Maybe i could try that and see if it works

I see. But yeah, try the PS3 media server thing. If that doesn't work, you could always but these on an external hard drive and plug that into your PS3.

 

[FAST6191]

For what it is worth I have yet to see a smart TV I really rate for anything beyond netflix/some streaming service it supports.

If I don't need those fancy services (and they are available on everything else) then I quite like raspberry pis and XBMC/kodi. It will happily fetch files over SMB/windows shares, if they are MKV, MP4, AVI and standard scene style H264 or xvid then it will do it all day long.

 

[mrtofu]

deleted

 

[FAST6191]

Wonder if the anime crowd will see sense and drop the 10 bit stuff.... wonder if I could make some kind of transcoder a la some of the old DVD shrinking software.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The Raspberry Pi 2 makes for a awesome little cheap media player. You can use it for emulation too, and even stream PC games to it from your desktop via limelight if you have a nvidia card. Limelight uses Nvidia GameStream, the same thing Nvidia Shield uses. I tried it on my Android phone and it works surprisingly well on my local wifi, it's damn near flawless.

 

[Depravo]

I'll also vouch for the Raspberry Pi 2 running Kodi. I recommend OpenELEC.

 

[Intimidator88]

Well my PS3 did the trick! I installed the PS3 Media Server onto my desktop and it allowed my PS3 to access my desktop with ease!

 

[insidexdeath]

Chromecast if you have a smartphone would be an ideal choice for you.

 

[GreatCrippler]

I got my parents a cheap DvD player that has a usb input to watch AVI and MP4 files.

 

[nl255]

I personally use a GameStick with the dock as that plus SPMC (hint: install the custom firmware which gives you a full Android system including the Play Store) has worked with everything I have thrown at it. SPMC is just a port of Kodi to Android with some extra patches that didn't make it into the main tree but it works well and is one of the few Android media players that includes built in support for SMB with no custom kernel or tricks like ES File Explorer uses.

The only catch is that Netflix will not be in HD due to not supporting whatever DRM is required for that. Though you can find older versions of Netflix patched to run at HD on such devices.

 

[Deleted User]

Wonder if the anime crowd will see sense and drop the 10 bit stuff.... wonder if I could make some kind of transcoder a la some of the old DVD shrinking software.

DVD shrinker?
I have a shrunken DVD!

Oh wait...

 

[Sychophantom]

I have an older Roku that can play from USB. It's one of the few devices I have that can play MKV files from usb without a need to re-encode. Everything else streams well either through an xbox360 or PS3.

However, I watch more things at work than at home, and my HP Stream 7 (Win8.1 tablet) runs Kodi rather well, and handles everything without a stutter.

 

[nxwing]

I also have a non Smart HD TV that has HDMI ports. I bought one of those USB to HDMI cables and it works great!