Other Hardware Media Player - What is it? What can it do for me?

[dgrams]

Okay, I saw in other threads around here - talk about Media Players.

What is involved with it?
Is it just playing movies off of your PC?
What are advantages? What are drawbacks or issues?
Cost? Is there extra steps in converting movies?

I want to learn more, but being new to it - I dont want to jump to a webpage about it where you already need to know something about media players to understand what they are talking about.

I'm building up my basement in a few months and am planning to 'do it right'.
So this may fit in, instead of 3d blu ray players and whatnot...

Thanks.

[Guest]

Description on home page.

[CBR929]

Hi dgrams
I am not sure if this is what you are talking about, but here are a couple of threads on it , , and more on the Fab search here
Hope this helped
CBR929

[dgrams]

So, my network at this point is wireless from a room above our living room.
When I fix up the basement, my computer room and movie theatre will all be down there.. so I will have a wired network for better playback.

For now though...
It looks as if this is wireless



So lets say I pick up something like this with a 2tb usb drive that I will supposedly be able to push my movie files down to...

Then I get to the questions.
What plays the files off the hard drive..? The media box? If the files are on the HDD, do I need my computer on at all? I'm guessing not.
Is there a certain file that I have to create out of DVDFab to bel able to stream?
Or Can I just use a normal DVD/BD Rip into iso mode or something?
Will it play my 3d rips in 3d on the tv?

[GregiBoy]

1. The media box.
2. No.
3. I generally use MKV as the best solution.
4. Most players support DVD Rips fully with menus and BD Rips without menus.
5. Depends on the actual player. I don't think that one does.

Read the specs thoroughly.

Then I get to the questions.
What plays the files off the hard drive..? The media box? If the files are on the HDD, do I need my computer on at all? I'm guessing not.
Is there a certain file that I have to create out of DVDFab to bel able to stream?
Or Can I just use a normal DVD/BD Rip into iso mode or something?
Will it play my 3d rips in 3d on the tv?

[dgrams]

Huh.. after messing around and thinking about it..
I realized my new Samsung 55" LED has a media player type setup on it with a bunch of USB ports on it.

Time to do some investigating...

Is an mkv conversion something you can do of the whole disk, or is it like just ripping the movie off the disk?
Do you still get chapter information when doing this or is the movie one large file that you have to FF thru to get somewhere?

[GregiBoy]

Try things out with the Sammy by all means but I sold mine because the media player software in the TV was less than ordinary. Lots of constraints and poor firmware updates. Maybe they've improved.

Just the movie. None of the other cr@p although you can encode them as separate titles is you want. I've only ever bothered with one out of thousands of disks and that was "The Making of Blade Runner"

I embed chapters, multiple audio tracks and multiple subtitle tracks within the MKV container.

Also, most Media Players have a "GOTO" option that will take you to a specific time in the movie and the ones that I am using at the moment remember where you were in a movie and ask you if you want to go there when you play it again.

I don't think that FAb can do the multiple track/chapters thingy, especially for DVD's yet although it has been asked for for years so I use FREE software to do it.

[dgrams]

This could be one of those 'samsung' limitation things.. but if you embed all the languages, and subtitles.. how do you toggle between that stuff when just streaming off a single file?

[GregiBoy]

Press the "subtitle" and "Audio" buttons on the Media Player remote.

This could be one of those 'samsung' limitation things.. but if you embed all the languages, and subtitles.. how do you toggle between that stuff when just streaming off a single file?

[dgrams]

LOL.
I just noticed also that my new Panasonic 3D BluRay player also acts as a media player.

The question here is... if this is a device that has Cinavia enabled with the discs, will I run into the same issues on streamed video off usb or network?

[maineman]

Great question.
As I understand it, the cinavia "infection" is a function of the players firmware.
Hence the resistance by player owners to update firmware if at all possible.
Similarly, prospective owners are seeking players manufactured prior to Feb. 1 2012.

I believe PS3 owners have essentially been forced into updating by the ever fair and benevolent sony corp.

I play everything via media players so I remain in-the-dark on any specifics, but gratefully unaffected......for now anyway.


Why not try it and post back with the results

[dgrams]

Gotta learn how these media players work first.

Then I'll take my Green Hornet and rip it and see what happens... depending on how good the Media Player in the Panasonic seems to be

[dgrams]

Played around with the BluRay's Media player... its okay. But there are still featues of the Western Digital Media player that I want, so I just ordered one.

1. It will play .iso files. it doesnt advertise it, but many people in the reviews say that it plays dvd and blu ray isos.
(I like the idea of having .isos. If I need to reburn a disc then.. i can very easily)

2. It has built in wireless. Not good for streaming 1080, but good for encoding on my pc, and using my wireless to transfer files to the 2TB HDD that I will have hooked into the WD Media Player.
(Wired network will come, which then I can centralize a Hard Drive for multiple TVs..)

Never really found anything that says it plays 3d, but I'm thinking if I encode into MKV, in side by side.. it might play the file.. then I just use the TV in side by side mode to play. (its worth a shot)

[GregiBoy]

Keep us informed of the progress........

[Jonatan]

Wd media player

I think you will be happy with it I have an older one with no wifi it plays everything I throw @ it I prefer mkv than ISO get the files smaller