Media player (not a stand alone dvd player)

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi all,

Sadly, no television is able recognise/play .iso files via a USB connected HDD or via a network connection.Neither can any Blu-ray disc player.

It's one of the reasons why I moved away from .iso contained files and over to 'movie only' .mkv contained files.


Cheers

[SuperFist]

How are you doing, skoy?

Wow... I haven't been here in a while but I thought I'd chime in about my journey of media players and what ended up working for me... in an awesome way! You can also check my previous posting history in my profile to see this journey as well.

I have used the AIOS HD Media Center which is now discontinued. It worked the most consistently, but I was hounded and extremely pestered by HD audio (DTS-HD MA & Dolby TrueHD) randomly dropping out and me having to fiddle around with settings ad nauseum to ascertain the source of the issue. It happened to be a defect of the device's audio drivers unfortunately.

I have and occasionally use the Sony BDP-BX510 Blu-ray Player, which has the ability to play M2TS and MKV files from the USB connection. However, this depends on if you have an external HDD that is over 2TB as I discovered to my chagrin that anything 2TB and under has issues playing these files longer than 20 min. That limit sounds like a Cinavia issue, but trust me, it's not. It's a limitation of the firmware, which incidentally used to be able to play it! I remember effortlessly playing many of these formats before the device updated (don't ask me why I updated... I just wasn't thinking clearly at the time). I still use this device in my guest room since it was only $50 on eBay.

I have also tried out the Dune HD Smart D1 1080P Media Player, which though well stocked and presented, it just did not recognize my external HDDs over 2TB that housed my blu-ray movie collection. I prefer to play my blu-ray movies from folders, which is my favorite copy method (Full Movie) with DVDFab. That way I get the entire disc and can return to it if I need to access something else later. But, needless to say, since this wonderfully built media player couldn't play most of my movie collection, it had to be returned and it is rather pricey, too (almost $400 on Amazon).

And last but not least, my true blue, reliable and awesome HTPC I use to play all of my movie files, folders, DVDs, blu-rays, etc...
It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Lenovo Q190 - Intel Mobile Celeron Dual-Core 1017U!!



THIS LITTLE PC IS FANTASTIC and it plays blu-ray movie folders and files flawlessly (well of course it does, you say... it's a PC)!!! I have been using it faithfully since I purchased it a year ago and DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD play uninterruptedly and beautifully on this unit! You can't see it from this photo as the compartment is shut but it has 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front of the device for connection all of your external HDD media. I purchased this from Amazon for the cheap price of $177 at that time as they price matched a deal Lenovo was running on their website. Since then, these puppies have increased in price dramatically! They are now $300 "on sale" on Amazon... go figure!

In case you're wondering, on the Lenovo, the free program I use which works flawlessly with all of my media needs is Media Player Classic Home Cinema or MPC-HC. However, if I really want to play DVD folders with their menus and a perfectly deinterlaced experience, I use another free program called VLC Media Player.

I hope this will help you make the correct decision on purchasing the right media player or HTPC for your movie playing needs.

[SeeMoreDigital]

In case you're wondering, on the Lenovo, the free program I use which works flawlessly with all of my media needs is Media Player Classic Home Cinema or MPC-HC. However, if I really want to play DVD folders with their menus and a perfectly deinterlaced experience, I use another free program called VLC Media Player.

Out of interest. Have you tried using DVDFab Media Player 2?

What graphics card is installed? Does it offer 50Hz or 100Hz video output modes. If it doesn't it wont display the video on PAL DVD's correctly...

[SuperFist]

Out of interest. Have you tried using DVDFab Media Player 2?

I actually have not. I guess while that program was being improved upon, I was wrapped up in my own struggle with hardware and never really ventured to experiment with new software.

I'll have to give it a try... as a matter of fact, right now!

UPDATE: I just experimented with Avengers: Age of Ultron, Monsters University and Pirates of Silicon Valley. While the deinterlacing of regular DVD movies seems better than my current settings on MPC-HC, the HD audio detection is horrible! I had to fiddle with the settings to get Dolby TrueHD to finally show up on Monsters University but the same finagling didn't work on the DTS-HD MA audio track of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Thank you for the recommendation, but I will definitely stick with MPC-HC as it has a plethora of nice features like zooming with the numeric keypad by merely pressing specific keys for certain functions to adjust the movie picture at nice, small increments, something that is absent from DVDFab Media Player. Also MPC-HC doesn't require me to do anything to adjust the audio no matter what source is playing so it still wins, hands down!

[skoy]

Thanks for the suggestion Superfist.
I havent tried using external hard drive connected to one of my tv's usb ports yet.I am afraid it won't work.
Your pc suggestion works.
I just ripped and burnt Jurrasic World movie on a DL disc. 2 dvd and one bluray players froze while viewing this disc. Not at the same spot!
I even used another paid software to burn another copy. same issue.
I tried the pc method. Connected my Asus laptop thru hdmi port. I ran DVDfab media player. Not one issue!! it was flawless.
I guess burning process somehow is causing the problem.

[skoy]

OK, the latest from me:

The lenovo laptop suggested here is $300 at Amazon, where I constantly shop. I wouldn't spend that much. I can always use my 2 year old Asus laptop when it is time to replace it. (AS an external media player attached to tv.)


A micca media player has been suggested. The only micca player available at Amazon is Micca Speck at $40. Very reasonable price. Exactly what I want and need. Basically, you attach thumb drive or External HD to Micca, then micca to TV thru hdmi cable.
Most reviews are positive. Some complain that it eventually stops working.
I've decided to go ahead and order it. If it doesn't work, I will be $40 poorer. no big deal.

I will leave a post here after I start using Micca Speck.

Apparently, this unit recognizes EH drives up to 2T.

[skoy]

Here's a picture from Amazon.

[Mauser]

OK, the latest from me:
A micca media player has been suggested. The only micca player available at Amazon is Micca Speck at $40. Very reasonable price. Exactly what I want and need. Basically, you attach thumb drive or External HD to Micca, then micca to TV thru hdmi cable.
Most reviews are positive. Some complain that it eventually stops working.
I've decided to go ahead and order it. If it doesn't work, I will be $40 poorer. no big deal.

I will leave a post here after I start using Micca Speck.

Apparently, this unit recognizes EH drives up to 2T.

Looking forward to an update on how this player works for you. I do not need one right now, but you never know...

I do all my backups of standard DVD as iso copies to USB HDDs(don't use Blue-ray much because files are so big), and I play them through my old ASUS O!Play player. That player was never my favorite, but it just keeps chugging along - works just fine with external drives, but network connections to my computers and NAS seems hit or miss. I started using iso copies because I had been making disc copies that way, and when I decided to switch to HDD copies, I was not sure how I would like it, so I wanted an easy path to just burning copies if I ever decided that was the best choice. Over the years it has just worked perfectly and I never felt the need to consider something else.

[skoy]

Hello Mauser and other members;

I love this little gadget, and hope that the software will get better with future updates.
Here's my impression:

Micca Speck is a well built player. It came with a very nice remote that requires 2 aaa batteries (not included.) Some complained about that! Jeeez!!!
I didn't use the included AV cables.It has an HDMI output. So, I used my own and connected it to my TV. I attached a 2 TB external hard drive to Micca with a USB cable.
You have to be standing in front of Micca to use the remote.Otherwise, it does not get the signal.
When you turn the player on, you see 5 icons in this order: File, music,movie,photo,setting.
With setting, you can pick any audio and video connections.
I selected movie folder, and the new screen showed 3 choices: usb device,memory card,CDROM.
I selected usb device. Then, I choice movies folder ( you see all the folders you create in external drive).
I was able to see all the movie (folder) titles in alphabetical order. I picked any movie title. I had 2 optionslay file or browse file.
After selecting "play file", the movie started! SUCCESS!!!

few things to mention:

If you rip the entire dvd with extras, you have to press "the next chapter arrow" until you see the movie menu.
If you prefer to have subtitles on the screen, you can. But, sometimes few words spoken are omitted. A DVD player does a better job on this. I prefer subtitles when I am watching movies made in England.
One movie wouldn't start when I selected "Start" on screen. I went to "Screen", and selected the first screen. The movie started and played perfectly.
There is no difference in video quality between a burnt DVD+R and a digital copy in external drive.

I haven't checked the firmware update yet. Hoping here that, this little player will get better with updates.

one more thing: you need to connect the player to electric outlet with included adapter.

Here's the link for manual:

http://www.miccatron.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/micca-speck-g2-user-manual.pdf

[skoy]

If interested, please read the following from Micca Speck's web site. especially restrictions under FAQ.

http://www.miccatron.com/micca-speck/

Amazon has several digital player choices:

http://www.amazon.com/Incredisonic-IMP150-Full-HD-Portable-Digital/dp/B00IS4SWFU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1449587071&sr=8-3&keywords=micca+speck

[SeeMoreDigital]

According to the supplied information on the Miccatron web site, there does not appear to be any support for media files that contain Dolby Digital (AC3) audio. And the maximum supported file size is listed as being just 4GB. Which wont be large enough for many DVD back-ups

Also, the device supports "up to 1080p resolution and 40Mbps bit rate"..., which might not be enough for some Blu-ray disc back-ups!


Cheers

[skoy]

good points SeeMoreDigital. I realized the sound was coming from my center channel only while viewing movies. Personally, I care less unless I am watching movies like Star Wars, Top Gun, etc.

I had no problem watching ripped movies with DvdFab bigger than 4GB. i believe the limit on MKV files is 4 GB.

do you know what format DvdFab use?

[skoy]

Duh!!!

I will answer my own question

Vob is the extension. I copied the following from Internet:

VOB is a file extension for a video object file format used to store encrypted video and audio files used on current DVDs.

VOB files can contain three streams: audio, video (MPEG-2) and subtitles.

[SeeMoreDigital]

I had no problem watching ripped movies with DvdFab bigger than 4GB. i believe the limit on MKV files is 4 GB.

The 4GB limit is usually associated with AVI contained files stored on FAT-32 formatted HDD's.

Personally, I use the (Matroska) .mkv container for storing all my DVD and BRD back-ups...


Cheers

[90312]

DVD structure breaks up movies into BUP and VOB files all less than the 4GB limit for FAT32. If you make an iso from the structure you will likely bump the limit.