DS Forums

 
 

A 'read-all' media format TV?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 06-08-2015, 21:50
Barn_Mouse
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 3

Hello,

I'm looking for a TV that allows, or has... the highest amount,
of playable digital movie formats.
Stick a USB in, containing any AVI, MKV, MP4 etc... and it will play them?

Is there such a thing and if so, which is the best at it?

With thanks in advance,
Barn
Barn_Mouse is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 07-08-2015, 08:09
Stig
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Sandy Heath, Beds. UK
Posts: 10,386
Welcome to DS!

The answer is probably no. Even if you got such a TV, it would no doubt be quickly out of date. The reason I got into Media PCs was to find something that could cope will all formats. There are now small Android boxes that can do similar things.
Stig is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2015, 10:19
oilman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,856
Hello,

I'm looking for a TV that allows, or has... the highest amount,
of playable digital movie formats.
Stick a USB in, containing any AVI, MKV, MP4 etc... and it will play them?

Is there such a thing and if so, which is the best at it?

With thanks in advance,
Barn
Assuming you are using a pc, why not just install Plex on PC (or a spare one), and buy a chromecast and you can play all such files to any tv with an hdmi port. A much cheaper solution.
oilman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2015, 19:03
Barn_Mouse
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 3
Assuming you are using a pc, why not just install Plex on PC (or a spare one), and buy a chromecast and you can play all such files to any tv with an hdmi port. A much cheaper solution.

Thank you for replying!

I'm unfortunately on a Mac, no game consoles or such like.
Want to watch the odd movie on the sofa.

Deciding if I can buy a TV, or will it be 'hit and miss'
what movie plays and which the TV will balk at?
Barn_Mouse is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2015, 20:58
chrisjr
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Reading
Posts: 27,926
Thank you for replying!

I'm unfortunately on a Mac, no game consoles or such like.
Want to watch the odd movie on the sofa.

Deciding if I can buy a TV, or will it be 'hit and miss'
what movie plays and which the TV will balk at?
What model of Mac. At the very simplest you could use a HDMI adapter and plug a lead from the Mac to the TV so the TV acts like a second display.

If you are using Snow Leopard (OS-X 10.6) or later you can get a version of Plex for it

https://plex.tv/downloads

So could use the Chromecast suggested above.

Or you could plug an Apple TV box into the TV and your network to act as the interface with the Mac.

You stand more chance of playing any video file you like using a computer rather than a TV . For one thing it is relatively easy to add codecs or whatever to a computer to enable playing of different formats. Virtually impossible to do so with a TV.
chrisjr is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2015, 21:49
oilman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,856
What model of Mac. At the very simplest you could use a HDMI adapter and plug a lead from the Mac to the TV so the TV acts like a second display.

If you are using Snow Leopard (OS-X 10.6) or later you can get a version of Plex for it

https://plex.tv/downloads

So could use the Chromecast suggested above.

Or you could plug an Apple TV box into the TV and your network to act as the interface with the Mac.

You stand more chance of playing any video file you like using a computer rather than a TV . For one thing it is relatively easy to add codecs or whatever to a computer to enable playing of different formats. Virtually impossible to do so with a TV.
Totally agree with Chrisjr.

If you go for a simple hdmi connector, you could use VLC which plays almost any common format (and some lesser common ones as well).

You could also install teamviewer on mac, and on mobile and you can easily play files from your sofa.
oilman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2015, 00:42
Barn_Mouse
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 3
chrisjr
Thank you Chrisjr - I appreciate your advice!

( Was thinking of just getting a Mac Mini )
Barn_Mouse is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2015, 11:41
chrisjr
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Reading
Posts: 27,926
Thank you Chrisjr - I appreciate your advice!

( Was thinking of just getting a Mac Mini )
All the Mac Minis that I have played with have an HDMI socket on the back so that would make connection to a TV dead simple. Assuming you have room next to the telly for it.
chrisjr is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2015, 12:47
steveOooo
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London
Posts: 4,471
My samsung smart tv will play Mkv, mp4, Avis and most other formats

The new hevc h.265 is supported with most 4k tvs
steveOooo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-08-2015, 13:14
spiney2
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 24,124
yep. laptop or desktop computer. vlc player freeware. hdmi connector to external screen, if wanted. is the best option. smart tvs tend not to get software updated, then you're stuck .........
spiney2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-08-2015, 16:27
jjne
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,487
One alternative would be one of the many very cheap Miracast/DLNA dongles available on eBay and elsewhere for under a tenner.

Set up a DLNA server on your MAC (easy -- there's hundreds of free ones available) and zap the files from a mobile phone to your TV.

Cheap and effective. Like a Chromecast but more compatibility if Chromecast fails on your setup.
jjne is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:53.