What is the best Media Player out?

[budmonster]

I'm trying to find the best way to stream videos from my PC to TV, a cheap and easy solution if possible. I'm willing to pay a little extra to get what I need but nothing crazy. In need of something that can handle most, preferably all formats and codecs. I usually play 8-50GB videos, BD, ISO, etc. I really don't care about Hulu, Netflix or these subscription based services, just need an efficient way to stream movies from PC to TV. I don't care about the UI design, fast would be nice though if possible but no biggy.

I've only tried two methods so far, well three. I had a PS3 for the longest time so I tried using that for streaming by downloading PS3 Media Server. Every video lagged so I gave that up. I bought an Apple TV but it cant handle many formats, MKV was a no-no, returned that. I just bought a WD TV Live media player box. I'm confused on how to set it up, trying to figure it out now. But I was told that this box can handle pretty much everything thrown at it and for the $89 price tag it isn't bad.I'm just wondering if there is anything else out there I could possible try? Recommendations and idea would be appreciated!

 

[raj29shenoy]

Another way is to buy a DLNA, UPnP supported Blu-Ray player like Sony BDP-S790. Then install free streaming softwares like XBMC or Serviio in your PC. Connect PC and BD player over wi-fi and start streaming.
You might need to check the specs of BD player and streaming software regarding the audio/video formats they support as all of them do not support all the formats.

 

[jatinmalhotra]

What you need is a router to connect, wd tv and pc together, Just share the drives where the media is and then you can stream the content from pc to WD tv and then to TV.

This works well and router will be a cheap investment.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

If you have devices that supports gigabit ethernet connection, better to connect them using CAT5 or CAT6(better) cable with a gigabit switch/router.
Otherwise you can check KDLinks HD720.

 

[jagdish_p]

WD TV plays almost every file.

Some limitations

Does not have an inbuilt Wireless and needs an adapter if you are keen on wireless connectivity. Also a good router so that the streaming is smooth - if possible go for wired Ethernet connection

Settings:

Se below link - worked for me ( BTW you play from the WD Player and the PC is only for storage)

A Guide to Fixing Network Shares (THIS WORKS) - WD Community

 

[gopichandpai]

If your TV supports DLNA, I suggest you try serviio - Serviio media server

It plays almost all the formats and it is free. You don't have to spend on a media player.

 

[jinxeddeep]

irrespective of what media player you use, the most important link in the chain here is the router...i have full blu-ray rips, the ones that are between 33-45 GB and most devices have a hard time streaming from my PC as the bitrate is close to 35 MBps...what you need really is a good gigabit router and a media server program that can transcode for you...the end device (ps3, tv, media player etc) matters less if you don't need the device to decode

 

[saikatbiswas82]

+1 to that. We don't have so many devices that runs 802.11ac wifi (i.e. 1gbps bandwidth over wi-fi). So better to stick to basics and connect devices with gigabit router/switch using good old cables.

In case you still want to go ahead with media player, buy one that has either DLNA with gigabit ethernet port or has a internal HDD bay. I found USB 3.0 connection interrupts some many signals (from personal experience). USB 3.0 hampers some PC performances as well and USB 2.0 does not transfer data so fast.

 

[jagdish_p]

Do we really need a giga bit router?
The math does not support it : A 60 GB 3 hour duration file requires approximately 45 Mbps bandwidth. 60x1014x8/3/3600= approx 45 Mbps

Am I missing something here?

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Do we really need a giga bit router?
The math does not support it : A 60 GB 3 hour duration file requires approximately 45 Mbps bandwidth. 60x1014x8/3/3600= approx 45 Mbps

Am I missing something here?

Theoretically that's correct. But now a days gigabit switchs are much cheaper (around 2.2K). So better to invest once and get maximum throughput while file transfers between systems over wired network.

 

[mathan]

I have a powerline adapter. It works flawless between my PC and TV.

http://www.amazon.de/TP-Link-TL-PA5...&ie=UTF8&qid=1365261160&sr=1-1&keywords=PA511

 

[budmonster]

Does anyone have a WDTV Live steaming media player here? And I can stream 30GB files with no problem, my wireless connections seems to be holding up pretty well. But I do need some help fixing my WDTV Live SMP box.

 

[mk15]

How are the himedia and kaiober media players. U can hook up bd rom drives on these. Any user experiences. Thanks.

 

[budmonster]

How are the himedia and kaiober media players. U can hook up bd rom drives on these. Any user experiences. Thanks.

Why are you hijacking my thread? I need help getting my WDTV box set up.

 

[mk15]

^^ Hey bro wasn't it which is the best media player thread. No intentions of hijacking it.