What's the best way to play internet content on TV?

[Surf N Turf]

We avoid Australian TV in our house, as I'm sure many of you do, and have happily existed watching only DVDs this year. (Breaking Bad was a real highlight - highly recommend). However, I'm keen to expand our horizons and start downloading TV.

 

Where I get a little fuzzy on the process is that I want to watch the show that I've downloaded on my TV (actually just a large computer monitor) in the lounge rather than on an iPAD or at the computer desk. Does anyone use Apple TV or any other gadget to route the internet content to TV? If so, is it any good?

 

I'm not interested in Fetch TV or any other devices that would also bring regular TV back into our home. I just want to play what we've downloaded but I'm concerned that some of the devices, such as Apple TV, might be restricted to iTunes only content or that it would take an aeon to route the program from computer to TV.

 

I hope there is someone out there in PIO world that can give advice in 'normal-speak' as I'm (clearly) technologically-challenged. Thanks.

[oldgit]

Hey mate,

 

What format is the file/program that you have downloaded. Can you just plug your laptop into your TV via a HDMI lead?

[Surf N Turf]

We don't have a laptop so I'm hoping to wirelessly route the TV show from the Imac to the TV. I want to download stuff from BBC iplayer and other catch-up TV sites. Is that what you mean by format?

[oldgit]

I might be wrong but I think you will have a lot of trouble downloading from the sites you have mentioned. Have you tried it yet?

[Surf N Turf]

The problem isn't downloading, it's getting it from iMac to TV. I don't want to watch it on my computer, I want to watch it on my TV. Am I making sense?

[Guest Richie rich]

The problem isn't downloading, it's getting it from iMac to TV. I don't want to watch it on my computer, I want to watch it on my TV. Am I making sense?

 

I use apple tv, the new airplay makes it really easy, just make sure your wifi is up to it.

[moven]

Many different tools out there to watch such as popcorn hour media streaming devices.

 

As your tv is a PC monitor the simplest way of transferring from applemac to the monitor would be by way of USB stick or download to an external hard drive and then plug into the TV/PC monitor might need a wireless keyboard & mouse though? Havn't tried it myself.

[Jurls]

We transfer ours from the laptop to the external hard drive which we then plug into our blu ray player via USB cable :biggrin:

[oldgit]

Sorry I don't think I can help you there. All I do is copy (xvid file) to a disk and play through my DVD player or plug my laptop into the TV with a HDMI lead.

 

Good luck

 

The oldgit.

[Surf N Turf]

I use apple tv, the new airplay makes it really easy, just make sure your wifi is up to it.

 

I've yet to test it so I hope with wi-fi will be sufficient. Can you explain a bit more about airplay? I've got it in my head that I can download anything to the iMac or iPad and then show it through apple tv. But some stuff I've read has concerned me that apple TV will only work with iTunes content and I can't be faffing around with converting files.

 

Does airplay make it possible for you to push anything from an iMac or iPad to the TV through apple TV or just iTunes content?

[Surf N Turf]

Sorry I don't think I can help you there. All I do is copy (xvid file) to a disk and play through my DVD player or plug my laptop into the TV with a HDMI lead.

 

Good luck

 

The oldgit.

 

Copying to a disc is possible but I can't see myself doing it to Downton Abbey or whatever each night. It might help in the short-term though. Thanks.

[Surf N Turf]

Many different tools out there to watch such as popcorn hour media streaming devices.

 

As your tv is a PC monitor the simplest way of transferring from applemac to the monitor would be by way of USB stick or download to an external hard drive and then plug into the TV/PC monitor might need a wireless keyboard & mouse though? Havn't tried it myself.

 

It's looking like using a USB stick/external hard drive might be the way to go initially. I'm really interested in using a media streaming device (thanks for the terminology - that's the phrase I was looking for!) so I'll have a look at the popcorn hour. Thank you.

[llessur]

Ah, I was having a conversation with a friend a couple of days ago about this - some of the new games consoles such as the PS3 offer this sort of capability but I'm not really into games (well, in truth I'm scared of getting into games and thus losing a lot of my time to the things) so I haven't got one.

 

Seems like there is a device that offers the same functionaility but without the gaming (and therefore are much cheaper) - a Digital Media Adpator (DMA).

 

I had a brief search on Amazon etc but haven't really gone too far into it yet - Google should help out but here's a couple of links to start with:

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/tech-tips-and-tricks/how-to-choose-and-install-a-digital-media-adapter.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media_receiver

 

If you get further than I have would be grateful to hear about it...

[ozziepom]

Do you have a PS3? I run ps3mediaserver on my iMac (free software) which plays anything. X-Box XBMC is supposed to be good too. Otherwise you just need a media client (Apple TV may do, especially if you install XBMC on it) and share the content from your mac.

 

Be careful of wireless if you want to stream HD, lot depends on distance and protocol, ideally you want 802.11n on both sides.

[Surf N Turf]

Ah, I was having a conversation with a friend a couple of days ago about this - some of the new games consoles such as the PS3 offer this sort of capability but I'm not really into games (well, in truth I'm scared of getting into games and thus losing a lot of my time to the things) so I haven't got one.

 

Seems like there is a device that offers the same functionaility but without the gaming (and therefore are much cheaper) - a Digital Media Adpator (DMA).

 

I had a brief search on Amazon etc but haven't really gone too far into it yet - Google should help out but here's a couple of links to start with:

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/tech-tips-and-tricks/how-to-choose-and-install-a-digital-media-adapter.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media_receiver

 

If you get further than I have would be grateful to hear about it...

 

 

I'm with you about the games - I waste enough time as it is. Thanks for links. I'll check it out and let you know how I go.

[Surf N Turf]

Do you have a PS3? I run ps3mediaserver on my iMac (free software) which plays anything. X-Box XBMC is supposed to be good too. Otherwise you just need a media client (Apple TV may do, especially if you install XBMC on it) and share the content from your mac.

 

Be careful of wireless if you want to stream HD, lot depends on distance and protocol, ideally you want 802.11n on both sides.

 

Thanks for the info. I think I might give Apple TV a try before getting the gaming consoles. Yes, not sure about the wireless capability but at least with Apple I won't have shelled out too much if it doesn't work. Cheers.

[Guest GeorgeD]

I use an xBox to stream some movies from a network location (have used both a laptop and a Network Attached Storage server). File formats are slightly limited in the xBox. The PS3 supports a few more I believe (and is also a 3D Blu-Ray player), so it’s quite handy if you are into gaming but have no preference on platform. I bought the xBox as I wanted to play with friends who also had xBoxes so that was the main reason.

What about a Blu-Ray player which streams media? The PopCorn Hour is a decent media streamer as well with multiple file format support…I decided against a dedicated media streamer like that or the WDTV device and went for a combined device which supported lots of formats and also was a Blu-Ray player. I chose a Samsung Blu-Ray…BD-C6900. It can stream most formats either wired or wirelessly from my laptop and is multi-region for DVD (by using codes from the web). It also has YouTube and Facebook natively, but using the remote control as a keyboard is utterly hopeless, so you get fed up with that after your first attempt! Not sure if Mac OS is supported though for the management interface and I haven’t tried to share anything from my NAS onto the Samsung device.

[robfromdublin]

I'm about to make a streaming device with an old laptop. Install some flavour of linux on it and then xbmc. It has a HDMI port so I can just hook that up to the TV.

 

It's a bit of a faff but easy enough if you're a bit techy. Obviously if you don't have an old laptop it'll probably be just as cheap to buy a media streaming device

[Surf N Turf]

I'm about to make a streaming device with an old laptop. Install some flavour of linux on it and then xbmc. It has a HDMI port so I can just hook that up to the TV.

 

It's a bit of a faff but easy enough if you're a bit techy. Obviously if you don't have an old laptop it'll probably be just as cheap to buy a media streaming device

 

If you were in Melbourne I'd offer to buy it from you! I'm starting to get a headache....

[Surf N Turf]

I use an xBox to stream some movies from a network location (have used both a laptop and a Network Attached Storage server). File formats are slightly limited in the xBox. The PS3 supports a few more I believe (and is also a 3D Blu-Ray player), so it’s quite handy if you are into gaming but have no preference on platform. I bought the xBox as I wanted to play with friends who also had xBoxes so that was the main reason.

What about a Blu-Ray player which streams media? The PopCorn Hour is a decent media streamer as well with multiple file format support…I decided against a dedicated media streamer like that or the WDTV device and went for a combined device which supported lots of formats and also was a Blu-Ray player. I chose a Samsung Blu-Ray…BD-C6900. It can stream most formats either wired or wirelessly from my laptop and is multi-region for DVD (by using codes from the web). It also has YouTube and Facebook natively, but using the remote control as a keyboard is utterly hopeless, so you get fed up with that after your first attempt! Not sure if Mac OS is supported though for the management interface and I haven’t tried to share anything from my NAS onto the Samsung device.

 

Ok, I think I understand what you're saying. The Samsung sounds good. I'm getting fed up with Apple. I went to an Apple shop today to ask whether their TV device limits streaming to itunes and the answer is yes. So, unless it's possible to drag/convert all formats/downloads into itunes, it's useless. Grrrrr. I'll have a look into the Samsung.

 

Somethings gotta work as I can't let channel 10 back in the house :arghh:

[ozziepom]

Ok, I think I understand what you're saying. The Samsung sounds good. I'm getting fed up with Apple. I went to an Apple shop today to ask whether their TV device limits streaming to itunes and the answer is yes. So, unless it's possible to drag/convert all formats/downloads into itunes, it's useless. Grrrrr. I'll have a look into the Samsung.

 

Somethings gotta work as I can't let channel 10 back in the house :arghh:

 

There's heaps of ways of doing this but all are at least a little technical. Main problem is that no "off the shelf" products do it because its basically illegal.

 

Things to understand.

 

1) You need a server, a place where the files are kept.

 

2) You need a client, something that plays the files, and this must be connected to your TV.

 

3) You need a way for the client to play files from the server, and a way to get the files onto the server.

 

The above can be any one or any combination of devices. i.e. a laptop, Mac or PC can download media and, if connected to your TV play it, or you can have a network (wired, wireless or a combination) which connects the devices together.

 

I am techie for a living and use a VMware server, running Linux and Solaris VM's, downloading is handled by sickbeard for TV and couch-potato for movies, all feeding SABnzbd+ for the actual download engine, this writes its files to a Solaris VM running NFS server from a 2TB ZFS volume. The iMac mounts the NFS share and transcodes all of the media via PS3mediaserver over a homeplug network to my PS3 which plays it on the TV, I also have other clients on TV's around the house which only mount the NFS share directly and can play all of the formats required, i.e. DIVX, MP4, MKV etc. I do this kind of systems integration for major companies for a living, only involving boring stuff live corporate databases, networks and cross site replicated storage.

 

I'm proud to say I didn't spend a cent on new equipment to make this work, and even prouder to say no Microsoft software is involved, I'm a Unix guy.

 

All this means that I can download and play pretty much any movie or TV series released over the last 20 years which a simple search and select, I get an email from my email server when its ready to watch and just watch via the TV remote, music is similarly simple, in fact I also stream spotify on the above setup (via a paid VPN) and can play pretty much any track on demand, all of the above routs every copyright law there is, just call me knock-off-nigel.

 

Setting the above up from bare metal would take a professional infrastructure engineer a day or two and cost about $600 in servers, swicthes, cables etc, assumuming you already have the clients, amps, core network and cables.

 

The above is to say honestly, if you're not techie a small multimedia PC or laptop connected to your TV via HDMI is by orders of magnitude the easiest, Apple TV is also great and cheap, but you need to do this - http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_XBMC_on_Apple_TV_2 which is totally at your risk and not supported by apple, but you can bet most of the guys in the Apple store are running it at home.

[Surf N Turf]

Wow. I read everything after the words 'I am a techie' about 5 times and I'm still lost! But I think you've convinced me that I should drop the Apple TV/other digital streaming device angle and connect a multimedia PC. Then I don't have to worry about wi-fi or file conversion or coping it to disc/USB.

 

It's illegal? You can subscribe to BBC iview now so I'm not nicking stuff (not all of it anyway). I'm just trying to show it on a computer monitor in another room.

[Guest GeorgeD]

Wow. I read everything after the words 'I am a techie' about 5 times and I'm still lost! But I think you've convinced me that I should drop the Apple TV/other digital streaming device angle and connect a multimedia PC. Then I don't have to worry about wi-fi or file conversion or coping it to disc/USB.

 

It's illegal? You can subscribe to BBC iview now so I'm not nicking stuff (not all of it anyway). I'm just trying to show it on a computer monitor in another room.

 

It's illegal if you don't have rights to download the material you have downloaded. Some material may be free, you could get rights for digital copies from buying the boxed product, or you could be subscribed to a paid service which gives you rights. Or...you could be doing it illegally. Let's assume for now that it doesn't matter where the content came from, you have it now and it is stored locally on some sort of device...you just want to play it on your TV.

 

I wouldn't be too hasty to rule out the streaming device. The problem with PCs is that that they have fans and moving parts...stick a PC in your living room and you might hear the fans going while you ar watching TV! The beauty of media streaming is that you hold one copy of the data centrally and you get multiple client devices to stream to, so you can watch the films or listen to the music on multiple devices around the home at the same time. Many TVs and Blu-Ray players can stream media natively now. Add to that xBox and PS3 media servers, the dedicated devices like Popcorn Hour, WDTV, AppleTV, then also tablets and Home Cinema AV Receivers (I have a Yamaha RX-V3900 which streams music and accesses internet radio) You can see the list of devices to connect to is huge!

 

You actually don't need to get too technical. Look at basic Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices from the likes of Netgear, QNAP and Synology (I have an older Synology NAS.) Download (legally of course) whatever you want on your Mac or PC and store it on the NAS. Then connect your client device of choice to the network (wired ethermet, wireless, powerline adaptor...or a mixture of all of them) and you can stream any content the client device can support. You won't need your laptop on while you stream from the NAS to a TV, Blu-Ray, PS3, tablet, Smartphone, media streamer...means you can be away from home with the Mac and other family memebrs can watch the downloaded files.

 

If you feel like it you can go build your own server, install various operating systems and applications and possibly get a more flexible solution if you have the skills (courage!) and time to do it. Or you can buy the bits and do it in half an hour! I also work in IT and am mildly interested in home cinema as a hobby...but even I bought a Synology NAS and put the hard drives in rather than start building servers...I felt it was just easier to get it off the shelf. These NAS devices are also pretty small and inoffensive in the home from a furniture/domestic partner situation! Once you have picked your storage, you have a huge choice of client devices....PS3 or xBox if you might want games (although PS3 is probably more flexible), Blu Ray player with media streaming, or dedicated streamer. Have as many as you want and they can be all different!

[Guest Helchops]

Tv links? Not sure of legality but a hdmi cable and any computer you can watch what you want. You'd need a wireless mouse though.

[Surf N Turf]

Ok, so here's what I'm going to do. Upgrade my partner from someone I love but who is useless with technology to someone I can learn to love who can sort this stuff out for me. It's the only way forward. But while I'm organising that, I'll read all the responses again and choose an option. His position in my life might be saved at the last minute.

 

Thank you all.