# How do I stream movies and music to my TV?



## genjix (Nov 23, 2010)

Hi all,

what is the easiest way to have movies and music play on my home theatre? Is there a way I can do this without hooking up my computer to the TV? Can I stream high quality movies or will it be choppy? thanks all.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

There are several ways to do it through devices such as a PS3, XBOX360, AppleTV, ROKU, Etc. Do you have any such devices already connected?


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## genjix (Nov 23, 2010)

Dale Rasco said:


> There are several ways to do it through devices such as a PS3, XBOX360, AppleTV, ROKU, Etc. Do you have any such devices already connected?


I do not have any of the above mentioned. I would be willing to purchase a new blu ray player. I've seen some that say wireless on them, not sure if that helps with this situation?


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Other than the PS3, I am not familiar with a Blu-ray player that will stream audio or video, but I may be wrong. I personally like the AppleTV because it lets me stream my iTunes library, audio and video, directly to my home theater. Several other members like the Roku and Western Digital Devices, but I prefer the AppleTV. Especially now that they can be had for $100. The only caveat is that it will have to sync with the PC on your home network that contains your library.


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## genjix (Nov 23, 2010)

Dale Rasco said:


> Other than the PS3, I am not familiar with a Blu-ray player that will stream audio or video, but I may be wrong. I personally like the AppleTV because it lets me stream my iTunes library, audio and video, directly to my home theater. Several other members like the Roku and Western Digital Devices, but I prefer the AppleTV. Especially now that they can be had for $100. The only caveat is that it will have to sync with the PC on your home network that contains your library.


thanks for your help, I will research these.


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## mdrake (Jan 31, 2008)

Apple tv is very limited. I sugest either the PS3, roku or sonys new google tv.:T


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

mdrake said:


> Apple tv is very limited. I sugest either the PS3, roku or sonys new google tv.:T


How is it limited?


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## genjix (Nov 23, 2010)

Dale Rasco said:


> How is it limited?


If i had to hook up something to it, would it make sense just to hook up a small and energy effiecient laptop with and external HD tied to it?


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

You could do that easy enough especially if it is all you will be doing with it. The problem you may run into is having multiple devices trying to access the same data on a laptop that has limited resources such as very little memory or a slower processor. I would say that if you only intend to use it for this one device and nothing else, then you are probably fine. I have something similar in mine, but I plan to eventually put in a true media server.


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## genjix (Nov 23, 2010)

yeah i have a desktop as my primary and a laptop that i never really use. i was trying to see if i can get away with have no devices at all to have the cleanest look. but I dont wanna buy a new tv lol.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

genjix said:


> yeah i have a desktop as my primary and a laptop that i never really use. i was trying to see if i can get away with have no devices at all to have the cleanest look. but I dont wanna buy a new tv lol.


I am the same way and hate having so much gear stuffed into a cabinet. I have recently started to look at expanding my IR setup so I can relocate at least some portion of it into a closet in another room somewhere.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

A couple other products you can add to your research list; Logitech Revue and the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player.
Don't really know much about either one of them yet, seen them both on display at Best Buy the other day.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

nova said:


> A couple other products you can add to your research list; Logitech Revue and the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player.
> Don't really know much about either one of them yet, seen them both on display at Best Buy the other day.


Both of those are google TV devices which, IMHO, have a lot of promise, but are limited in their current functionality. Logitech had gone so far as to suspend production for a while, and I don't know if they are back up and producing units yet.

I really hope Google gets into gear, starting with Netflix, Hulu, and other video on demand, but at the moment, it's not quite ready for primetime.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

LG also has a range of network BD players with various features, eg "DLNA / CIFS (Digital Living Network Alliance)
Stream video, music or pictures from one device to another through a wired or wireless home network. There is no need to setup, DLNA certified devices paired together when configure."


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## bmurphy2121 (Jun 14, 2010)

I have both the Logitech Revue and Boxee Box. If your looking to have internet on the TV and also be able to watch Netflix the Revue is the way to go, but if you are just trying to watch stored movies/music on an external hard drive then the Boxee Box is the way to go. The Boxee will play anthing that you throw at it how ever you have it saved unlike the Apple TV and other such devices. Boxee will aslo bring in DVD art too. I hope this helps you out.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Can boxee play netflix or hulu yet?


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## bmurphy2121 (Jun 14, 2010)

Not yet. But Ive heard by end of the month Netflix should be comming and Vudu was going to come out today or this week but had to pull it due to some bugs they found out last minute so not real sure when the 3 key players will come. I hope it comes soon cause I love the Boxee but to be 5 star it needs those 3 players tho.


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## Koopa (Aug 19, 2008)

My weapon of choice is a Mac Mini. I debated AppleTV but, the limitations pull me away. I don't want to be bound to playing iTunes friendly video. I want to stream. The new Mac Mini has HDMI Out. The older such as my own uses toslink and a cheap adapter from monoprice. I run PLEX controlled from my Harmony remote for a beautiful interface to impress and pull out a wireless keyboard and mouse when I want internet or youtube. I believe any of the relatively current Mac Mini's on an Intel processor are capable of 1080p with no issue.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Koopa said:


> My weapon of choice is a Mac Mini. I debated AppleTV but, the limitations pull me away. I don't want to be bound to playing iTunes friendly video. I want to stream. The new Mac Mini has HDMI Out. The older such as my own uses toslink and a cheap adapter from monoprice. I run PLEX controlled from my Harmony remote for a beautiful interface to impress and pull out a wireless keyboard and mouse when I want internet or youtube. I believe any of the relatively current Mac Mini's on an Intel processor are capable of 1080p with no issue.


For these same reasons, I choice a simple windows pc connected to my system (no media front-end), but there is certainly a more substantial cost involved with these.


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## Koopa (Aug 19, 2008)

eugovector said:


> For these same reasons, I choice a simple windows pc connected to my system (no media front-end), but there is certainly a more substantial cost involved with these.


There are higher cost but, also much more versatile. That was one reason I mentioned older Mini's. In the long run I plan to replace my blu-ray player with (hopefully becomes available) a Mac mini with a blu-ray built in. 


eugovector said:


> Listen to the Real HT Info Podcast at http://realht.info, or on iTunes.


I DID and loved it! My unique story is that I'm a HT addicted IS Administrator (see Computer Geek) for a construction company who gauges and checks oil wells on the weekend. That gives me a chance to listen to my podcasts from the previous week and The Real HT Info was my one stop for my HT fix!


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Koopa said:


> I DID and loved it! My unique story is that I'm a HT addicted IS Administrator (see Computer Geek) for a construction company who gauges and checks oil wells on the weekend. That gives me a chance to listen to my podcasts from the previous week and The Real HT Info was my one stop for my HT fix!


Thanks. You'll notice not a lot of new episodes lately. There'll be an announcement soon that will make some people happy and upset others, I'm sure. Not trying to be cryptic; I just honestly am still trying to figure it all out myself.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

I bought my parents a BDP-s570 Blu-Ray player for Christmas. It had Wifi for getting internet content and it also had a USB jack on it for Thumbdrives or Harddrives. The manual showed a huge number of video File Formats that it would play.


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## Koopa (Aug 19, 2008)

eugovector said:


> ... Not trying to be cryptic; I just honestly am still trying to figure it all out myself.


Understandable. Im sure its a time consuming process. I'll keep my ear on the ground for the announcement. Good luck with things!

Wooferhound has a good thought. I had a cheap panasonic DVD player that would play about anything that could be burned to a disc. Requires a little more foot work but, it works.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

What kind of video streaming do you want to do ?
I saw Roku mentioned a couple of times, I have a Roku and it connects directly to the internet and streams from the Netflix servers.
While I highly recommend this product, unless I have missed a major feature the Roku does not have the capability to stream video from a computer.


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## pacAir (Mar 8, 2011)

As I write this, the Roku boxes will only play local content from a USB device connected to the Upper-level XR player's USB port and using the Roku USB Media Player channel from their Channel Store.

I wound up getting the entry level PHD-HM5 streaming media player (same price as the entry-level Roku) for streaming HD content on my home network. It seems to as well at this as the Roku does on the Internet side!


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## JoeMaMa (Aug 19, 2011)

I have to agree with an earlier post. I have 2 mac-mini's I bought for cheap. One on my projection and one in the bedroom LED tv. They are awesome. I have them networked with a DROBO. 5 Terabytes of 1080p movies. I use PLEX to run everything. Great simple app. Streaming high def content above 720p from a distance can get choppy - but I have hardwired 1 of the mini's.


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## Koopa (Aug 19, 2008)

Yup, I LOVE my mac mini+plex and I just recently hooked up a Drobo as well. Works great. My Mini is not wired on the network and I also have occasional issues with some file formats streaming. On my 50" Panny I run everything through 720p but, I don't have any 1080p content anyway and when I (rarely) change out of plex it's hard to see the small text.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

mdrake said:


> Apple tv is very limited. I sugest either the PS3, roku or sonys new google tv.:T


With GREENPOISON firmware (free)ATV becomes very adequate. XBMC and many other streaming / apps available for free....additionally was able to setup with a Logitech DeNovo Mini as a controller and tweak audio output format.


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