Database Users

[Q] Any video (MKV with AC3/DTS) streamer better than Plex?

In terms of quality Plex can't be beaten for streaming video. I can play a 1080p MKV with DTS audio and have it reencoded on-the-fly from my PC to my TF at 5Mbit and it looks awesome (Sound is a bit iffy though). I tried a few other streamers like VLC, Androstream, Qloud etc and they all sucked.
I'm still looking for a player that supports embedded .ass subs. Playing the files directly off a Windows share is not very good either as none of the players can play AC3/DTS in MKV and 1080p is no go. Dice player sort of looked promising but all the videos I tested it with would freeze up after a few seconds.
Video playback is the TF's weakest point IMHO. It's OK if you want to stream stuff though which is why I am looking for something better than Plex.

How did you get Plex to work? I'm on Windows 7 64bit and the media server isn't working right. It sends me to the browser when I try to click on it and then has a connection error.

720p mkv hi10p playback with subtitles

Hi all,
I'm looking to play 720p mkv hi10p videos with embedded subtitles on my Nexus 7. I'll probably want to be doing this by streaming it off a computer or accessing a Samba share.
Does anyone know if this is possible?. Trying to toss up my purchase with the knowledge that its easy / do-able to watch tv shows, movies and things like anime.
Cheers!

I'm just downloading vPlayer to see how it works with my Serviio server. I'll let you know how it goes.

the latest beta VLC player worked for me, was having abit hit or miss with mxvideo player but VLC just played everything i threw at it off my western digital tv live hub.

I tested a 720p hi10p video yesterday using MX Player Pro, no streaming over air.
A couple of frame drops, cannot handle panning scenes very well.
Styled subtitles however look ace, I haven't bothered to check out advanced typesetting though.

Have been exploring the ability on my phone with ES explorer and different media players. 8 bit 720p mkvs work perfectly. 10 bit just falls about for me though on a GNEX with just about every player. Obviously there is a difference in processing power though.
Keen to know if anyone gets it working / how (even if its a solution like PLEX).

fire tv xmbc streaming from pc

Is it possible to setup xmbc on fire tv to work as xbmc player and all heavy transcoding work be done by my htpc - especially dts in mkv files. I know plex can do it but for some reason im not a big on plex

As far as I'm aware, no. As you mentioned, plex is probably the best option for this. The other option, what I did, was transcode all my videos to a FireTV/Roku friendly format. I used HandbrakeCLI (command line version of Handbrake) on a Linux box. Just kicked off the command and let it run for a week or two. It took a long time, but not a lot of effort. Just spot check them then delete the originals that had been transcoded once a day. Now I have my entire DVD/Bluray collection in a more compatible, can play on pretty much anything, format and I can't tell the difference in quality. Ok, if I had both versions playing side by side and switched audio between them I might be able to tell the difference, but I don't notice anything when watching.

lukas718 said:
Is it possible to setup xmbc on fire tv to work as xbmc player and all heavy transcoding work be done by my htpc - especially dts in mkv files. I know plex can do it but for some reason im not a big on plex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plex on the FireTV can't handle DTS or AC3 5.1. If you don't want stereo you'll need to remux to mp4/aac audio. XBMC can handle mkv/dts without any transcoding. Just enable pass-thru audio and you are good, assuming your receiver can handle the audio.
Pretty detailed thread here: https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/111666-firetv-surround-sound/

jmerrilljr2 said:
Plex on the FireTV can't handle DTS or AC3 5.1. If you don't want stereo you'll need to remux to mp4/aac audio. XBMC can handle mkv/dts without any transcoding. Just enable pass-thru audio and you are good, assuming your receiver can handle the audio.
Pretty detailed thread here: https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/111666-firetv-surround-sound/
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Click to collapse
So you saying I cant do DTS even when my htpc (with plex server) does transocing for plex player on fire tv ?
This box would be great if it had xmbc streaming client/player like yatse

lukas718 said:
So you saying I cant do DTS even when my htpc (with plex server) does transocing for plex player on fire tv ?
This box would be great if it had xmbc streaming client/player like yatse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I'm saying you need to sideload XBMC. You can stream from any number of servers including PMS without transcoding. See here: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV and here: http://www.aftvnews.com/tag/guide/

jmerrilljr2 said:
No, I'm saying you need to sideload XBMC. You can stream from any number of servers including PMS without transcoding. See here: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Amazon_Fire_TV and here: http://www.aftvnews.com/tag/guide/
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ok but is it possible to have setup like this and be able to run xmbc on fire tv ?
fire tv with xbmc <----- HTPC xmbc transcoding on fly <------- NAS with movie library

lukas718 said:
ok but is it possible to have setup like this and be able to run xmbc on fire tv ?
fire tv with xbmc <----- HTPC xmbc transcoding on fly <------- NAS with movie library
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your fireTV connected to an audio receiver? If so, and it can decode DTS and DD5.1, can't you just stream from the NAS to XBMC on the fireTV and eliminate your HTPC?

lukas718 said:
ok but is it possible to have setup like this and be able to run xmbc on fire tv ?
fire tv with xbmc <----- HTPC xmbc transcoding on fly <------- NAS with movie library
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why would you do this? Just have the firetv pull straight from the NAS and properly configure passthrough.

bruce7373 said:
Is your fireTV connected to an audio receiver? If so, and it can decode DTS and DD5.1, can't you just stream from the NAS to XBMC on the fireTV and eliminate your HTPC?
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Click to collapse
ok so my system is like this
NAS, HTPC, Fire TV on hdmi switch (so i can watch in different rooms)
living room (where I watch most of my movies) is connected to hdmi switch with hdmi extender over cat6 to tv. Sound from tv goes to sound bar.
most of my movies are converted to mkv with dts ( over 300+) so I dont want to convert them

Sorry if this was mentioned already....
Hello,
Something that has worked for me when i used ATV2 for my streaming needs...
i hated the answer "recode your files" - i simply watch too much TV and Movies to do that, so i installed PS3 Media Server on the PC that was sharing my files. XBMC picks up the PS3MS share easily and then a big portion (or all?) of any decoding needed can be done on the PC side. PS3MS can pretty much decode anything you throw at it, and you will NEVER need to re/decode EVER.
Hope this is useful - just trying to help!

lukas718 said:
ok so my system is like this
NAS, HTPC, Fire TV on hdmi switch (so i can watch in different rooms)
living room (where I watch most of my movies) is connected to hdmi switch with hdmi extender over cat6 to tv. Sound from tv goes to sound bar.
most of my movies are converted to mkv with dts ( over 300+) so I dont want to convert them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. So the audio goes through the TV and it's down-converting to 2-channel stereo. This could be a setting or a limitation of the TV. My Samsung, for example, can accept DD5.1, but can only output 2- ch stereo.

I will certianly need to check out Playstation Media. Quick question though, would it pick up a DVD in the disc drive? I have XBMC mapped already to my disc drive, but if it would read the drive and have XBMC read it as a Movie on the Fire TV side, that would be great!!!

So basically short answer to my question is "no" ??
XMBC cannot be set as player only on fire tv. Once sideloaded it will work as player/server (same as my xbmc on HTPC)

[Q] Want to buy it but need more info about DNLA and AirPlay

Hello guys,
I'm currently setting up my apartment and I'm looking for the perfect "Media Player Box" to hook up to my non-smart TV.
I watched a lot of Nexus Player reviews on YouTube but still, I'm not sure this box will do everything I need.
So I want to be able to do the following with the Nexus Player:
Cast YouTube videos directly from the YouTube app of my iOS devices (OK - this one is possible)
Cast and decode DLNA/UPnP movies stored on my Synology NAS from the Synology video app (or others) of my iOS devices using the DLNA protocol (? - Can I install an app like BubbleUPnP to make the Nexus Player act as a DLNA receiver even if BubbleUPnP is running in the background ?)
Stream the music of my iOS devices (Spotify or local) to my TV using the AirPlay protocol (? - I've seen some video about Android app allowing AirPlay but is it really working with the last iOS version ?)
I haven't found any TV box capable of these 3 requirement yet so I hope someone that has a Nexus Player can tell me I can stop searching !
Or maybe someone knows an even better box for this ?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Yes there are a few DLNA receivers and clients. Kodi is free and excellent.
The paid apps AirReceiver or Airplay/DLNA receiver by the developer wax rain will give you both Airplay and DLNA as background apps always available. You can Airplay any audio to these apps (kodi's Airplay is still broken I think). The Airplay problems are mostly for video. If the video is drm protected content you won't be able to Airplay it
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

goodhur said:
Yes there are a few DLNA receivers and clients. Kodi is free and excellent.
The paid apps AirReceiver or Airplay/DLNA receiver by the developer wax rain will give you both Airplay and DLNA as background apps always available. You can Airplay any audio to these apps (kodi's Airplay is still broken I think). The Airplay problems are mostly for video. If the video is drm protected content you won't be able to Airplay it
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer goodhur
AirPlay will only be used for audio so it's OK.
So it seems like the Nexus Player is the TV box perfectly suited to my usages. However, I still have a question:
My NAS has poor transcoding performance so will the Nexus Player be able to decode big movie files (1080p, MKV, ...) on its own? Will it be compatible with any file format while streaming from a DLNA source? I don't want my NAS to handle the transcoding.
Thanks

I can't really give you much information on transcoding. I have streaming boxes for about 5 years now. Since Roku and Apple TV were my first boxes, I just had to keep my videos in MP4 or M4v formats which pretty much can be played on any device.

Amazon fire TV Dolby Vision issue

I have "Toshiba 43" 4K UHD HDR LED Fire Smart TV (43LF711C20)" with Dolby Vision support.
When I try to play movie from network share the picture is green/violet. I tried different players from app store with same result
Did I miss something?

Try getting a different copy of the movie from somewhere else - the copy you have might be corrupt.

ALL Dolby Vision videos play same

VitaliyK said:
ALL Dolby Vision videos play same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This indicates that the TV is not getting and decoding the DoVi layer. In order to get DoVi to work on many TVs you have to switch HDMI format from standard to enhanced. I don't think that this applies to the TVs internal apps and OS but it might be good to look for something like that.
Have you set dynamic range to adaptive under fireOS settings? Is this happening in multiple apps?

This TV has VERY limited settings
Here is no such parameter.
It made to show you as much as possible paid promotions.
I use NOVA player to play movies stored on NAS.

VitaliyK said:
This TV has VERY limited settings
Here is no such parameter.
It made to show you as much as possible paid promotions.
I use NOVA player to play movies stored on NAS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok, yeah I was wondering if you were talking about commercial apps or video players.
A lot of video players don't support DoVi. I don't think Nova Player does:
Dolby Vision doesn't work · Issue #383 · nova-video-player/aos-AVP
I just tried two Dolby Vision files with the latest Google Play release, and neither displayed DV. File 1 (No HDR10): https://sylvan.apple.com/Aerials/2x/Videos/SE_A016_C009_HDR_20190717_3m30s_HDR_...
github.com
I haven't had any major problems playing DoVi in Plex. The one problem I have noticed is that DoVi files using an .MP4 containers don't play without a lot of buffering. Remuxing to MKV (MKVtoolnix) makes them play fine.
So the good news is it isn't you, it's your app.

I was not able to open local files in Plex

VitaliyK said:
I was not able to open local files in Plex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Plex is for streaming videos from another device like a laptop.
If you really want to play files locally off of a flash drive, I tested a couple players
MPV - No
Nova Player - No
VLC - No
Just Player - Yes
GitHub - moneytoo/Player: ▶ Simple and lightweight, yet polished and powerful Android video player based on ExoPlayer
▶ Simple and lightweight, yet polished and powerful Android video player based on ExoPlayer - GitHub - moneytoo/Player: ▶ Simple and lightweight, yet polished and powerful Android video player base...
github.com
Kodi - Yes
But if you want a simple light weight player, go with Just Player
I have also heard MX Player works, but I haven't tried it.

I play videos from D-Link NAS. What would be best player with DoVi support?

VitaliyK said:
I play videos from D-Link NAS. What would be best player with DoVi support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would see if you can install the Plex server on the DLink NAS and then run the Plex client on the FireTV. This will give you the most pleasant and lightweight interface.
You will have to see if it's possible to install.
Add-on "Plex Media Server v1.14.1.5488" for D-Link NAS
Add-on "Plex Media Server v1.14.1.5488" for D-Link NAS
forums.dlink.com
There seems to be a installer package for a few DLINK models, the last update in from 2020 though.
Plex covers quite a few NAS options
Media Server Downloads | Plex Media Server for Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and More
Click here to Download the Plex media server for Windows, Mac, Linux FreeBSD and more free today.
www.plex.tv
I'm not sure if Just Player can access a NAS, it doesn't look like it.
If you can't get the Plex Server installed, Kodi can play from a NAS. Kodi is a favorite of a lot of people.

Unfortunately there is fix for DNS-327L / DNS-340L. I have 3 of DNS-320 and 1 DNS-320L

VitaliyK said:
Unfortunately there is fix for DNS-327L / DNS-340L. I have 3 of DNS-320 and 1 DNS-320L
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can still use Kodi, a lot of people prefer it over Plex anyway.

Again, I could not make it work with NAS

VitaliyK said:
Again, I could not make it work with NAS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kodi is very flexible, but at the cost of more complicated.
Does your DLink NAS use SMB for network sharing?
SMB - Official Kodi Wiki
kodi.wiki

@VitaliyK
try https://www.kodinerds.net/index.php/Thread/69428-Maven-s-Kodi-Builds-für-Android/

Where I can install Kodi from? It is not in App store

VitaliyK said:
Where I can install Kodi from? It is not in App store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android | Downloads
Kodi is a free media player that is designed to look great on your big screen TV but is just as at home on a small screen.
kodi.tv
Sideload the 32bit version

Kramar111 said:
@VitaliyK
try https://www.kodinerds.net/index.php/Thread/69428-Maven-s-Kodi-Builds-für-Android/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not read German.
Finnzz said:
Android | Downloads
Kodi is a free media player that is designed to look great on your big screen TV but is just as at home on a small screen.
kodi.tv
Sideload the 32bit version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to load it on my FireTv?

VitaliyK said:
I do not read German.
How to load it on my FireTv?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you haven't sideloaded apps on your FireTV yet, Kodi might have a steep learning curve. You are going to need to do some googling.