Guest theeldergeek Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I have a 'few' AVI's downloaded off the net that I would like to be able to play on my TV. I have burned the AVI's to DVD, but the quality is a bit 'jerky', so I thought I'd go down the direct route of playing them 'electronically' to my TV. I store the AVI's on my network at home, so ideally, I want something that will hook up to my (basic) TV and allow me to play from the network. My TV has 2 SCARTS (both in use) and a spare phono input (Red, White and Yellow connector. Buffalo do a Linktheater which looks to do what I need (basically, play films that are in electronic format) but I wondered if there was anything else? I don't have a huge amount of money to throw at this, but if there is an all-in-one box solution rather than a 'million' more cables and connectors, I'd appreciate hearing about it. TIA
Quackers Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 If you have an old Xbox you can turn them into a Media Center XBMC // You can get them second hand for less than 40quid in places like game station.
MyDejaVu Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I would suggest you try and get information from somewhere else , that sort of topic is not discussed in here, Moderators might rise this to you.
Hightower Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I would suggest you try and get information from somewhere else , that sort of topic is not discussed in here, Moderators might rise this to you. What do you mean not discussed? Nothing has been said out of line in my eyes? I'd say go down the Xbox route. Other than that, can you not get a decent video card with s-vid out or something and plug that direct to your TV?
ninjabeaver Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I use my XBox 360 for that at home. Works a treat. I have just got a manualy switchable SCART box as well, and run the sound through my amp into the surround sound system. Works good and looks quite flashy to, There is a Unix based Media Centre out there as well which looks rather nice, but I've not had the time to try it.
MyDejaVu Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 when someone refers to "'few' AVI's downloaded " what sort of videos would you think we are talking about in here...? if you search through the forums you will see that advice for any activity which would be considered dubious regarding legality is not encouraged within edugeek.
Gatt Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Erm.. i think what MyDejaVu may be trying to imlpy is whether these "AVI's" are a source of Copyright Infringement or not (IE have you paid for them?)
Hightower Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 Is that any business of EduGeek though? This chap is asking for a solution and as far as I am concerned they are something like holiday footage he has taken with a camcorder. Anything past that is not my problem or worry.
somabc Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 (edited) The question of whether or not the avi files are copyrighted is irrelevant, let us assume that they are not. I have been down this route before. You can connect your PC to your tv via S-Video / SCART but this will look like s**t. (Cost=£10-20 for cables) You can use an external box as a substitute for your PC ie an old Xbox with XBMC, this will look better but again probably not as good as you would hope. (cost = £50+ for Xbox) You best bet is to get a TV that supports VGA or HDMI (DVI) input then you can hook your PC up to the TV and enjoy proper HDTV. (Cost = £200+ for new TV) Edited June 23, 2008 by somabc
srochford Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I'd guess another question to ask is if the files look OK played on the PC? If not, then whatever you to do connect to the TV is going to make it worse just because you've got a much bigger picture.
localzuk Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I simply have a s-video cable that goes from my PC to the tv and plugs into an s-video to phono adapter. As my GFX card already had TV out, it only cost me about £20 in cables and an adapter.
LeMarchand Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I just use the video out from my video card (composite video) and plug it and the sound into a SCART adapter and then a SCART switchbox, but you could just use your existing sockets. Assuming your card can do this and your PC isn't too far away from the TV - total cost about a fiver for the lead, up to £20 if you need adapters and switch boxes. Always looked OK to me. You could also get a cheap DivX compatible DVD player (£20-£30) and burn your files as data or if you have a spare HDD lurking you could get a media enclosure.
Michael Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I have burned the AVI's to DVD, but the quality is a bit 'jerky', so I thought I'd go down the direct route of playing them 'electronically' to my TV. So if you play the AVI's directly on your PC the quality is ok, but when burning/converting to DVD it appears jerky? It could well be the conversion process and/or software you're using. I've used WinAVI which is very good and can recommend. And regarding the issue of piracy, it isn't illegal to download AVI's, but what you're downloading may be copyrighted. Just like many believe Bitorrent is illegal, it isn't. It's what you download which can be illegal. Let's give Tx2online the benefit of the doubt
Guest theeldergeek Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I would suggest you try and get information from somewhere else , that sort of topic is not discussed in here, Moderators might rise this to you. I wasn't aware I had to divulge what I do in my own home or make a declaration my activities weren't in any way illegal before posting? If I had said "I want to watch pirated films I've downloaded via BitTorrent" then you would have been right to say what you did. But I didn't, and I don't, but thanks for the integrity check! For the sake of brevity, the films are - in the main - training type films of video editing packages from sites such as Wrigley, along with footage obtained from other videographers which we review from time to time. I am a wedding videographer in my spare time, FYI. We want to play these films to a more wider, non-paying audience than can be gathered around a laptop screen, namely my TV in my living room. As this is an ongoing 'project', I want a more permanent solution. The training videos themselves are freely available for download from sites such a Wrigley, so I doubt there is any copyright issue, at least, not in the way you imply. I don't even know what they will look like on the 'big screen', but they play OK on the laptop, so the hunch is that they will be OK on the TV. I'm not too fussed about quality if they don't. As for going down the Xbox route, I'll investigate, but I think I'd prefer a retail 'off the shelf' option as I don't have a lot of time to give up to get this working if the Xbox option is in any way time consuming. Thanks to all.
CyberNerd Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I use tovid to make dvds from avi's. no jerkyness problems. s-video works too. when someone refers to "'few' AVI's downloaded " what sort of videos would you think we are talking about in here...? you have a dirty mind
plexer Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 What about one of the portable media players that have a tv out such as the archos or Cowon iAudio D2 16GB MP3 Player or the iubi Blue 30GB Bluetooth Media Player. Ben
Guest theeldergeek Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 (edited) So if you play the AVI's directly on your PC the quality is ok, but when burning/converting to DVD it appears jerky? It could well be the conversion process and/or software you're using. I've used WinAVI which is very good and can recommend. That's about it. Unfortunately, i'm a bit blinkered when it comes to converting video as I usually just do the filming, then the editing, and then output to DVD; getting involved in converting to different formats (aside from Flash) isn't something I pay too much attention to. I'll do some research into burning the AVI's a different way (like you suggest) and see if that cures the issue. Thanks! Edited June 23, 2008 by theeldergeek
LeMarchand Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I've got a Neuros OSD. Oooh! Shiny! How much? Though I have my doubts about ALL my media fitting on it (and the UK legality if ripping DVDs to the drive).
Guest theeldergeek Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 What about one of the portable media players that have a tv out such as the archos or Cowon iAudio D2 16GB MP3 Player or the iubi Blue 30GB Bluetooth Media Player. Ben I've got an aged 30Gb Archos, but it fried my Vista install at the weekend - I have no idea what happened, but my PC went ape when I plugged the Archos in to the USB socket! Having spent the following 2 hours re-imaging the PC, the Archos is now an ornament. As I keep the films on my NAS drives, playing directly from the network is preferred rather than having to copy from device to device, but, it is an option of course; thanks.
SOSAGES Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 xbmc is superb but the xbox cant handle HD properly (not enough power) the 360 works well, but no support for mkv container and its really not worth the time and effort to convert the movies. I still use my xbox/xbmc but know i will have to upgade soon i will make the jump when i see enough HD content available that i need a new TV as well. check out http://www.mpcclub.com/ these chaps know more they should about networked media players.
SpuffMonkey Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 I bought one of these KJ Global Ltd. Rapsody N35 Network Media Player Great little player - alternatively if you've got a PC hanging about - download GBPVR or MythTV and output from that.
cooper Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 DVD Santa has alway converted AVI to DVD wel for me Free version to try dvdSanta: Burn Your Favorite Videos onto DVDs and watch them on TV! I also have a popcorn hour Welcome To Popcorn Hour Popcorn Hour A-100 allows you to pull in digital video, audio and photos from various sources for your enjoyment on your HDTV or Home Theater setup. You can stream or playback your digital media content from a variety of sources, such as your PC, NAS, digital camera, USB mass storage devices (Flash drive, HDD, DVD drive) , internal HDD* and even directly from the Internet via the Media Service Portal.
Guest theeldergeek Posted June 24, 2008 Posted June 24, 2008 when someone refers to "'few' AVI's downloaded " what sort of videos would you think we are talking about in here...? Lack of apology noted...
stl_support Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 sorry to bump this one - been a while but after waiting and waiting i finally went with a popcorn hour a110 NMT from digital era Buying one from the UK is not that easy. i went for the PCH a110 as its made by the guys that do the firmware for the NMT range (networked media tank) check out: Network Media Players what media player you want all depends on what features you are after they all do the same thing as they all run off the same firmware but some have Esata / 3-1 card readers / svideo etc
somabc Posted October 1, 2008 Posted October 1, 2008 XBMC Media Center | Downloads for Mac, Windows and Linux XBMC is now available for Windows / Linux / Mac so you can ditch the xbox and play HD content.
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