Thread: How to view HD Material (mkv,divx,xvid,wmv-hd etc.) best on my 55" LCD-TV?

I would love to be able to playback via VLC and watch the stuff on my Big HDTV screen. Is the Mac Mini or even AppleTV a good solution? I found some bluray players that have an HDMI output and should be able to playback xvid/divx files. But I'm quite sceptical if the player accepts everything without complaining like VLC does. So a mini barebone (fanless) good designed beneath my tv would be absolute perfect. Connected via LAN to a 5TB fileserver in another room would be the big dream.

I hope some of you can give me some tips on this?

Thanks in advance for your help.

There's 2 ways I know of, to do it.
1) look for a decent media player, with good firmware support, good enough hardware to play blu ray rips. Something with samba support (or nfs), something to play directly from NAS.
2) Build a htpc, eg. atom/ion based in a nice box, and look up XBMC on google - it's a media player software (free) for both Windows and Linux, you can use a remote with it. I never tried but stumbled upon it on the Internet quite a lot, seems to be popular. A lot of people do it this way... same thing, you mount the NAS shares to play from network.

I have used a laptop for this purpose multiple times.. I haven't bought one for this purpose though but that would be cheaper than a Mac Mini. I hope someone else can give you some more info :)

just a quick google
Guide to Building a HD HTPC - AVS Forum
$4 for a current guide, earlier ones are free, a comprehensive guids to building htpc with several hardware recommendations etcetera...
does require some work but imo it's worth it

Originally Posted by TehHavak

I have used a laptop for this purpose multiple times.. I haven't bought one for this purpose though but that would be cheaper than a Mac Mini. I hope someone else can give you some more info :)

If you're using a Mac check out Plex, plexapp.com. It's a fantastic interface and media organization app.

Cheapest easiest solution run hdmi cable from your pc to your lcd and done :)

Use a HTPC. It's smaller than a normal PC. That's what I am doing now.

HTPC's HDMI output is linked to a AV amplier. Amplier's video output (HDMI) is linked to your great big TV.

It depent on how much money you want to invest.

There are some decent media player (with or without HDD slot) to at last $80that can play HD material (ex: WD tv live, or Popcorn Hour). Some can connect to your fileserver. And if they are compatible use them with YAMJ to easily navigate your collection (navigate by covers) and to get synopsys/cover/info on your films. Also you'll sometimes need to reencode/redownload some movie if the player doesn't support the codecs.

Or you can built a HTPC powerfull enough to play hd material, put XBMC on it. it can also connect to your. but obviously they cost more and you need, but you can throw almost all format without reencode, do more things and upgrade hardware if necessary.

So to summarize

media player
pro: cheap, easy to use.
con: not alway compatible with your files.

HTPC
pro: can play almost everything, you can do lot of things with it.
con: expansive, less easy to setup.

If you have a ps3 you can use PS3 Media Server to stream xvid/divx files from your computer to your ps3. It's awesome if you're computer isn't right next to your tv.

Here is the link: PS3 Media Server

I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!