Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Which Media Players do you use for video?

Not sure. Doing a little Googling "plex iso playback", I've seen yes and no answers and also someone who claims that the Roku XS will play ISOs in conjunction with Plex. More investigation needed... [/quote]

Yes, I've been trying to investigate as well. Seems I could definitely play .iso using a hacked Apple TV 2, but this also now seems a lot more expensive option and only supports 720p (although not an issue for DVD playback). Not clear at present if Plex will work with my NAS either, but it seems it may not as I've seen a mention of requirement for X86 CPU. I have 2 kids and a few iPads at home, so streaming options to iPads would also be popular option for them with Plex if it works. I will try out on an iPad today.

My understanding was that .iso format is best for DVD movies. What are you using?

Thank you, I will look into this.

I want to manage without so many boxes if I can, but assume you're supporting lots of TVs and I only have 1. I agree that a library management solution is a bonus and the metadata offered by Plex would be an improvement on the list of .iso files that I have at present.

Re backup, I don't have offsite, but do have an external drive hooked up to my NAS for backups.

I'm curious, what file format do you use for playback and where are your files stored? Using a Mac Mini, can you start playback from your sofa with a remote control, without the need to turn anything on manually or using anything other than the remote? If I went down a Mac Mini route, it would be installed in another room away from the TV, with all my other equipment. I may consider this if Apple TV isn't an option.

That's my setup. Plex server on a Mac Mini controlled by a Harmony remote which will fire everything up (the Mac is left on all the time to serve iPads etc), the Harmony will control Plex, or I can use an iPad to control display on the main tv instead. All files are on a NAS and are mainly Apple friendly M4V and MKV which avoids any issues with transcoding so no need for any extra NAS processing power

Files are generally mkv. Sometimes avi or mp4. I have never tried it on an iso, personally. For rips, I generally want minimal, no menus, extras etc, just the film.

The biggest plex issue for me is that I havent found a way to get Plex to decode the AC3/DTS track to PCM for transmitting over HDMI so the HD621 can upsample.

I actually just have the Mac Mini under the TV, it's pretty small. Not Apple TV small but small enough, and its very quiet.

With an Apple remote, you hit the "Menu" button and Plex just launches. I have to manually set the TV input and then use the Meridian MSR for everything else. I can't really be bothered with Universal remotes. Years ago, I had a Philips Pronto, which was a really nice little remote. However, I was spending way too much time fiddling with screens etc. I actually like using the MSR so I've stuck with it.

Cheers
Greg

Popcorn Hour A100 in the family room, A200 in the living room. I like them because they are simple, can be skinned/jukeboxed, require no hard drives and are silent. I want to like an Apple offering but when I last looked, years ago, they required h264 codecs and an iTunes server running somewhere. Things have probably changed but the PCH can play anything without the need to transcode.

I use a Dune HD Smart H series. It is generally pretty good, however it has its issues. Will play everything BUT "Curious George" DVD's??? I originally used Zappiti as the user interface, however I find the text base function of just scrolling through my server much easier to read, especially for the all the saga like series such as the Lord of the rings, Harry Potter, etc. I recently found another Dune unit, a 101 on final clearance at a local computer store. It seems to work well and only cost $60! So I have that as well. Though it seems to have major sensitivity to type of HDMI cables?

Well, it took longer to get round to all the tests I wanted to do, but 1 week later and I've now installed Plex on my iPad 1 and Plex Media Server on my 2010 Macbook Air. Based on what I've read, ISO files should work on the local machine with media server installed (so would be OK if I used a Mac Mini, as I want to play on my TV), but won't stream to other devices like an iPad. I have 1 disc that I have in both ISO and MKV formats from a prior test with the Oppo 93, but in initial tests both had problems streaming to my iPad and MBA, which I'm currently assuming is due to lack of processing power. ISO and MKV files are located on my QNAP.

In this case, "problems streaming" means that both ISO and MKV files started, but dropped out after a matter of seconds and stopped playing.

In the meantime, I have tried out the discreet on and off codes for my Dune player, which successfully worked.
N.B. I had a further look around the Remote Central site and used these codes.

I used the above, as it was in an article directly referring to my model of Dune player, but more importantly because it referred to a change in codes. The article was written in the last year and the other link didn't have any date on it. I didn't try and compare the 2 sets of codes.

Thanks for the code update. Might be useful if the XBMC Dune Max ever appears.

Currently, I use a Mac Mini Server for streaming movies across the house to my AppleTV via Devolo AV+ homeplugs.

Also, I have a duplicate of my movie library stored on my ReadyNAS NV+.v2. Here, PLEX streams movies to PLEX iOS on my iPad3 via my Apple Airport Extreme. This still surprises me, given the relatively low powered ARM processor in the ReadyNAS.

A Squeezebox Touch replays my music library from my ReadyNAS.

Before returning it to John Lewis, my Sony KDL26EX553 had no difficulty playing-back movies from my ReadyNAS.

However, when the next iteration of the Mac Mini appears I will be selling my Mac Mini and Mac Mini Server for a fusion-driven Mac Mini (as my primary computer). Having tried a fusion Mac MIni in Regents Street AppleStore I cannot imagine buying a conventional Mac Mini.

That is why I am tempted by the diminutive Lenovo Q190 with combo Bluray drive as my HTPC (even though it has Windows 8). I can choose between PLEX, XMBC or MediaPortal for streaming movies to my television, or use iTunes/iHome Server for streaming movies to my AppleTV.

A couple of A400 Popcorn hours and a c300 running off an unRaid box in the basement with NMJ providing a front end GUI either on screen or via an iPad app. Easy to maintain, fuss-free and plays everything (inc. ISOs).