Media streaming player or usb support?

[gabe3]

we have a 54" panasonic coming tomorrow and I'm trying to find a blu ray player. I'd like it to have media streaming where I can stream movies from a computer over wifi, in at least 720p quality. Or if thats not a good idea, what about one that I can plug an external usb hard drive into and play movies off that?

[un4gvn94538]

a ps3 can stream content from a pc over your network usind either windows media player, tversity or others. as far as from a usb, the ps3 can do that. other stand alone players can do this too from a usb drive but youll have to look at the specs to see what formats you want to use is supported. also not all stand alones are wireless

[gabe3]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

a ps3 can stream content from a pc over your network usind either windows media player, tversity or others. as far as from a usb, the ps3 can do that. other stand alone players can do this too from a usb drive but youll have to look at the specs to see what formats you want to use is supported. also not all stand alones are wireless

does the ps3 stream at least 720p? I think a usb drive is my best bet.

[shooter3295]

Some of the new Blu-Ray players are also capable of streaming from various sources like Netflix,... or the Net. Samsung has a line that does that from the BD-P2500 on up. You must have at least 3.0 mbps DSL speed or a cable connection to get it in HD. They also have a USB drive.

[gabe3]

Originally Posted by shooter3295

Some of the new Blu-Ray players are also capable of streaming from various sources like Netflix,... or the Net. Samsung has a line that does that from the BD-P2500 on up. You must have at least 3.0 mbps DSL speed or a cable connection to get it in HD. They also have a USB drive.

hmm, I'm not looking for anything to stream from the net, just either stream from my computer or usb hard drive support.

[shooter3295]

In order to stream from the net,... or a computer,..... it must have either an Ethernet connection,..... wireless capability,.... or external drive. That is why I told you about the Samsungs. There are others that also have this ability. Some even connect to Youtube or Hulu.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by gabe3

does the ps3 stream at least 720p? I think a usb drive is my best bet.

although i dont stream muuch if at all, i have set up tversity for this ability on the ps3 and there is an option for resolution settings including 720p. a quick google search shows that it does stream hd content. just remember if your going to stream from your pc, the pc should be up to the task and have enough horse power. if not, the content may not look or stream as smoothly.

[gabe3]

Originally Posted by shooter3295

In order to stream from the net,... or a computer,..... it must have either an Ethernet connection,..... wireless capability,.... or external drive. That is why I told you about the Samsungs. There are others that also have this ability. Some even connect to Youtube or Hulu.

you didn't say if the samsung streams from the computer.

[shooter3295]

Originally Posted by gabe3

you didn't say if the samsung streams from the computer.

Streams what ?

Look at the spec sheet,.....in the player section of this site,..... it will tell you what the BD player will playback. Most players have inputs for multiple sources,..... and a USB drive. I would think any limitations will be in the file format you are trying to play. If it's some off the wall file format,... like some "propietary sites" use,......you would better off converting it and burning a DVD on the computer.

BTW,... at the lower Internet speeds,.. if you try to surf or check mail while streaming,..... it WILL interrupt,... and possibly disrupt the stream.

[Sammy]

The LG 370 and 390 stream media from a computer ads well from netflix, youtube and movienow.

The Samsung 2500 does not but it does stream netflix from the internet and the 2550 streams netflix and pandora.

I think that the Samsung 4600 streams media from the computer.

[gabe3]

Originally Posted by shooter3295

Streams what ?

Look at the spec sheet,.....in the player section of this site,..... it will tell you what the BD player will playback. Most players have inputs for multiple sources,..... and a USB drive. I would think any limitations will be in the file format you are trying to play. If it's some off the wall file format,... like some "propietary sites" use,......you would better off converting it and burning a DVD on the computer.

BTW,... at the lower Internet speeds,.. if you try to surf or check mail while streaming,..... it WILL interrupt,... and possibly disrupt the stream.

I checked the samsung, BD-P3600 and a few others. it says it has USB 2.0 but they don't tell you anything about it. they don't say anything about plugging in a hard drive, nor list support supported file types. I don't understand why samsung fails at providing info.

[shooter3295]

Originally Posted by gabe3

I checked the samsung, BD-P3600 and a few others. it says it has USB 2.0 but they don't tell you anything about it. they don't say anything about plugging in a hard drive, nor list support supported file types. I don't understand why samsung fails at providing info.

Access the PDF file of the manual for the model you are interested in. They are on the MFG web site,... and can be downloaded. They tell you all you need to know.

What type of file do you want to play,.... what is the format and/or file extension ?

Just because a machine can stream from a computer or the net does not mean it will play all files thrown at it. They all play certain file formats.

[gabe3]

Originally Posted by shooter3295

Access the PDF file of the manual for the model you are interested in. They are on the MFG web site,... and can be downloaded. They tell you all you need to know.

What type of file do you want to play,.... what is the format and/or file extension ?

Just because a machine can stream from a computer or the net does not mean it will play all files thrown at it. They all play certain file formats.

I looked in the pdf. it says:

MPEG2, VC-1, H.264, HD JPEG (VD/DVD/
USB), DivX-SD (CD/DVD/USB) decoding
Dolby® Digital, Dolby Digital Plus,
Dolby® TrueHD, DTS®, DTS-HD High, Resolution Audio, DTS-HD Master
Audio (Essential), LPCM 192kHz
5.1 ch, MPEG2 audio L1, MPEG2
audio L2, dts CD decoding, HDMI
7.1ch multi-channel PCM output,
downmixing (7.1ch to 2ch) for analog
outpu, MP3 (CD/DVD/USB), WMA (CD/
DVD/USB),MPE 24/48kHz 320kbps max.
2ch max audio decoding
Down sampling, dynamic range
control, bass redirection management,
audio mixing (rate conversion/
mixing/re-encoding), test tone,
speaker setup audio processing.
24-bit/192KHz audio D/A converter

it lists H.264 which is good, my H.264 files are in .mkv format so how do I know if it will play them? kinda wish it had .avi support too.

[shooter3295]

If it doesn't specifically list .mkv as a viable format for play back,.... then I would have to say it won't play them. Trying them in a player would then be the only way to know for sure,..... You could copy some to a disc and try them in a friends player,... or take them to the store that carries the player you want.

Right now,... I do know the new Oppo player will handle the .mkv files.

See here. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...43&postcount=1

[gabe3]

Originally Posted by shooter3295

If it doesn't specifically list .mkv as a viable format for play back,.... then I would have to say it won't play them. Trying them in a player would then be the only way to know for sure,..... You could copy some to a disc and try them in a friends player,... or take them to the store that carries the player you want.

Right now,... I do know the new Oppo player will handle the .mkv files.

See here. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...43&postcount=1

Hmm, I wonder when that will be out.

what about getting the WD TV:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=572

that does .mkv