Advice on media playing options.

Destination

Destination

Destination

Soldato
Joined
31 May 2009
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Reposted from the TV thread. No responses at all over there.

A little bit of background about current setup before asking for how would be the best way to expand my media playing options.

Currently I live in a 2 floor household, on the ground floor in the living room lies my TV, V+HD box, phone line, and an original X-box on which I watch DVDs.
Upstairs in a front room lies two computers linked to a router (hardwired but capable of wireless) which connects in turn to the virginmedia router.
In a back bedroom lies a smaller tv, which has an integrated dvd player and also an old style ntl cable box.
Currently I can watch TV on either TV, (HD downstairs only) and watch DVDs on either TV.

If there are materials I wish to watch or listen to, internet movies, photos, any downloaded materials, mp3s, I currently have to burn them to DVD first, and then watch in either room.

What are my options for watching/hearing the digital media directly and avoiding the need for burning to DVD/CD? I am aware media players exist, I am also aware that lots of folks have made HTPCs for this process, and giving them the option of blueray playback also.

Which would be the better option, and which would people advise, for media players who uses them and who would recommend the type they use, and what are the advantges and disadvantages of their setup? Would i require cabling, or wireless access etc. This is one area I truely have limited knowledge of and replies and advice is gratefully appreciated.
 
I recently got a PS3 and was pleasantly surprised by the media playback facilities. Basically I have Windows Media sharing setup on my PC, which can then be easily accessed from the PS3 over wireless. Also does bluray and dvd-upscaling. Not sure what formats are supported, xvid plays fine I know that much.

Obviously, unless you are interested in playing ps3 games then it's a bit too expensive to get for that purpose, just a thought though as presumably if you have an original x-box you are a gamer but don't have a modern console.
 
+1 for the PS3, all my media files are streamed wirelessly from my PC straight to my TV screen. Very cool little machine with DVD upscalling and Bluray playing capabilities as said before
 
HangTime said:
I recently got a PS3 and was pleasantly surprised by the media playback facilities. Basically I have Windows Media sharing setup on my PC, which can then be easily accessed from the PS3 over wireless. Also does bluray and dvd-upscaling. Not sure what formats are supported, xvid plays fine I know that much.

Obviously, unless you are interested in playing ps3 games then it's a bit too expensive to get for that purpose, just a thought though as presumably if you have an original x-box you are a gamer but don't have a modern console.
Click to expand...

Thanks for getting back to me.
Interesting. Most of my games are PC, the wife uses a nintendo Wii, I wasn't aware the pS3 had buildin wireless and could access a PC network through it.

Is it just a matter of browsing to the correct folder and playing the media directly? Does it cache well ahead during playback, or can performance stutter?
 
I've got a ps3 and its a dream, streaming is so easy and below are file format's it plays :)

Supported disc media:

BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, Super Audio CD (The 40GB Model launched 2007-11-02 does NOT play SACDs!)

Supported software media:
VIDEO

# MPEG-1
# MPEG-2 (PS,TS)
# H.264/MEPG-4 AVC
# MPEG-4 SP

MUSIC

# ATRAC (.oma .msa .aa3)
# AAC (.3gp .mp4)
# MP3 (.mp3)
# WAV (.wav)

IMAGES

# JPEG
# GIF
# PNG
# TIFF
# BMP
 
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Hikari Kisugi said:
Is it just a matter of browsing to the correct folder and playing the media directly? Does it cache well ahead during playback, or can performance stutter?
Click to expand...

Yep, I'm sure there's more than one way of doing it but I literally just browse through my shared media folders to choose the file I want to play. To be honest I've actually been quite shocked how useful we find it, in the past I always used to plug my wife's laptop into the TV for playing media, but this is much less hassle. It even switches to the correct HDMI channel when powering up the ps3 (using the wireless controller) so I don't even have to get up off my arse to find the tv remote, heh :)

Caching isn't perfect, I do get stutter occasionally but that's just down to dodgy wireless signal (PS3 is on a different floor from the router, sat in a TV stand), can always resolve it by moving the router/ps3 a bit. Might even be possible to increase the buffer, but I haven't looked into it.
 
Can the PS3 be wired eternet into the network?
Or always wireless? is wireless buildinto the box, or an addiional module?

damn really unsure i can justify a gaming machine i simply won't use for games
 
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