1st-of-all, please pardon me if this is something I should have been able to find out by searching the forum. I've tried, but perhaps I don't know the right keywords to use.
I have my videos on an HD hooked up to my wireless router. I'd like to be able to play them on a monitor/speaker set up in another room, so I'm looking for hardware that
a) has Wifi
b) supports the most popular codecs
c) has VGA or DVI and audio output, and
d) runs some software that allows me to display the contents of the HD on the monitor and choose what I want to play. A remote would be nice, too.
Most of what I read about here seems geared to playing on a TV and/or to streaming from a media-server on a remote PC. I can run a media-server on another PC if necessary, but I do have to connect to a monitor rather than a TV.
I'm not scared of cobbling something together, but I am trying to keep costs "reasonable".
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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The best idea I can come up with is to find an inexpensive used computer that can run Linux to use XBMC or MythTV, and which can be upgraded with a Linux-compatible USB wireless adapter and remote receiver kit. No hardware media player or Android media device is going to work well when connected to a monitor instead of a TV.
Monitors expect to receive progressive video input matching their actual resolution at 60 Hz (60 frames per second). You don't say what you have, but the most common LCD monitor resolutions are 1920x1080 and 1366x768.
Hardware media players and Android media devices can at best output 1080p or 720p via HDMI, which is not close enough to what a monitor needs to work correctly. 1920x1080 is a match for 1080p's resolution, but 1080p video output from hardware players is limited to ~30 frames per second or ~24 frames per second, not the 60 frames per second that a monitor uses. 720p video is output at 60 frames per second, but at 1280x720 resolution it will be fuzzy when displayed at either common monitor resolution since computer monitors do not do a good job scaling video input.Last edited by usually_quiet; 29th Oct 2013 at 16:12.
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Thank you very much for that thorough reply. I'll have to consider my options in light of what you wrote.
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Your experience is different from what the specs for the WD TV Live say, which is:
1. MPEG-2 Max (MP@HL 1920x1080ip30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).
2. MPEG4.2 Max (ASP@L5 1920x1080p30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40)
3. EG-4.10 (H.264) Max (BP@L3.0 720x480p30 or 720x576p25, MP@L4.1 and HP@L4.1 1920×1080p30 or 1280x720p60), bit rate (SD:20, HD:40).Last edited by usually_quiet; 29th Oct 2013 at 18:16. Reason: spelling
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For monitor compatibility we are talking about the video output characteristics, not the frame rate of the videos it can play. 1080p60 files aren't officially supported but it can play some 1920x1080p60 videos -- if the bitrate and complexity aren't too high. 1920x1080i30 and 1280x720p60 are fine -- again, as long as the encoding characteristics aren't too far beyond Blu-ray specs.
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