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  1. Hi there,

    Am I able to see 720p or 1080p mkv movies on a standard old CRT television that only shows up to a maximum of 720 pixels horizontally for xvid avis played from my cheap standalone DVD-player?

    I'm looking for a way to play mkv movies that have higher resolution than 720 pixel. I know I have to replace my DVD-player to a better one with MKV support but will I be able to play the MKVs on the same television then?

    If no, is there any hardware (standalon player, etc) that can somehow downscale the MKV to watch on my old TV? I don't have the funds atm to change everything at once.

    Thanks in advance
    Last edited by Baldrick; 28th Jun 2014 at 07:35. Reason: New title
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  2. Your best best may be to get a media player such as wdtv which will play almost anything, but you'll be limited to standard definition composite out for your tv.

    DVD players almost universally will not play files with greater than SD resolution. If you want to keep playing disks you will need to move up to blu ray -- again, most have composite out.

    Many HDTVs will play files directly from a USB port, but if you go that route be very careful that the tv will accept your particular files.
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  3. thanks,

    My old TV has only SCART connector, is there a way to connect it to WD TV which has only HDMA+audio? Or is there anything similar to WDTV that can be used with my TV?
    Also I always wondered if Blu-ray films are in 1920x1080 resolution, how could I play them on my CRT tv with any standalon BD players when the TV shows the maximum of 720 pixels horizontally?
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  4. Your TV displays analog video. Analog video has no pixels at all. The player does what's necessary to output a standard analog video signal via composite, s-video or RGB (SCART can include all of those).

    Beware, new Blu-ray players do not have any analog outputs. You'll need an older player that has composite, s-video or SCART outputs. And not all Blu-ray players can play media files.

    The WDTV series has composite and s-video outputs (via the AV output). You'll need an inexpensive SCART adapter if your TV doesn't have those inputs.
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  5. DECEASED
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    Also, keep in mind that your CRT TV will be displaying not Hi-Def video, it will display just a downscaled image.

    Sooner or later, we all have to say good-bye to outdated technologies : - /
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  6. I didn't know that about the pixels. Thanks for the info!

    Originally Posted by jagabo View Post
    The WDTV series has composite and s-video outputs (via the AV output). You'll need an inexpensive SCART adapter if your TV doesn't have those inputs.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XpXOmtGEjk&t=2m1s - on these WDTVs is there a way to connect to my Scart TV with a scart adapter (though I found only SCART <--> 3xRCA converter sofar)
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  7. The "audio video" output, aka AV output includes composite and stereo audio. The WDTV comes with a short adapter cable. You can see it in this customer image at amazon.co.uk:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B005NYOKC2/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_im...e=UTF8&index=0

    You can see the red and white audio connectors. The yellow composite video connector is largely obscured by the black cable and reflections on the plastic but it's there. If your TV doesn't have inputs for those connectors you'll need a SCART adapter:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/RCA-SCART-Adapter-Composite-PlayStation/dp/B0035XB4Z4/
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  8. Ahh ok, I get it now. Thank you.

    However browsing the web I just forgot one thing that may be important. The possibility of playing DVD discs. My wife has a wide variety of old DVD discs and may be happy if she could play them aswell, unfortunately those wd boxes themselves can't do that.

    I found only one player so far with the ability to use discs and interested in your opinion about this player / if there is any alternative:

    http://dev.xtreamer.net/xtreamerdvd/overview.aspx
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  9. Originally Posted by Voxx View Post

    I found only one player so far with the ability to use discs and interested in your opinion about this player / if there is any alternative:

    http://dev.xtreamer.net/xtreamerdvd/overview.aspx
    It's an old discontinued model that got fair to middling reviews at best. A cursory search of ebay turned up nothing, but you may have better luck with some diligence. Are you really sure this is the direction you want to go?

    An alternative is an older blu ray player with composite outputs as mentioned by jagabo above.
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  10. So does it mean I have two ways to go

    I can have a media player for mkv, flv, bd, etc, with disc playing hardware parts but those are all older models
    or
    I can have a media player for mkv, flv, bd, etc, without disc support and those players could be really new and hmm.. shiny?

    I'm not interested in web-related things like facebook or whatever services do they have inbuilt. After all, rather than that, what else is the difference between an old discontinued media player and a new one? My second question is the one above: Is there any new standalone media player model that can play discs (BD players are often very limited in support of video formats)
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  11. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    #1 Yes, basically. Or use an HTPC.

    #2 Not that I know of. Also, only a few general media players will be able to do DVD or BD disc images (aka ISOs). Note that new BD player models have a much wider range of acceptable formats. It's just that you don't want to go there yet.

    Scott
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  12. Okies, thanks for the info guys!
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  13. You can buy new DVD players for as little as $20. You can find used ones nearly free. Just get a cheap DVD player and a decent media player.

    Or you can look for a older Blu-ray player like the LG BD-570 or LG BD-670 (I have the latter). Those still have composite output and can play a fairly wide variety of media files. Not as wide as the WDTV though (I have a WDTV Live on another TV). By AACS license terms, no Blu-ray player manufactured since 2013 is allowed to have any analog outputs.
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  14. Member
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    Stating things a different way, it is necessary to look at Blu-Ray players licensed or produced before 2013 to get one with any analog connections. ...but even so, a few inexpensive models only had digital connections in 2012. I know because I looked at several inexpensive Blu-Ray players while shopping for a Christmas gift to give to my parents in 2012. The LG BP 220 I picked included composite video plus analog stereo, but the even less expensive LG BP 125 had HDMI and coaxial digital audio as its only connections.
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