Video Storage on TV

[efiste2]

I have been told that I can connect an external hard drive to my TV to watch my video files on. Obviously this is what my Sky box does with video recorded from Sky, but I'd like to store some of my home videos / edited videos, and be able to access them on my Sony Bravia TV. Firstly , is this possible ? And secondly if it is possible, what "kit" do I need, and what format do my videos need to be in to get the best A/V quality possible ?

I realise I can stream video from my PC , but it's not very practical to always have the PC on every time I wish to watch a video from my collection.

Thanks for any advice

[Cornucopia]

Can't go much further without something as simple and clear as a model #...

Scott

[fritzi93]

It's possible.

If your TV is fairly new, it may have an onboard media player. In that case, it's just a matter of connecting an external (powered, preferably) hard drive via USB to the TV, and selecting USB input.

Do a search of your model number to find the manual. If the TV has an onboard player, the formats supported should be listed.

If no onboard player, you could get a media player like one of the WD models. They support a wide variety of formats.

[EDIT] Scott beat me to it. Gotta know the TV's model number.

[efiste2]

Excellent advice, Thanks chaps...............

[efiste2]

thanks to your expert advice, I have now fitted a 1Tb HD to the TV, its plays well and Im made up, so thanks again,

Just a quick query, my TV plays MP4 and Mpeg2 files. I converted a short DVD rip using MPEG video Wizard, into two formats, an MP4, and what the output described as a PAL DVD file, im guessing its an MPEG2 file,
I Used these settings for the MP4 comversion, The PAL DVD file offers no setting changes so I left it be,



Whats the best format to use, I have quickly looked at the results, but not studied them, And I dont want to get bogged down with being over critical and spending ages looking for minute differences, so if you chaps reckon one format is better than the other, ill go with that one.

Thanks

[fritzi93]

Does the manual list MKV? Just as good compatibility (maybe better) over a wide range of devices. And even if it's not listed, I'd be surprised that an onboard player would recognize MP4, but not MKV.

Also, if you're using the optical out on your TV to, say, a 2.1 soundbar or 5.1 receiver, you'd want MKV with AC3 5.1 audio. DTS or AAC are output as stereo PCM on most TVs regardless, while AC3 5.1 can typically be passed through intact. I fit both scenarios, with a 2.1 soundbar for the living room TV, and a pre-HDMI 5.1 receiver in the home theater, so to get surround, or even just downmixed stereo and the LFE channel, it's gotta be AC3 5.1 via optical.

Of course, if you're sure stereo AAC suits your purposes now and in the future, then MP4 will be more efficient with file size (solely because of the audio).

[newpball]

Whats the best format to use

For quality, the original source (unless you are able to repair certain things).
So for DVD that means MPEG-2.

[fritzi93]

Forgot to mention:

You can use MakeMKV (free) to rip your DVDs/Blu-Rays and put main movie in MKV container with no quality loss. Quick and easy.

You have to update the key monthly (from the website) or install new versions as they come out. Free while it's beta, which it's been now for years.

[efiste2]

My TV is capable of MKV playback as per these details. I have NO idea what these mean, but do the details below, mean it should play a file created by MakeMKV, which I have to say is a really great tool.

[fritzi93]

Try making one from one of your DVDs and see?

The manuals for my 2 TVs with onboard players (2011 and 2012 vintage) don't list resolutions, just containers, codecs and subtitle formats. They play anything (listed) up to 1080p, cropped or not. I'd be surprised to know of an onboard player that plays HD files but does not play SD resolution.

[fritzi93]

Sorry, double post.

[efiste2]

I have done a couple know and the TV wont play them, I wondering if I have some settings wrong in the software that extracts it, ie MakeMKV.....

I will keep on trying however........

[fritzi93]

I guess it wants to see plain MPEG2 then, not in an MKV container. Rip to files instead of MKV, then join the VOBs with VOB2MPEG.

I presume you can rip to files from a DVD (as opposed to Blu-Ray) with MakeMKV, but I don't do DVDs any more. Or use whatever DVD ripper you normally do.

Are you doing mainly DVDs, or Blu-Rays too? With BDs you should have no trouble playing MKVs made by MakeMKV, so long as the video is H.264; can't say for sure about VC-1 or MPEG2.

The other option is to re-encode everything to H.264 MKV/MP4 at a fairly high quality setting. You never said whether file size is a consideration.