Best way to make a "dumb tv" smart?

[sdsumike619]

I have an HD tv, that has HDMI inputs on it. A while back I bought this USB to HDMI converter that allows me to connect my laptop to the TV. But when I do that and watch things like movies on netflix, the video is rather choppy, read that others experience the same issue. So now I'm thinking about buying one of these blu-ray players that has built in wifi. Are they any good, does video play smoothly from them? Are they limited to Youtube/netflix, or do they have web browsers in them that allow me to go to other sites, etc.. ?

[Ai Haibara]

Assuming your wired/wireless connections and traffic are decent, they should generally play things like Netflix and YouTube okay, as far as I'm aware.

Most Blu-Ray players don't have a web browser option, however. If you're looking to be able to use a web browser from your TV and Blu-Ray player, you might look into a Playstation 3. The PS4 probably does it as well... but I haven't looked into it, so I don't know if it plays Blu-Rays and has Netflix capability. It likely does, on both counts, but the PS4 is probably expensive, and it's not always a good idea to buy launch systems, as there may end up being issues that need to be worked out with later builds of the system.

[MOVIEGEEK]

As long as you have at least 6Mbps internet the video quality is very good, having 12+Mbps internet is best. Blu-ray players with built-in Wi-Fi are cheap nowadays, if space is a factor then get a Roku. Neither have browsers but you can surf on your laptop while you watch TV.

[sdsumike619]

I have a great internet connection, that's not the problem. It's this usb to hdmi adapter thingy. I mean, it does the job, but not well, I suppose it's a limitation of usb 2.0, not enough bandwidth for smooth video. Maybe other adapters work better, I dunno. I was just curious about the wifi enabled blu-ray players, how well they work with video quality coming over the wifi. I don't have any interest in a PS3 unit though, not into gaming.

[smrpix]

[QUOTE=sdsumike619;2283131I suppose it's a limitation of usb 2.0, not enough bandwidth for smooth video.[/QUOTE]

USB2 speeds are more than adequate for Blu Ray and significantly more than adequate for streaming. That's probably not the bottleneck.

[sdsumike619]

Ok, well here's the device I have:http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011403&p_id=8079&seq=1&format=2

[sdsumike619]

here's one that has a built in full web browser:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=0R4-0002-00017
It's $109

[usually_quiet]

Ok, well here's the device I have:http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=101&cp_id=10114&cs_id=1011403&p_id=8079&seq=1&format=2

The USB 2.0 to HDMI adapter is actually an external USB 2.0 video card. There is a big difference between a video card with a PCI-e interface and one with a USB 2.0 interface. USB 2.0 video card are OK for displaying a relatively static desktop, but are not going to do good job playing playing 1080p video.

[rumplestiltskin]

WDTV Live works great for streaming (Hulu, Netflix, etc.) and for videos I have on a USB drive (flash or HD). Own two of them. Can stream from one WDTV's attached HD over wifi to the other WDTV. Very happy. $100, more or less. Buy a cheap "USB thingy" and get your money's worth.

[jagabo]

USB2 speeds are more than adequate for Blu Ray and significantly more than adequate for streaming.

Not when the CPU is decompressing the picture and sending uncompressed frames through the cable. Or, if the external graphics "card" is doing the decompression (via DXVA), it may simply not have enough grunt to handle 1080p. This is a common complaint with USB graphics cards.

[Brainiac]

I have the Vizio Co-Star. Bought on a recommendation from a friend. Love it.

Brainiac

[yoda313]

use a web browser from your TV and Blu-Ray player, you might look into a Playstation 3.

Friends don't let friends use the ps3 web browser.

It's just bad and clunky and isn't very useful.

It's better than nothing but I just don't like it, that simple.

I like the browser on the xbox 360 a lot better. Granted it's internet explorer (go ahead and grown if you want). But its a much better layout for a widescreen tv and incorporates the controller better.

Of course you can use a usb keyboard with either.

The only edge the ps3 has is that you can use bluetooth keyboards with it. The 360 doesn't have open bluetooth like the ps3 does.

@ai haibara - I don't mean to slam you on that suggestion it's just that the xbox has a better interface. If you haven't used it than you wouldn't know about it so I understand that. I just wanted to offer a better option.

Edit - and so you don't think I'm some microsoft slappy I do have both a ps3 and a xbox 360.

[jagabo]

By the way, the PS4 has dropped many of the media player functions of the PS3. Though Sony claims they will eventually restore some of them.

I recommend a standalone media player like the Western Digital WDTV series. Their raison d'être is to play media files. It's not an afterthought or spec sheet checkoff box item like it is on TVs and Blu-ray players. They generally support a wider range of containers, codecs, and muxing methods.

[yoda313]

By the way, the PS4 has dropped many of the media player functions of the PS3. Though Sony claims they will eventually restore some of them.

Yep I just posted about this in the off topic forum.

No audio cd support, no mp3 playback, and from what I remember it can't show jpeg files.

I was confused whether or not it supports usb drives for media. I was just so stunned by what they took out my memory locked up.

But yes they claim they may do a firmware update to add it in the future.

Edit - oh and no dlna support.

Edit - here's the online ps4 manual documentation - officially no bluray 3d support on day one in the disc playback section.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/index.html

I'll dig up the xbox one manual for those who are interested. I want to see what file support it has.

Edit - here's the xbox one site:

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/browse/xbox-one/system/Manuals%20and%20Specs

Haven't gotten to the file support yet.

Edit - http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/usb-port-use

Interesting that usb storage isn't supported yet. So no harddrive hookups at the moment. I'm sure that will change.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I was just curious about the wifi enabled blu-ray players, how well they work with video quality coming over the wifi.

That's what I was referring to in my first post, if you have fast internet then you can watch HD video from Netflix, etc. Sony and LG players have YouTube apps. Most players have DLNA so you can stream media from your PC.

[sdsumike619]

Yep, internet connection is plenty fast, no problem there. I'm most curious about the web browser feature of the blu-ray players. Sometimes you find something to watch that isn't on Youtube..

[Ai Haibara]

Thing is, though, any web browser support on a Blu-Ray player is probably likely to be rather minimal (limited cache/RAM, etc.), and not well-suited to streaming media from another online source.

yoda313: Yeah, I haven't used any of the X-Boxes, so I can't comment on them.
And, yes, the web browsers on game systems are also minimal, too (though perhaps a little better than I'm expecting a browser on a regular Blu-Ray player to be)... my first experiment with it was the Dreamcast browser on a dial-up account. Fun. I've also tried the DSi, 3DS, Wii and PS3 browsers.

[jagabo]

Yes, web browser support isn't great with any of these devices. Standalone media players, Blu-ray disc players, smart TVs, etc.

[yoda313]

nd, yes, the web browsers on game systems are also minimal, too (though perhaps a little better than I'm expecting a browser on a regular Blu-Ray player to be)... my first experiment with it was the Dreamcast browser on a dial-up account. Fun. I've also tried the DSi, 3DS, Wii and PS3 browsers.

Ah the dreamcast, what might have been....

The only portable gaming browser I had experience with is the psp which I still have. Too bad that was before portable surfing took off on phones and stuff. I'm sure the next gen vita and 3ds are better suited now that portable surfing has matured so much.

And jagabo is correct like we've been saying, full web browsing support isn't likely on any settop unit.

Better to get an inexpensive android tablet or if you have to have apple get a used ipad. Than you can do portable streaming.

[Ai Haibara]

Ah the dreamcast, what might have been....

The only portable gaming browser I had experience with is the psp which I still have. Too bad that was before portable surfing took off on phones and stuff. I'm sure the next gen vita and 3ds are better suited now that portable surfing has matured so much.

And jagabo is correct like we've been saying, full web browsing support isn't likely on any settop unit.

Better to get an inexpensive android tablet or if you have to have apple get a used ipad. Than you can do portable streaming.

I don't know... I'm still more inclined to recommend an actual computer (a decent laptop, in this case?) for streaming over, say, a phone or a tablet. And this is coming from someone who does have an Android phone and a Nexus 7 tablet. Maybe it's just me.

Oh, yeah. Forgot about the PSP. I did use the browser on that, too.
I don't know about the Vita, but the 3DS' browser is even more minimal. It's not a separate app/program, and seems to be designed for those times when you want to put the game you're playing on standby, then quickly check a text FAQ and return to the game. The cache/RAM is really limited, so it'll have trouble with too many images (or large images on a page, etc.), and other things you'd think might cause problems.

Plus, it apparently uses WebKit, which (as far as I've seen) tends to chew up more resources, by default.

[yoda313]

For the original poster:

I just saw an ad the other day for a new smart tv by samsung that claims to have a FULL WEB BROWSER in it.

Granted this thread is about retrofitting a nonsmart tv. But if you were looking for a reason to get a new tv that would be something to look into.

However I think it's been mentioned here already or in other threads that "smart app" ability hikes the price of a tv. At least it did the other year when I last looked into tv prices seriously. The gap might have closed recently between app-centric tvs and app-less tvs.

But I would still check out reviews and find out just how "full" that full web browser really is.

[nic2k4]

The only thing that's worth any effort is to hook a PC to your TV and run MythTV (Mythbuntu is best) or Windows MPC. It doesn't have to be anything too extravagant, I know people using old P4 2.8 with XP. What you get, best browser options, the ability to stream from others than the built-in services of those cute little boxes (it's not easy to get the latest episode of SOA). Another big benefit, upgradability; keep up with CODEC's and changes on the web like HTML5. Add a TV card and you have a PVR.

[yoda313]

I should have mentioned this before but didn't.

Consider looking into getting an OUYA.

It's an android console that connects via hdmi to your tv. It's got wifi and lan so you can do wifi or lan for your net connection.

It's a propreitary android device so it doesn't have google play installed. But sideloading apps does work and various non-google app stores for android do work. Though phone specific apps may or may not work since it can't rotate and things like that.

There are plenty of other android devices that connect to tvs these days. You can get firefox for android and it will do just about anything a normal webbrowser does. Plus you can get youtube apps for these devices as well as other big hittters. Though if you get one of the cheaper knockoffs you'll have to research what can and can't be installed.

But the good thing about ouya is it has bluetooth so you can use bluetooth headphones and more importantly bluetooth keyboards

Something to consider (and yes I do have a ouya).