What is the Best Blu-Ray player for Hard Drive playback?

[knoxy99]

I am fairly new to this, but I am trying to learn. I am looking for a Blu-Ray player that is exactly what I am looking for. I have been researching them for a few months and would like some help.

I found a Samsung that seemed to meet all my needs but all the reviews said that it had major hardware issues.

I just want what everyone wants, all the options. I would like to to have 7.1 capabilities, hdmi out, usb input, wifi which would be netflix and other options. I would like eventually to take all of my movies, blu-ray, and SD, and put them all on a hard drive. I would hope that the player would be able to up-convert my SD through the hard drive too. This is a lot to ask so hopefully one of you were wanting the same things and have meet the need.

Thanks for any help.

[jman98]

Most DVD or BluRay players that play videos from a external devices require those devices to use FAT32 format. Microsoft charges a lot for NTFS support, so few manufacturers will pay for it. Your biggest issue is being sure that anything you buy will support NTFS as FAT32 has size limitations that you're not going to be happy with, especially with BluRay rips. Support for external hard drives or flash drives seems a lot better on media players such as the Western Digital devices than on BluRay or DVD players. And finally note that you are definitely going to need any external disk drives to have their own power source as a big external drive won't be able to get the power it needs via USB only from a DVD or BluRay player. Upconversion from a hard drive is no issue. If it will play, the player will upconvert it. Not that you would do this, but we had a post recently from some guy who set up 2 gigantic disk drives in BIG format (kind of like RAID) and he got pissed off that his playback device didn't support it. So please don't try anything like that. Any kind of RAID or RAID-like disk configuration is likely to be completely unsupported.

Samsung and Sony BluRay players sold in the USA cannot be made region free, should you care at all about that.

[knoxy99]

Thanks so much for your help. I have already read about the fat32 and how to get by the blu ray ripping. I would have to get a blu ray disk drive for my laptop but I can do that.

I am glad you mentioned that the external drive would need to power itself because I didn't even think about that.

I have looked at those western digital devices but didn't think they offered blu ray quality playback. If they did that would be what I get.

Thanks for the help

[jman98]

I have looked at those western digital devices but didn't think they offered blu ray quality playback. If they did that would be what I get.

They don't directly support BluRay playing from rips, but if you produce MKV files it can play those back. And the WD devices fully support HD playback, at least the WD TV and WD TV Live ones do.

[cal_tony]

As jman98 indicated,
you might be better off with one of the media players. I have the WD as well as the Seagate models. I also have a PS3. Although I consider the PS3 to be an amazing Bluray and DVD player, I've given up plugging any hard disks into it's USB ports. The PS3 is just not USB friendly for HD files or even for DVD files.

Of the 2 media players I have, the Seagate has more functions . It will play menus and chapters from a VIDEO_TS folder or an ISO file. The WD does not have menu or chapter support. Both Play ISOs have 2 USB ports, will play NTFS drives as well as Fat 32, and they both will play just about any video file format. The upscalers on both are much better than the upscaler on my Philip 5990s.

Tony

Tony

[knoxy99]

I see. Thanks so much for the help you answered a lot of questions. I might just end up getting both a media player and a blu ray player so I don't lose the quality on the blu rays. Thanks again for your help.

[knoxy99]

The only question I haven't had answered, or maybe you have and I just don't understand is, if there is a blu ray player that I could plug a external hard drive into and play my SD videos?

[MOVIEGEEK]

The only question I haven't had answered, or maybe you have and I just don't understand is, if there is a blu ray player that I could plug a external hard drive into and play my SD videos?

None that I know of, most(LG,Panasonic,OPPO) have a USB port but they are limited to AVCHD or MPEG-4 from a camcorder.

[cal_tony]

The PS3 will play a number of SD video types from the USB port but it is fussy. I have played vobs thru mine but some of the vobs play with audio others without audio. The reason I quit playing even the files that the PS3 will play thru the usb port is because I have other devices that are less troublesome.
Tony

[knoxy99]

I can format the videos in mpeg-4 which most I have already done. So, if they are in mpeg-4 format on my hard drive what blu ray player would play them? anyone know?

[knoxy99]

If anyone else is looking for this software I used a software called "handbreak" and it is a free software that will reformat the dvds so you can back them up on the hard drive.

[jman98]

I can format the videos in mpeg-4 which most I have already done. So, if they are in mpeg-4 format on my hard drive what blu ray player would play them? anyone know?

Depends on what exactly is in the MP4 container and whether the player supports that or not, so it's impossible to give you a definitive answer.

[knoxy99]

ok I really appreciate your guys help I guess I will just have to try something. I will update you on what I find out.
Thanks again

[oldfart13]

The only question I haven't had answered, or maybe you have and I just don't understand is, if there is a blu ray player that I could plug a external hard drive into and play my SD videos?

None that I know of, most(LG,Panasonic,OPPO) have a USB port but they are limited to AVCHD or MPEG-4 from a camcorder.

Hmmm....does he mean rips directly from a disc to the HDD? I think it has been stated that the LG390 can do that, as well as MKVs. The only downside of a direct rip to VOBs is that there is a pause between the files as the LG plays them. I don't have access to one to try it out and I wasn't an early adopter this time out as the costs to go from standard definition to Hi-Def were just too much. I'm not sure if the Oppo will also play those but you can probably check directly with them. I was set to get a Insignia player but there seem to be too many questions pertaining to the Canadian model that were unanswered in their own forum. Especially wanted to know if the player could be upgraded to allow downloading of content from Canadian Internet sources, or even from Youtube as many other players can do. The silence from their forum was deafening....

[knoxy99]

What do you mean "pause between the files" and to the statment above I can reform vob's to mpeg-4 or any other format I want by using "handbreak"

I was looking at a samsung bd-1590 at wal mart last night that has wifi, netflix, youtube, and pandora. It was $128 and had a usb port. I don't know if the usb port will be able to do what I want but if it does it seems like the cheap approach to my problem. It says it will play back AVCHD so I think I can format to that, but is there anyone that really knows that stuff to give any advice?

There have been a lot of bad reviews of the hardware but I will compare it with the LG390 and see what I think is the best for the money. thanks for the input

[MOVIEGEEK]

Go to http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=149 for more info.

People are saying the LG390 doesn't support AVI,DivX or MKV from a HDD. There are unconfirmed reports that they will work from a USB flash drive though.

[oldfart13]

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16635620&highlight=mkv+hdd#post16635620

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16566393&highlight=mkv+hdd#post16566393

Says the 390 can. Also here in this site:

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers?DVDname=lg+390&Submit=Search&Search=Search&bd=1&or...y=Name&hits=50


Also, it can use an NTFS formatted drive which just about no other player will support.

[guns1inger]

The only issue I have with the PS3 is the FAT32 limitation and not playing MKV natively. However I have no interest in playing VOBs or ISOs or DVD structures. If it handled MKV files natively and larger files then it would be perfect.

[BlueCollarCritic]

@guns1inger

FYI - I have the 40GB size PS3 and I can play back mkv files via USB (FAT32) drive. Perhaps the difference we are experiencing is with a firmware update?

[BlueCollarCritic]

What BluRay Player can support Video Playback both from a networked COmputer(s) and or a USB Drive plugged in the players USB port?
ANSWER: The LG BD390 and it is the only player I have been able to find that can do this. It also just happens to be one of the more expensive ones (that is not part of a complete stereo system/set).

I have spent the past 2 months researching BluRay players and have similar needs as originally posted here and of all the various BluRay players including the PlayStation3 (aka PS3) only the PS3 and the LG BD390 are currently capable of doing this type of playback from the 2 sources; Computer hard drive & USB drive.

The SAMSUNG BDP3600 can stream video from a computer’s hard drive so long as the player and the computer are on the same network and can see each other however the file format choices (i.e. mkv, mts, mt2, mov, wmv, avi, DivX, MP3, MP4, ect) that it supports I very, very limited. The LG BD390 doesn’t support as many file formats as the PS3 but it does support the mkv file format and that’s key because this is (if I’m using the term correctly) an open format and so its much easier to find, for free, software to convert other file formats into an mkv file that you can then stream thru your BluRay Player.

Now if anyone else knows of another BluRay player currently available or that will be available in the next 3 months please reply back and let me know because I would desperately love to find a BluRay Player as versatile as my PS3 but without the Fat32 Drive limitation that the PS3 imposes on a connected USB Drive.

BWT – If you think the ability to stream from many online services like NetFlix is a deal sealer when deciding on a BluRay player, keep in mind that these services make you dependent on them for the movies. If this were true for regular DVD players just a decade ago and the sale person told you that you could get a DVD player that plays only movies rented via NetFlix or fropm Blockbuster or get one that would let you play your own DVD’s as well, would you get the one that does not let you play your own DVD movies? Probably not. The electronic chains must be in bed with these online service providers and are therefore pushing these players hard because if they told people that player A would play movies from NetFlix/Aduroa/Pandora/Ect but not theior own movies they had ripped to their hard drive but player B would, how many would pick the player with more limitations on what you can play? They are counting on selling people on getting players that lock you into streaming only movies from the online providers. Be careful what you select and make sure you get guarantee from the store that it will do what they say it will else you may get stiffed.

Thanks



IMPORTANT WARNING: If you too are trying to find a BluRay player that can stream your own content and not just online services, be careful with how much merrit you put into what the electronics store employees tell you especially the part time ones. My father was told the SAMSUNG BDP1600 could do this streaming and that was just out right wrong. And whilke the SAMSUNG BDP3600 can stream from a PC it is still limited to networked content and is not able to read content from a USB drive that you plug into it.

[jet757f]

Im reading this post and wondering if the newer LG BD570 or the LG BD590 has this capability of reading external hard drive with NTFS files on it?? If anyone has experience with this please post.

[oldfart13]

Im reading this post and wondering if the newer LG BD570 or the LG BD590 has this capability of reading external hard drive with NTFS files on it?? If anyone has experience with this please post.

Just go here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=149

and do some more reading.

[MOVIEGEEK]

If you don't need Blu-ray(or already own one) many media players support FAT32 and NTFS: Sony SMP-N100, Boxee Box, ASUS O'Play, WD TV Live Plus, etc.
They are cheaper than a new BD player and many can stream Netflix also.