wdtv replacment for old TV Setup

[lingyi]

I don't know of ANY non-licensed software on any platform that correctly & fully plays BD/UHDBD ISOs. Some may play simple M2TS files, etc, but not menus, and not the navigation. It just hasn't ever been fully reverse engineered yet (at least without incurring the wrath of the BD companies).
Licensed BD/UHDBD software is like Cyberlink PowerDVD ($).

Scott

The older, pre-Android KDLinks boxes were supposed to be able to play Blu-Ray ISOs. DVDFab had a standalone media player that was said to be able to play Blu-Ray and UHD ISOs. Not sure about the KDLinks, but the DVDFab player was definitely unlicensed. AFAIK, the Blu-Ray Association and UHD Alliance has never given a standalone media player certification to play ISOs.

[victoriabears]

Got the chromecast for google TV and lo and behold Kodi plays DVD ISO's just great, I got the pending installation issue but once I connected the ethernet adaptor for hard wired internet, worked great. I think the pending app problem is wi fi.

[Cornucopia]

How about that! I also got one this week (Father's day gift from spouse).
What's great for me with it is not only the large amount of apps I can put on it, and the Kodi, Plex, & Vlc for internal streaming, but the remote...which just happens to talk beautifully to my other recent great find - a Pioneer VSX-832 AV receiver. Normally listing at ~$300-350 when new, I got it at a thrift store for $30. Works amazingly, only is just missing the auto-setup microphone (but I can do that manually anyway).
The Chromecast remote now is like a mini universal remote.
Hope you enjoy it as much as my spouse is enjoying ours (she is so glad I am no longer necessary to navigate the switching & remote juggling).

Scott

[lingyi]

Good to hear!

How does it handle subs and menu navigation?

[Cornucopia]

My take:
Subs great so far (though I would prefer to have more control over options). Haven't had time to mess w/ menus, other than between apps (which is fine). I am not using mine to replace discs or stream ISOs (yet).

Of course, you might not be asking me...

Scott

[lingyi]

I'm asking victoriabears, you and anyone else who may be able to answer.

Good to hear it's working for you. I may give Kodi another try just o see how it does.

[Alwyn]

Significantly underwhelmed with Chromecast with Google TV.

Kodi installed OK but refuses to show/find any of my media servers (Windows and Serviio). VLC Player finds them all. Posts all over the internet about this.

I don't know if it's just a VLC Player thing, but the movies I have in my movies folder show up as a one-column list. Having to click down, one at a time, through 400 movies is ridiculous. You can search, but if you just want to flick through looking for something to watch that you haven't seen yet, it takes ages.

Compared to the LG OS on my TV, this thing is a piece of cheap junk.

The remote's too small and fiddly.

Still, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

It does play my DV-AVIs, but then so does my AppleTV.

[jagabo]

Kodi installed OK but refuses to show/find any of my media servers (Windows and Serviio).

Use network file shares, not media severs.

If you really want KODI to act as a DLNA client you have to enable that feature in Settings -> Services -> UPNP/DLNA. There are options for acting as both a server and a client. I've never used it this way so that's as far as I can help with that.

[rrats]

Might be wrong but I think VLC supports ISO

[victoriabears]

Yes Kodi is more like a computer listing interface than the Plex entertaining informative one. You would think it would not be hard for Plex to play iso's??

[usually_quiet]

Might be wrong but I think VLC supports ISO

I tried VLC with the Chromecast With Google TV before I tried Kodi because I knew that the Windows version of VLC works very well for playing ISOs stored remotely and accessed via network shares. The Android version of VLC won't do that for some unknown reason.

[usually_quiet]

Significantly underwhelmed with Chromecast with Google TV.

Kodi installed OK but refuses to show/find any of my media servers (Windows and Serviio). VLC Player finds them all. Posts all over the internet about this.

I don't know if it's just a VLC Player thing, but the movies I have in my movies folder show up as a one-column list. Having to click down, one at a time, through 400 movies is ridiculous. You can search, but if you just want to flick through looking for something to watch that you haven't seen yet, it takes ages.

Compared to the LG OS on my TV, this thing is a piece of cheap junk.

The remote's too small and fiddly.

Still, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

It does play my DV-AVIs, but then so does my AppleTV.

I use my Chromecast With Google TV with a non-smart TV, so from my perspective, it added a lot of functionality for $50. Unfortunately, the Chromecast isn't a supported device for my cable provider's streaming app but I can use the Android NextPVR App to access my CableCARD tuner via the NextPVR server on my HTPC to watch cable on that TV wirelessly and avoid renting another cable box.