Hi All,
I’ve just ordered an EX4100 to act mainly as a media streaming device for all my music and video to different sources around the house.
My videos are dvd rips in iso format.
I Have a DNLA blu ray player (Sony BDPS7200) that doesn’t play ISO files although it seems to play almost everything else on the planet.
Can the EX4100 stream the iso through the DNLA so that the player doesn’t have to do the decoding?
I’m not sure that’s the right question technically, but what I’m trying to find out is ‘can I watch my movies through my blu ray player?’.
Many thanks for any help.
No. DLNA cannot stream ISOs.
However, if you are willing to spend a pretty penny, there are a couple other options that will allow you to do what you are looking to do. Mount DVD & BD ISOs and then playback the movies from those mounted ISOs. They are network media players…essentially they access data (movie files AND storage files like ISOs) from either a hard drive installed in the player itself or from a network storage device (like a NAS or a computer with file sharing turned on) or from a plugged in USB hard drive/thumb drive. Few examples that I know of are the pricey Dune HD players and the less-pricey KDLinks HD720 player and the new 4K-capable, pricier KDLinks A300.
Please click the star on the left under my username to give me a kudo, if this info helps you in finding alternate solutions.
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Thanks.
You’re getting me closer to what I want.
What you suggest would be great if they played blu ray discs as well, but none of those suggested do unfortunately.
I don’t want a media player AND a blu ray player - I want it all in one box.
I don’t want to rip all my blu rays - I want to play them from disc as life and HDD space are too short.
So what I really want is an HD media player that also has a blu ray drive in it or a different blu ray player that does play ISOs,
Waynedalf wrote:
So what I really want is an HD media player that also has a blu ray drive in it or a different blu ray player that does play ISOs,
Unfortunately, you are most likely never going to find any such bluray player…at least not from any mainstream electronics brand. - because DVD rips (and BD rips) are all done with software that defeats the encryption on those discs. And because of licensing requirements from movie studios, no mainstream electronics maker will be willing to make an appliance that bypasses those encryption protections and run afoul of DMCA law, just to satisfy a very niche market. Thus these smaller brands have been catering the demands of this niche market.
@Wayne
All the suggestions and comments made so far make good sense – except for suggesting pricey media players. You may not want a media player, but it sounds like you need one. At least for the DVD iso files. A person creating a lot of iso files needs a media player just like the person who has a lot of passengers needs a vehicle. A WD media player costs a lot less than the NAS you bought. Blu-rays may require another solution.
I, too, have ripped a lot of my DVDs and some of my blu-rays. I use a WDTV media player to play the files on my TV, AND in some cases to create mp4 files from them so I can play the videos on my iPad and Kindle tablets. All files reside on drives either connected to my WDTV, or my new DL2100 NAS, or my WD wireless drive (for tablet portability).
Some suggestions:
You do NOT need a media player if you can, and want to do the following:
Use a laptop (with blu-ray drive WITH playback software; drive can be either a built-in or external) and you can do what my cheapskate friend did: He had a laptop with built-in BD drive, so he could play discs or ISO/MKV files and tap out of the HDMI jack into TV. I am sure it was a lot of hassle. Laptop recently died so he got new one without BD drive and now watches mp4 files. He has quite a few discs, so I suggested it is time to buy a BD player, and he did.
Otherwise, you need to have a media player to play DVD iso directly to TV and for BD, you need to convert the ISO to a MKV so media player can play a BD rip. And, unless the files are on a drive that is directly connected to media player , you need a fast home network where the units involved are WIRED (not wirelessly) connected to one another. Although I probably have the fastest home network possible, I only use wireless for mobile devices to watch (less-demanding) mp4 files; anything else is wired to my network with gigabit switches on a gigabit router. Easy for me to do since home is CAT5e wired in many rooms.
So, bite the bullet and get the device you need – a WDTV media player!
Just a couple points about mike27oct’s suggestions:
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I tried to use my integrated bluray drive on my laptop (both my current laptop and my previous one from '08 have built-in BD burner) and let me tell you, trying to do any kind of movie navigation (FF, REW, etc.) is a pain…you’ll need a wireless mouse and keyboard to control the playback software. I also had bought a Windows remote control but had very mixed results with it and so switched to a wireless keyboard/integrated trackball on the same keyboard. But it was still such a pain, that I just aborted that plan after a couple months. I would urge caution in trying to use a computer for the DVD/BD playback.
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The WDTV media player does not do movie isos…and if Waynedalf has a large iso collection (like myself) it would not be a good solution. I personally dislike the idea of ripping down a great quality movie into a compressed mp4, as I guess I am a purist from a picture quality perspective. Though mp4 rips are decent, if one has a bluray, it’d be a shame to watch a ripped mp4 of that disc. But that’s just my personal opinion. To each their own.
@ Cybernut1
You did not read my comments carefully, and apparently you do not know how to operate a WDTV media player, because. . .
As for your Point 1, I did say it is a hassle, although I have a friend that watched (for years) ISO and MKV files this way on his TV using VLC to play them, and porting the HDMI signal out of PC to TV.
As for your Point 2, the WDTV darn well does play movie ISO files – this is how I and countless others watch ISO files via WDTV. This is accomplished via the Network Shares menu choice. The Media Server menu choice cannot play ISOs since it the DLNA server, and DLNA cannot stream ISO movies.
Regarding the mp4/m4v files I make, I said I make them to play on my TABLETS, not the TV, although they look pretty good on smaller TVs; i.e, under 50" screens. On my 54" plasma they don’t have the quality I would prefer, so I watch the original discs or ISO/MKV file…
And, for the record, I was just now streaming a blu-ray movie to my TV from my DL2100 NAS. How? A MKV file was quickly made from the BD ISO. I located the MKV file via my WDTV media player’s Network shares, clicked on the file and it played to WDTV. Very easy, and quality is BD quality.
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mike27oct wrote:
@ Cybernut1
…apparently you do not know how to operate a WDTV media player, because. . .
…
As for your Point 2, the WDTV darn well does play movie ISO files – this is how I and countless others watch ISO files via WDTV. This is accomplished via the Network Shares menu choice. The Media Server menu choice cannot play ISOs since it the DLNA server, and DLNA cannot stream ISO movies.
mike27oct:
You are right. Indeed, I do not know how to operate a WDTV media player. That’s because I never owned one. In posting my earlier comment about it not able to playback DVD/BD ISOs I relied on the tech specs to see what kinds of formats it could handle. And since isos are not mentioned there, I (mistakenly) thought that it does not handle ISOs. But only after seeing your reply, I did more in-depth checking by digging into the manual and indeed, just as you said, it does mention the ability to play unprotected DVD/BD ISOs So I thank you for informing me about this - mea culpa for not looking at the manual sooner.
One question. So you mention that you used an mkv file (converted from the iso) to play back a bluray movie. So are you saying that the WDTV media player only plays back DVD ISOs but not BD ISOs? In the manual there is no mention of such a limitation, so I took it to mean BD ISOs are equally playable. Would be interested to know.
Yes, WDTV can only play back DVD ISO files, and not BD ISO files which are different. Since the WDTV can play MKV files, we make MKV files rhat will play.
