Help on Video Streaming

[rwdm]

I have terabytes of videos on my PC Hard Drives In the past I have Used WDTV to stream them to my TV now they are no longer manufactured what device can I purchase to do the same?
Preferably via WIFI but USB would be better than nothing (I'm not interested in streaming from Netflix & other Sites) Thanks In advance

 

[azaran]

Would depend on what your TV uses to view the videos. Is it using a built in app to stream or do you have another device attached to it (PS4, Roku, etc)?

There are a number of apps out there that will let you host a sever on your computer and stream to any client (Plex being my favorite), but the TV would need to be able to read from the server.

 

[rwdm]

Would depend on what your TV uses to view the videos. Is it using a built in app to stream or do you have another device attached to it (PS4, Roku, etc)?

There are a number of apps out there that will let you host a sever on your computer and stream to any client (Plex being my favorite), but the TV would need to be able to read from the server.

 

[rwdm]

Would depend on what your TV uses to view the videos. Is it using a built in app to stream or do you have another device attached to it (PS4, Roku, etc)?

There are a number of apps out there that will let you host a sever on your computer and stream to any client (Plex being my favorite), but the TV would need to be able to read from the server.

My question was about a device not an app, the old wdtv with built in menu would let you select via wifi, files that are shared on your pc

 

[azaran]

The simplest thing to do would be to enable a DLNA sever on the PC thats hosting the files. Windows has it built in or you can use a 3rd party server.
https://www.howtogeek.com/215400/how-to-turn-your-computer-into-a-dlna-media-server/

From there you can choose any number of devices. Sony PS4, Microsoft Xbox One, Roku, I've seen a number of Blueray players support it as well. However some devices may be picky about the media encoding they'll play.

You could also setup something like Plex or Universal Media Server. I use Plex for my server at home, but I havent played with universal media server. The media server goes on your PC and then you use a device attached to your TV thats supported by Plex. Again, PS4 Xbox One, Roku. Chromecast and Amazon fire will support it as well. Cool thing with a system like plex is they have apps for phones and tablets. You can even stream to your phone when you're not home. I've had better luck with this route when trying to mix codec and container types.

Without a dedicated server (DLNA or Plex/etc) on your PC you're going to be pretty restricted in devices that play purely off a shared drive that aren't a full blown PC.

 

[rwdm]

The simplest thing to do would be to enable a DLNA sever on the PC thats hosting the files. Windows has it built in or you can use a 3rd party server.
https://www.howtogeek.com/215400/how-to-turn-your-computer-into-a-dlna-media-server/

From there you can choose any number of devices. Sony PS4, Microsoft Xbox One, Roku, I've seen a number of Blueray players support it as well. However some devices may be picky about the media encoding they'll play.

You could also setup something like Plex or Universal Media Server. I use Plex for my server at home, but I havent played with universal media server. The media server goes on your PC and then you use a device attached to your TV thats supported by Plex. Again, PS4 Xbox One, Roku. Chromecast and Amazon fire will support it as well. Cool thing with a system like plex is they have apps for phones and tablets. You can even stream to your phone when you're not home. I've had better luck with this route when trying to mix codec and container types.

Without a dedicated server (DLNA or Plex/etc) on your PC you're going to be pretty restricted in devices that play purely off a shared drive that aren't a full blown PC.

 

[rwdm]

Thanks for the reply, yes my media server is turned on I needed it for the WDTV device now its just selecting the proper device to hook up to my tv
I don't understand why Western Digital quit making their streaming devices .....I will check on the devices you mentioned {thanks again}

 

[azaran]

Thanks for the reply, yes my media server is turned on I needed it for the WDTV device now its just selecting the proper device to hook up to my tv
I don't understand why Western Digital quit making their streaming devices .....I will check on the devices you mentioned {thanks again}

No worries, hoped some of it helped.