Getting videos and music from computer to TV

Zoolander

I have a whole bunch of videos and music on my computer harddrive that I'd like to play on my TV and sound system. What would be the best way to do this?

What I have right now: crappy old computer with large second harddrive, a wireless router, an HDTV with HDMI, VGA, component, etc inputs and an Xbox 360. The 360 is almost useless for this since it can only play WMV videos, and my computer can't (nor do I want to) transcode video on the fly.

Is there any way to get the 360 to play avis? Alternate firmwares? I know the original Xbox has all sorts of stuff, but I don't really want to buy an Xbox just for this purpose unless it really is worth it.

Any other possibilities?

robaal

If your TV has a VGA connection then why don't you use that? If you don't want to have your PC near the TV then I think a digital connection would let you use a really long cable without quality degradation (wikipedia mentions 12-15m for high-quality cables) and I think DVI->HDMI adapters exist. btw. VGA->DVI adapters just make the DVI cable and DVI-I connectors transfer an analog signal.

I'm guessing you would just need an adapter or appropriate cable to connect the sound, with a male stereo mini-jack on one end and two RCA plugs on the other. I think some sound cards have line-out if you want to keep some other speakers connected to the computer.

RepoMan1023

If you have Windows Media Edition, I think you can play any type of movie or music file through your 360.

It would be cheaper to just get the right adapters and cables and hook your pc into your tv directly.

Zoolander

robaal wrote:

If your TV has a VGA connection then why don't you use that? If you don't want to have your PC near the TV then I think a digital connection would let you use a really long cable without quality degradation (wikipedia mentions 12-15m for high-quality cables) and I think DVI->HDMI adapters exist. btw. VGA->DVI adapters just make the DVI cable and DVI-I connectors transfer an analog signal.

I'm guessing you would just need an adapter or appropriate cable to connect the sound, with a male stereo mini-jack on one end and two RCA plugs on the other. I think some sound cards have line-out if you want to keep some other speakers connected to the computer.

The problem right now is that my TV is pretty far from the PC, and I really don't want even more cables running through the house I'll have to think about rearranging my setup.

I'll have to look into media center edition, but as I understand it, you can't buy it seperately: it only comes preinstalled, which is kind of a downer.

Thanks for the help guys.

embrik

Zoolander wrote:

I'll have to look into media center edition, but as I understand it, you can't buy it seperately: it only comes preinstalled, which is kind of a downer.

Thanks for the help guys.

Not true - Newegg

The old version of MCE was a preinstall/MSDN only version, but 2005 is available as a standalone install.

yalborap

You can't play any type of media with media center edition, to my knowledge. However, there is a program out there...Tversity, I think it's called, which can do on-the-fly transcoding, which is almost as good.

embrik

yalborap wrote:

You can't play any type of media with media center edition, to my knowledge. However, there is a program out there...Tversity, I think it's called, which can do on-the-fly transcoding, which is almost as good.

WHAT?

MCE is essentially Windows Media Player with added functionality. If you can play it with WMP, MCE will play it too. I've installed the XVid/Divx codecs as well as Quicktime alternative, and I can play everything I need to with my Media Center PC. Besides, since it's essentially Windows XP Home with some add-ons, you can easily install other media players to handle those weird formats that come up from time to time.

Zoolander

embrik wrote:

yalborap wrote:

You can't play any type of media with media center edition, to my knowledge. However, there is a program out there...Tversity, I think it's called, which can do on-the-fly transcoding, which is almost as good.

WHAT?

MCE is essentially Windows Media Player with added functionality. If you can play it with WMP, MCE will play it too. I've installed the XVid/Divx codecs as well as Quicktime alternative, and I can play everything I need to with my Media Center PC. Besides, since it's essentially Windows XP Home with some add-ons, you can easily install other media players to handle those weird formats that come up from time to time.

You can play XviD/DivX on the MCE PC, but will the Xbox360 play Xvid/DivX videos?

embrik

Zoolander wrote:

embrik wrote:

yalborap wrote:

You can't play any type of media with media center edition, to my knowledge. However, there is a program out there...Tversity, I think it's called, which can do on-the-fly transcoding, which is almost as good.

WHAT?

MCE is essentially Windows Media Player with added functionality. If you can play it with WMP, MCE will play it too. I've installed the XVid/Divx codecs as well as Quicktime alternative, and I can play everything I need to with my Media Center PC. Besides, since it's essentially Windows XP Home with some add-ons, you can easily install other media players to handle those weird formats that come up from time to time.

You can play XviD/DivX on the MCE PC, but will the Xbox360 play Xvid/DivX videos?

I believe so, using the MCE Extender functionality (meaning you've got to have a MCE on the same network). I'd check it right now, but I gotta figure out what broke that link I had between my MCE and my 360. Something having to do with the latest update, maybe. Since they're both attached to the same TV, I've had little need to fix it, but I'll see if I can get it going again to confirm or disprove my memory.

Zoolander

Ok, so I have determined that it is impossible for now to play XviD/DivX files through the 360 on my TV. Good going Microsoft, leaving out the only popular online video codec.

yalborap

embrik wrote:

yalborap wrote:

You can't play any type of media with media center edition, to my knowledge. However, there is a program out there...Tversity, I think it's called, which can do on-the-fly transcoding, which is almost as good.

WHAT?

MCE is essentially Windows Media Player with added functionality. If you can play it with WMP, MCE will play it too. I've installed the XVid/Divx codecs as well as Quicktime alternative, and I can play everything I need to with my Media Center PC. Besides, since it's essentially Windows XP Home with some add-ons, you can easily install other media players to handle those weird formats that come up from time to time.

I meant that it can't make the 360 play it. Sorry.

And Zoolander, that's exactly WHY they left it out. :P Tryin' to stop video piracy and stuff.

Zoolander

yalborap wrote:

And Zoolander, that's exactly WHY they left it out. :P Tryin' to stop video piracy and stuff.

Yet, I can convert them to unprotected WMV and play them just fine. Are all DivX files pirated? And not to mention MP3 files - what about music piracy? Not buying that argument at ALL. It's rather insulting actually.

yalborap

Zoolander wrote:

yalborap wrote:

And Zoolander, that's exactly WHY they left it out. :P Tryin' to stop video piracy and stuff.

Yet, I can convert them to unprotected WMV and play them just fine. Are all DivX files pirated? And not to mention MP3 files - what about music piracy? Not buying that argument at ALL. It's rather insulting actually.

Then you're overly sensitive, even by my standards. I'm just telling you the generally agreed upon reasoning, and the one that makes sense. You can't stop MP3 playing, since everyone and their mother uses it and would riot in the streets, but DivX? The general public doesn't know about this stuff. The only ones they're pissing off are us, the people who probably already have a solution to the problem.

Zoolander

yalborap wrote:

Zoolander wrote:

yalborap wrote:

And Zoolander, that's exactly WHY they left it out. :P Tryin' to stop video piracy and stuff.

Yet, I can convert them to unprotected WMV and play them just fine. Are all DivX files pirated? And not to mention MP3 files - what about music piracy? Not buying that argument at ALL. It's rather insulting actually.

You can't stop MP3 playing, since everyone and their mother uses it and would riot in the streets, but DivX? The general public doesn't know about this stuff. The only ones they're pissing off are us, the people who probably already have a solution to the problem.

Almost every new DVD player coming out these days can play DivX files - even the $20 ones. And my $400 XBox can't - sad. And I'm willing to bet almost everyone who's interested in Xbox360's media center functionality knows about DivX and has seen DivX videos and wants to see them using the 360.

Man even Sony is better than Microsoft at this. At least with the PS3 you can install Linux and play whatever you want.

ViolentChemistry

So since many mp3s are not illegal, many divx files are not illegal, and divx actually is known by the general public, at least here in oh-so-tech-savvy Ohio, I think it's time for no more retardedness and returning to the topic.

stigweard

How crappy is your crappy computer? 1GB of ram and 1.5ghz of processing power should be enough to transcode smoothly on the fly. You could try transcode 360 (needs mce) or vlc 360 which both transcode on the fly while streaming to the 360.

Zoolander

stigweard wrote:

How crappy is your crappy computer? 1GB of ram and 1.5ghz of processing power should be enough to transcode smoothly on the fly. You could try transcode 360 (needs mce) or vlc 360 which both transcode on the fly while streaming to the 360.

My computer is a 1ghz P3 with 384megs of RAM. My motherboard doesn't support any faster processors or any more RAM, so I'm stuck where I am. It can't transcode on the fly with anything other than very low bitrates (~400kpbs). And I don't want to transcode on the fly, because I want the computer at least moderately usable (internet, Word, etc.) while I'm watching stuff.

Chake99

http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/ ?

Zoolander

Chake99 wrote:

http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/ ?

That's for the original Xbox though.

I dunno, it looks like I'm probably going to have to pick one up. It does everything I want, and if I could get one cheap, I guess I won't mind having to buy yet another bulky console.

Zoolander

robaal wrote:

If your TV has a VGA connection then why don't you use that? If you don't want to have your PC near the TV then I think a digital connection would let you use a really long cable without quality degradation (wikipedia mentions 12-15m for high-quality cables) and I think DVI->HDMI adapters exist. btw. VGA->DVI adapters just make the DVI cable and DVI-I connectors transfer an analog signal.

I'm guessing you would just need an adapter or appropriate cable to connect the sound, with a male stereo mini-jack on one end and two RCA plugs on the other. I think some sound cards have line-out if you want to keep some other speakers connected to the computer.

Alright, I'm gonna try this out since buying some cables is a hell of alot cheaper than getting an Xbox and hacking it. Anyone know how long VGA cables can get before signal degradation?