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Question

Home Theater with PC Movie Collection

by Aug 11, 2016 4:01PM PDT

Hello,
I am new to home-theater and just set up my first 5.1 Polk surround sound with Onkyo receiver and 48" Sony smart TV.
I have a large collection of movies on hard drives that I would like to view using this set-up. I can use DLNA to stream the movie from PC but that won't allow me to use my 5.1 Surround. I can plug in hard-drives but I don't want to have to convert them to FAT32 which is the only thing people are saying will work. Is there an alternative to DLNA and USB hard-drives? If I could have some sort of separate device that attaches to my receiver that stores all of my movies and allows me to select them that would be ideal I suppose.

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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Clarification Request
HTPC FTW!
by Pepe7 Aug 12, 2016 7:25AM PDT

You haven't lived until you have pimped out a HTPC and added that to your HT gear. Creating and modifying your own interface to browse through your digital movie collections is a fun task.

It starts with the PC Bob mentioned. Then go to the various mod sites to customize the experience for your needs/tastes. Some people stick with Windows Media Center, others move towards more customized/updated interfaces/systems such as Plex, etc. Sometimes though, a cheap windows remote from newegg and WMC is all it takes to get up and running in a few minutes to enjoy your collection(!)

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Storage
by CoopOwnz Aug 12, 2016 11:36AM PDT

So I do have an old laptop I can use for the HTCP it fits all the requirements for me. I was wondering how you store all of your movies though. I want to be able to get a movie on my desktop and quickly/easily transfer it to my HTCP. I will also need at least 5TB of storage. If I set up a storage device that I can transfer movies to wirelessly from my desktop but is connected to my HTCP that would be perfect. Is that a viable option or would transfer rates be way too slow?

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Let's see what rate would be too slow.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 12, 2016 12:31PM PDT

I'll use Neftlix as source for megabits per second.

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306 notes 5 megabits for HD. The usual WiFi is flinging bits at many times that so it's doubtful if that's too slow.

I'd put a NAS on your router (wired) for best effect.

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Answer
And that's why I used my old laptop.
by Forum moderator Aug 11, 2016 4:08PM PDT

My old 2009 laptop is some Sony Vaio and it plays them all. I've tried the usual WDTV Live, DLNA and a few other things and now am back to the old laptop which plays 1080p and more.

Just last week my BluRay player didn't want to play so I put my Buffalo BDRW USB drive on the laptop and played it again (Sam.)

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