Solved Computer advice when sticking with 1920x1080 50p

One issue I encountered when doing this was I discovered that some video formats are not supported when streamed via WiFi (in my case a HDD connected to the modem/router), BUT they are supported from a USB device that is directly connected to the TV. In other words I have videos on the hard drive that won't playback on the TV if the source is streamed over WiFi, but if I connect that same HDD direct to one of the TV's USB ports (USB3) those videos play back fine. I later verified this is indeed the case when I checked the TV specs on the manufacturers website (LG).

DoctorZen wrote: My mum had the same problem with her Panasonic TV.
Solution = bought inexpensive external Media Player box from eBay.
This device does accept NTFS USB drives and has it's own remote you can use to Play/FF.

I just bought a Samsung 4K TV and can now access all my videos stored on PC via Wi-Fi home network.
Wi-Fi Modem/Router is central device that controls all the traffic.
TV connects to Router via Wi-Fi, which then connects to PC.

It took a while to get everything set up correctly before it would work. The most import part was to go into Network & Sharing settings for Windows and turn ON Media Streaming. Now my days of moving files onto USB drives are over.

In my setup I am playing videos on the TV direct (via Wi-Fi) from the Hard Drive inside my main PC, so the TV is seeing it as a Windows Media Server.
So far absolutely everything is playing using this method, even some of the weird stuff I have.

Must be peculiar to my LG TV perhaps. Also for some reason I can't actually connect the TV to my PC (as a WMS) - just keeps telling me "Unstable Connection". I'm not to bothered about that though, but it would be nice to have a single media server of some sort in the house that I could stream everything from!

Hi Ian,

I would like to test my TV and WMS setup, can you list a sample (or two) format that yours will not play through your network? Thanks.

I've been searching online for the LG specification document that listed all the various formats that were supported over WiFi but I can no longer find it.

One file I know definitely doesn't stream over WiFi is my own 4k Timelapse that I posted here recently. That was rendered out of MS13 using XAVC and then 'web optimised' via Handbrake - H.264 / MP4. For some reason I can't stream that over WiFi but it certainly plays back fine when the drive is directly connected to the TV.

The other more annoying thing for me particularly though is .MPO files. These are stereoscopic .JPG image files and they too don't play nice over WiFi.

Other things that make this configuration less than satisfactory, i.e connecting a HDD and using the router's media server capability, is the folder structure is actually very confusing, it doesn't generate any thumbnails and in fact entire folders of media seem to be missing. I guess these issues are a function of the media server implementation itself and of course nothing to do with the TV I suspect, but the combination of both the TV's streaming limitations and the apparent quirks with my routers media server make this all a bit useless really. So, for now I have my USB3 media drive plugged directly into the TV... and that way everything that is supported works!

Eagle Six wrote: Hi Ian,

I would like to test my TV and WMS setup, can you list a sample (or two) format that yours will not play through your network? Thanks.

BlackSands wrote: Other things that make this configuration less than satisfactory, i.e connecting a HDD and using the router's media server capability, is the folder structure is actually very confusing, it doesn't generate any thumbnails and in fact entire folders of media seem to be missing. I guess these issues are a function of the media server implementation itself and of course nothing to do with the TV I suspect, but the combination of both the TV's streaming limitations and the apparent quirks with my routers media server make this all a bit useless really. So, for now I have my USB3 media drive plugged directly into the TV... and that way everything that is supported works!

Thanks Ian for the feedback,

My Sony TV can connect to my Windows 7 machine and access the Public user folders and files. It will also connect to my G: drive and some folders on that drive. So, I would agree, the structure is a bit confusing, although I do see thumbnails (sometimes it takes a while for them to populate). However in the Public user folder I can place any files in the My Videos, My Music, My Photos, and any folders within those folders and access anything from the root of My Videos, My Music, My Photos.

I can play .wmv, and mp4 files. I cannot play .mov files. I'm not playing the videos through a player and sending to the TV for display. I'm playing them on the TV using whatever player is within the Sony TV. This would most likely explain why it will not play the Quicktime container video, it simply does not have the codec. It will also not play my .avi files. These use a CineForm codec, which again probably the TV does not have. I haven't tried other codecs inside an .avi container. The Quicktime .mov files actually crash the TV!

I don't have any 4K or .MOD files, so I would never expereince your hickcup. Good Luck with finding a way to stream from a media server. In the meantime your usb connect HHD seems to be the best work around, although I agree, not ideal.