Streaming from NAS to TV

[dcanham001]

Hi all,

If I have HD films on a NAS and want to stream them to my TV is it possible to stream the HD audio (DTS HD MA)? I heard this is not currently possible? Is this the case or does it depend what you're streaming through (e.g direct to TV, Apple TV, WD HD Live etc.)?

Many thanks,

 

[cheeseboy]

I think Kodi will stream hi def audio, so maybe look in to that.

 

[dcanham001]

Hi Cheeseboy,

Thanks for your comment. Had no idea what Kodi was until I googled and realised it was XBMC! I have successfull played back DTS HD MA on a locally stored file using XBMC. If this works over streaming then it's a possibility.

I suppose this would mean I'd need to add an HTPC to my shopping list though (NAS > HTPC > TV) or is there an alternative way you can think of? I don't suppose XBMC is downloadable on TVs so I can cut out the HTPC?

Thanks,

 

[cheeseboy]

You're going to need some form of htpc, in whatever guise that means. I use that in the loosest sense of term as the lines between things are becoming quite blurred.

For example, you can sideload Kodi on the Amazon fire TV - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-CL1130-Fire-TV/dp/B00KQEJBSW/ref=sr_tr_sr_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1427355786&sr=8-2&keywords=fire+tv which is amazons alternative to the apple tv. However, I couldn't comment on if that device did the HD audio (I'm sure you could ask in the kodi forums).

Or there are various android black boxes, but I have no idea how good any of them are.

Then you can start looking at the pc based solutions such as the intel stick http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-compute-stick.html which is basically a full computer that is the size of USB stick that just plugs in to the HDMI port on the tv.

Or a bit bigger, there's now a whole range of NUC pc's such as the gigabyte brix http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=47&ck=104 which are bloody small!

I guess it just depends on what you want and if you are looking at something that may do 4k or not. Kodi/xbmc standalone install is very good now, so you don't have to faff about with anything else computer wise if you didn't want to.

Other options are something like the popcorn hour or the wd boxes, but I've not used them so i can't comment on if they will do HD audio.

 

[dcanham001]

Hi Cheeseboy,

Thank you for these tips. I've looked into them and it looks like it's possible to stream the audio. Both Kodi and (something I found called) Plex apparently give you the option to transcode the stream or to stream it 'direct' meaning no the file is just sent like for like.

Also plenty of options to get the media on the TV. Don't think I'd go for a PC stick due to the lack of flexibility but an HTPC or possibly an NUC thing would work nicely.

Thanks again.