back ground... For years I have used the native file play back capibilities of my LG BD390 and LG BD570 bluray players to connect to windows file shares, and play back video files (AVI, Mp4, MKV, M2TS and others). Basically, I setup a shared folder on my PC, put my media files in it, and used the menu on the BD's to connect to the share and play the file. No DLNA, no transcoding on the fly, etc.
I want to add that ability, along with netflix and amazon instant video, in two other rooms, but all the bluray players I can buy locally use DLNA now. There are some I can get mail order, but they are more expensive too.
If it matters, most of my MKV's were made using BD-Rebuilder or VideoReDo TVSuite. Some do have DTS, others DD5.1. The M2TS files were made using my Sony HDR-SR11 HiDef camcorder and my Hauppauge HD PVR (1212).
Output would be HDMI to a TV. If it works well enough, I'd get one for the basement too (where I'd hook it to a receiver via optical audio).
I know the Fire TV can be setup to do Amazon Instant and Netflix. But can it be setup to replace the BD's (minus bluray/dvd playback of course). To play those files without having to transcode, or use a DLNA server too? Could I possibly use Rhapsody too?
KidJoe said:
back ground... For years I have used the native file play back capibilities of my LG BD390 and LG BD570 bluray players to connect to windows file shares, and play back video files (AVI, Mp4, MKV, M2TS and others). Basically, I setup a shared folder on my PC, put my media files in it, and used the menu on the BD's to connect to the share and play the file. No DLNA, no transcoding on the fly, etc.
I want to add that ability, along with netflix and amazon instant video, in two other rooms, but all the bluray players I can buy locally use DLNA now. There are some I can get mail order, but they are more expensive too.
If it matters, most of my MKV's were made using BD-Rebuilder or VideoReDo TVSuite. Some do have DTS, others DD5.1. The M2TS files were made using my Sony HDR-SR11 HiDef camcorder and my Hauppauge HD PVR (1212).
Output would be HDMI to a TV. If it works well enough, I'd get one for the basement too (where I'd hook it to a receiver via optical audio).
I know the Fire TV can be setup to do Amazon Instant and Netflix. But can it be setup to replace the BD's (minus bluray/dvd playback of course). To play those files without having to transcode, or use a DLNA server too? Could I possibly use Rhapsody too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Fire TV currently does not natively support playing videos of any sort from a shared PC folder. I am not aware of any "official" apps that do it either. By "official" I mean apps you can download from the Amazon appstore which display traditionally in the Fire TV "app" section. That said, there is XBMC (xbmc.org). XBMC runs beautifully on the Fire TV. You have to sideload the app, which is a simple process and does not involve rooting. The biggest disadvantage to XBMC over an "official" app or native solution is how you have to launch XBMC on the Fire TV. Instead of just going to the "Apps" section on the home screen, you have to dig down into a few menus. Specifically, you have to (from the homescreen) navigate to Settings > Applications > XBMC > Launch. It's a minor inconvenience, but it's worth mentioning. There are ways to make launching XBMC easier, but they are a bit of a hack involving other sideloaded android apps.
With XBMC you can do everything your BD players could do. HDMI and Optical audio are available on the Fire TV. Multiple options for getting to your media over the network are available. No transcoding or DLNA necessary. MKV's play fine. DTS and DD5.1 get passed through correctly. I've never tried M2TS files myself, but I would be surprised if XBMC couldn't play them. If you provide me a link to a M2TS file, I'd be happy to try it out for you. There is no official Rhapsody app. You can sideload the Rhapsody app for Android, but you will have to use a mouse & keyboard plugged into the Fire TV to use it. I would expect Rhapsody will make a Fire TV app eventually since they already have a Kindle Fire app.
@fireTVnews.com thank you for the reply. Sorry I got a little side tracked.
it sounds very tempting
Samba player
Another apps are (sideloading only):
Dice Player - very nice, but has no good support of FireTV remote.
File Manager HD + MX Player - 2 apps, that's only minus.
Sorry if this has been answered before but I searched the forum and found very little info.
I just got my AFTV and sideloaded XBMC (signed-xbmc-13.1-FireTV(v6)) on to it. I have Audio Passthrough enabled so that my MKV files with AC-3 and DTS (not DTS HD) can go directly to my receiver. What I am noticing is that the Playback of these files (Over a wired Network both devices connected to a Gigabit switch) seem to be jittery or choppy (not so much that I can not watch them). I am coming from a WD Live TV and it never had this problem. I have tried playing the files via SMB and NFS shares and both seem to show the same results. The file sizes range from 400MB to up to 10GB. I have tried both Hardware Acceleration and Software. Is this a limitation of the AFTV (Which I don't want to believe because the WD Live TV has way lower specs) or is there a certain setup I have to do in the Settings to get it to play 100% Smooth?
jdawg0024 said:
Sorry if this has been answered before but I searched the forum and found very little info.
I just got my AFTV and sideloaded XBMC (signed-xbmc-13.1-FireTV(v6)) on to it. I have Audio Passthrough enabled so that my MKV files with AC-3 and DTS (not DTS HD) can go directly to my receiver. What I am noticing is that the Playback of these files (Over a wired Network both devices connected to a Gigabit switch) seem to be jittery or choppy (not so much that I can not watch them). I am coming from a WD Live TV and it never had this problem. I have tried playing the files via SMB and NFS shares and both seem to show the same results. The file sizes range from 400MB to up to 10GB. I have tried both Hardware Acceleration and Software. Is this a limitation of the AFTV (Which I don't want to believe because the WD Live TV has way lower specs) or is there a certain setup I have to do in the Settings to get it to play 100% Smooth?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I experience the same with my FireTV and the Ouya. It's really noticable when the Motion Interpolation settings is ACTIVE on my LEDTV.
With the Motion Interpolation desactivated, It's harder to notice, but it's there.
Glad to see that i'm not alone noticing this.
kalouka said:
I experience the same with my FireTV and the Ouya. It's really noticable when the Motion Interpolation settings is ACTIVE on my LEDTV.
With the Motion Interpolation desactivated, It's harder to notice, but it's there.
Glad to see that i'm not alone noticing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I am guessing it's a limitation of XBMC? Movies off of Amazon Prime play flawlessly, but I assume those aren't MKV's. I really like the box but this is a deal breaker for me. I have a huge collection of BluRay Rips in MKV format. I guess it's back to the WD Live TV.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
I got flawless playback of non-DTS MKV on the Sony NSZ-GS7 I once had until replacing it with Fire TV because it got corrupted somehow.
I think Fire TV is missing proper support for a lot of essential formats.
jdawg0024 said:
Sorry if this has been answered before but I searched the forum and found very little info.
I just got my AFTV and sideloaded XBMC (signed-xbmc-13.1-FireTV(v6)) on to it. I have Audio Passthrough enabled so that my MKV files with AC-3 and DTS (not DTS HD) can go directly to my receiver. What I am noticing is that the Playback of these files (Over a wired Network both devices connected to a Gigabit switch) seem to be jittery or choppy (not so much that I can not watch them). I am coming from a WD Live TV and it never had this problem. I have tried playing the files via SMB and NFS shares and both seem to show the same results. The file sizes range from 400MB to up to 10GB. I have tried both Hardware Acceleration and Software. Is this a limitation of the AFTV (Which I don't want to believe because the WD Live TV has way lower specs) or is there a certain setup I have to do in the Settings to get it to play 100% Smooth?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had that problem on one file, I demuxed and remuxed using MKVToolnix and it played flawlessly after
I using this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2790392 XBMC
jdawg0024 said:
So I am guessing it's a limitation of XBMC? Movies off of Amazon Prime play flawlessly, but I assume those aren't MKV's. I really like the box but this is a deal breaker for me. I have a huge collection of BluRay Rips in MKV format. I guess it's back to the WD Live TV.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, the hiccup I talk about is hard to see for a common human eye (my girlfriend doesn't notice at all). The movie plays really well,
But for a 24p on 24hz refreshrate fan, the tinny hiccup is noticable. jdawng0024, do we talk about the same thing ?
kalouka said:
Just to be clear, the hiccup I talk about is hard to see for a common human eye (my girlfriend doesn't notice at all). The movie plays really well,
But for a 24p on 24hz refreshrate fan, the tinny hiccup is noticable. jdawng0024, do we talk about the same thing ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is noticeable to everyone who sees it. The file plays but is Jerky. Coming from a WD Live TV the Amazon Box Plays worse. I have been reading the forums for a couple of days now and I might install an older version of XBMC. All of my files are mkv with DTS or AC-3 audio and they are all 1080p.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
jdawg0024 said:
Mine is noticeable to everyone who sees it. The file plays but is Jerky. Coming from a WD Live TV the Amazon Box Plays worse. I have been reading the forums for a couple of days now and I might install an older version of XBMC. All of my files are mkv with DTS or AC-3 audio and they are all 1080p.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be a ''noob' question but, are you able to see your rendering stats with ''O' on the keyboard' or with your remote (keymap no.3). Is it really dc:stf-h264 that you see or dc:ff-h264 ??
I say that because I found a bug that, if I play a bunch of music video for example with party mode or not, after a while, maybe 15 or 25 clips. XBMC cannot decode the video with hardware decoding anymore. Even if libstagefright is selected in acceleration settings, the renderer clearly displays dc:ff-h264 for all my h264 video. Because of that, all videos stutters/jitters/frame drop.The only workaround I found is to reboot the FireTV with Home+Play for 5 seconds. And everythings is find until it happens again.
kalouka said:
Might be a ''noob' question but, are you able to see your rendering stats with ''O' on the keyboard' or with your remote (keymap no.3). Is it really dc:stf-h264 that you see or dc:ff-h264 ??
I say that because I found a bug that, if I play a bunch of music video for example with party mode or not, after a while, maybe 15 or 25 clips. XBMC cannot decode the video with hardware decoding anymore. Even if libstagefright is selected in acceleration settings, the renderer clearly displays dc:ff-h264 for all my h264 video. Because of that, all videos stutters/jitters/frame drop.The only workaround I found is to reboot the FireTV with Home+Play for 5 seconds. And everythings is find until it happens again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive also experienced issues with xbmc properly selecting libstagefright. it happened when i was screwing around with both mediacodec and libstagefright enabled. the fix for me was to disable all acceleration, reboot the unit, enable libstagefright, reboot again, good to go ever since.
Ok think I got it a lot better. I restarted from Scratch. Every once in a while I will see it but it isn't nearly as bad. going to try to load the avancedsettings.xml and see if that smooths it out even further.
You are at a stalemate with XBMC since an OTA update reportedly fixed jittery 1080P playback AFAIK.
I found some speed enhancements throughout the weeks,but I never got around to posting them all.
Terribly sorry about forgetting to make that speed enhancement thread to those that want it,I have just been out of it lately.
retroben said:
You are at a stalemate with XBMC since an OTA update reportedly fixed jittery 1080P playback AFAIK.
I found some speed enhancements throughout the weeks,but I never got around to posting them all.
Terribly sorry about forgetting to make that speed enhancement thread to those that want it,I have just been out of it lately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you give more details on this OTA update?
Ended up going back to my WD Live TV. MKV playback blows the amazon fireTV out of the water. I will continue to follow its progress and hopefully it gets better. I will buy it again once things get ironed out.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
jdawg0024 said:
Could you give more details on this OTA update?
Ended up going back to my WD Live TV. MKV playback blows the amazon fireTV out of the water. I will continue to follow its progress and hopefully it gets better. I will buy it again once things get ironed out.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, just wondering if this ever got resolved. I'm also a WDTV Live user, and I was thinking about "upgrading" to a FireTV with its much snappier interface, more apps, etc. But almost ALL of my movies and TV are h264 mkvs with either DTS or AC3 sound (and some AAC/mp4s mixed in there as well).
Can the FireTV play those kinds of files flawlessly from a SMB or NFS share? It's been months since this thread was active, so I wanted to see if this is a "solved" issue nowadays. Thanks!
lannister80 said:
Hey, just wondering if this ever got resolved. I'm also a WDTV Live user, and I was thinking about "upgrading" to a FireTV with its much snappier interface, more apps, etc. But almost ALL of my movies and TV are h264 mkvs with either DTS or AC3 sound (and some AAC/mp4s mixed in there as well).
Can the FireTV play those kinds of files flawlessly from a SMB or NFS share? It's been months since this thread was active, so I wanted to see if this is a "solved" issue nowadays. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flawlessly dude.. the OP was one of the few experiencing issues, i have a huge library of files on my SMB share and they all stream and play flawlessly.
nhumber said:
flawlessly dude.. the OP was one of the few experiencing issues, i have a huge library of files on my SMB share and they all stream and play flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just sideload XBMC (any particular version/build/etc?) and you're off to the races? No rooting, no flashing, etc?
Plays mkvs containing h264 or MPEG4, DTS or AC3, old xvid avis, etc? Will it play subtitles that aren't muxed into the mkvs (like in an srt file named the same as the mkv)?
I am also experiencing judder when playing 1080p H.264 (AC3 audio) MKV files with the fire TV.
I’ve tried XBMC and MXPlayer. I am seeing judder and frame drops with my AFTV, but can’t figure out why or how to tweak it. The same files play smoothly on my Galaxy S4 and Nexus 7 using MX Player.
Any thoughts?
lannister80 said:
So just sideload XBMC (any particular version/build/etc?) and you're off to the races? No rooting, no flashing, etc?
Plays mkvs containing h264 or MPEG4, DTS or AC3, old xvid avis, etc? Will it play subtitles that aren't muxed into the mkvs (like in an srt file named the same as the mkv)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im rooted but it doesnt matter for XBMC, im running gotham 13.2 , DTS DD and AC3 all work great via HDMI and optical, i would assume it will auto use a local srt file but for sure you can point it to it.. xbmc will scrape the net for any subtitles for every movie i've encountered, so it shouldnt be an issue for you. the XBMC wiki has a good section with everything you need to know about xbmc and the FTV, there are a few device specific settings you need to make and your off to the races.
Has anyone who was experiencing the DTS MKV video judder audo sync issues resolved them? I just picked up two AFTV's and can not get my DTS MKV's to work.
connection
I got AFTV a month ago and did not have an issue streaming MKV videos from my synology nas via WiFi 5GHz. after a few days i started to notice video judder and i switch from WiFi to plug in Ethernet and it made it worse. it appears that AFTV connects better with WiFi from streaming shows/movies compare to plug in Ethernet. is there specific settings i need to adjust for the Ethernet plug to work better?
speedracerx0509 said:
Has anyone who was experiencing the DTS MKV video judder audo sync issues resolved them? I just picked up two AFTV's and can not get my DTS MKV's to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine all work fine, you have libstagefright enabled and media codec disabled right?
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. After much research and consideration, I chose this tablet because the specs and features are best-suited to my needs. My main uses for this tablet are to stream content to my Chromecast/TV, games and browsing.
Now, to the issues I'm facing... I have set up a media server and have Plex installed on my tablet. The other day, I was watching a TV show episode and the video started skipping (for example when a Youtube video is buffering on a bad internet connection). I have used my phone to watch many episodes and movies before buying the tablet and there was no video skipping. Can someone suggest any solutions I can try to get rid of the issue?
Also, I have been getting the System UI error when I'm using YouTube on the tablet with Chromecast.
I'm currently running Kit Kat 4.4.2.
I look forward to your valued opinions/suggestions and thanks in advance.
Thanks.
I've noticed issues with plex but on custom roms. Solution is to use external player for movies, when using plex mxplayer works great.
Sent from my unknown using Tapatalk
gffmac said:
I've noticed issues with plex but on custom roms. Solution is to use external player for movies, when using plex mxplayer works great.
Sent from my unknown using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand how I can use mxplayer with plex. I basically want to stream stuff from my computer's media server with plex app on my tablet to chromecast. Please assist.
Chromecast appears to be buggy with g pad.
Real player cloud does what you're trying to do, it's not a solution but possibly a temp fix.
Kenif1983 said:
Chromecast appears to be buggy with g pad.
Real player cloud does what you're trying to do, it's not a solution but possibly a temp fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give that a go. However, since I have changed the 'video quality over network' settings to maximum, I haven't experienced the lag.
gankstar5 said:
I don't understand how I can use mxplayer with plex. I basically want to stream stuff from my computer's media server with plex app on my tablet to chromecast. Please assist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use bubble upnp to watch my plex stuff on my Sony smart tv. You choose the library and the target and can browser on tablet and send to tv. Not sure about chrome cast though. Yeh mxplayer is only for playback on the tablet.
Sent from my unknown using Tapatalk
Hello,
I dont know anything about Fire TV, but I am very interested in it!
Can I stream mkv files (x264 codec) and Blu-rays from my NAS to Fire TV?
Have you looked into Plex? Go to plex.tv for more info.
Damn straight YEAH...If you plan to get the AFTV chances are you will install XBMC/Kodi - all you have to do is use Samba (or whatever your share is) and add your NAS disks to your video sources...done.
If you don't want/need XBMC (are you kidding me? ) then use BSPlayer to play videos from the mapped drives...or use ESFile Explorer to map the drive then open the video with...any player you choose.
You have plenty of options, I would not consider Plex if you don't need it for streaming/transcoding. Why would I run a PC if I have a small/quiet Media Center.