[Shop-talk] tv - home theater cabling problem

[Ronnie Day]

I found out that Plex doesn't play nice with MKv files. I may look into
converting them, but for the time being I can play them using VLC. IMO,
this just emphasizes how complex making all of this stuff can be. The next
step over the next couple of days is to integrate a HDMI switch between the
Tiny-PC and the AV receiver and the TV.

Ron

On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 10:47 AM Ronnie Day <ronnie.day at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks, Ian. I'll keep your offer in mind. I received the Tiny PC and the
> Monoprice scaler/switch, but haven't plugged the switch into the system
> yet. I'm just moving the HDMI cable from the 4K DVD player to the computer.
> It's best to deal with only one variable at a time, IMO. I've "added" the
> 4K movies and files from the other large drive to the Plex library, but I'm
> not getting smooth playback of the 4K files via Plex, however, they play
> fine using VLC! 'Splain that one to me Lucy! I figure I have some Plex
> configuration issues to sort out. It'll come as I learn more, I'm sure.
> Once I get it all working as I want I'll start  getting ready to move the
> hardware to my office, but no big hurry on that, unless the Boss decides
> she wants closets built where the hardware is right now.
>
> Ron
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 10:21 AM Ian McFetridge <shop-talk2 at mcfetridge.org>
> wrote:
>
>> RD, I’ve had similar challenges with evolving AV tech (4K) and I’ve
>> essentially done what you did (Plex server).  I’ve moved all of my movies,
>> DVD, pictures, etc. onto a Synology Network Attached Storage (RAID 10) that
>> runs Plex Server.  I have a mix of clients all over the house, everything
>> from mini-PCs, to Amazon Fire sticks/boxes, and Nvidia Shields.  I’m not an
>> expert, but I’ve been running Plex for about 10 years now if you have any
>> questions.
>>
>> Best,
>> Ian
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 15, 2020 at 3:03 PM Ronnie Day <ronnie.day at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> John & group -
>>>
>>> Things got complicated when I decided to playback 4K movie files from
>>> hard drives or other removable devices. I've got a couple of USB3 8TB
>>> drives full of movies. One is all 4K files. Some of these are formatted
>>> slightly differently than others and require a seperate audio codec. plus
>>> the TV has only 1 USB port. After posting questions to a worldwide media
>>> list I've been on since the late '90s when I built my first digital A/V
>>> editing system, the consensus was that I needed a "media player" to connect
>>> the two hard drives to the TV, so I ordered a MyPin M29 media player, $60
>>> from Amazon. It supported the file formats I needed, but it wouldn't let me
>>> turn off subtitles/closed captioning (bummer) and I get frequent, subtle
>>> "stuttering" in the audio (MAJOR bummer). If I plugged the 4K hard drive
>>> into either my Mac or PC and used VLC, everything worked fine, but I want
>>> to watch these movies on the 55 inch in our bedroom. An added problem was
>>> that the output of the MyPin player is HDMI and I was already out of HDMI
>>> ports on the TV. So, after several discussions with several folks, I
>>> ordered a Lenovo M75 Tiny mini PC and plan to run Plex server as the core
>>> of a home media server down the road. The hard drives plug into it, and
>>> there's plenty of room for expansion.
>>>
>>> Now, how to get these additional souces into the TV? While working to
>>> connect all of these input devices I noticed that TESmart has a 4 x 1 HDMI
>>> switch. I'm using one of their KVM switches to let me control a couple of
>>> Macs and a PC with a single keyboard and mouse for some time and it works
>>> great. I sent their tech folks a note describing my issues with 4K and they
>>> said try it. The switch was $25 and they offer a 30 day return.
>>> Unfortunately it won't work with 4K so it's going back next week. After
>>> talking to a Ford AV systems engineer in Austin that I've worked with
>>> before, I ordered a Monoprice (31057) switch/scaler that Monoprice promises
>>> will do what I need. It, too, has a 30 return.
>>>
>>> Sorry if i've been a bit long winded but setting up all of these boxe to
>>> work together, especially with 4K is a bit complex. The reason I'm going
>>> through all of this detail is that if anyone's not doing 4K video, all of
>>> the simpler routing and switching should work fine. However, if you have
>>> ANY thoughts of going to 4K, plan for that now. Hopefully I can save other
>>> folks some blood, sweat & tears!
>>>
>>> RD
>>>
>>>
>>>
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