Quality MKV streaming

[mark1234]

Hi,

I have a bit of a noob question to ask here, which feels odd as I used MCE for over 9 years, but there you go.

Whilst I've stopped using 7MC for broadcast TV, the PC is still used occasionally for the many disc rips that are on there. Some of these are in mkv format. I installed Haali ages ago and, on the PC, these play fine. My problem comes when trying to stream to a second TV via an Xbox 360.

The files play on the 360, but they're relying on the PC to do the decoding. The CPU is rather aged and low spec, so just can't keep up which causes loads of buffering. The playback is slightly better when using the Xbox video player via WMP12 DLNA streaming than it is using the 360 in Extender mode.

Is there a way to get the 360 to stream and handle all the decoding itself, as it happily does with mp4 files? As I don't actively use 7MC itself anymore, I don't mind if it's a separate solution.

Or is there another, cheap, device that would do this for me? I've already got a NowTV box which should be able to run Plex, but from what I've read that still relies on the PC for decoding. From a quick bit of searching, the FireTV stick doesn't play locally stored media at all and the Chromecast will only do it if you use a browser to cast the video, which doesn't pass the WAF test. I may not be looking for an integrated MCE solution anymore, but I'd still like to be able to only use a remote.

So, can I get the 360 to do something it's perfectly capable of? Have I missed something with these other devices? Or is there a completely different solution I should be looking at?

Thanks.

[newfiend]

I think you should have a look at PLEX.
I recently switched from Emby to PLEX. It works VERY well for .MKV content. (Which most of my media files are in the .mkv container)
I don't know what the specs are on your PC you are using as a server of sorts but here is the requirements for PLEX Server etc. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articl ... Player-App

I use Plex on my HTPC with Plex Home Theater and it also will transcode to the Xbox 360 with the Xbox 360 PLEX App.. This is by far the best experience I have had trying to get .mkv to reliably play (every time) on the Xbox 360. Not only does it work great for transcoding to the 360 but you can also stream it to mobile devices.. Phones, Tablets, other PC's etc.. I absolutely love it so far.

You can even FF and Rew .mkv with Plex Home Theater which you can launch from WMC. This never worked with Emby, although I know you're not worried about the WMC add-in I figured you might want to know that this does work well. Plex has been around for quite some time and I am very pleased with it thus far.
https://plex.tv/
newfiend~