Can windows7 media center recorded programs be viewed on a smart TV

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stevethebrain

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Can windows7 media center recorded programs be viewed on a smart TV

#1

Post by stevethebrain » Sun Feb 26, 2023 10:34 pm

Can windows7 media center recorded programs be viewed on a smart TV

I’d like to record TV programs (either free OTA or basic cable) then watch w/ a smartTV
Which is none WMC.

I’ve recorded WMC programs OTA placed on a flash drive plugged it into the smart TV.

Smart TV recognized the corsair flash drive but didn’t see any files like a Win7 media center PC would.

Like can the WMC files be changed (or watch as) where they can be watched?
Thanks

Space

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#2

Post by Space » Mon Feb 27, 2023 12:29 am

It's highly unlikely that Smart TVs could play WTV files directly, however it should be possible to convert WTV files to a format that can be played by some Smart TVs.

Since the WTV format is just a container that actually contains MPEG2 or H.264 (whatever the source video is) you may only need to convert the container to a format that is supported by your TV and not have to re-encode the audio/video. You should also check the manual for your TV to see what formats it supports and any limitations (such as maximum bitrate, resolution, or video/audio codec combinations for each container/codec).

Also, if your converted video is larger than 4GB, you have to be sure to use a filesystem on the flash drive that can support files of that size.

Note that this will only work if your recordings are not copy protected (copy-once).

Here is a thread describing one way to convert the files without having to re-encode the video/audio (which can take a long time).

prsa01

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#3

Post by prsa01 » Mon Feb 27, 2023 12:33 pm

MCEBuddy is one of many utilities that could, with setup, do this automatically. Some free utilities (ffmpeg, etc) could also be setup via batch files to do this automatically.

Some tvs MIGHT even work to just rename the wtv file to mp2 or mp4 depending on file type.

stevethebrain

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#4

Post by stevethebrain » Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:02 pm

I know how to change the file name w/ save as example doc. Jep ect.

I'd like to try change file type first.How do I change the file type?

I actully have a MP3 musice file on same flash drive and it plays fine on this smart TV.

thanks Space & prsa01
changing wtv file ext.jpg
changing wtv file ext 2.jpg

dkm

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#5

Post by dkm » Mon Feb 27, 2023 11:20 pm

Building on what others have said --

Some TVs have a VNC client in their app store, or a network file browser. If you share the Recorded TV folder and your TV can see it, that'll mean you can try to browse directly from the TV. That said, if the TV can't directly play .WTV files doesn't work, try changing the extension from .WTV to something else. If that still doesn't work... You will probably need something to re-encode the .WTV files to something your smart TV can recognize. This can be accomplished a number of ways:

Do the transcode in advance --
MCE Buddy will automatically do the conversion for you. It can also strip commercials if setup correctly. Basically it's a MCE-centric front-end for a lot of other software it uses in the background (FFMPEG, Comskip, etc).I used to use this before I moved to a more integrated media management suite.

Other folks have used similar tools to MCE Buddy like VideoReDo. The purpose is the same -- Convert the .WTV file into something other media players like the one on your TV uses.

Do the transcode in realtime --
I've moved to apps that do the re-encoding from .WTV to something else in real-time as I watch on whatever device I'm choosing to watch it on (phone, TV, tablet, etc). I've got a decent computer, *for 2010*, as my MCE server. It's something like an i5-2500k with 8GB of RAM and a GTX 660. While it's not a raspberry pi (which could probably handle this too, actually), it's not some $10,000 server.

For Non-Copy Once (i.e. DRM Protected) Recorded TV, I moved over to using Emby. The server runs on my MCE machine and it will do a real-time transcode conversion into something the Emby client running on my streaming devices can understand. I can also watch Live TV through Emby using something like ServerWMC. The benefit of this is that it provides an easier to use UI experience than a file browser. If you don't have DRM issues, it may mitigate your need to use MCE as a front end at all as you can get full guide and recording/playback capability through the single client. (Note WMC is still needed if you want to do Live TV using ServerWMC)

I do not use Plex or Jellyfin, but my guess is they would work in a similar way to Emby -- if you can "play" the WTV file on the server, it'll transcode it to whatever the client app on your TV can use.

If you do not have any protected / copy-once DRM issues, you may also just be able to get away with some Silicon Dust solution instead of WMC at all. Again it depends on if the Smart TV has the Silicon Dust app available in it's app store.

Finally, if you maintain a cable subscription, and the app is available, you could use Channels DVR. That records TV Everywhere streams you subscribe to through your cable company. Note that it may not have full coverage of all the channels you get in your cable package. Some channels like PBS aren't available over TVE.

Note most of these solutions can have a cost associated with them. It's possible to do it for free, but you're generally trading time for ease of use.

dkrom

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#6

Post by dkrom » Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:33 pm

Yes - install Plex Server on the WMC and then install the Plex app on your smart TV.

More than likely won’t work with DRM content. Does work with .wtv files and they are surprisingly clear.

o2cats

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#7

Post by o2cats » Tue Mar 14, 2023 5:35 pm

dkrom wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 7:33 pm Yes - install Plex Server on the WMC and then install the Plex app on your smart TV.

More than likely won’t work with DRM content. Does work with .wtv files and they are surprisingly clear.
I could use a little help with the process. I had not been able to get this to work in the past, but seeing your response I thought I would try it again. I already had Plex Server, and and Plex Player installed on the same Windows 7 PC as my main WMC server, and use the Smart TV Plex app to watch non-WMC programs.

I went into the Plex app, and went to add libraries, and added the directory that contains the .wtv files. When I tried to view the content of the "TV shows" library in Plex app on the PC, or the Smart TV, it returns "There are no items in Library".

Thanks

I have been keeping 4 Windows 7 WMC PCs running, one for each TV, because I like it better than anything else out there. I have not been able to keep Windows 10 network consistant enough to upgrade the OS. Some kind of WMC compatible Smart TV app would let me both upgrade the WMC client, and retire the 3 client systems, would really help.

stevethebrain

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#8

Post by stevethebrain » Sun Mar 10, 2024 4:31 am

the smart TV plan is on hold for right now I wanted to setup it up for a friend but thank you Space,prsa01,dkm,dkrom an o2cats for advicing

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