Dreambox as a media player

[smiffie]

A mate of mine is in the market for a DM800 and he was also going to buy a seperate media player until I pointed out that the DM800 has a media player. I assume he would just FTP his movies over to the correct directory on the HDD. Also does the DM800 support DivX and other video formats? I've read it doesn't in its standard config, but isn't this a case of installing the right codecs?

 

[B16MCC]

Ok, the best way to do it is using the VLC plugin. Run VLC on your PC where all your media is stored, then simply run the VLC plugin on the Dreambox and access all your media from your PC. It will play anything you throw at it.

 

[smiffie]

I've already had the DM800 playing movies over a network using the built in media player in the BH0.7 image without the need for VLC, I just need to know what formats it can play. I've had nothing but bad experiences of VLC on 500's so I'd perfer to avoid it. This is for a caravan application so the files would be held on the HDD.

 

[compufunk]

I dont own a DM800 so cant say for sure, but It will play MPEG2 and MP3 files natively. You can probably forget about anything like WMV, WMA, Divx, Xvid.

You'll need VLC running on a PC to transcode and stream these files.

I've never had any trouble using a combination of VLC on the PC and VLCF in the dreambox. You might find it works fine on the DM800.

 

[HB13DISH]

I tried the following file extensions without any problems, in addition to the default recorded *.tsr
*.mpg
*.vob
*.jpg (but no slideshow)

 

[compufunk]

All of those are MPEG based files.

The dreambox decodes MPEG data in the hardware via chip. Therefore any other formats would need to be decoded in software. The processor in a dreambox is not up to this job.

 

[B16MCC]

smiffie, I'd have to argue that your past problems where with the 500 not VLC itself. The 500 is pretty crappy compared to the higher spec boxes. Especially any of the Enigma2 boxes, the performance is a different league compared to the 500.

 

[curiousmurf]

smiffie, I'd have to argue that your past problems where with the 500 not VLC itself. The 500 is pretty crappy compared to the higher spec boxes. Especially any of the Enigma2 boxes, the performance is a different league compared to the 500.

I don't have a Dream Box yet so just wondering could the 600/7xxx/800 series play h/x.264 format and flac format music?...via VLC plugin?

 

[compufunk]

I don't have a Dream Box yet so just wondering could the 600/7xxx/800 series play h/x.264 format and flac format music?...via VLC plugin?

Not directly, only via VLC running on a PC.

If VLC can play the files, they can be streamed to your TV via the Dreambox.

 

[Phil1789]

Hello everyone, I am pretty new to this formu, my english is poor so be cool. Your are discussing about using a DM800 as a media player. That is my question, I have a dreambox800, and I have films stored on a hard disk drive connected to my network using an IP address. I know nothing about linux, could someone explain in plain english words how to play my movies on my dreambox. Thanks for your support

 

[Oddyoddball]

I got my box to play movies no probs, but is there a way to play music that I have stored on my pc by doing similar?

 

[Reza_Sadeghi]

if we use VLC Media Player running on PC while streaming, can we "fast forward" or "rewind" the media by DreamBox remote control ?
or dreambox using its vlc plugin can just play anything playing on PC without any control by Dreambox Remote Control ?

please tell us more in explain about "fast forward and rewind" feature on VLC and Dreambox.