Android TV NAS Server Connection

[kelvthemelv]

Hi all

I'm planning on buying my first Android TV (Sony Bravia KD55XF8096).

However I need to make sure that it can access & play back .AVI, .MKV etc files on my NAS server.

I currently have a 2007 Sony Bravia that I've linked via the VGA port to an old PC running Ubuntu that is wired to my router so the TV is basically a monitor, I navigate to my network server & use VLC to play back video files.

So my question is, can Android on the above TV continue to allow me to do this? I've noted that most modern TVs don't have a port that I can plug the VGA connector into and ideally I'd like to replace the above setup which has been in place for many years!

I can access my server using ES-File & play back video files on VLC Media Player using an Android phone, but before laying out the money for a replacement TV I need to be sure that what I replace the existing setup with can continue doing this. I've spoken to sstaff at Currys but they're unable to help.

Many thanks for any assistance.

Regards Kelvin

[Marino.Manolo]

All you need is in DLNA, if the device on the network has DLNA function then the TV will see it as a DLNA server.

Manolo

[kelvthemelv]

Manolo

Thanks for your reply.

Yes the NAS server does suppport DLNA, I've accessed content from there & played it through my Bluray device (a Panasonic BWT-850).

However I've found that DLNA can be a bit picky about file formats, plus I can't open an .SRT (subtitle) file as I can with VLC media player, which I've found to be a far better way of playing files.

The reason I'm looking at buying an Android TV is so that, hopefully, it comes with VLC which I can navigate to the NAS server, or I can download  VLC. The store I went to (which was pretty rubbish, actually) didn't have the TV linked to the internet and so they couldn't show me whether I could download VLC or whether it was capable of doing this.

Sorry if my original post wasn't clear.

Regards, Kelvin

[Marino.Manolo · Accepted solution]

VLC is available in the Android TV Play Store, it is not pre-installed but you can install it. Unfortunately I have no way to replicate your configuration to give you an answer about the possibilities of VLC for Android TV but you can try an Android Smartphone if you have it, what changes in VLC is just interface...

Manolo

[kelvthemelv]

I appreciate you can't duplicate my setup - knowing that VLC for Android is available for this TV & can be installed on the TV I'm looking to buy is what I needed to know, so thanks for that.

Further to your suggestion I've installed & have been trying out VLC on my Android phone; the interface found my NAS server very easily & played files of differing formats with no problem with all the functionality, e.g. adding .SRT files, that I need.

I think on this basis I'm confident that the Sony Bravia TV I mentioned has the level of Android functionality required, so on this basis I'll go ahead with its purchase.

Many thanks for your input.

[rapraprap]

Before you pull the trigger, keep this in mind: Mbit LAN and shoddy ac wifi equals bad network performance. If you have very high bitrate files you will struggle to play them. I have some high bitrate 4K files that stream well over DLNA (as you actually hit 100Mbps on LAN and about 120MBit on ac WiFi, but the WiFi can and will dip in transfer rate), but will skip and stutter with samba/SMB as I only get about 60-70 Mbps over samba/SMB, both on LAN and WiFi. You mentioned that you wanted to skip DLNA due to .srt files etc.

Also, you should know that there is a VPN problem with these TVs causing them to reboot if put in standby while connected to VPN.

Hope this helps.