Playing Movies Directly From Hard Drive to Smart TV

[race774]

~Not exactly a new build but still a project and I feel this would fit into multiple categories so mods can move where necessary~

 

I'm trying to help an elderly family friend consolidate his dvd library and have quite a few questions before getting started.

He states all his tv's are smart tv's so im hoping they have usb ports and can recognize a mass storage device and play directly from there. 

I wanted to go with a NAS of sorts but he would like to easily bring his movies back and forth to his camper on the weekends.

 

My questions are, any idea what external HDDs would work for this application ? I was thinking of a 4tb WD Passport.

 

Other questions would be about which format to rip the dvds to (mp4?) and any suggestions on the best software to do so. 

I've dabbled in dvd ripping years ago and always had some issues with the final product.

[Dedayog]

Probably best to set up a Plex server for him, and let him stream them like Netflix.  If he's anything like my folks... simpler is best and consistent even better.

 

Plus, you can set up the Plex server anywhere.  Most smart TV's have access to the Plex app, or buy him a Roku streaming stick.

 

Again, whatever you can do to simplify things the better.

[nick name]

40 minutes ago, race774 said:

~Not exactly a new build but still a project and I feel this would fit into multiple categories so mods can move where necessary~

 

I'm trying to help an elderly family friend consolidate his dvd library and have quite a few questions before getting started.

He states all his tv's are smart tv's so im hoping they have usb ports and can recognize a mass storage device and play directly from there. 

I wanted to go with a NAS of sorts but he would like to easily bring his movies back and forth to his camper on the weekends.

 

My questions are, any idea what external HDDs would work for this application ? I was thinking of a 4tb WD Passport.

 

Other questions would be about which format to rip the dvds to (mp4?) and any suggestions on the best software to do so. 

I've dabbled in dvd ripping years ago and always had some issues with the final product.

You'd do better torrenting the movies in his collection than trying to rip his DVDs.  He has a license to own the movies so I can't imagine it would bother him.  Just make sure you find the correct versions.  Then try to rip the rest that you can't find -- because it's gonna take a while.  Also, ask him if things like surround sound are important to him because some rips will have it and others won't.  And if it's just his collection than size of the drive depends on size of the rips and how many titles he has.  For example: I have 500 720p movies on a 1TB drive and they take up less than half the drive (400GB).  Alot of those are YIFY rips which are ripped for size and not quality so you have to ask him what he wants to preserve in the rips (audio quality, channels, video quality, H264 or H265 will also change size and playback requirements).    

[Dedayog]

Just now, nick name said:

You'd do better torrenting the movies in his collection than trying to rip his DVDs.  He has a license to own the movies so I can't imagine it would bother him.  Just make sure you find the correct versions.  Then try to rip the rest that you can't find because it's gonna take a while.  Also, ask him if things like surround sound are important to him because some rips will have it and others won't.  And if it's just his collection than size of the drive depends on size of the rips and how many titles he has.  For example: I have 500 720p movies on a 1TB drive and they take up less than half the drive (400GB).  Alot of those are YIFY rips which are ripped for size and not quality so you have to ask him what he wants to preserve in the rips (audio quality, channels, video quality, H264 or H265 will also change size and playback requirements).    

Quick note:  Use a VPN when you Torrent, as no one but you cares that you already own the movies. 

[nick name]

1 minute ago, jstudrawa said:

Quick note:  Use a VPN when you Torrent, as no one but you cares that you already own the movies. 

Gospel.  

 

Edit:

You also can't help but seed too so it still breaks some rules.  

[race774]

From my understanding he just wants to be able to watch them so anything other than just video and sound quality doesn't matter much. I was considering using torrents as he says there's close to 1000 movies but he's known to exaggerate things. 

I myself used to torrent a lot and have roughly 250 movies on my server and use PIA vpn so that's no worry. 

As for the others that I'll have to rip myself, any suggestions on software ? He's offered me $1000 to purchase the drive and do all the work so spending money on a program isn't out of the question if it works properly.

[Dedayog]

1 hour ago, race774 said:

From my understanding he just wants to be able to watch them so anything other than just video and sound quality doesn't matter much. I was considering using torrents as he says there's close to 1000 movies but he's known to exaggerate things. 

I myself used to torrent a lot and have roughly 250 movies on my server and use PIA vpn so that's no worry. 

As for the others that I'll have to rip myself, any suggestions on software ? He's offered me $1000 to purchase the drive and do all the work so spending money on a program isn't out of the question if it works properly.

FYI, it's taken me months to acquire 375 movies, and that's with them being at least semi-popular. 

 

Have fun trying to download 1000 movies. 

 

I'd just subscribe him to Netflix, Amazon and Hulu and call it a day.

 

 

[race774]

I do believe he has a Netflix subscription but as I said, he'd like to bring them back and forth to his camper on weekend. Doesn't exactly have internet there so that's not an option. We'll see how it goes, but still looking for suggestions on ripping programs that work well