Putting DVDs onto hard drive and watching them on TV

[pearley]

We have a lot of DVDs that take up space.  Putting them onto a hard drive is easy but what do I need to then we watch them on screen?

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by pearley

[Hudds Lad]

2 minutes ago, pearley said:

We have a lot of DVDs that take up space.  Putting them onto a hard drive is easy but what do I need to then we watch them on screen?

 

 

 

most modern TVs will play back .mpg or .mov type files, some better than others.

does your TV have the facility to plug in a USB stick and browse the contents?

[Rose Narrowboats]

I copied all mine using Handbrake, and watch them via a Windows computer with either VLC media player or Windows Media Player.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

If it is a reasonably modern TV it will have a HDMI input. Connect it to a laptop with an HDMI cable and select that as the input on the TV. The hard disk will either be the one in the laptop, or an external one connected to the laptop.

I'd also recommend Handbrake for extracting the features from DVD's. VLC is good for playing, as is Kodi.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Hudds Lad]

i would use DVDDecrypter (old prog but still works fine) to rip the DVD to computer as Handbrake wont remove the css encryption on commercial DVDs without fiddling, then use Handbrake to encode as mkv using the General - HQ 720p setting (DVD is not that res, but it will give less stuttering on transitions and panning).

 

allow around 7-10gb minimum free space per dvd on your computer to work with, if you have more space you can batch encode a few at a time in a queue.

 

we take a small wallet of USB memory sticks to the boat filled with films ripped from our DVDs, on our old circa 2006 Samsung TVs they play flawlessly, on our two year old Ferguson TV on the boat they have a weird audio problem as for some reason the TV will mute the sound on areas of silence in playback. some equipment just works better than others.

 

other options to playback are mentioned above, all depends on what works easily for you.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

31 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

would use DVDDecrypter (old prog but still works fine) to rip the DVD to computer as Handbrake wont remove the css encryption on commercial DVDs without fiddling, then use Handbrake to encode as mkv using the General - HQ 720p setting (DVD is not that res, but it will give less stuttering on transitions and panning).

Lots of on-line guides on how to install libdvdcss in Handbrake. An easy thing to do and saves a step in the work flow.

[Higgs]

MakeMKV - Make MKV from Blu-ray and DVD Never fails. I record all my DVDs to a caddy drive . Used almost 10 Terabytes. Most films will need approx 3-5 gigabytes. Standard DVDs. Free programme. Obviously, extras, if you pay for them. I run them on ZOOM Player - free. I have no TV, but run on laptop, with the intention of getting a digital projector. Will run to TV with HDMI cable. Probably best to hardwire, as Bluetooth can send sound out of sync. Depends on quality of components. 

 

The free version of MakeMKV will require updates every so often, but it is no problem. The programme itself is very straightforward, for one job - recording DVDs. 

 

If at some later stage you want to convert to another file format, Format Factory can help - also free. 

 

At the recording stage of MakeMKV, I deselect all of the extras that come with DVDs, and record the film only; cuts the file size down and recording time. It usually doesn't take that long to record a film. 

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Higgs

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Lots of on-line guides on how to install libdvdcss in Handbrake. An easy thing to do and saves a step in the work flow.

depends of level of confidence in tinkering with programs i guess, i’m only suggesting a standalone program for simplicity  

 

20 minutes ago, Higgs said:

Most films will need approx 3-5 gigabytes.

sounds big for a DVDRip, are you using 5.1 audio or something? mine usually come out 1.5-2gb, i always convert to the max spec of my equipment. i have nothing better than 1080p or Dolby stereo, anything above that is a waste of HD space and processing time. if my equipment changes i can always re-rip. BluRay obviously is larger.

[Higgs]

9 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

depends of level of confidence in tinkering with programs i guess, i’m only suggesting a standalone program for simplicity  

 

sounds big for a DVDRip, are you using 5.1 audio or something? mine usually come out 1.5-2gb, i always convert to the max spec of my equipment. i have nothing better than 1080p or Dolby stereo, anything above that is a waste of HD space and processing time. if my equipment changes i can always re-rip. BluRay obviously is larger.

 

The file size, I can reduce , for equipment that has a small display and limited storage capacity. The free version of MakeMKV didn't allow more than a few attempts at copying BluRay discs, but their file size was up at around 15 Gigabytes - so, large. I also never keep the files on the laptop, they go straight to a caddy drive. I did have Handbrake, but most of it was a redundant package, and didn't do things that fast. MakeMKV is quick. I have over 1000 files of various programmes and films.  

 

The DVDs, I remove from their containers; I throw those into the recycle bins. Wilkos sell these small clear plastic envelopes, just the right size. Cuts the storage of the originals right down. 

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Higgs

[pearley]

Thanks for the replies. Our TV does have 2 USB sockets but one powers the aerial and the other Chromecast. I do have an HDMI socket but for some weird reason it will not play sound from my laptop (18 months old) so on the few times I've used it the sound has come via Bluetooth. And using laptop and HDMI not ideal as laptop had to go on floor. And I can't use remote to fast forward, etc.

 

I had assumed that I could put the DVDs onto an external hard drive, connect to some form of media player which is then connected to TV via HDMI. With display of contents of hard drive on TV screen selectable by remote. Or is that too simple?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

9 minutes ago, pearley said:

Thanks for the replies. Our TV does have 2 USB sockets but one powers the aerial and the other Chromecast. I do have an HDMI socket but for some weird reason it will not play sound from my laptop (18 months old) so on the few times I've used it the sound has come via Bluetooth. And using laptop and HDMI not ideal as laptop had to go on floor. And I can't use remote to fast forward, etc.

 

I had assumed that I could put the DVDs onto an external hard drive, connect to some form of media player which is then connected to TV via HDMI. With display of contents of hard drive on TV screen selectable by remote. Or is that too simple?

What make/model of TV do you have? If one of the USB sockets is just supplying 5V to the aerial amplifier, then any clean 5V USB charger will do the same job, which would free up the other. The make/model will let us work out what  video formats, if any the TV could use from an external drive.

Jen

Edited March 8, 2021 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Guest]

All of the above is good, but you might also want to consider simply using an external media player.

This would work into your HDMI input and be much less power hungry or cumbersome than your laptop.

The one I use is this;-

https://www.google.com/search?q=media+player&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk022h0G8MFdYR2hFw5vjWYQFd68KFg:1615224054632&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio1ojAmqHvAhWNN8AKHUueBd8Q_AUoAXoECBUQAw&biw=955&bih=689#spd=15458191498842982950

Whatever route you go just check that the chosen solution will play your format of files before you rip the lot!!!

My telly has USB input but wont play MKV files. Grr

Also consider using MP4 files. They seem to be more commonly playable??

[john6767]

5 hours ago, pearley said:

Thanks for the replies. Our TV does have 2 USB sockets but one powers the aerial and the other Chromecast. I do have an HDMI socket but for some weird reason it will not play sound from my laptop (18 months old) so on the few times I've used it the sound has come via Bluetooth. And using laptop and HDMI not ideal as laptop had to go on floor. And I can't use remote to fast forward, etc.

 

I had assumed that I could put the DVDs onto an external hard drive, connect to some form of media player which is then connected to TV via HDMI. With display of contents of hard drive on TV screen selectable by remote. Or is that too simple?

If you are just using the USB sockets on the TV for power, a small unpowered USB hub may let you power both off the same port on the TV, alternatively use a USB outlet from the boat directly to free up a USB port on the TV.  If you get the file formats correct and the TV is upto it, you should be able to use the TV as the media player.  You could do some testing using a USB stick with the ripped DVD on to see how well it works before investing any money in a drive.

[pearley]

TV is Avtex , L219DRS running from 12 volt socket.

[Rob-M]

I use the BubbleUPNP app on an android tablet to stream to Chromecast.  The app can use the local device or separate storage for the media source.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 hour ago, pearley said:

TV is Avtex , L219DRS running from 12 volt socket.

Taking a look at the destruction manual, on page 39. If you set the source to USB, you can plug in a USB mass storage device, ie a USB stick, or hard drive. It can read MPEG2 videos from this. You'll need to do some experimentation with ripping a small DVD feature to find a file type that the TV will happily read. Also may need to experiment to find a usable file system for the USB storage device.

The TV only has two USB sockets. You have a Chromecast stick in one and power the aerial amplifier from the other, however, if you are watching films from a USB device you are not using the stick, or the aerial, so one of the sockets can be used for the USB gadget.

Jen