Vedette wrote:Wow, you guys have a language all of your own???
ops
Wish the rest of us, that might just be looking to have something we can plug into our 12V on a cold rainy night, could understand a word you are saying.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi
It can be quite complicated as there are a lot of ways to do this and legalities start to rear it's ugly head thanks to Hollywood lobbyist, however it can also be fairly easy as well.
There are 3 primary pieces to the puzzle...your display (projector, TV, etc.), your player device (Roku, WD TV, your PC, DVD Player, etc.) and your source content (DVDs, Internet Streaming services like Netflix, etc. & digital back up copies of your DVDs). Note, whenever I say Internet Streaming, Streaming or Netflix type stuff, I am referring to content that is online and therefore requires an internet connection to view it. When I say local content, I am referring to content that is physically local to your device (like on a DVD or on a hard drive) and not online like Netflix.
The projection part is fairly easy these days with pico projectors like the one in my video. They work just like any projector does, you plug it in to power (some even have batteries built in that work for about 2 hours) and plug in your player device to it. Think of this as just a giant TV or regular projector. It is a dumb display device that sole purpose is to light up a screen with whatever content is being pushed to it.
Your player device can be fairly straight forward as well. This can be your PC, a DVD player or just media streaming boxes that you can purchased at Best Buy or online at Amazon or any number of retailers. Now, depending on the device you choose, you will have different capabilities. For example, if you are using a DVD player hooked up to the projector, you are probably going to be limited to just playing DVDs like you do at home. If you have a PC connected, you can likely play DVDs (assuming your PC has a CD/DVD drive/slot) or play content from the internet (assuming you have an internet connection) again, just like you do at home.
Some media streaming boxes (like Chromecast) will only play internet content (like Netflix, Hulu, etc.) while other boxes (like WDTV and Roku) can play that same content, but also let you connect up your own local content through a USB port. As mentioned Roku and WDTV for example can play all the Netflix stuff but they have a USB port on them as well so you could hook up a portable hard drive to it that has your favorite movies and videos on it and the Roku box can see that content (i.e. read content on that portable drive) and play that content for you as well.
The Source Content is probably the most complex piece of the puzzle. If your source content is a DVD, then just connect up the DVD player to the projector and pop in the DVD and you are on your way. If your source content is Netflix or other streaming content, then just hook up your PC or your media streaming box to the projector and with an internet connection, you can play that content no problem. If your source content is a back up copy of your DVD, meaning you copied/converted your DVD library into digital copies and stored them on a portable hard drive, then you hook up your drive to a media streaming box like the Roku through the USB port and play that content back through the Roku device.
It starts to get more complex because people in this space have different preferences. When they digitize their content, they might prefer one file format (MP4, H.264, Ogg, MKV, etc.) over another because it does a better job compressing the file and making it smaller. Or maybe they want larger files because it will have better image quality. They might prefer the file organization system or menu system (for displaying how the content appears on screen for selection) over another. They might want the full menu system with all the album art (DVD cover art) vs. just names of files and folders. They might want better player controls (ff, Rewind, Pause, etc). So, each of these variables comes into play and impacts what media player you choose and what file format your source content is in and ultimately to why there are so many different options. So, for the enthusiast, especially in the Home Theater PC (HTPC) space there are a lot of ways to tackle the issue to get exactly what you want and customized to your specific needs.
The legality of it all starts to get stretched because Hollywood is trying to protect their cash cow. You can buy a DVD but you don't own the movie. As such, copying that DVD is considered illegal, well, not the actual copying of the DVD but bypassing the copy protection on the DVD. So, the legality of it all is confusing because you are entitled to a legal back up copy of that DVD but it's illegal to bypass the copy protection on the DVD. It is also illegal to share digital copies. It is worth noting that a lot of movie studios are starting to include a digital back up copy of the DVD when you purchase it.
For my camping solution, I took a more simplified route with just a pico projector, Roku 3 box that is capable of playing content off a portable hard drive. This way, if I have an internet connection at the campground, I can play Netflix and other streaming sources or if I have any digital content on a hard drive, I can play that too.
Does that all make it easier to understand? I posted a blog on this where I sorta explain this as well.
http://cre8tiveapps.blogspot.com/2015/08/lights-camera-action-its-movie-night.html
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