Laptop as Media Player

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bpranay

bpranay

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Hello All,

Sorry for my naive questions again. Due to the lack of availability of proper economical media player, I am planning to use my laptop as a media player by using kodi as I have got lots of mkv files with DTS -HD MA. I had considered buying Apple TV4K as well but the problem is even it is also not supporting DTS-HD passthrough.

I have gone through lot of forums on which most of the members has said that ATV 4K does not support DTS-HD passthrough. Also I thought of buying Mi box S. But in one of the Mi box S review, it was mentioned that it does not support DTS-HD passthrough. I can consider buying nVidia Shield TV but only thing is their latest product is about to be launched and I do not want to regret not having the latest one. So I am waiting for their launch.

Hence for time being, I would like to use my laptop as a media player using kodi. I request you to please guide me how to pass DTS-HD to AVR using kodi on my laptop. Also what kind of remote control do I need to control kodi? would it be a keyboard based or just an air mouse?

Also what settings in Kodi should I apply so that I get the passthrough? My Laptop is Lenovo Yoga 520 Core i5 with 1TB.
Also do I need to have any specific graphics card for this purpose? I am using windows 10.
 
bpranay said:
Also do I need to have any specific graphics card for this purpose? I am using windows 10.
Click to expand...

Don't think you would be able to add graphics card to laptop.. For a desktop PC you can..

Download the kodi app for desktop, enable expert settings and enable audio pass-through under each codec.. This will do it for you if the laptop HDMI out is capable of 7.1 audio output..

My brother uses Xiaomi Mi box 3 and it does pass thru DTS HD-MA+ 1080p to AVR.. Not aware of its 4K capability..
 
bpranay said:
Hello All,

Hence for time being, I would like to use my laptop as a media player using kodi. I request you to please guide me how to pass DTS-HD to AVR using kodi on my laptop. Also what kind of remote control do I need to control kodi? would it be a keyboard based or just an air mouse?

Also what settings in Kodi should I apply so that I get the passthrough? My Laptop is Lenovo Yoga 520 Core i5 with 1TB.
Also do I need to have any specific graphics card for this purpose? I am using windows 10.
Click to expand...

You can use your laptop by all means as long as it has an HDMI port. Does your laptop have one? Next you'll need a bare minimum of 1gb dedicated graphics card built in. More dedicated memory the better.

Get a Logitech k400 wireless keyboard and you're all set.

Follow the link posted above to setup Kodi. What would be your processing device, an avr?

MaSh
 
elangoas said:
Don't think you would be able to add graphics card to laptop.. For a desktop PC you can..

Download the kodi app for desktop, enable expert settings and enable audio pass-through under each codec.. This will do it for you if the laptop HDMI out is capable of 7.1 audio output..

My brother uses Xiaomi Mi box 3 and it does pass thru DTS HD-MA+ 1080p to AVR.. Not aware of its 4K capability..
Click to expand...
@elangoas, sorry for the off topic question. Can't we use an external graphics card for laptop. I don't even know if such a thing is there.
 
MaSh said:
You can use your laptop by all means as long as it has an HDMI port. Does your laptop have one? Next you'll need a bare minimum of 1gb dedicated graphics card built in. More dedicated memory the better.

Get a Logitech k400 wireless keyboard and you're all set.

Follow the link posted above to setup Kodi. What would be your processing device, an avr?

MaSh
Click to expand...

I'll be using Yamaha RXV 473 along. Yes, my laptop has hdmi port which will be connected to AVR. One more thing, do I really need a graphics card or my current configuration will suffice to make my laptop work as media player?
 
bpranay said:
I'll be using Yamaha RXV 473 along. Yes, my laptop has hdmi port which will be connected to AVR. One more thing, do I really need a graphics card or my current configuration will suffice to make my laptop work as media player?
Click to expand...
That's great. Go ahead and hook it up. You can even try https://mpc-hc.org/.

There is nothing you can do if there is no capable graphics card. Hook it up and see how it performs. If it's not jittery on bluray rips you are good to go. Make sure you have bitstreaming turned on and working.

MaSh
 
elangoas said:
Not aware of its 4K capability..
Click to expand...
AFAIK it (Mi box S) does not work Kodi in 4k .i tried it shows full hd .Tried few settings but no positive results.since I don't have time to do R&D I left as it is as it is not my primary device
Image attached for your reference connected 4k TV

IMG-20191001-WA0024.jpg



bpranay said:
. I can consider buying nVidia Shield TV but only thing is their latest product is about to be launched and I do not want to regret not having the latest one. So I am waiting for their launch.
Click to expand...


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New Nvidia Shield TV Gets Closer To The Launch, Passes Through Bluetooth SIG Certification - MySmartPrice

Nvidia makes the best Android TV-based media streaming devices, hands down. The first version of the Shield TV was launched in early 2015, and then it received a spec bump in 2017 in the form of a more powerful Tegra X1 processor but dropped the microSD card slot and the IR receiver. Now, the...
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elangoas said:
For a desktop you can add with PCI slots.. For laptop, it is integrated to the motherboard.. Don't think you would able to add graphics card for laptop
Click to expand...
If thunderbolt 3 slot is available in laptop It is possible to connect external graphics card to a laptop.But it is not cost effective solution i would say
 
Last edited:
Expect low price for the current Nvidia shield during black friday season. Last year it was available for around 130usd with gaming controller. Great thing is that it doesn't require any down converter.
But even the Nvidia shield is not perfect. It dosent support hdr for YouTube. Maybe the new one will have it.

For your laptop, I don't find the necessity for any additional graphical powers. Onboard is sufficient, provided media consumption is your priority and not gaming.
 
sijusid said:
Expect low price for the current Nvidia shield during black friday season. Last year it was available for around 130usd with gaming controller. Great thing is that it doesn't require any down converter.
But even the Nvidia shield is not perfect. It dosent support hdr for YouTube. Maybe the new one will have it.

For your laptop, I don't find the necessity for any additional graphical powers. Onboard is sufficient, provided media consumption is your priority and not gaming.
Click to expand...
My priority is only media consumption. Yesterday, I tried to playing some clips through Kodi but was not able to get passthrough and the AVR was showing up the audio as PCM. I do not know if I need to any settings in my laptop or in kodi. I did enable pass through options in Kodi.

I'll try again it with different player like VLC & MPC-HC and then shall post accordingly.
 
bpranay said:
Hello All,

Sorry for my naive questions again. Due to the lack of availability of proper economical media player, I am planning to use my laptop as a media player by using kodi as I have got lots of mkv files with DTS -HD MA. I had considered buying Apple TV4K as well but the problem is even it is also not supporting DTS-HD passthrough.

I have gone through lot of forums on which most of the members has said that ATV 4K does not support DTS-HD passthrough. Also I thought of buying Mi box S. But in one of the Mi box S review, it was mentioned that it does not support DTS-HD passthrough. I can consider buying nVidia Shield TV but only thing is their latest product is about to be launched and I do not want to regret not having the latest one. So I am waiting for their launch.

Hence for time being, I would like to use my laptop as a media player using kodi. I request you to please guide me how to pass DTS-HD to AVR using kodi on my laptop. Also what kind of remote control do I need to control kodi? would it be a keyboard based or just an air mouse?

Also what settings in Kodi should I apply so that I get the passthrough? My Laptop is Lenovo Yoga 520 Core i5 with 1TB.
Also do I need to have any specific graphics card for this purpose? I am using windows 10.
Click to expand...
I get DTS-HD passthrough perfectly on my ATV 4K - No issues whatsoever

As for Kodi on laptop, just change the settings menu to expert settings and you will see an option to enable passthrough along with options to select the type of streams you want to set for passthrough
 
bpranay said:
My priority is only media consumption. Yesterday, I tried to playing some clips through Kodi but was not able to get passthrough and the AVR was showing up the audio as PCM. I do not know if I need to any settings in my laptop or in kodi. I did enable pass through options in Kodi.

I'll try again it with different player like VLC & MPC-HC and then shall post accordingly.
Click to expand...
Hi...my laptop is similar to yours (infact, I think it's same) . But I haven't installed Kodi on it as I use my shield and ATV for streaming...but will try to do it, probably this weekend and will update you later on results....

For me, Kodi works flawlessly on my shield, and the shield also works as my Plex server.

Cheers
Siju
 
bpranay said:
My priority is only media consumption. Yesterday, I tried to playing some clips through Kodi but was not able to get passthrough and the AVR was showing up the audio as PCM. I do not know if I need to any settings in my laptop or in kodi. I did enable pass through options in Kodi.

I'll try again it with different player like VLC & MPC-HC and then shall post accordingly.
Click to expand...
2 steps you need to check.

1.In laptop audio/playback device,make sure you have kept speaker setting as 5.1 or more.Also in audio/HDMI out properties(in audio),you should see all supported formats after turned on Avr.Keep that playback device as default.

2.In kodi,need to select bitstream option in audio out.
 
bpranay said:
Hello All,

Sorry for my naive questions again. Due to the lack of availability of proper economical media player, I am planning to use my laptop as a media player by using kodi as I have got lots of mkv files with DTS -HD MA. I had considered buying Apple TV4K as well but the problem is even it is also not supporting DTS-HD passthrough.

I have gone through lot of forums on which most of the members has said that ATV 4K does not support DTS-HD passthrough. Also I thought of buying Mi box S. But in one of the Mi box S review, it was mentioned that it does not support DTS-HD passthrough. I can consider buying nVidia Shield TV but only thing is their latest product is about to be launched and I do not want to regret not having the latest one. So I am waiting for their launch.

Hence for time being, I would like to use my laptop as a media player using kodi. I request you to please guide me how to pass DTS-HD to AVR using kodi on my laptop. Also what kind of remote control do I need to control kodi? would it be a keyboard based or just an air mouse?

Also what settings in Kodi should I apply so that I get the passthrough? My Laptop is Lenovo Yoga 520 Core i5 with 1TB.
Also do I need to have any specific graphics card for this purpose? I am using windows 10.
Click to expand...
Does your laptop support DTS HD pass through?
 
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