New flat screen tv

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Okay, I'm looking to replace my old massive TV with a nice one that doesn't take up a sizeable percentage of my room. One thing I need it to be able to do is to play from storage devices that have been configured to Apple, I got all excited about one made by Samsung, but the company (Samsung, that is) have just told me that they aren't Mac compatible. So, here's my question, what flat screen TVs do you wizards know will play from Mac configured storage devices?
Thanks
 

Raz0rEdge

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Welcome to Mac-Forums..

Not sure what you mean by "storage devices configured to Apple". Any new Smart TV will talk to established devices like DLNA-compliant devices and so on. A lot of them have USB slots to talk directly to flash drives or hard drives..

However, they are likely not going to talk to a Mac..

Your best bet would be something like the Apple TV connected to the TV to which you can stream any of your stuff from the Mac, be it video or audio..
 

Slydude

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Have to agree there. I tried to pass iTunes files to a Samsung DVD player that was supposed to play nice with DLNA. It was a nightmare and never worked well.

In the process I tried several Mac programs with little success. In researching this I found that though lots of devices claim DLNA support that seems to mean different things to different device manufacturers.
 
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I have a brand new 32 inch Samsung smart TV that I'm configuring this morning. Plugging my external drive into the back of the TV which is formatted by the Mac won't work. However, I've found a way to stream from the Mac to the Samsung.

You can stream anything from your Mac or from your external drive to the Samsung. You need to use a media server on the Mac. I'm using Servio Serviio media server which is free [although the have a pro paid version] You install the server and the console app on the Mac and start it up.

If your running Yosemite you have to upgrade the Java but once that is done you can stream to the Samsung. Recognizes most formats and serio will transcode any formats that the Samsung can't handle. It's just a matter of selecting folders and paths that you want to stream from the computer. Just been playing with it for an hour or two but works well.

It would be nicer to use Samsung's app on the TV itself but Samsung as they said doesn't support OS/X on their end so you just have to do an end around. Bottom line is that it does work!! I've read you can also use the Media Server in Vuze to stream but haven't tried that.
 

Slydude

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Glad you got that working. Serviio was one of the programs I tried and it did not seem to work for me. It is possible that I did not wait long enough for it to configure on my aging MB Pro. Though I wait a few hours IIRC.
 
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VLC will stream to any DLNA componet if it is on the network. I do it all the time.
 

Slydude

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I think the problem here is that that not all devices are fully DLNA compliant. If you get over that hurdle not everything seemed to play nice with iTunes even for common file formats like mp3.

It is also entirely possible that some of the problems I had were due to errors / misunderstandings on my part. It points to the fact that this type of setup is a bigger pain than most users want to tackle.
 
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I recently set up my cousin's iMac with a "Plex" media server (like serviio). His smart Panasonic has a "Plex" client available, and he can stream HD movies via his wifi network. So, that makes at least three ways that we know will work for streaming to a smart TV (using DLNA support) - and then there's also Apple TV for less-smart TVs.
 

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