Stand alone Plex app / Media server?

General Discussions
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I’m literally just starting w/ Plex. I think I know the answer to this, but I’m not sure, and I’m not seeing anything on the native app, nor the PC application, that answers it.

Can Plex, be used a stand alone app on the TV without having a media server of some, or any sort in the structure?

I just want to be able to plug a flash drive into the USB port on my TV and play it via Plex. Totally stand alone?

Thanks … Newbie Phil Z

3

Short Answer yes, but see below

This functionality is not possible. Your TV should support your playing of videos through a USB stick natively, it’s just a matter of getting them into a container and codec your TV Recognizes. You’ll have to consult your TV’s manual or specs list for this.

Using the plex app as standalone will afford you their VOD service, news, and podcasts only I believe.

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Thanks. Yes, the TV does support the videos played through the flash drive. Actually does a very nice job of it.

The “problem” is that the TV won’t display the captioning in this native app. The captioning is somehow or other (I’m not technically savvy on this stuff) built into the file, but the TV won’t show / doesn’t see / something else so I’m not getting them, and both my wife and I are getting a bit deaf as we age.

I know the captions are there … in that both Windows Media Player and VLC will play them on the computer … but I don’t see any native WMP or VLC apps in the Samsung app “store”.

And at least for the moment, I really don’t want to go through the trouble of setting up a media server. Maybe later, but not now.

Anyway, thank you for the ideas. I may just move the computer closer to the TV and use the HDMI port to show the vid, playing it via VLC or WMP. I think that might work.

Thanks

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Go and get a nVidia Shield Pro.
Connect it to your TV.
Connect the hard drive to the Shield.
Install Kodi from the App Store. This media player has no issues with whatever subtitles you have in these files.
Profit.

This device is also a very capable Plex client.
And a Plex server for smaller media collections.
So should you decide to use Plex later on, you have everything you need already there.

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