A little disappointed in my new TCL P8 TV

[giddyup]

Have found it doesn't play torrent downloads through the USB connections that well. Not on every file, but I quite often get the message "unable to play file", something that was never a problem when I played movies etc. through my old media player. Another thing that is a bit worrying is that the screen flashes briefly in bursts for a while immediately after the set is turned off. I have only had it week and so far hasn't lived up to expectations.

[GeorgeCross]

i use plex to play torrents on my smart tv. it plays every file and no more messing about copying files to usb sticks

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, GeorgeCross said:

i use plex to play torrents on my smart tv. it plays every file and no more messing about copying files to usb sticks

And how much does that cost you?

[fishtank]

Plex is free as is Emby.

Both work well.

[GeorgeCross]

10 hours ago, giddyup said:

And how much does that cost you?

 

plex is a free app - should be available for your smart tv

 

download plex media server app to your torrent device too to stream the files to your tv's app - available windows and mac

 

 

[MJKT2014]

12 hours ago, giddyup said:

something that was never a problem when I played movies etc. through my old media player.

What was the old media player? Cannot you just plug it in the HMDI port of new TV? That's what I did but my thoughts may be slightly dated now as I haven't bought a smart TV for 3 years, but was less impressed with them at that time than my media player (Android TV box).

[giddyup]

37 minutes ago, fishtank said:

Plex is free as is Emby.

Both work well.

The Plex I downloaded would only play a file for 1 minute, if you wanted the full package you had to pay. The fees are clearly listed.

[steve187]

i think the TCL does not have a full version of android 9, but that said can you install vlc player ( available on play store, will play anyfile you have) and 'filelinked' ( not available on play store, but is available here -  https://bit.ly/35likcx)  to obtain apps to find and stream movies tv shows, its not the fact you have downloaded torrents, its the type of file that the downloaded movie is in such as mp4. mkv, avi player

 i think you are blaming the tv, but its your lack of understanding of streaming and playing file once downloaded from torrent sites, as posted above why not use the old media box

 

edit plex is free but needs some setting up to link your movies to the tv

[giddyup]

14 minutes ago, MJKT2014 said:

What was the old media player? Cannot you just plug it in the HMDI port of new TV? That's what I did but my thoughts may be slightly dated now as I haven't bought a smart TV for 3 years, but was less impressed with them at that time than my media player (Android TV box).

One of the reasons I bought a smart Android TV was so I could do away with things like set top boxes and media players.

[giddyup]

2 minutes ago, steve187 said:

i think the TCL does not have a full version of android 9, but that said can you install vlc player ( available on play store, will play anyfile you have) and 'filelinked' ( not available on play store, but is available here -  https://bit.ly/35likcx)  to obtain apps to fins and stream movies tv shows, its not the fact you have downloaded torrents, its the type of file that the downloaded movie is in such as mp4. mkv, avi player

 i think you are blaming the tv, but its your lack of understanding of streaming and playing file once downloaded from torrent sites, as posted above why not use the old media box

Because old media box won't play HEVC files and the new TV will.

[steve187]

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

Because old media box won't play HEVC files and the new TV will.

vlc player should play everything

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

vlc player should play everything

How do I play my downloads through vlc player?

[steve187]

30 minutes ago, giddyup said:

How do I play my downloads through vlc player?

install vlc player on your tv, put the movies on a usb drive, then point vlc player to the file you want

 

edit on first using vlc player it will auto search your tv/usb sticks for video content

[GeorgeCross]

25 minutes ago, giddyup said:

The Plex I downloaded would only play a file for 1 minute, if you wanted the full package you had to pay. The fees are clearly listed.

 

works fine for me, yesterday i re-installed on a mac (client), mibox and a smart tv. all with no restrictions and i didn't subscribe to anything (my account is 6 months old)

 

media server is on another mac if that helps

 

 

[hereforgood]

When i bought my TCL from Numchai here in Pattaya I took a memory stick with all the video and audio formats I would be downloading and tested them before buying. No help to you now but an idea for others

 

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, hereforgood said:

When i bought my TCL from Numchai here in Pattaya I took a memory stick with all the video and audio formats I would be downloading and tested them before buying. No help to you now but an idea for others

 

So did I to check it would play HEVC files, but the TV still plays most files, but with a few it has either frozen the file in the middle or displays message "can't play file".

[steve187]

so you are saying it plays HEVC content but freezes on some, maybe the files are corrupt

[robblok]

56 minutes ago, giddyup said:

One of the reasons I bought a smart Android TV was so I could do away with things like set top boxes and media players.

Then your not doing it right, a good top box will always do a better job then your TV. Far more versatile too. 

[giddyup]

12 minutes ago, steve187 said:

so you are saying it plays HEVC content but freezes on some, maybe the files are corrupt

Perhaps, no way I can tell, but never had this problem with the media player (except wouldn't play HEVC), but I suppose I can plug the media player back in and see if the files will play on that OK.

[Peterw42]

OP, the whole idea of a smart TV is you have the option to install whatever media player you choose, go to playstore and pick one.

 

The quality of torrent downloads can be unknown, faulty, or requires a certain codec. Often you may need a couple of different media players to cover all the formats and variations within those formats.

[MJKT2014]

4 hours ago, giddyup said:

One of the reasons I bought a smart Android TV was so I could do away with things like set top boxes and media players.

So not much changed then. I think I'll keep my 3yo Android box plugged in my TV as it plays everything.

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, MJKT2014 said:

So not much changed then. I think I'll keep my 3yo Android box plugged in my TV as it plays everything.

As someone pointed out, maybe not the TV but my lack of understanding. I have installed Plex and VLC player, so I'll see how that goes.

[Beggar]

5 hours ago, hereforgood said:

When i bought my TCL from Numchai here in Pattaya I took a memory stick with all the video and audio formats I would be downloading and tested them before buying. No help to you now but an idea for others

 

I did the same when I bought my LG. Also plugged in my earphones to see if this is even possible. Not all TVs have plugs for them. 

[MJKT2014]

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

I have installed Plex and VLC player, so I'll see how that goes.

I have VLC, Plex and Kodi installed. Out of all of them I find Kodi best user experience for playing everything I have saved from downloading movies and TV shows.

[giddyup]

4 minutes ago, MJKT2014 said:

I have VLC, Plex and Kodi installed. Out of all of them I find Kodi best user experience for playing everything I have saved from downloading movies and TV shows.

Can Kodi be used purely to stream from my PC to TV without any add-ons?

[Digitalbanana]

3 hours ago, giddyup said:

Can Kodi be used purely to stream from my PC to TV without any add-ons?

From my experience Plex needs a client (your TV) and a server - presumably you have Plex on a PC server? I run Plex server from a Linux NAS drive myself.

 

Kodi on other hand needs a client only (your TV or Android box attached to) and reads from your folders of downloaded stuff be they USB drives, network drives. No addons are needed for this. Kodi catalogues your movies/TV shows and displays the details like Plex using the internet movie databases info of imagery and movie/TV synopsis.

[Jai Dee]

13 hours ago, Digitalbanana said:

Kodi on other hand needs a client only (your TV or Android box attached to) and reads from your folders of downloaded stuff be they USB drives, network drives. No addons are needed for this. Kodi catalogues your movies/TV shows and displays the details like Plex using the internet movie databases info of imagery and movie/TV synopsis.

 

All you need to do is to add the Source of your library to your Kodi settings.

 

The Source is the main folder on your hard drive which contains your collection of Movies or TV Shows or Music Videos or Music. These four classes of media cannot be mixed in the one Source. Once the Sources are set up, Kodi can perform the appropriate actions to display your media. There is no limit to the number of Sources that can be added to Kodi for each media class.

 

Here is a link to the official Kodi Wiki on how to add video sources.

[jor]

Don't want to hijack this thread but I'm looking for a 55 or 65 inch TV.  Not interested in the smartness as I will, from choice, front it with an Android box.  Could anyone comment on the picture and sound quality of the TCL P8?

 

Thanks.

[giddyup]

8 minutes ago, jor said:

Don't want to hijack this thread but I'm looking for a 55 or 65 inch TV.  Not interested in the smartness as I will, from choice, front it with an Android box.  Could anyone comment on the picture and sound quality of the TCL P8?

 

Thanks.

I'm happy with the picture and sound quality of mine. Of course like any TV the picture can only be as good as the source. The local cable (TMN) channels are pretty average quality, even the HD channels, but watch some 4K on YouTube, brilliant! Like anything, you get what you pay for, and TCL is budget priced. I only paid 12,000 baht for my ,55" with a 3 year warranty.

[Mavideol]

thanks for the post, I stopped by Home Pro too look at the TCL Android 50" TV priced very low thus price wise interesting but thought about it a little longer as TCL is a Chinese company and decided to move to the Panasonic Android made in Malaysia, a little more money but so far more reliable, while living in China I had 2-3 Skyworth and never had a problem