• Home
  • About T4L
    • Contact
    • Legal Stuff
  • Subscribe

Tech for Luddites

News, Views, and How-Tos for a Digital World

How to Watch Your Personal Media Collection Through a Streaming Media Player

Last Updated: June 8, 2017

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you end up buying something from the site it goes to, I may get a commission for the referral. If you are using an ad blocker, some product information and links may not display unless you whitelist techforluddites.com.


Notice: Undefined variable: content in /home/customer/www/techforluddites.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/magazine-pro/functions.php on line 1822

Streaming Personal Videos While streaming movies and TV shows directly from the Internet is pretty common these days, a lot of people have both commercial and personal videos stored on their computers, mobile devices, and external drives that they’d like to watch on TV. Here are a few options for doing so.

NOTE: Although I’m talking about videos, these methods will generally work with other types of media like audio and image files. Also, there are probably other options available. If you have another one you use and like, please share it in the comments below.

Connect a USB drive to a streaming media player

The Roku Ultra and Amazon Fire TV box players have a USB port that you can plug a drive into with your media files. The Roku has its own media player channel that you can use to play the files. With the Amazon Fire TV, I recommend installing the VLC media player app.

NOTE: If your files are stored on a device that doesn’t have a power adapter separate from a USB connector, like some external hard drives, it may not have enough power to work with the player. You may be able to use a USB hub that will let you power the drive separately or you can just transfer your files to a Flash drive. I’ve used one with both my Roku and Fire TV with no problems.

Use a mobile app

Install the AllCast app on your phone or tablet and it will let you cast the media you have stored on that device to any of the Big Four streaming players—Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast. The free version of the app limits you to 5 minutes of playing time, but you can upgrade to the Premium version for just $5.00.

NOTE: To use this app with the Fire TV, you’ll need to install the AllCast for Fire TV app on your player as well.

Additionally, if you have a Roku player, you can install the Roku app on your mobile device. It has a “PlayOn Roku” option that will stream your local content to your TV.

Get the Roku app for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire devices. >>

Play files through a personal media server

This is software you install on your computer that organizes all the media files on your system.

PlayOn

I’ve written about PlayOn before as a way to record videos from the Internet, but it also includes a media server. You can stream media from PlayOn to a Fire TV, Roku, or Chromecast as well as other devices.
Learn more about PlayOn in this T4L post. >>

Visit the PlayOn website for more information. >>

Plex

Plex is a very popular media server. I haven’t used it much yet but it seems pretty easy to use as well. It’s compatible with all of the Big Four players and many other devices.

Visit the Plex website for more information. >>

Mirror your computer or mobile device screen

With this method, you play the video on another your phone, tablet, or PC and then duplicate the display on your TV. There are all sorts of combinations and permutations of devices and lots of caveats involved, so I can’t go into all the details here, but fortunately there’s a T4L post for that! 🙂

Mirroring Your Computer or Mobile Device Screen on Your TV

Use iTunes Home Sharing with Apple TV

You can stream any media from your iTunes library to an Apple TV by turning on the Home Sharing feature in iTunes as long as your computer and the player are logged into the same Wi-Fi account.

Learn how to use the Home Sharing feature in this Apple Support article. >>

Want to watch your downloaded and personal videos on TV? Check out these options. Click To Tweet

You may also be interested in:

Streaming Media: News, Views, and How-Tos

Sharing: Shooting and Editing Video with Your Cellphone

Filed Under: Featured, How To, Streaming Media, TV, Video

If you found this post helpful, maybe your friends will too (hint, hint)!

To receive future blog posts in your Inbox, please fill out the form below.

Individual Posts Weekly(ish) Digest Monthly Newsletter

Comments for this page are closed. You can provide comments or ask questions via email at feedback@techforluddites.com. Unfortunately I cannot guarantee that I will be able to reply to every question I receive, but I will try.

Featured Posts

Streaming Media Players: A Comparison Chart

A comparison of features between the Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast, including price, supported content providers, and more.

T4L TOP TEN

Stop the Email Threading Madness

Learn how to change your email inbox to list messages in the order they come in.

Windows 10: Change the Default Programs for Opening Files

Learn how to choose which programs you want to use with different kinds of files, instead of the ones Microsoft wants you to use.

Amazon Fire TV Stick vs Roku Streaming Stick+: Which One Is Right for You?

A comparison of the main differences between these two popular and affordable streaming media players.

Send Your Cable TV Signal Wirelessly to Another Room

Product review and how-to for systems that let you get cable/satellite programming on additional TV sets even if there are no outlets nearby.

Post Photos and Videos to Instagram from Your Computer

If, like me, you spend more time on your PC than on your phone or tablet, you can still share content on Instagram.

Create Different Headers in Word

Step-by-step instructions for using section breaks so you can have different headers on different pages of your Microsoft Word document.

Replacing List Bullets with Images Using CSS

Replacing standard HTML list bullets with images can be a great way to tie them into your site’s overall theme and make pages more visually appealing.

Streaming Media: Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions about how a streaming media player like the Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV or Google Chromecast works? Find answers here!

Send Messages to People You Don’t Know on LinkedIn

While there are several ways to do this, purchasing an individual InMail is often the best option—and the most difficult to find.

The Twitter Hashtag: What Is It and How Do You Use It?

Learn what this ubiquitous symbol means and how to make the most of it in your tweets.

Privacy Policy

Data collected through forms on this website is used only for the purposes stated up front, e.g. sending newsletters to subscribers who opt in, selling products or services, etc. Tech for Luddites does not share or sell data collected. Learn more from our privacy policy.

Ads and Affiliate Links

Tech for Luddites is a participant in a number of advertising and affiliate programs. This means that if you take certain actions (click through, make a purchase) from links on this website, T4L may receive a commission for the referral. Learn more.

Contact Tech for Luddites

T4L is not currently accepting guest or sponsored posts. To ask a question, share a tech tip, suggest a post topic, or provide general feedback on this site, please email info@techforluddites.com.

Copyright © 2021 Tech for Luddites. All rights reserved. Content may not be copied without written permission.

This Site Uses Cookies

Learn more about T4L's privacy policy.