can stream directly to the xbox, or even use the media centre app that comes with the xbox to stream to, or put all said files onto a external hdd and plug into usb port on tv

if your tv has networking you can stream directly from you pc if you share the files. I recently bought a new phillips LED smart tv and all i needed to do was connect a network cable.

Yeah I have found that the USB is the easiest as Media Centre didn't have the best resolution on movies and for some reason the xbox (plugged in via LAN) doesn't update the folder for direct streaming.

media sharing eh... i must look this up, thanks for pro-tip :)

(ps yes my tv has every bell and whistle known to man so theoretically it should work...)

universal media server on my pc, ps3 finds it instantly and will play anything

HDD > TV
xbmc is the WORST PROGRAM EVAR. whoever signed off on that one should be shot. program designed to play media but CAN'T PAUSE or STOP. srsly. also, FFWD/RWD is super finnicky, either goes in 30sec jumps or straight to the end. also, SUPER slow while searching/navigating for stuff.

I don't use xbmc anymore, but not because there's anything wrong with it
nothing you posted is even remotely true, xbmc can most certainly pause and stop (lolwut?) and ff is roughly 15 second increments or much larger chunks if you use up/down instead of left/right buttons

navigation is flawless on even 5 year old hardware like an asrock ion with 1gb ram

ack media player wants me to share the media (fine) but refuses to believe it is on the network even though it is the boss of the network...

meanwhile spook my tv rocks :P

http://www.panasonic.com.au/Products+Archive/VIErA+televisions/Plasma+TVs/TH-P55GT30A/Overview

Was the best plasma at the time (especially for the money), best suited to its environment etc and has an awesome picture. I arent going to start (and derail my own thread with a LED v Plasma or what ever debate) but the thing that decided me after every thing else was sport... the LED / LCD were terrible at sport... for eg... as the camera followed the ball (basketball), every thing in the background just blurred massively... my plasma... wow, perfect :)

But we nearly bought another tv (led or lcd, cant remember) because the picture when watching movies was awesome and it looked (the tv itself) very chic hehe

Anyway, media centre... arrgghghhh

just fired up a trial copy of that mezzmo... worked straight away!

now just have to work out the best file format as not all my videos seem to play through it

Spook, my TV isn't the latest or greatest but it does have a USB port and plays .avi .mp4 and .mkv so no need of conversions just copy and done. Yes the Xbox streams it directly from the media folder, but as of half way thru last year it likes to be a c*** and not update files in the folder or not play anything at all.

Try Serviio, works quite wellas a UpnP/DLNA server

There's a million and one options. We have Samsung Tv with wifi dongle (see if panasonic make one of them). and the ps3 (same as xbox really). and usb access. and a laptop hooked up permanently.

contender for worst poast of the year. having to copy/convert any media to watch it on your tv is fail, its 2013 for gods sake.

my tv is on the network and will happily play whatever is in my media library.

im sure your xbox can do this also, if your tv cant. as its a plasma, you've obviously settled in the tv stakes, so it probably wont be able to play your media for you. sell it and buy a decent tv.

I can stream to the bluray player, and if I could be bothered my tv, but my pc is in the lounge room connected to the tv.
If I'm not downloading and just watching a movie I turn everything off except the tv and surround sound and use a flash disk. Haven't had a problem with it not playing anything except one dual audio movie. I didn't say this is how you must do it, just that I find it easy as pissing in a nappy.