# Is it possible to connect DVD player directly to Bolt?



## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

Is there a way to connect a DVD player (either old or new) to my Bolt directly instead of to the TV?

I was hoping to use the Bolt as our primary device instead of switching back and forth on the TV inputs.

Please let me know. Thanks.


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## JoE 15 (Nov 19, 2015)

atomarchio said:


> Is there a way to connect a DVD player (either old or new) to my Bolt directly instead of to the TV?
> 
> I was hoping to use the Bolt as our primary device instead of switching back and forth on the TV inputs.
> 
> Please let me know. Thanks.


No, there is only an HDMI Out, no HDMI In.

Only option I can think of via TiVo is ripping your DVD's to PLEX on your computer and using the PLEX app on the Bolt.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I was thinking about using the USB port somehow.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

atomarchio said:


> I was thinking about using the USB port somehow.


That would require the TiVo software to have been written to anticipate such a use, and as far as we know it wasn't and probably won't ever be.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

unitron said:


> That would require the TiVo software to have been written to anticipate such a use, and as far as we know it wasn't and probably won't ever be.


I understand. You would think that if Tivo wants to be a single device solution it would somehow be able to work with DVDs.


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

atomarchio said:


> I understand. You would think that if Tivo wants to be a single device solution it would somehow be able to work with DVDs.


I don't think dvd was in that thought. It was digital only. DVD are almost as rare as VHS. They are dying slowly but in a few years they will be just as scarce as VCRs.


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

Also connecting a DVD player is not eliminating anything. A receiver does what your wanting. TiVo wants to get it to were you don't need a Apple TV or Amazon fire as TiVo will have the digital movie platforms right on the TiVo.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I think DVD's are really becoming a legacy product and we will see less and less physical media options. Years ago when I was a heavy pytivo user I had a dvd idea I was playing with, but it never got very far.

Take a small network connected computer with a DVD/BD player, pytivo DVD plugin, and AnyDVD realtime decryption software. Put in a disk, and AnyDVD decrypts it, pytivo mounts the drive and then Pytivo DVD plugin splits it into previews and the movie presenting it onto the TiVo like any other remote share. I suppose you could add Stream Baby into the mix as well.

I think it would have worked pretty well, I just don't think there is enough demand for it anymore, I can't remember the last time I watched a DVD...


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

bradleys said:


> I think DVD's are really becoming a legacy product and we will see less and less physical media options. Years ago when I was a heavy pytivo user I had a dvd idea I was playing with, but it never got very far.
> 
> Take a small network connected computer with a DVD/BD player, pytivo DVD plugin, and AnyDVD realtime decryption software. Put in a disk, and AnyDVD decrypts it, pytivo mounts the drive and then Pytivo DVD plugin splits it into previews and the movie presenting it onto the TiVo like any other remote share. I suppose you could add Stream Baby into the mix as well.
> 
> I think it would have worked pretty well, I just don't think there is enough demand for it anymore, I can't remember the last time I watched a DVD...


Pretty good idea. Yeah why by a dvd when you can buy it digitally and watch it anywhere without taking it physically with you. Unless Amazon goes out of business the. I might be worried about the movies I purchased on there.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I don't actually use DVDs either. 

However, we do have our kids friends bring over a DVD movie once in a while and I have no easy way to play that.

I don't want to rip the DVD necessarily because that takes more time that what I would to spend on this.

Just trying to figure something out. So far I don't see anything simple.


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

atomarchio said:


> I don't actually use DVDs either.
> 
> However, we do have our kids friends bring over a DVD movie once in a while and I have no easy way to play that.
> 
> ...


Get a hdmi switch. You can easily switch back and forth if switching tv inputs are not easy enough.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

That could work.

However, I was hoping to use the Tivo as the primary device with the Tivo remote.

I am running an HDMI extender from another room.


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## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

atomarchio said:


> That could work.
> 
> However, I was hoping to use the Tivo as the primary device with the Tivo remote.
> 
> I am running an HDMI extender from another room.


Get a harmony remote to control it all. But you said you rarely use it so a second remote during those times shouldn't be to of an inconvienance.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

joewom said:


> Get a harmony remote to control it all. But you said you rarely use it so a second remote during those times shouldn't be to of an inconvienance.


I tried the harmony remote but did not like it. Our family prefers the Tivo remote. That's another big reason why I was hoping to connect a DVD player to the Tivo and not the TV.

I thought there would be an easier solution here. Bummer.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

joewom said:


> I don't think dvd was in that thought. It was digital only. DVD are almost as rare as VHS. They are dying slowly but in a few years they will be just as scarce as VCRs.


??? DVDs still sell more than Blu-ray Discs. And most people still use DVD players.

And you can still buy DVD/VCR combos. Bestbuy sells four models of combos. Compared to 14 models of DVD players and 26 models of BD players.


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## atomarchio (Sep 24, 2006)

I just thought it would be very convenient if you could connect a DVD player to a Tivo somehow to do this.

I was even trying to think about how I could play a DVD from my home computer connected on the same network and get that to the TV somehow.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Just use another input in the TV.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

aaronwt said:


> Just use another input in the TV.


Yep, and if the TV and DVD player have HDMI-CEC enabled that can mean one less remote to futz with.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Back in the day they has S2 units with built in DVD players/recorders. I had (have) two of them, a Pioneer and a Toshiba. They were great! Being able to watch DVDs with the TiVo remote complete with instant replay was way better then any other standalone DVD player I owned. 

I think it would be cool if TiVo offered a USB Bluray drive that added BD playback to the TiVo interface. Not sure how popular it would be, but I'd buy one.


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## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

I think some of the people answering this thread are missing the desire to use the same input(s) for the TV and sound device, and to have a consistent UI when watching DVDs.

I don't see Tivo getting into this unless someone makes another all in one device like what Dan mentioned.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> Back in the day they has S2 units with built in DVD players/recorders. I had (have) two of them, a Pioneer and a Toshiba. They were great! Being able to watch DVDs with the TiVo remote complete with instant replay was way better then any other standalone DVD player I owned.
> 
> I think it would be cool if TiVo offered a USB Bluray drive that added BD playback to the TiVo interface. Not sure how popular it would be, but I'd buy one.


If TiVo added USB C so they could fully power USB devices there are several that I could see being of interest. Blu-Ray or better yet UHD Blu-ray is certainly one I would be interested in, also could be hard drives, or additional tuners especially if cable card got replaced and Satellite could be accessed.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

There's something to be said about having separate devices in terms of failures. If my DVD/BD drive goes out, I only have to replace a $90 device instead of $900 worth of Bolt plus lifetime. A decent universal remote and AVR (or HDMI switch) makes multiple devices appear as one anyway. As it is on Tivo, the interface isn't consistent at all. For example, the Amazon and Netflix apps are totally different. So what good is having all in a single device besides the global search? Search wouldn't apply to DVD/BD anyway. 

It's actually a lot faster for me to switch to Amazon on my Roku than it is to watch Amazon on Tivo since it's only one button press. On Tivo, it's several actions which are tough to make work consistently in a macro. Plus the Amazon app on Roku is a lot better than the one on Tivo.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

GoodSpike said:


> I think some of the people answering this thread are missing the desire to use the same input(s) for the TV and sound device, and to have a consistent UI when watching DVDs. I don't see Tivo getting into this unless someone makes another all in one device like what Dan mentioned.


DVDs and blu rays have their own menu system that is unique to each disk. That leaves only the single input. How hard is it to press a button. Tivo's strength is searching for things. It adds nothing if you have to put a disk in all the time. Now if it were one of those super 500 disk systems that never took off...


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## GoodSpike (Dec 17, 2001)

TonyD79 said:


> DVDs and blu rays have their own menu system that is unique to each disk. .


I don't think FF/Rew/Stop are unique to each disk, and the DVD program I had for my HTPC had an optional interface which made it look like WMC. But yes the Play/Setup Audio/Extras menus are unique to each disc.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

GoodSpike said:


> I don't think FF/Rew/Stop are unique to each disk, and the DVD program I had for my HTPC had an optional interface which made it look like WMC. But yes the Play/Setup Audio/Extras menus are unique to each disc.


No idea about DVDs, but with BDs many of them definitely look different for the Play/FF/REW scrub bar on the screen.


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## shotsky (Oct 1, 2016)

Dan203 said:


> Back in the day they has S2 units with built in DVD players/recorders. I had (have) two of them, a Pioneer and a Toshiba. They were great! Being able to watch DVDs with the TiVo remote complete with instant replay was way better then any other standalone DVD player I owned.
> 
> I think it would be cool if TiVo offered a USB Bluray drive that added BD playback to the TiVo interface. Not sure how popular it would be, but I'd buy one.


I have a Tivo Bolt and 3 minis for my 4 TV's. I also have about 1000 DVD's and 50 or so BluRays. I would love to see an hdmi input on the Bolt that would accept the hdmi signal from a dvd player (or other player with hdmi) and then stream it to all the other devices.
The issue is not about switching inputs to a tv, it is getting the dvds visible on all the tvs at the same time, from a single player. Obviously, this would also permit streaming from a computer into the Bolt and throughout the home.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

shotsky said:


> I have a Tivo Bolt and 3 minis for my 4 TV's. I also have about 1000 DVD's and 50 or so BluRays. I would love to see an hdmi input on the Bolt that would accept the hdmi signal from a dvd player (or other player with hdmi) and then stream it to all the other devices.
> The issue is not about switching inputs to a tv, it is getting the dvds visible on all the tvs at the same time, from a single player. Obviously, this would also permit streaming from a computer into the Bolt and throughout the home.


Never going to happen. Never.

I have the capability to stream my BDs to any TV location at home. but I have ripped all my titles to BD ISOs and use media player to play back the content. I select the title from coverart using a tablet. And then it initiates playback.

You could Rip the title to a format Plex can use, and then use the Bolt to Play it back. It will have a synopisis and other information for each title as well as coverart. But you still need to rip it. This is what many people do to stream their content to their TiVos. I tested it with several dozen titles and it works well. But for me, my content is not typically in a format that P!ex can use.


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

To me it sounds like you are overcomplicating. TiVo is not a DVD player or controller and never claimed to be. Plug a DVD player into another TV input, problem solved. If you don't have another input, get a receiver or switch, problem solved. Why would you even consider ripping? K.I.S.S. is always good advice.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Jeff_W said:


> To me it sounds like you are overcomplicating. TiVo is not a DVD player or controller and never claimed to be. Plug a DVD player into another TV input, problem solved. If you don't have another input, get a receiver or switch, problem solved. Why would you even consider ripping? K.I.S.S. is always good advice.


I would guess renting a DVD and connecting the DVD player to your TiVo via the HDMI and be able to record the DVD onto your TiVo was what the OP wanted, great idea, but not happing in this lifetime.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

There is a company called Kaleidescape that makes a networked 320 disc DVD/BD server. However their systems cost thousands of dollars.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> There is a company called Kaleidescape that makes a networked 320 disc DVD/BD server. However their systems cost thousands of dollars.


And you can also rip DVDs and BDs yourself for much, much, much less.


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## Sunderlandgreen (Mar 16, 2017)

atomarchio said:


> Is there a way to connect a DVD player (either old or new) to my Bolt directly instead of to the TV?
> 
> I was hoping to use the Bolt as our primary device instead of switching back and forth on the TV inputs.
> 
> Please let me know. Thanks.


You can have a reference at this article:
Connecting Tivo to new Sony Blu Ray Disc/DVD player to TV


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