I’m moving to a new house and will be mounting a large Samsung flatscreen TV over the mantle of the fireplace.
The TV comes with all the streaming apps we want built in so we won’t need a streaming device to connect to it, however we still watch DVDs now and then and there is no easy way to physicallly connect the DVD player to the TV using an HDMI cable.
I see there are now bluetooth DVD players, buy they aren’t HD quality video without using an HDMI cable.
Has anyone purchased one of these bluetooth DVD players and do they work well? Unfortunately feeding a cable through the wall from behind the fireplace will be a real challenge…
As Reply says, there is no device that streams video over Bluetooth. There are Bluetooth-equipped DVD and Blu-ray players that stream audio only to speakers or headphones. Can you link to the device you are seeing that appears to stream video over Bluetooth?
There are wireless HDMI kits that use proprietary vendor-specific protocols. They are device neutral and connect to existing equipment through their HDMI ports, but IMO they are excessive for what you are doing and induce some video quality loss. There are thin and colored HDMI cables made for running along walls and corners to hide them more easily.
Please consider a different wall for your TV instead of putting it over the fireplace. Your neck will thank you.
As others have said, you can’t stream video over bluetooth; I have a feeling that the devices you’re looking at are designed to send audio to bluetooth speakers for wireless surround sound.
The way to do this and make it look good is to run the HDMI cable through the wall, but that’s not always feasible. You can also get decorative wire mouldings which snap to a base channel that attaches to the wall and lets you run whatever you want inside. They’re removable so when it comes time to upgrade to Ultra 32K PurpleRay SuperHDMI 19.3 it’ll be easy to run new cables.
Samsung does have tech built in to wirelessly mirror other devices on it, typically smartphones.
So you can rip the DVD to your smartphone and then easily and wirelessly watch it on the TV.
This uses Wifi as the carrying technology not Bluetooth.
Oddly I am not aware of DVD or Blu-ray players that can display to a TV this way. Some Blu-ray players work as Miracast “receivers”, where they can mirror a smartphone to the connected TV. I haven’t heard of Blu-ray players that act as Miracast “senders”. Would be a nice tech, for sure?
Seriously, unless it’s one of those fake gas fireplaces, and not a log-burning one, you do NOT want the TV exposed to all that heat. If the back doesn’t outright melt, plugs can deform just enough that the wires can’t be unplugged, wires can become damaged inside their insulation, and enough insulation can fall off, that you can get wires that short out. It’ll take time before the TV goes totally kaput, but things like the HDMI reception could go, and you could be stuck with coaxial picture.
Get an HDMI over Cat5/6 transmitter pair. Startech has been my brand of choice but there are others.
Either get a radio to IR hub like a Logitech Harmony or get one of the HDMI over Cat5 devices that also passes the IR controls down the wire. Locate the Blu-Ray and IR repeater to control it wherever is convenient at one end of the Cat5 run. Now all you have to do is hide the single Cat5/6 wire and a small box about the size of a deck of playing cards behind the TV. If you don’t want to drill through walls and floors, get some on-wall paintable conduit.
There are a few DVD and Bluray players that can be mounted vertically. Here’s one example, there are smaller ones if you just care about DVDs.
You could put a little more space between your TV and the wall and mount the player either to the wall behind it or to the same mount. All the cables except a single power cable (that you’re already going to have to run) can be hidden behind the TV.
Didn’t the electrician install an outlet on the wall behind where you intend to mount the TV? If that was possible, why can’t you run an HDMI cable via a similar path to the same location. I would think it would be worth it to be able to connect a cable box, game system or something else in addition to the Bluray/DVD player.
Are you saying there’s no easy way to reach behind the TV to plug in the HDMI once it’s mounted or something else.
Since you say you only use the DVD player now and then, I’d suggest you connect the HDMI cable to the TV, mount the TV and then use some velcro cable ties or rubber bands or even tape to hide the coiled up HDMI cable out of sight somewhere on the back of the TV. When you want to use it plug in the DVD player, when you’re done wrap the cord back up and hide behind the TV again.