Just got today’s Kickstarter update, which mentioned two exciting things:
Gizmoplex Beta Testing sign up starts today! I signed up immediatly, really hoping I get picked as I’d love to be a part of the process.
Digital rewards codes are going out starting today, so anyone who purchased episode packs during the kickstarter will have access to them soon via VHX (for now) and the Gizmoplex (when that’s live).
I was excited about being able to watch some of the episodes I purchased over the holidays, so I started looking into getting VHX set up on my Nvidia shield TV (an Android TV box) so I could log in there and easily access and stream those videos once I activate my codes.
That’s when I learned that… you can’t do that. There is no VHX app (there was, but the axed it), so you have to watch your purchased content on a computer, which is… ridiculous. Their official solution to this problem is to use Chromecast to mirror your entire screen to your smart TV/Chromecast/Apple TV, which is a horrible solution that always results in frame drops and low quality video in general. I could plug in a laptop to my TV directly, but that’s also a less than ideal solution for a number of reasons.
So here’s my question - has anyone who has purchased MST3K episodes via VHX figured out a good way to watch those episodes on your TV? I’m afraid those episodes will probably just sit there until the Gizmoplex launches and I have a better way to stream them directly to my Android TV otherwise.
Also, MST3K overlords, pls pick me to be a beta tester for the Gizmoplex
That seems like the best option for the time being, but that’s so… absurd. How can a product (VHX/Vimeo) whose primary reason for existing is letting people buy and watch videos from content creators not provide a halfway decent way to watch those videos on anything other than a computer? That’s like a hat company that will sell you a hat that doesn’t fit on almost anyone’s head.
One more reason to look forward to the Gizmoplex, I suppose!
Oh yeah if I can download purchases from VHX I can toss them on Plex. Kind of a silly amount of work to have to do after buying something on a literal streaming platform, but oh well! Again, once the Gizmoplex opens and has an Android TV app it’ll be all gravy.
My plan is to download the episodes to my PLEX server and watch that way. I don’t get why so many of these sites think people will only be watching content on tiny phone screens.
I have a Chromecast as well, which is what I assume I will need to watch episodes on the home theater setup we have.
From what I read on VHX’s support page, the only way to use Chromecast for VHX is to literally mirror your entire screen. It doesn’t have proper chromecast support like YouTube, Netflix, etc., which means a significantly worse user experience. Much better off going HDMI/DisplayPort from your computer into the TV, even though that kind of sucks too.
We’re talking about VHX content the digital platform MST3K uses. Apologies if you were making a joke and I just ruined it though.
@LadyShelley From my understanding The Gizmoplex will have proper apps for things like Android TV (or Google TV or whatever they’re calling it these days), so as long as your Chromecast is a newer one that supports downloading apps you should be good, even if the Gizmoplex doesn’t support proper Chromecasting (although I hope it does as well. It’s handy.).
There was a VHX app for Apple TV at one point—I still have it installed and can access my MST3K content from a previous KS campaign there—but it doesn’t exist in the app store anymore.
I downloaded the VHX episodes to a flash drive and have it plugged into a Roku. Is that an option with the Shield for a couple of months until the Gizmoplex app launches?
Start yourself off by getting a snazzy NAS (Network Area Storage) device. I used to have a Buffalo LinkStation, swear by the Synology DiskStation now, but there are loads of choices.
