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My goal is to have a dedicated PC to be used "like" a DVD player for my TV.

I hope to put my DVDs on a hard drive and attach the PC to my smart TV. Then "remotely" select video from the hard drive and cause it to play on the TV.

I have no idea exactly what the ultimate configuration should be.
I'm assuming I'd want to connect the PC to the TV with an HDMI cable. But after that I'm not sure what else I would need.

Has anyone done this and could give me some insights/tips?
Thanks.

Many people do this, the HTPC = "Home Theater Computer" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Htpc).

The task is much simplified if you are interested in only locally stored files: you don't have to worry about a tuner or recording capability.

Kodi is a popular free system that will catalog and playback your collection. I have that for browsing, but often just use "vlc" and browse various folder arrangements.

The hard part about a HTPC is making it quiet enough to not be annoying while watching TV. As such, lots of people use something like Plex (or Kodi or Emby or Jellyfin or Infuse, etc.) running on a computer in a closet, basement, or anywhere out of the way and connected to your local network. That server holds all your files and serves them up to whatever clients you'd like on your local network. Plex has an app for just about every streaming box (Apple TV, Firestick, Roku, Nvidia Shield), most modern smart TVs, and iOS & Android devices that lets you connect to your server and watch whatever is on it.

A setup like this lets two people watch two different things on two TVs at the same time while a third person watches something on an iPad for example.