Ah thanks for your help It’s what I feared. I wanted to avoid any further remotes, or pinning myself to one format/supplier if the Apple tv only works with Apple products.
I have the HDMI to screen adaptor but needs to run the laptop behind the tv and requires setting up and moving.
I do see why people download this stuff, if you pay your money it’s yours. My dvd collection was made by many companies but i don’t need a DVD player for each individual disc.