VLC just doesn't hold a candle to the file format support or subtitle support that MX Player Pro has on Android hopefully it will one day.

This is how I do it, not the most convenient to set up, but it works great once it is. Then after restarting MX Player Pro, you'll be ready to go. Point it to the zip file you copied to your TV. Then open MX Player Pro, go to Settings -> Decoder -> Custom codec. Download the codec pack zip file (from the Google Drive link), copy it to your TV. You can find that on the xda Developer website. If you install MX Player Pro, you'll need to install a custom codec pack to get better AC3 and DTS audio support. This version works great on Android TV and can be used with a remote control just fine. The reason for not ever updating it is because the newer versions are full of bloatware. Here's a link to the modified version I use that doesn't sync with Google Play and won't ever update: It navigates network file shares perfectly. The file browser I use is a really old version of ES File Explorer. My NAS is already doing enough as it is, I didn't want a media server on it as well, which is why I take this approach.

You can use media servers like Plex, but I just use a file browser to browse my NAS shares on my LAN, then open the video in MX Player Pro, which supports everything and has fantastic subtitle support. My setup is similar to what you're trying to do. Subs need to be in UTF-8, being that Android is Linux-based.

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