A media playback processing and control method, apparatus, and system are provided. The processing method includes: receiving, by a central server, a query request of a control device, and returning a query response to the control device according to a resource information table; receiving a resource request of a selected display device selected by the control device; and querying the resource information table, determining that a selected media resource corresponding to information about a selected storage path is stored on a first media server (MS), and determining a second MS with a conversion capability to convert a media format of the selected media resource into a media format supported by a playback capability of the selected display device, so as to enable the selected display device to play a media resource converted by the second MS from the selected media resource.