Replacing Gaming PC with a Media Player for 4K Playback

Sparky · 16 Nov 2023 at 10:37

Hi

I currently use my gaming PC [ 3900xt,32GB Ram, 3060Ti ] to play 4k Movies through my Denon x6400. I want to replace the PC with a media player , something like a Nvidia Shield TV Pro 4k.
I run 3 external USB caddies with the 4k movies on so whatever I go for needs USB ports.

Other than the Nvidia is there anything else you can recommend for 4K ?

lucid · 17 Nov 2023 at 00:22

If you can afford the Shield Pro then just get it. Anything else involves some compromise.

hornetstinger · 17 Nov 2023 at 10:29

Android Amlogic TV box, with Coreelec installed. About £35-£60. Bundled IR remotes are crap, so would recommend a wireless keyboard/trackpad for additional control, and also using phone Kore app.

Sparky · 17 Nov 2023 at 19:45

I am leaning towards the Shield as it does seem better suited out of the box but will look at things like the Amlogic.

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2023 at 12:25

Sparky said:
I am leaning towards the Shield as it does seem better suited out of the box but will look at things like the Amlogic.

Shield looks decent, for that price I expect it should. I do prefer kodi when it's just kodi, with the shield it would be Kodi ontop of Android OS.

Considering you only need 2GB RAM Amlogic for kodi, I think they're like £35 or so, affordable video players. I think my other Kodi box Amlogic 912? chipset might struggle with 4K, it lacks HDR etc, but for upto 1080p it's still a great unit.

Sparky · 18 Nov 2023 at 18:39

4k is a must as well as dolby vision so some of the android boxes might struggle.

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2023 at 18:47

Sparky said:
4k is a must as well as dolby vision so some of the android boxes might struggle.

No issue with mine. I'll try playing 4k hdr video

Firestar_3x · 18 Nov 2023 at 20:49

Sparky said:
4k is a must as well as dolby vision so some of the android boxes might struggle.

Just buy a Shield, its a quality product, ignore all the other cut price might have chinese spyware rubbish.

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2023 at 20:57

Firestar_3x said:
Just buy a Shield, its a quality product, ignore all the other cut price might have chinese spyware rubbish.

Not if you install coreelec

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2023 at 21:29

Ok loaded up 3840x2160 HDR10 H265 HEVC DTS HD .

CPU usage averages around 35%-40%, peaks to 57%. Quad core 905x3

Sparky · 18 Nov 2023 at 21:57

hornetstinger said:
Ok loaded up 3840x2160 HDR10 H265 HEVC DTS HD .

CPU usage averages around 35%-40%, peaks to 57%. Quad core 905x3

Audio ok as i'm outputting to 5.2.4 currently but soon to be 7.2.4?

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2023 at 22:01

yup. It passes DTS MA, Atmos, DTS X.

Just select bitstrea/passthrough option, and select what your AVR decodes.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Only one it can't do (it's issue with AVR not Kodi) is AAC, if you have multi channel AAC it'll just output PCM. No AVR can accept AAC, so I don't know it's used.

hornetstinger · 18 Nov 2023 at 22:15

Ok it does framerate switching.

SHIELD TV | Match Frame Rate

Shield TV Match Frame Rate

www.nvidia.com

Pretty crap you have to do it in every video? Unless they've done it by now.

Sparky · 21 Nov 2023 at 19:52

Thanks for the replies, opted for the Shield TV Pro 4k

R4z0r · 24 Nov 2023 at 16:38

I use an Apple TV and Infuse.

Kouba · 6 Dec 2023 at 14:19

Sparky said:
Thanks for the replies, opted for the Shield TV Pro 4k

How're you finding the Shield TV mate? I've been considering getting one recently (price had dropped to around 159 during black friday) but some people were complaining about a recent update where nvidia introduced adverts? is this the case? and also - are you finding the UX/UI/general usage to be quite clunky or silky smooth?

Bubo · 7 Dec 2023 at 08:38

If anyone is looking for a relatively cheap 4k player which supports HEVC/H265 then I can vouch for the Sumvision Cyclone 2+ 4k UHD device, about £45. It doesn't do HDR mind, but will play 4k HEVC mkv files just fine and supports 5.1 sound.

hornetstinger · 7 Dec 2023 at 09:10

Bubo said:
If anyone is looking for a relatively cheap 4k player which supports HEVC/H265 then I can vouch for the Sumvision Cyclone 2+ 4k UHD device, about £45. It doesn't do HDR mind, but will play 4k HEVC mkv files just fine and supports 5.1 sound.

I had the first version that was ok. Once newer codecs came along it stopped playing those.

Plus own firmware so wasn't supported like kodi

Simmz · 7 Dec 2023 at 09:32

Zidoo Z9X if don't need streaming apps.

melmac · 7 Dec 2023 at 12:19

Kouba said:
How're you finding the Shield TV mate? I've been considering getting one recently (price had dropped to around 159 during black friday) but some people were complaining about a recent update where nvidia introduced adverts? is this the case? and also - are you finding the UX/UI/general usage to be quite clunky or silky smooth?

I have one and use it all the time. Play all my media through it and us it for my streaming services like Disney+ and Apple. I find it excellent. Don't have any problems with the UI.

The adverts don't bother me either. I turn it on, start the app I am going to use and watch. I don't sit staring at the launcher screen. Besides the Ads aren't that intrusive, they aren't like YouTube ads. It's not like they are advertising washing machines or home insurance or whatever.