I have a couple of TVs that I use HTPC appliances with. One’s a shield TV and the other’s a roku. I’m not super happy with either of them. The shield lags like crazy and apps crash constantly. The Roku is stable, but can’t decode h265 or av1. Both at riddled with ads. Does anyone have a solution they’re happy with? I mostly watch content from major streaming services and stream media from my NAS. I have a raspberry pi 4 that’s not in use right now, I tried to get it working as a set top box, but couldn’t get DRM content to work so I went back to the shield.

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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    36 minutes ago

    My old desktop, a Ryzen 3600/GTX-1080 mini-ITX build. After using a Pi 4 with Kodi for awhile it’s nice to have a media machine that can run Crysis.

  • Uninvited Guest@lemmy.ca
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    3 hours ago

    I use a Radxa Rock 5B running an Android TV ROM. Sits in a 3D printed case and has a silent little Noctua fan keeping it cool. Could be better - the ROM has a little jank to it - but it has taken everything I’ve thrown at it so far.

  • Uninvited Guest@lemmy.ca
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    3 hours ago

    I use a Radxa Rock 5B running an Android TV ROM. Sits in a 3D printed case and has a silent little Noctua fan keeping it cool. Could be better - the ROM has a little jank to it - but it has taken everything I’ve thrown at it so far.

  • superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    4 hours ago

    I use a Beelink with an N100. Runs PopOs. I use Plex HTPC on it. Hardware decoding isnt working at the moment but it plays everything fine except HDR content so I’m avoiding that at the moment. Pass through audio work perfectly. I also stream sports on it, play mini games and roms with my kids using Lutris, and Moonlight for the more demanding games.

    I used to use Kodi/LibreElec on it but that was such a miserable experience. Constant crashing and (3 or 4 times per day) inconsistent glitchy audio passthrough. The plex integration does mostly work but would also occasionally crash resulting in my stuff not syncing back to the server for days. Playback worked perfectly though.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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      2 hours ago

      Actually some browsers also have issues with 4k and certain codecs. IIRC Edge is (or was) the most compatible surprisingly.

  • greyfox@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    The biggest question is, are you looking for Dolby Vision support?

    There is no open source implementation for Dolby Vision or HDR10+ so if you want to use those formats you are limited to Android/Apple/Amazon streaming boxes.

    If you want to avoid the ads from those devices apart from side loading apks to replace home screens or something the only way to get Dolby Vision with Kodi/standard Linux is to buy a CoreELEC supported streaming device and flashing it with CoreELEC.

    List of supported devices here

    CoreELEC is Kodi based so it limits your player choice, but there are plugins for Plex/Jellyfin if you want to pull from those as back ends.

    Personally it is a lot easier to just grab the latest gen Onn 4k Pro from Walmart for $50 and deal with the Google TV ads (never leave my streaming app anyways). Only downside with the Onn is lack of Dolby TrueHD/DTS Master audio output, but it handles AV1, and more Dolby Vision profiles than the Shield does at a much cheaper price. It also handles HDR10+ which the Shield doesn’t but that for at isn’t nearly as common and many of the big TV brands don’t support it anyways.

  • _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    7 hours ago

    An old Dell workstation that I stole from a corporate job I used to work. I stole a few of them, actually, and used the parts from the others to upgrade one of them. For a computer that would probably not be able to run Minecraft, I now have a headless home server that uses the Servarr suite to fetch and stream media from Usenet to all the devices on my network. It works so well, I have it running an Audiobookshelf server as well, loaded up with books I get from MAM.

    • jecht360@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Used workstations are great for home theater purposes. I’ve got a Dell SFF on one TV and a Lenovo 1L machine on another.

  • ffhein@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    Intel NUC running Linux. Not the cheapest solution but can play anything and I have full control over it. At first I tried to find some kind of programmable remote but now we have a wireless keyboard with built-in touchpad.

    Biggest downside is that the hardware quality is kind of questionable and the first two broke after 3 years + a few months, so we’re on our third now.

    • shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit@sh.itjust.works
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      5 hours ago

      I was tempted by these n100 mini PCs, but worried about the no-name components. I saw many people on reddit/lemmy recommending Dell, Lenovo, HP micro form factor PCs. You can pick them up used from eBay as companies clear out “old” computers. The advantage of the known brands is ongoing firmware support.

  • robolemmy@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    I’m using a Shield TV Pro with the default launcher disabled, replaced with FLauncher, and the netflix and voice search buttons disabled via button mapper.

    I’m 1000% happy with it and absolutely would not go back to an actual HTPC.

    Oh, I also uninstalled youtube and replaced it with SmartTube Beta

    • xodoh74984@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Is there any way to fling YouTube videos to SmartTube from a smartphone?

      That’s the one thing locking me into Kodi.

      • pirat@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Yes, you can cast from the official YouTube app (or Revanced). You need to generate a code for connection in the SmartTube settings, then connect your phone through the cast menu. The option in the cast menu on the phone is called something like “Connect with code” IIRC.

      • robolemmy@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Not that I’ve been able to find. I rarely notice but when I do it’s quite frustrating.

  • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Apple TV is rad, because you can pair it with a controller, and use the Steam link app to play on your computer from another room.

    No need to have the computer near the tv for couch gaming. No need to listen to the pc fans screaming.

  • bobsuruncle@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    I use an appletv. I have the version with a Ethernet port. It plays everything I’ve thrown at it so far and don’t have to endure commercials. The downside is you have to create an Apple account to install apps on it and not all apps are available. It’s also expensive.

  • AMillionMonkeys@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 (can’t remember which) controlled through the TV with the remote. It’s running LibreElec (Kodi) with the Jellyfin plugin. Discoverability isn’t great through Kodi, but I can always use a computer or phone to find the media and cast if I need to.