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Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by Beoz
(Post 11761223)
I had that setup once. It was all a bit of a faff. Turn on this device, turn on that, ooops battery runs out on wireless mouse, nowhere to put keyboard / mouse when sitting on sofa. If you haven't got the smarts in the TV then best off going for a device. I'm on the Chromecast. Can't say I've found a great deal of use for it but it does do away with the mini tower, wireless keyboard mouse faff and its perfectly good for streaming content from the main players and casting from the phone. If you have downloaded video it does a good job of playing that from a PC too.
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Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by paulry
(Post 11761134)
My experience is all these poxy STBs, etc are useless and a waste of money. Get yourself a decent mini/nettop PC, wireless mouse and keyboard and hook them up to your telly. That way you can stream pretty much anything you want.
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Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by Amazulu
(Post 11761254)
I have a W8.1 HTPC that is the size of a 2.5" portable HDD
I like my HTPC setup as well - I have an Intel NUC i5, which is very small. It's dual booting Windows 7 and Linux Mint 17.2, and has been great for watching content from the media server, streaming as well as for playing games on the Big TV, which is a key use case for me - Though my GF is sick to death of watching me play Homeworld 2... S |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by Swerv-o
(Post 11761258)
I like my HTPC setup as well - I have an Intel NUC i5, which is very small. It's dual booting Windows 7 and Linux Mint 17.2, and has been great for watching content from the media server, streaming as well as for playing games on the Big TV, which is a key use case for me - Though my GF is sick to death of watching me play Homeworld 2... S
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Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by Amazulu
(Post 11761266)
The NUCs are great. I've got this:Ainol Mini PC Windows 8.1 64 bit Intel Z3735F 7000mAh Bluetooth 4.0 32GB TV Box Black I see the price is now $80 - that's cheap
Yeah, that is cheap. I doubt you could get a copy of Win8 for that alone - obviously heavily subsidised by the OEM costs, but great for you. S |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by Amazulu
(Post 11761256)
Small box streamers can be okay if you have limited requirements but none of them have the overall flexibility of a decent HTPC - especially if you are running it with kodi or Plex. The new Amazon Fire TV is out (the original was the best overall small box streaming solution IMO) offering more features including a faster processor, 4k streaming and more, upgradeable storage. Better than Roku, which was a great solution until they decided to hard-coded the DNS - which kind of killed it for me. The Fire TV stick is good too
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Re: Streaming video - my experience
More details on the, soon to be launched, Roku 4 have come to light. Seems as if games is a thing, along with voice search, etc. and a big jump in CPU/memory:
https://regmedia.co.uk/2015/09/30/roku-specs-reg.jpg More at Roku 4 specs leak: Yes, it's got 4K streaming and a games controller • The Register No word on x265 or VP9, which would kind of be smart moves if 4K streamed content is going to be a thing. |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
More info on the Roku 4 dropped. 4K at 60fps, new OS, 802.11ac and it has it as including HEVC and VP9, all for US$129.99
The new Roku does 4K and finds the remote for you Roku's New Box Will Stream 4K and Find Your Remote | WIRED |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by GarryP
(Post 11765799)
More info on the Roku 4 dropped. 4K at 60fps, new OS, 802.11ac and it has it as including HEVC and VP9, all for US$129.99
The new Roku does 4K and finds the remote for you Roku's New Box Will Stream 4K and Find Your Remote | WIRED |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by Beoz
(Post 11765816)
Hmmm I wonder what the 4k content is like?
The 4K at 60fps with HEVC is probably going to be the baseline for the future though, the only real question is if DRM will spoil the show. |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
I don't quite see 4K being a necessity or even needed for a few more years. For the time being I would definitely choose an Apple TV box if Netflix was the main source of streamed content.
Seems like the best solution given you can manually toggle between 50 and 60Hz modes and by paying for Netflix via an iTunes account you can easily save 20%. And if you're a privacy buff then Netflix never gets any of your personal data. |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by astera
(Post 11766052)
I don't quite see 4K being a necessity or even needed for a few more years. For the time being I would definitely choose an Apple TV box if Netflix was the main source of streamed content.
Seems like the best solution given you can manually toggle between 50 and 60Hz modes and by paying for Netflix via an iTunes account you can easily save 20%. And if you're a privacy buff then Netflix never gets any of your personal data. |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by astera
(Post 11766052)
I don't quite see 4K being a necessity or even needed for a few more years. For the time being I would definitely choose an Apple TV box if Netflix was the main source of streamed content.
The apple revised attempt seems fairly pointless, not being 4K is daft and trying to play in the games market just makes it look weak against the likes of the PS4/Xbone. If they had kept the price down it might have made some sense as another revision, but in the 1080p marketplace the chromecast makes a lot more sense for most people. |
Re: Streaming video - my experience
A nice run through of how broadcasters aren't getting how they are now on internet time.
4K catches fire with OTT streamers, while broadcasters burn • The Register “The road from SD to HD took about 25 years,†he said. “Fortunately, with HD there wasn’t anything for the consumer to buy, which means we sorted the problems out before they even got to see it. This time we’re doing our dirty laundry in public. Unfortunately, that takes time.†|
Re: Streaming video - my experience
Originally Posted by GarryP
(Post 11766455)
I'd agree that 4K really isn't necessary. However, it IS what the shops are selling a lot now, and you can see how getting a movie in the same resolution it's created in gets you to that 'end point' - particularly if you can display HFR as well (good for sport).
The apple revised attempt seems fairly pointless, not being 4K is daft and trying to play in the games market just makes it look weak against the likes of the PS4/Xbone. If they had kept the price down it might have made some sense as another revision, but in the 1080p marketplace the chromecast makes a lot more sense for most people. I do realise that this is what's being sold now. But I still think it's a case of technological overkill given the lack of content. Fair enough, if someone is buying a new TV anyway (old one kicked the bucket) then they might as well pick up a 4K telly. But if someone has a good TV already with Full HD then I think there is ZERO reason to upgrade at this point in time. |
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