I have attached an image of my media formats currently, and I will mention most of my re-rips and new additions are swinging into the mkv/h264/dca format, so that is growing the most. I was wondering what people would recommend for me. I currently use an Apple TV (new model), but I am getting sick of transcoding everything. I also have the option to use my Vizio P casting, however I like a UI on the TV. It doesn’t need to do everything, but I don’t want a dedicated machine because I need easy access to youtube/hbo go etc etc.
My current options are:
Fire TV (1st gen)
Vizio P Cast (Google Cast)
Apple TV (4th gen)
XBox One
Of those 4, what would give me the best “transcode free” experience?
With other stuff on the market would anyone recommend something else? Fire TV 2, Roku 4 or Shield?
My NAS can handle a few transcodes without issue, but I would prefer my local viewing isn’t transcoded, or at least is transcoded the least. As I move more and more of my media to 1080P I just want to make sure I have the best viewing experience I can while still having a device that does other things (I have a Pi 2, I have used a laptop but I just want a media streamer on the TV though, not a full PC).
Best thing to do is use Plex optimization. It will take whatever files and transcode them to a specific type that will direct play to given items like tv , phones , consoles etc. It will make a folder in the same directory as the show.
I have attached an image of my media formats currently, and I will mention most of my re-rips and new additions are swinging into the mkv/h264/dca format, so that is growing the most. I was wondering what people would recommend for me. I currently use an Apple TV (new model), but I am getting sick of transcoding everything. I also have the option to use my Vizio P casting, however I like a UI on the TV. It doesn’t need to do everything, but I don’t want a dedicated machine because I need easy access to youtube/hbo go etc etc.
My current options are:
Fire TV (1st gen)
Vizio P Cast (Google Cast)
Apple TV (4th gen)
XBox One
Of those 4, what would give me the best “transcode free” experience?
With other stuff on the market would anyone recommend something else? Fire TV 2, Roku 4 or Shield?
My NAS can handle a few transcodes without issue, but I would prefer my local viewing isn’t transcoded, or at least is transcoded the least. As I move more and more of my media to 1080P I just want to make sure I have the best viewing experience I can while still having a device that does other things (I have a Pi 2, I have used a laptop but I just want a media streamer on the TV though, not a full PC).
I would argue none of them are the best option. They are arguably the weakest clients in terms of supporting various codecs. SHIELD TV is pretty good if you want refresh rate switching / HD audio (see my thread called plex deficiencies if you want an idea of weaknesses). SHIELD TV has easy access to YouTube. HBO Go would depend on location I think.
@Kwisatz H. said:
Best thing to do is use Plex optimization. It will take whatever files and transcode them to a specific type that will direct play to given items like tv , phones , consoles etc. It will make a folder in the same directory as the show.
Not an option. I don’t want to delete my original source and I don’t have the storage to convert 10TB of films and have a second copy.
I have attached an image of my media formats currently, and I will mention most of my re-rips and new additions are swinging into the mkv/h264/dca format, so that is growing the most. I was wondering what people would recommend for me. I currently use an Apple TV (new model), but I am getting sick of transcoding everything. I also have the option to use my Vizio P casting, however I like a UI on the TV. It doesn’t need to do everything, but I don’t want a dedicated machine because I need easy access to youtube/hbo go etc etc.
My current options are:
Fire TV (1st gen)
Vizio P Cast (Google Cast)
Apple TV (4th gen)
XBox One
Of those 4, what would give me the best “transcode free” experience?
With other stuff on the market would anyone recommend something else? Fire TV 2, Roku 4 or Shield?
My NAS can handle a few transcodes without issue, but I would prefer my local viewing isn’t transcoded, or at least is transcoded the least. As I move more and more of my media to 1080P I just want to make sure I have the best viewing experience I can while still having a device that does other things (I have a Pi 2, I have used a laptop but I just want a media streamer on the TV though, not a full PC).
I would argue none of them are the best option. They are arguably the weakest clients in terms of supporting various codecs. SHIELD TV is pretty good if you want refresh rate switching / HD audio (see my thread called plex deficiencies if you want an idea of weaknesses). SHIELD TV has easy access to YouTube. HBO Go would depend on location I think.
So would the SHIELD TV handle most of the heavier hitter formats from my list? This has been my thought, the main reason I haven’t purchased it yet was because I was hoping they did a refresh this year and I didn’t want to buy old hardware, but it looks like they aren’t doing that.
So would the SHIELD TV handle most of the heavier hitter formats from my list? This has been my thought, the main reason I haven’t purchased it yet was because I was hoping they did a refresh this year and I didn’t want to buy old hardware, but it looks like they aren’t doing that.
There will have to be some compromise but it does HEVC which is a big plus for a mobile device. VC-1 only direct plays with a compatible audio stream, if an incompatble audio stream is found (i.e. LPCM 24bit) it will transcode. Hopefully this will change in the future. Check my thread for the current isssues, it’s by far the best Android based box out right now and seems to be finally improving after months of neglect. The only thing that I know will play all of them for sure is a NUC / PC running Windows. I use a 2012 Mac Mini (added extra SSD for speed) for this exact reason alongside my SHIELD TV as it was the only quiet PC I had in my possession.
So would the SHIELD TV handle most of the heavier hitter formats from my list? This has been my thought, the main reason I haven’t purchased it yet was because I was hoping they did a refresh this year and I didn’t want to buy old hardware, but it looks like they aren’t doing that.
There will have to be some compromise but it does HEVC which is a big plus for a mobile device. VC-1 only direct plays with a compatible audio stream, if an incompatble audio stream is found (i.e. LPCM 24bit) it will transcode. Hopefully this will change in the future. Check my thread for the current isssues, it’s by far the best Android based box out right now and seems to be finally improving after months of neglect. The only thing that I know will play all of them for sure is a NUC / PC running Windows. I use a 2012 Mac Mini (added extra SSD for speed) for this exact reason alongside my SHIELD TV as it was the only quiet PC I had in my possession.
Not necessarily an answer, but ragarding:
mp4 | h264 | dca
Technically, that is out of spec for MP4 format. MP4, by spec, cannot have better than AC3. Some clients might play the file as is, but many will require transcoding of the audio.
@drinehart said:
Not necessarily an answer, but ragarding:
mp4 | h264 | dca
Technically, that is out of spec for MP4 format. MP4, by spec, cannot have better than AC3. Some clients might play the file as is, but many will require transcoding of the audio.
I’ve had no issues with H.264 / AAC / DTS on my SHIELD TV just for reference.
So would the SHIELD TV handle most of the heavier hitter formats from my list? This has been my thought, the main reason I haven’t purchased it yet was because I was hoping they did a refresh this year and I didn’t want to buy old hardware, but it looks like they aren’t doing that.
There will have to be some compromise but it does HEVC which is a big plus for a mobile device. VC-1 only direct plays with a compatible audio stream, if an incompatble audio stream is found (i.e. LPCM 24bit) it will transcode. Hopefully this will change in the future. Check my thread for the current isssues, it’s by far the best Android based box out right now and seems to be finally improving after months of neglect. The only thing that I know will play all of them for sure is a NUC / PC running Windows. I use a 2012 Mac Mini (added extra SSD for speed) for this exact reason alongside my SHIELD TV as it was the only quiet PC I had in my possession.
The latest formatting, still holding out on the Shield, I think when I initially posted it there were rumors of a new shield coming, and those rumors are starting to heat up some. Wondering how the Mi Box is as well and if Amazon will be announcing a new Fire TV.
The Shield is probably the final answer, especially with how much transcoding the Apple TV has to do, its frustrating for sure.
