Basically, I’d like to have a dedicated streaming device, instead of dragging out my desktop to hook up to my avr for movie viewing (in most cases, I just deal with compressed audio instead of dragging out my PC), however I’d LOVE it if there was a way to stream uncompressed audio to a chromecast or roku. I’m building a dedicated HTPC soon, that’ll be used almost exclusively for gaming (using launchbox/bigbox as a front end), in my tests, it seems to work fine going from bigbox to plex media player, however I think it would be great to have the HTPC just be a gaming device, and have the (preferably roku) as a dedicated movie/tv streaming device.
I’d like to know this for the Roku as well please - whether it supports HD audio so files can direct play. I’ve got a Chromecast so I will test it out for you later.
Just tested a blu ray rip out - both audio and video is being transcoded but video is playing fine without any stuttering. Only tested for a minute or so though.
Video was set to 8mbps for some reason. Changing to Original caused stuttering.
If you want a box that will play just about anything without transcoding spend a bit more and pickup the nVidia Shield TV. It may cost twice as much but it’s 100 times better if you want to avoid transcoding. 
Will the Roku not direct play everything then? I was after one of those, especially how they have a universal search function, to see if you can see through the likes of Kodi/Plex, etc.
@cayars said:
If you want a box that will play just about anything without transcoding spend a bit more and pickup the nVidia Shield TV. It may cost twice as much but it’s 100 times better if you want to avoid transcoding.
This will do the same for much less money. Albeit through Plex for Kodi…
If you configure it to be similar to the Shield TV it will cost more than a Roku 4 and still not have the same features as the Shield TV has overall. On the other hand if you already have some parts, don’t need wifi, etc they can be much cheap. Plus of course depends on your technical ability.
I’d prefer a device I can get Amazon Video, Netflix, NFL etc on and not be dedicated to only Plex and comes with a remote(s) that just work and don’t require additional addons or special remotes.
ODROID-C2 isn’t going to handle HEVC, 10 bit, VC-1 blue ray rips in direct play as well as a Shield TV will do although it’s close. The beautiful thing about the Shield TV is that it will play just about everything and is very versatile (even runs as Plex Server or DVR).
Carlo
I got a Nvidia Shield and it plays ANYTHING!!
@zerolim1t said:
I got a Nvidia Shield and it plays ANYTHING!!
Is there a Universal Search function on it?
Is Plex for Kodi supported on a Fire Stick, and would it make a difference if the actual Plex App doesn’t play files directly?
Yes there is a universal search sort of (depends where you are in the menus) and you can also use voice as well which is nice. Voice is really nice as you can say “Don Dellaweese” and it knows you meant “Dom DeLuise”
I love this for quickly finding movies without having to scroll through your libraries or when you can’t remember exactly how to spell something like above.
Kodi can only support the normal files the hardware itself supports. So regardless of platform if you are using Plex for Kodi you can’t make the hardware magically support something it doesn’t.
BTW, with a USB3 drive attached the Shield TV makes an excellent secondary server. Say you run a normal server but have additional files you don’t want on shared or available on your primary server. Just set up the server on the Shield TV and you can have a private stash of files not available on your normal server. Use your imagination.
@cayars said:
If you configure it to be similar to the Shield TV it will cost more than a Roku 4 and still not have the same features as the Shield TV has overall. On the other hand if you already have some parts, don’t need wifi, etc they can be much cheap. Plus of course depends on your technical ability.I’d prefer a device I can get Amazon Video, Netflix, NFL etc on and not be dedicated to only Plex and comes with a remote(s) that just work and don’t require additional addons or special remotes.
ODROID-C2 isn’t going to handle HEVC, 10 bit, VC-1 blue ray rips in direct play as well as a Shield TV will do although it’s close. The beautiful thing about the Shield TV is that it will play just about everything and is very versatile (even runs as Plex Server or DVR).
Carlo
I only wish the SHIELD TV had the video quality of a the Odroid C2 with LibreELEC. It’s night and day on a plasma TV. Real shame. Would’ve made it the perfect package for me.
I haven’t found it a problem. Did you adjust the video preferences such as color space, bit depth, refresh rate, etc in the Shield TV settings to best match your TV?
I don’t have a Plasma anymore so I can’t help,
Carlo
@cayars said:
I haven’t found it a problem. Did you adjust the video preferences such as color space, bit depth, refresh rate, etc in the Shield TV settings to best match your TV?I don’t have a Plasma anymore so I can’t help,
Carlo
Yes it was setup correctly. The HDMI video quality simply isn’t as good as the C2 running LibreELEC but that’s to be expected with Linux based OS’s (yes I know android kind of is but they obviously missed a trick).
I’ve borrowed an Nvidia Shield to test out. With a Bluray rip with HD audio, the file direct streams and audio is transcoded using the Plex App, however it direct plays with Plex for Kodi.
There is a Universal Search feature that works, but it doesn’t bring up anything Kodi related which is a bit disappointing.
@CBMFellows said:
I’ve borrowed an Nvidia Shield to test out. With a Bluray rip with HD audio, the file direct streams and audio is transcoded using the Plex App, however it direct plays with Plex for Kodi.There is a Universal Search feature that works, but it doesn’t bring up anything Kodi related which is a bit disappointing.
SHIELD TV direct plays TrueHD and DTS-HD MA with no problem in the Plex for Android TV client. Make sure you are using HDMI, Audio Passthrough in Plex client setting set to Auto, Local Quality at Original.
@danjames92 said:
@CBMFellows said:
I’ve borrowed an Nvidia Shield to test out. With a Bluray rip with HD audio, the file direct streams and audio is transcoded using the Plex App, however it direct plays with Plex for Kodi.There is a Universal Search feature that works, but it doesn’t bring up anything Kodi related which is a bit disappointing.
SHIELD TV direct plays TrueHD and DTS-HD MA with no problem in the Plex for Android TV client. Make sure you are using HDMI, Audio Passthrough in Plex client setting set to Auto, Local Quality at Original.
I think they were. I wasn’t using it through a receiver though, just plugged into a TV. Would that have changed anything?
@CBMFellows said:
@danjames92 said:
@CBMFellows said:
I’ve borrowed an Nvidia Shield to test out. With a Bluray rip with HD audio, the file direct streams and audio is transcoded using the Plex App, however it direct plays with Plex for Kodi.There is a Universal Search feature that works, but it doesn’t bring up anything Kodi related which is a bit disappointing.
SHIELD TV direct plays TrueHD and DTS-HD MA with no problem in the Plex for Android TV client. Make sure you are using HDMI, Audio Passthrough in Plex client setting set to Auto, Local Quality at Original.
I think they were. I wasn’t using it through a receiver though, just plugged into a TV. Would that have changed anything?
Yes that would have made a massive difference. TV’s can’t pass DTS-HD MA or TrueHD, most don’t even pass DTS.
@danjames92 said:
@CBMFellows said:
@danjames92 said:
@CBMFellows said:
I’ve borrowed an Nvidia Shield to test out. With a Bluray rip with HD audio, the file direct streams and audio is transcoded using the Plex App, however it direct plays with Plex for Kodi.There is a Universal Search feature that works, but it doesn’t bring up anything Kodi related which is a bit disappointing.
SHIELD TV direct plays TrueHD and DTS-HD MA with no problem in the Plex for Android TV client. Make sure you are using HDMI, Audio Passthrough in Plex client setting set to Auto, Local Quality at Original.
I think they were. I wasn’t using it through a receiver though, just plugged into a TV. Would that have changed anything?
Yes that would have made a massive difference. TV’s can’t pass DTS-HD MA or TrueHD, most don’t even pass DTS.
Cheers. Will test again with a receiver another time.
Also how about Amazon Video? I couldn’t get 1080p to show earlier, just the HD sign.
@CBMFellows said:
@danjames92 said:
@CBMFellows said:
@danjames92 said:
@CBMFellows said:
I’ve borrowed an Nvidia Shield to test out. With a Bluray rip with HD audio, the file direct streams and audio is transcoded using the Plex App, however it direct plays with Plex for Kodi.There is a Universal Search feature that works, but it doesn’t bring up anything Kodi related which is a bit disappointing.
SHIELD TV direct plays TrueHD and DTS-HD MA with no problem in the Plex for Android TV client. Make sure you are using HDMI, Audio Passthrough in Plex client setting set to Auto, Local Quality at Original.
I think they were. I wasn’t using it through a receiver though, just plugged into a TV. Would that have changed anything?
Yes that would have made a massive difference. TV’s can’t pass DTS-HD MA or TrueHD, most don’t even pass DTS.
Cheers. Will test again with a receiver another time.
Also how about Amazon Video? I couldn’t get 1080p to show earlier, just the HD sign.
What about Amazon Video? It’ll display 1080p HD no problem provided the file they have has it. Also supports 5.1 in the form of EAC3 at a low bitrate if the file has it.
