Taking the plunge to 4K getting ready to purchase an OLED tv and upgraded plex client for the TV. My plex/file server is an i5-8700k what is considered the best plex client for direct playing HEVC/10bit HDR content? Without any audio or video transcoding?
dedicated HTPC
Roku Ultra
Nvidia Shield
Apple 4K
Others?
In my opinion, a dedicated HTPC and a very good HDMI cable. 
However, you should check and make sure your PMS is able to do the job as well.
What specs would you recommend on the HTPC…
At minimum:
i5-2500 or better, nividia GT740 or better, 6GB RAM at least
maybe a Mcable HDMI cord too. (marseilleinc.com/mcable-cinema-edition/)
While everyone is saying HTPC (e.g. NUC with PMP) I prefer the ATV 4K.
Roku fan myself…
Encode your 4K as mp4 / h265 / ac3 with bit rates around 15 - 19 mbps.
That will allow your 4K to direct play, greatly reducing the CPU power needed…
I do want full atmos as I have a 5.2.4 atmos set up…
If you want full Atmos support, I believe your options are going to be PC or nVidia Shield.
@photocopy
I believe you are correct…
@photocopy said:
If you want full Atmos support, I believe your options are going to be PC or nVidia Shield.
Thanks, My current older HTPC is running an i5-2320 and a Nvidia GTX760 8 gig ram that will need to be upgraded
If I go with a new 8th gen i3 or i5 would I still need to get an add on video card?
760 is good enough to me.
I vote nVidia Shield!
My Shield TV works great. It has the best audio codec support around. Every Dolby & dts audio stream direct plays, including Atmos & dts:x. The one video limitation I’ve found is that it is HDR10 only. It will not play Dolby Vision or HLG HDR videos. That is a Shield, not Plex, limitation.
You don’t need a $100+ HDMI cable. I paid $10 US for two on Amazon and they work great. 4K all day long w/ no issues. The 5+ year old cable worked great too, just too short. I let the Shield & the TV do any necessary upconversion.
Shield TV <–> Denon 4300H <–> LG OLED55B7
I just abandoned my HTPC for a Shield.
The HTPC has too many hoops to jump thru to get HDR working…PMP won’t do HDR yet.
The Shield running Plex for Kodi, I can happily playback 80GB 4K HDR mkv remuxes.
With your reciever its job done.
How does the shield handle upscaling… I have noticed threads committing about issues with it. Considering getting one just to try it.
@FordGuy61 said:
My Shield TV works great. It has the best audio codec support around. Every Dolby & dts audio stream direct plays, including Atmos & dts:x. The one video limitation I’ve found is that it is HDR10 only. It will not play Dolby Vision or HLG HDR videos. That is a Shield, not Plex, limitation.You don’t need a $100+ HDMI cable. I paid $10 US for two on Amazon and they work great. 4K all day long w/ no issues. The 5+ year old cable worked great too, just too short. I let the Shield & the TV do any necessary upconversion.
Shield TV ↔ Denon 4300H ↔ LG OLED55B7
This setup would be very close to mine except the tv will be a C8 which that does not matter… Hows the non 4k media on the shield? IE directtv now or playstation vue?
PS Vue looks great. I’ll occasionally switch between antenna & PS Vue during a live broadcast to compare the two. They are very close to each other. OTA broadcast has a bit richer color, but not much, probably due to PS Vue compression. Same for Sling TV (LG had a 3 month free Sling promo when I bought my TV). PS Vue streams 2.0 audio. I’m not aware of any competing streaming service - DirectTV, Sling, etc - that streams 5.1 audio.
Watching DVD & Blu-ray rips via Plex look great too (Rec 709 color space). I don’t have much Rec 2020 material, just some demo clips, so I leave the Shield set to Rec 709/4:2:0/60Hz. If I leave the color space at Rec 2020, then Rec 709 colors are washed out a bit. It doesn’t look horrible, just like somebody turned down the color gain a notch.
Shield does not auto switch between Rec 709 & 2020 based on material. You have to switch manually in Shield settings. It does sync the frame rate w/ source material (Plex setting), so 24fps movies play at 24fps, 30fps video plays at 30fps, etc.
I’m very happy with the Shield. I started w/ a AFTV gen 1 stick, then the AFTV gen 2 box, then the Shield. Hard to argue w/ Amazon’s pricing, but they don’t have the capabilities of the Shield either.
@FordGuy61 said:
PS Vue looks great. I’ll occasionally switch between antenna & PS Vue during a live broadcast to compare the two. They are very close to each other. OTA broadcast has a bit richer color, but not much, probably due to PS Vue compression. Same for Sling TV (LG had a 3 month free Sling promo when I bought my TV). PS Vue streams 2.0 audio. I’m not aware of any competing streaming service - DirectTV, Sling, etc - that streams 5.1 audio.Watching DVD & Blu-ray rips via Plex look great too (Rec 709 color space). I don’t have much Rec 2020 material, just some demo clips, so I leave the Shield set to Rec 709/4:2:0/60Hz. If I leave the color space at Rec 2020, then Rec 709 colors are washed out a bit. It doesn’t look horrible, just like somebody turned down the color gain a notch.
Shield does not auto switch between Rec 709 & 2020 based on material. You have to switch manually in Shield settings. It does sync the frame rate w/ source material (Plex setting), so 24fps movies play at 24fps, 30fps video plays at 30fps, etc.
I’m very happy with the Shield. I started w/ a AFTV gen 1 stick, then the AFTV gen 2 box, then the Shield. Hard to argue w/ Amazon’s pricing, but they don’t have the capabilities of the Shield either.
Thanks for the information
