Now that Plex has said they are creating an HTPC client, and will support 4K HDR I am trying to figure my next step:
Get NVidia shield (3GB) for 150 bucks - I presume this will play my 4K content without transcoding, and will connect via the av receiver so all of my sound decoding is done there.
Set up my HTPC with a 4k hdr adapter, connected same way as above.
Here is the question: What Card should I get that does 4K hdr at 60hz?
Recommended card (s)?
Will need to decide on upgrade to HTPC or just getting a shield
I’m a big fan of the Shield. It’s something my entire family is comfortable using to stream Plex, Netflix, YouTube, etc. Nice single remote. For me, the device’s audio pass through behavior and PGS subtitle support put it above most every other consumer device.
An HTPC, to me, is the ultimate movie enthusiast machine but at the cost of flexibility. Its upkeep is also higher, especially initially, to turn off OS integrations that interrupt an HTPC device’s appliance feel. HDR/Dolby Vision on HTPC is also still somewhat raw. Whereas on the Shield it’s mature.
All in all, for me, if you want an enthusiast device than HTPC is where it’s at. If you want a powerful mostly “just works” appliance then Shield is really hard to beat.
Hardware recommendation wise, I’m as interested to hear folks suggestions as your are.
My preference is the HTPC… and am glad that Plex is doing this now
Thanks for the feeback
On the other hand, if the only decent video adapter I can get that will support 4k is $200, then I might just punt and get a shield.
One other consideration with the shield… I don’t know if it needs to transcode non-text subtitles. HTPC does not need to, Am hearing impaired slightly, and both of my sons are, so subtitles are a requirement…
unless plex HTPC allows the use of 3rd party renderers like MadVR, i do not see what it offers over the shield. Hopefully with time it will allow us to fully customise plex as the ultimate picture and audio device.
the icing on the cake would be for it to run in it’s own lightweight linux OS or in a docker. The cynic in me is that this is being created to help push their revenue services like the gaming service.
If I recall correctly, the shield direct plays vosub and pgs, but not ass subs.
But, if for any reason the audio is being transcoded (like if you do not have the shield hooked to an AVR with truehd/dts support), then audio&video will get transcoded.
IE: transcoded audio + subtitles = video transcoded too
also, keep in mind always avoid the tube, get the shield pro model, it has more ram.
nvidia hamstrung the tube with only 2gig ram, so full 4k/bluray rips can be problematic.
The Shield plays most things fine, from my experience, but if the video uses ASS/SSA it will require a video transcode. This is the biggest flaw of Plex on the android platform at the moment for me.
I have both, but only recently purchased the Shield…
Have been running an HTPC for years, then upgraded all my gear to achieve 4K HDR Dolby Vision, and realized that the only way to currently achieve that, is with a Shield Pro.
I settled in with the Shield fairly easily, until I found that it won’t play Hi-Res audio, due to the fact that Nvidia still won’t upgrade to Android 10.
So because of this Shield limitation, I am still using an HTPC regularly as some of my favorite albums are Hi-Res.
Of course, the moment Plex released Plex HTPC, that was one of the first things I tried, and it worked, albeit that the player seems to have adopted the static screen bug carried over from the Android apps.
I am really excited to see how Plex develops the HTPC software. @deactivated has confirmed that they are working on “proper HDR support” in this topic… > Plex HTPC feedback - #79 by mattseeley … and hopefully in time, it may even be possible to introduce Dolby Vision into the mix.
and here’s Intel’s white paper on integrated intel graphics
Couldn’t find one for AMD APUs, but that’s not saying they don’t support HDR since the newer ones have Vega graphics.
There’s lots of other factor to consider when choosing a card other than just 4K HDR playback. Do you game on the PC or is it purely Home Theater? Case size, power supply size?
A friend of mine uses an Nvidia GTX 1650, but only because it’s running an AMD 5800X that doesn’t have integrated graphics, the case will not fit a 2 fan card with hard drives installed, and the 1650 is a 75 watt card that can be powered off PCIe alone. I use a GTX 1080ti because I also game on it, but still have a 1080p Plasma so HDR and 4K isn’t a factor.
thanks for the articles… that pretty much seals it. It looks like I either need a new PC (with I7), or a $500+ video card.
I guess I will be getting the NVidia shield for the 4k TV, and move the HTPC to the 1080p TV.
I play games rarely, and of those, the games I play don’t require much power from video or PC (steam, AOE and POE). I work with commuters for a living… so don’t play with them much in off time,
I was favoring the getting the Shield pro to replace my Sony android TV which is a bit slow. Like you say it gives better integration for streaming services, that all the family use.
Now I am starting to consider going the NUC HTPC route because android version of Plex always seems to have many more bugs than on my desktop PC. Especially with live TV, not being able to watch an in progress recording, is a real DVR killer and its been poor for months if not years on android. No such problems on my PC.
