Shield TV / Pro or NAS for Plex Server

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Speaking as Chuck (no Plex :cowboy_hat_face: )

I have both the ATV 4K and the Shield Pro 2019.

  1. Connectivity:
    a. The AppleTV , with Infuse to handle the server / nas connection
    b. Shield native SMB

  2. Video:
    a. The Nvidia Shield pro, with Plex app, 2160p, 59.94 hz, UHD (that special 4K movie) - flawless downsample and tone map to 1080p HDMI. DirecxtPlay from Plex.
    b. ATV 4K, with the Plex app, cannot handle the same 59.94 hz UHD movie. Granted, this is a one-off movie but does demonstrate capability. Transcoded. Maybe the new ATV 4K can ?
    c. ATV 4K, with the Infuse player, can leverage more of the Apple hardware than the Plex app and levels the playing field for those cases where HDR tone mapping is required. Direct Play

  3. Audio
    a. Nvidia stepped up to every flaw we found and they fixed it. Full passthrough or decoding just works. DirectPlay
    b. Apple won’t, for whatever business reasons, take the plunge past 5.1 core audio. Everything gets converted to WAV coming out to the HDMI. Transcoded in the Apple TV core.

Technically speaking

  1. The Nvidia is the better platform
  2. The Plex app on the Nvidia is first-class because of that platform base.

I use the Nvidia more than the ATV 4K

The new model AppleTV they announced?

  1. Changed the remote (THANK YOU!)
  2. Moderate bump of the processor. :man_shrugging: meh

… just my thoughts

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