Google officially announced Google TV, the new Chromecast with a remote and Android TV interface. Has anyone able to find out what codecs Google will support? Their provided tech specs are, well, very limited.
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Heh, came here to ask the same question. Will follow this thread closely 
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Video formats
Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ for stunning picture quality.
Audio formats
Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos (pass-through)
How different is the hardware to the ultra?
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For posterity, these are the current Chromecast codecs:
since the new Chromcast supports 4K and HDR material I would argue that the hardware is similar (or improved from) the CC Ultra. We wonāt know until Google updates the page I guess.
If this is the case, thatās a bummer. I am really hoping to not buy a Shield, but no one else seems to offer great support for all audio codecs and for whatever reason, Iām getting muddled audio when Plex is transcoding audio and sending it through my TV app and ARC to my receiver.
Iām guessing this will be the same Atmos support currently available on the Roku, which is basically Atmos in the DD+ container, used by streaming services. Not full Atmos with TrueHD.
Android Policeās review shows DTS support, but DTS-HD is not mentioned.
Early reports make it sound eerily similar to the Rokuās support, as @olly230 noted. I was holding out hope it might match the Shieldās functionality. If it only matches the Roku, it doesnāt bring a as much to the party.
Confirmed by a user in this reddit comment thread that the new Google TV does not pass through full Dolby Atmos. So far, it looks like the chip used by Google cannot pass-through lossless DTS-HD or TrueHD. The DD+ version of Atmos is the limit.
Thatās a shame. I guess the Shield is still the only option in town for a stand-alone streamer that supports all formats?
Over the life of the Chromecast until now, Google removed support for multichannel AAC from the firmware. They changed the firmware and documentation for which levels of H.264 are supported. They did add support for AC3 passthrough.
Iād be wary of Googleās first published āSupported Codecsā docs until things are confirmed by other users.
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Sure looks like it. BTW, something you mentioned above:
I do the same thing, but donāt have muddied audio at all. Heck in a few cases, I have DTS-HD which was originally transcoded to AAC 5.1, which Plex then transcodes to EAC3, and it still sounds quite fine. Iām sure there are some transcode artifacts, but the sound is generally transparent (I havenāt attempted this with reference audio and listened carefully, Iām sure if I did Iād hear artifacting). There may be a different problem going on with your system.
Does anyone know of this will direct play x265 1080p or 720p? Looking for a cheaper option than a shield for my in-laws
Almost surely yes. But so will the Fire TV 4K Stick and the Roku 4K Streaming Stick. Those are both cheaper than this on sale (regularly), and otherwise similar in price. If youāre looking for Android, the Fire TV Stick uses Android for its base, but some apps arenāt there. Youād need to check your specific needs on that one.
As a general rule, typically any device that supports 4K supports direct-playing HEVC, and usually HEVC 10-bit, too.
So the good news is, you have a number of choices. Based on my experiences with Android (I have a Shield), my personal order would be 1. Roku, 2. Google TV, 3. Fire TV. I just donāt like Amazonās interface. Rokuās not perfect, but itās the most āolder-parent friendlyā of the group IMO.
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Based on available info, the new Google TV Chromecast seems to support:
- HEVC/h.265 (up to 10-bit), including HDR.
- Dolby Digital+ (including the DD+ Atmos offered by streaming services)
- MPEG2 (Thanks for confirming, @NGTmeaty!)
It does not support, and would need to transcode:
- Regular DTS (From multiple reports here, despite reviews saying DTS is supported)
- Dolby TrueHD and Full Atmos (From Blu-Ray)
- DTS-HD MA or HRA
- VC-1 video
Not supported, and canāt be transcoded:
- AV1 (Plex has no support yet)
In terms of codec support, itās fairly similar to the Roku Stick 4K and Fire Stick 4K, but without DTS. Pricing is also very similar.
The Nvidia Shield supports better audio codecs (including DTS-HD MA, TrueHD, and full Atmos), as well as more video codecs (such as VC-1 and even old Divx AVIās). Itās significantly more expensive.
(Iām posting this to be the solution to the question at the top, to make it easy for future readers.)
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Direct Play works with MPEG2 on the new Google TV Chromecast. Iād be happy to test anything else thatās needed.
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Awesome, thank you for confirming! Iāll update my post.
Theoretically, the chipset is supposed to support VC-1 from what I read. Iām not sure the device supports it, and if Plex would see the decoder available. Do you have any VC-1 videos to test? There may be samples on the net, but I havenāt searched yet.
Giving these two a try. Give me one second!
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Any chance you have a TS stream you can try? Iām curious if it will natively play HDHomerun ts streams.
I do! Give me one second and Iāll give that a shot.
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I doubt we will ever get a viable alternative to the shield. 
No streaming services uses truehd/dtshdma, so there is no reason for any āstreamingā box to do it either.
Itās an anomaly that the shield even supports truehd/dtshdma.
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