[mythtv-users] Best Hardware to exploit a nice TV

[John Pilkington]

On 09/08/2019 11:15, Rick Lane wrote:
> Hi,
> After over 15 years of budget/hand-me-down TVs and my wife being
> unable to see the differences in screen/image quality that I could,
> nor the benefits of a larger size, she last weekend saw a 2019
> Panasonic 65' OLED and decided that we're having one as soon as we
> have saved up for it. The image quality is incredible.
> 
> I'm slightly behind on all the technologies and formats related to 4k
> - HDR and all that. My current front/backend machine is built on an
> ASRock QC5000M-ITX/PH, which has an A4-5000 Quad-Core APU. Does anyone
> else use similar kit to drive a high quality screen or do i need to
> think about upgrading to a discrete GPU? Or something else entirely,
> ie a Shield, etc. Or an app running on the Smart TV side of the new
> screen (Kodi?)
> 
> Thanks
> Rick

I don't want to provoke marital conflict or dampen a long-held ambition, 
but have you (both) seen that TV playing content from sources that you 
are likely to use?  Store displays will often use material of a quality 
that you might not be able or willing to access.

And I would suspect that with a top-end TV it might be best to let its 
own GPUs do as much of the signal processing as you can arrange.  That 
would depend on how much you use skipping and speed variation, for example.

Of course, you might also find that enhanced connectivity will change 
your viewing choices.  You could get the connectivity much cheaper...

--------------------

Let me make another point:  I have always been sceptical about the 
benefits of more pixels for many TV programmes, and store few HD 
recordings.  But I just recorded a Prom from both BBC FOUR and BBC FOUR 
HD, and note that while SD comes with stereo, HD says it has 6 channels. 
  I don't have a system that can play all those, but you did ask about 
hardware  upgrades.

Cheers,

John P