[mythtv-users] Need guidance for setting up a 4K frontend

[James Abernathy]

On 1/2/19 10:55 AM, Ashu Desai wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 1, 2019 at 6:14 PM James Abernathy <jfabernathy at gmail.com 
> <mailto:jfabernathy at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
>     On 1/1/19 6:23 PM, Ashu Desai wrote:
>>
>>
>>     On Sun, Dec 30, 2018, 6:17 AM James Abernathy
>>     <jfabernathy at gmail.com <mailto:jfabernathy at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>         I just complete the upgrade of my Front End to a 4K Nvidia
>>         Shield.
>>
>
> Are there multiple "models" ? I see one on sale at Amazon/Target for 
> $149 and then Best Buy with $179. Tried looking at both but none 
> really gives a "model number".
I ordered from Amazon and I to the model that has the game controller.  
The $149 price is just with the TV remote.  I also wanted to make sure I 
had the smaller Shield which is the latest version. I got P2897. The 
long dimension on the Shield is only ~1" longer than the TV remote. I 
got it on sale just after Christmas for $169. The official name in 
Amazon is NVIDIA SHIELD TV Gaming Edition | 4K HDR Streaming Media 
Player with GeForce NOW.



>>
>>     Thank you. I have been eyeing one lately since I see them on
>>     samjhe a lot. Curious  - if 4K id only via streamed content, is
>>     there any major tipping points to Shield vs say Firestick 4K? I
>>     only ask because that is under $60 setup...
>>
>>         It's plugged into the HDMI port of a UHD Samsung 4K TV. I
>>         have it networked to the mythtv-backend via GBe cable.  But
>>         all the content I have access to for Mythtv is 1080i/720p. I
>>         can stream 4K content from a number of sources but all are
>>         thru a service like Prime Video, etc. I went this way because
>>         of cost and video quality. It's a perfect frontend for
>>         Mythtv-frontend, Kodi, Sling, ESPN, Prime Video.
>>
>
> So what I don't get is - if we have a UHD 4K TV that has say 
> Prime/Netflix/Hulu app on it - why do we need to go via a FE? Can't we 
> get the "best" pic out directly off the TV apps? And if so, our only 
> "need" should be to get the best picture when playing off our Myth, 
> correct? I see a lot of answers here and other posts referring to 
> Amazon Prime 4K content - and I am just trying to see what I may be 
> doing or thinking conceptually wrong in my design.
>
> My foremost need is to allow my FE to play H.265, hopefully play any 
> UHD content I may have, and to have the ability to pass whatever audio 
> it may have without compressing it.
>
> It seems that VDPAU won't play 4K but VAAPI and/or VAAPI 2 would at 30 
> fps? Is that possible with Firestick/Shield?

Well I think it comes down to use case for your TV watching. First My 
Samsung UHD has a few very shitty apps and they are slow on SlingTV, 
Hulu, Prime Video, etc. The HDHR view is not very good for my usage for 
Live TV. There is also no builtin app for Mythtv.  So I can add another 
PC/RP3/Shield to do the mythtv frontend via an HDMI port.  With the 
PC/RP3, I still need a Roki or FireTV stick to get the streaming 
services.  With the Shield I get a Mythtv Frontend, and all the Android 
apps for streaming services. Mythtv doesn't support 4k yet, neither does 
SlingTV. Prime has some 4K. Unless I clean my glasses and stop drinking 
bourbon, I can't see the difference between 4k and 1080P.

Not to some audio issues. A lot of this falls on the AVR. Mine will 
decode Dobly Digital plus and DTS-HD, but will not pass thru 4k 
59.945hz. When I hook up the Shield to the TV it connects at 4k 
59.945hz. but when I hook up to the AVR It's 4k 30 or 29.9hz. The UHD TV 
can pass the audio back to the AVR via Optical, but only at DTS Surround 
2:5 Neo.  So for me it's a compromise on audio or video or buy all new 
expensive stuff.  Since I own no 4k content, it's not a problem for me.

Jim A


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