[mythtv-users] Frontend Recommendation

[John Pilkington]

On 30/01/2019 09:30, Doug Lytle wrote:
> On 1/29/19 10:17 PM, Jon Boehm wrote:
>> Nvidia Shield.  I don't anticipate ever going back to a PC frontend.  
>> Did you try Android Mythfrontend on the Fire Stick?  I don't have any 
>> experience on the Stick but on the Shield its great
> 
> Just out of curiosity, do either or both of these units require an 
> always on connection to the internet to functions as a front end?
> 
> Doug

I have a Fire TV Stick 4k, now running the 32-bit 20190124 frontend. The 
device still believes that its primary task is to connect to Amazon et 
al, but once the frontend is running that doesn't intrude; and the 
flexibility it provides outside the frontend is impressive and may well 
be welcome.

I haven't greatly expanded the scope of the remote;  what I have is 
excellent for basic playback, and I have other frontends available for 
other tasks.

I haven't tried working without an internet connection, but see the 
comment here:

https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Android#Amazon_Fire_TV_Stick_4K

John P
------------------

I've mentioned this before but probably ought to add here - I'm using 
software decoding for both SD and HD playback to avoid the problems I 
had earlier with the '4K' hardware.  Watching a programme yesterday that 
included both 1080p and 1080i at 25 fps and 1.0 speed, the 'Menu > 
Playback > Playback data' screen consistently showed all 4 cores at 
around 90 to 100%.  There's occasional roughness and/or small and 
temporary loss of sync in the mostly excellent playback of content like 
that.  SD is fine.   The TV says it's getting 1080p @ 60 Hz.

I haven't made any changes in settings that might take advantage of 
commits since the 20181124 build.

What I have seen of playback from Amazon-preferred sources has looked 
(technically) fine :-)