With black friday around the corner, I wanted to get some advice on which video streaming devices can consistently use the x265 codec. I would prefer the hardware be able to decode the video rather than a software solution.
My intention is to stream video from my Plex server at home to this device. It would also be necessary that this device can downgrade the audio from Atmos to DTS or Dolby Digital, etc…
I don’t want to butcher what Wendel said, so I’ll just paraphrase a comment he made recently that several video streaming devices currently say they can handle x265, but they really cannot or do so only intermittently. So I consider it very possible I will choose a device that only partly works and will not discover problems until later.
I am considering a Roku Ultra or an Android box that can work with my universal remote. One problem with these Android boxes is they all seem the same but with different names. I don’t think the NVIDIA shield is a good option anymore, because it’s hardware is older, uses Bluetooth for connectivity with the remote, and has adopted advertising, even though it’s comparatively a very expensive streaming device.
What would be optimal would be a device that I can use a a key on my remote to startup Plex rather than scrolling through the available apps everytime.
I’m using my Odroid n2+ running coreelec (basically Kodi) playing files directly over the gigabit lan from minidlna server (or is it samba, either works but I forgot what I ended up with), it has an IR receiver built-in, but I’m not using it because I use HDMI-CEC and Yatse Android app for when I need to type a lot for whatever reason.
It’s not blessed for decrypting widevine L1 DRM (e.g. Netflix in 4k/HDR), and I’m not 100% sure whether 4:4:4 x265 works or only typical movie 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 as used in blu-ray. Graphics driver definitely outputs 4:4:4; and typical 265 blu-ray HDR10/hdr10+/Dolby vision/HLG stuff gets decoded and shown as intended, both single layer or multi/enhancement layer video works as intended… there’s no issues with sound syncing/popping in case of hybrid/multi layer video (was an issue with older software that’s been fixed over the last year-ish)
Also, all kinds of audio work too, it can decode or re-sample or re-encode anything I threw at it…or pass it through HDMI if you so wish.
ask away if there’s anything specific you’re interested in or want me to test.