Which 4K Media player to buy ?

[coolcatric]

I have Ps4 pro, which also has plex, amazon and Netflix. However I’m getting 5.1 (Dolby Digital plus) in the TV’s native Netflix and amazon app. And it’s more convenient, not switching the Xbox/ps every time you want to watch up something.

Hence for now the only missing link is to run UHD content directly from HDD.

 

[Prashob]

If u have the budget get the shield as it’s a VFM product and sold only till stocks last. I think nvidia discontinued shield.

are you sure ??? Then I will have to buy one soon.

 

[israniamit]

yes you can play files thru plex player

 

[Love4sound]

are you sure ??? Then I will have to buy one soon.

I have read many articles that the shield is discontinued and sold till stocks last

 

[manav24]

I have read many articles that the shield is discontinued and sold till stocks last

I think they are launching a 2019 version and it will have much improvement and may be Atmos for Netlfix.

 

[coolcatric]

I checked, it says the Pro version is discontinued, the 16gb is still available and sells.

 

[ratishmohan]

What will be your source? Blu ray disks or through hard disk and streaming? only good 4k player available now in india is sony udb x700. Only draw back is it wont support dolby tru hd,atmos and dd+ when streamed or played in hard disk.

Anything we can get from US?

 

[kiranM]

can X BOX one play UHD content directly from HDD

 

[birendra_ssr]

can X BOX one play UHD content directly from HDD

I am not sure about UHD,but it plays almost everything on USB . But I will not suggest to buy XBOX for media player even it supports DV and atmos for prime and netflix . Problem is its audio setting. For this reason alone i have brought firestick 4K which supports all minus atmos on Netflix. Other ultimate media player is apple tv 4k but that's too costly for media player.

 

[Amarendra]

I checked, it says the Pro version is discontinued, the 16gb is still available and sells.

Very difficult to beat shield in this space. Start with the shield and then add missing pieces such as UHD disc player etc. Shield also has fantastic support from Nvidia and they keep updating it unlike cheap android boxes. Also one of the FMs has made a good suggestion to check the Xbox (with disc) edition. It will be pricier but could be worth exploring since Microsoft has been pushing users to think of the Xbox as a family entertainment box rather than just gaming

 

[Amarendra]

I am not sure about UHD,but it plays almost everything on USB . But I will not suggest to buy XBOX for media player even it supports DV and atmos for prime and netflix . Problem is its audio setting. For this reason alone i have brought firestick 4K which supports all minus atmos on Netflix. Other ultimate media player is apple tv 4k but that's too costly for media player.

Whats the problem with audio setting ? Does it read external HDDs ?

 

[bpranay]

I have the same & exact requirement as you. I have considered cheap android media boxes but was not too sure about their handling of 4K with atmos/dts-hdma. So have given up the thought of buying them. Tried plex also but it has lot of stuttering issues. Well I guess then that leaves us no choice but to go for nVidia Shield. It’s way cheaper in US.

 

[birendra_ssr]

Whats the problem with audio setting ? Does it read external HDDs ?

XBOX bitstream has three options DD, DTS and Atmos,. Once you select any of them it will always trans-code audio on that format irrespective of source audio format. For example if you selected Dolby atmos in XBOX setting but playing DD+ 5.1 video on netflix , AVR will see DD Atmos and display so in its display. AVR will display atmos even you are playing stereo on you tube.
Problem here is , AVR will always see data on all the 7 channels and will not try to up-mix for surround sound and in case you are playing you tube with atmos setting on xbox you will not hear audio on surround speakers.
Work around is to change xbox setting to match source data but that pain to keep changing frequently.
Yes it does play USB HDD and even NAS.

 

[Amarendra]

XBOX bitstream has three options DD, DTS and Atmos,. Once you select any of them it will always trans-code audio on that format irrespective of source audio format. For example if you selected Dolby atmos in XBOX setting but playing DD+ 5.1 video on netflix , AVR will see DD Atmos and display so in its display. AVR will display atmos even you are playing stereo on you tube.
Problem here is , AVR will always see data on all the 7 channels and will not try to up-mix for surround sound and in case you are playing you tube with atmos setting on xbox you will not hear audio on surround speakers.
Work around is to change xbox setting to match source data but that pain to keep changing frequently.
Yes it does play USB HDD and even NAS.

Quite a pain, but you can always set the AVR to upmix to Dolby Surround at all times. In that case even if you are playing an actual atmos disc/ stream the height channels will always have info.