Newbie here and confused on which is better for picture quality.

Hello!

So hopefully within the next year I plan on building a PC to put under the TV, aiming for a console-like experience. It's going in a very cramped bedroom, just a bed and a TV and some space to get to my clothes, so there's not really anywhere I can put a mouse and keyboard. Whilst I'd absolutely need a Rii, I feel it'd undermine the point of what I'm going for if I need to have it on me at all times. Because of that I was leaning towards a linux distro based on SteamOS, just because so much of it, including the desktop, is navigable with a controller.

That being said I should ask what Windows 11 is like these days in this admittedly niche situation because I've heard they're making improvements due to the pressure on handhelds, and there's still some things that make linux/steamos not 100% viable; very rough compatibility with nvidia hardware, mod managers, games made incompatible with anti-cheat (streaming isn't a reliable option for my wi-fi), buggy launchers, RT performance on AMD compared to Nvidia (apparently no longer an issue for RDNA4, but we won't know for sure until next year).

I know you can make Steam load into Big Picture when it boots, or skip directly into it through the Emudeck beta, but I'm more curious about desktop navigation and such. How much can you do with that? (And I'm guessing only with an Xbox controller, right? :/)

I currently use a MBP + Apple Display for work/personal use and currently have movies on my MBP that get streamed via Plex to the living room TV. I'm outgrowing my internal storage AND I don't want to rely on my MBP as the HTPC, so I'm looking for the most simple solution to have a dedicated HTPC that will always be on at home.

Would a Mac mini or Beelink + external HDD do the trick?

Since NVIDIA introduced RTX HDR on all RTX GPUs, it’s been a game changer. Upconverting SDR content to HDR may not be flawless, but it adds an amazing level of depth and vibrance to older content. I know some purists dislike the idea of digital SDR-to-HDR conversion or digital upscaling, but I personally love it for breathing new life into old media.

With that in mind, I’m looking for a way to integrate this into my home theater setup. My goal is to have both an accessible setup for everyday users (non-tech savvy folks) and the option to utilize my PC for advanced features, including RTX HDR and upscaling. Ideally, I want both direct PC streaming and any content streaming through the PC (from devices like an NVIDIA Shield or Roku) to benefit from RTX-HDR and/or upscaling.

My Proposed Setup:

1. PC/Laptop with an RTX 4050, equipped with HDMI 2.1 and USB-C (10Gbps+).

2. AVerMedia HDMI 2.1 Capture Card (GC553G2).

3. Streaming Devices: Currently, I have a Roku and an NVIDIA Shield.

Idea:

Connect the laptop to my receiver using HDMI 2.1. I’d then connect the capture card to the laptop via USB-C, and hook up the streaming devices (Roku, Shield) to the capture card. The goal is to have the RTX HDR and/or upscaling apply not only to content running directly from the PC but also to any input from streaming devices via the capture card.

Questions/Concerns:

Feasibility: Is it possible to apply RTX HDR and upscaling to both PC-originating content and content captured through the capture card?

DRM Compatibility: Would native apps on streaming devices allow their video signals to be captured and passed through the PC without issues?

My concern here is any potential DRM blocking the upscaling process for content streamed through platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, etc.

Thanks in advance for any insights on the feasibility or alternative suggestions to make this setup work smoothly!

I am wondering if I can use macOS Sequoia, connected to my TV via HDMI, as HTPC? Or if it's really not intended for this, I should buy an Apple TV or use my nVidia Shield?

The apps and features I am hoping to be able to use:

Plex Media Server

Plex app

IPTV

YouTube

Netflix

A physical remote control from the couch to macOS. (I currently own a FLIRC usb receiver, so maybe this would be more reliable than Bluetooth?)

The idea here is not to use mouse or keyboard, just the remote control to do everything.

Would something like this be possible? I really like the GUI of Plex, but maybe it's not intended for all of these things? Would I be forced to use something like Kodi instead?

Thanks

Hello all, I am about to set up a miniPC mainly for SkyGO on a TV.
The TV is an android TV but Sky Go does not want to make friends with it and I am not really willing to root it.

So I will install W11 on this Beelink BT7 and then install Sky Go.
I can make Sky GO start on boot, what setup would you recommend for this single use case as software and remote?

Hello,

Recently I've been thinking about using my Raspberry Pi as a simple htpc connected to a Samsung smart tv. But I realize I need to upgrade to a newer one and I have some ideas I would want to see if I can actually do it.

First up, my idea would be to connect a nas harddrive of some sort with it's own power supply to easily share photos, videos and just files in general across a local network.

Second, I would like to be able to use this as a seed box as well, I'm familiar with deluge and setting up a daemon and I would send files to a watch folder to make it easy to manage.

Third, I wouldn't mind some simple gui as I'm not that familiar with coding (last time I used plex my pi was installed with retropi) but that's it. I never really got into it that much, I used it a couple of times but that's it.

Fourth, Plex would be my preferred app to get a nice interface for easy navigation.

Would these wishes be possible with a Pi4/5 or would it require a more expensive solution and run windows as OS?

The whole idea is that the raspberry and a hdd can be hidden on a wallshelf behind the tv, I don't want to have a big box standing out in the open. (mainly due to kids at home but also for the aesthetical look).

Feel free to come with ideas, I'm just in the planning and brainstorming phase

Looking to buy a mini pc to replace my android TV box.

I will be using it for a few streaming apps and gaming. My wife isn't keen on having to use windows every time she wants to watch TV, so is there a skin out something for windows where we can just flick through the apps we want to use?

Thanks

I have my PC connected via HDMI to a Samsung Q70T. The TV is passing through audio via eARC to a Samsung Q990c soundbar. This works great while watching other media, I am able to get all the surround sound formats that I need.

But when I try to use my PC, it thinks that it can only output 2 channels to the TV. I followed the guide in the wiki, which has 3 methods. I had no success at all with method 1 because it is a Samsung soundbar and I could not find the settings mentioned.

Then I followed Way #2, did everything exactly as described, and I was able to select 5.1 and 7.1 in the control panel sound manager. But the 5.1 doesn't actually work at all (cannot play test sounds). 7.1 lets me play all the test sounds, but they all come out of the front of the soundbar and do not use either of the satellite speakers (rear/surrounds).

Way #3 didn't work for me tiher. It still sees only 2 channels, but lets me select Dolby Atmos instead of stereo. I guess this is a simulated Atmos? When used in game, it only offers me a stereo option. I get sounds from my rear/surround satellites, but it's not directionally accurate and there is a MASSIVE delay from the processing.

Any ideas? Am I doing something wrong, or is there another way to get this working?

Alternatively, how can I remove all the changes I have made? Would be great to have working stereo again because currently I have basically nothing.

Would like to move my media server off my gaming PC (14700K, 4080S) and onto a dedicated system.

I've been researching the latest Intel ARC iGPU tech that's in the likes of the 125H and 245K as well as dGPUs like the A310. A variety of sources offer conflicting information; some saying that a 125H iGPU alone can handle half a dozen simultaneous AV1 transcoded 4k HDR Plex streams and others saying that it can struggle with a single stream; advocating for a dGPU.

I was originally considering mini PCs like the [Acemagic F2A](https://acemagic.com/products/acemagic-f2a-intel-core-ultra-5-7-125h-155h-ai-mini-pc https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8VNBgB), but heard a lot of sketchy things about bloatware and poor support.

From there I started considering the more reputable Asus NUC 14 Pro and reliable ASUS ExpertCenter PN65; but I'm worried about the aforementioned performance concerns that could not be remedied since a dGPU can't be installed installed. Drive space is limited, but I could probably get by and expand later with a NAS/DAS.

This brought me to the 245K and just doing a custom build; something like this: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8VNBgB (Note: The decision to go with SATA SSDs over HDDs was to keep the form factor small, attractive, and quiet, since it'll probably reside in plain view; otherwise I'd get a couple WD Reds or similar).

I'm posting to get second opinions, since my research on the latest tech has left me wondering if stuff like AV1 encoding/decoding is even needed for a Plex media server or if older tech is plenty good to stand up over the next decade or so (with a little due diligence, such as ensuring hosted media can be direct streamed by any client). Any advice you can offer on the merits of the latest tech compared to what's already out there is appreciated.

So essentially I am looking to know the biggest differences between audio coming from USB or Aux into my PC.

My audio setup is a little complicated but currently I have my PC outputting audio to my Fosi Audio K5 Pro DAC. The DAC has RCA sports that then go into my Denon S950H receiver.

I am looking to use the USB audio port on my DAC to connect to a PS5 as the console doesn’t contain an optical audio port. The HDMI pass through on my receiver supports HDMI 2.0, but I am connecting it to a 1440p Monitor (AlienWare AW2725DF) which isn’t a supported resolution from my Denon.

The core of my question is if I am using a stereo setup (Klipsch r51M bookshelves) and sometimes headphone (Sennheiser HD560S) output on my Denon would changing my PC to an aux audio be that great if a difference? I would use a 3.5mm to RCA cable to plug into my motherboard Gigabyte Z690 UD and it will terminate into the RCA ports on my Denon.

Otherwise I’m looking at getting a USB source switcher which is a bit more than I want to spent to fix this issue.

Edit: I do not use the DACs headphone jack due to a damaged port :(

Sorry if over explained certain aspects, my original post was removed to lack of info so I wanted to include as much as I could.

I am planning to build a Windows gaming PC (connected to a TV) that will primarily be controlled with a Xbox controller.

I want to have multiple Windows accounts (local with no passwords) so my children and I can each have our own games/saves/etc.

One thing that I cannot figure out is how to easily switch between accounts using only the Xbox controller. I was hoping to create a shortcut (that I could launch from within Steam Big Picture) that would switch to a different account. I can't find any way to do this via the command line.

Any ideas?

Hi there, i want to cast youtube from my phone to my pc the way you can with a tv but for some reason the 2 turtorials i found on this matter don t seem to work for me.

Hi,

My VCR (top shelf) has died and I'm looking to fill the space with something that matches the other AV equipment.

So... Black, 43cm wide, clean sides and feet on the bottom.

I'm considering a HTPC that can handle 4k 60 gaming but all of the pc suppliers seem to use tower type cases.

Any suggestions?

Unlike most folks who want a movie remote, I want one that can control my music or audio-books while I play other games without having to shift+tab between programs every time I need to pause. For example, I like to play StarCraft while listening to an audio book during the actual game play, but need to pause in a hurry when the cut scenes come on. My current laptop keyboard doesn't have dedicated media keys, instead having dual function F keys with a hard to reach function changer. I want a cheap device that will let me pause my books instantly at the touch of one button. Blue tooth would be preferable, though a USB radio receiver would work too. I can't use infrared because the USB port is on the back of the laptop, plus I don't want to take the time to aim. Please, no amazon links. I refuse to give my money to Bezos The Clown.

So my Jellyfin server already has a GTX1070 and it's working just fine. However, due to the relatively high TDP of the card (150W) I have been considering switching to one of a couple of other cards I have kicking around, but I'm not sure about their transcoding capabilities. I can't seem to find very reliable or succinct information on the subject via simply googling.

The two cards I have kicking around and have been considering switching to, are a GTX750TI (75W IIRC) and an RX550 (50W?). I know the 750Ti vastly outperforms the RX550 in gaming applications, but which is better for transcoding? And will either one transcode as well as the 1070? Which codex or transcoding methods would I be sacrificing switching to the older card? Am I better off sticking to the 1070?

Alternatively, I have also considered spending a bit of money and maybe picking up a 1050 or something cheap on Ebay, but I'm really not sure about going that route and might look into that a bit more further down the road.

Any suggestions?

I have an i7-7700K with 16GB of RAM, RX6600, 1TB M.2, and Mini-ITX case and motherboard. I will probably be switching to a baseline M4 Mac Mini (assuming Apple releases it next month) for personal and work usage, so now I need to ways to use this PC, or try to sell it for parts.

I am using an nVidia Shield TV Pro 2019 for living room. It's been fine with SmartTube (ad free YouTube with Google Sign In and sponsorblock), IPTV player, Netflix, and the Plex App. I have a Raspberry Pi 4B with 4GB of RAM that is being used as the Plex Media Server. It does the job but sometimes it can struggle with really huge files/codecs.

So anyways, would you recommend swapping the Shield for the PC? Can I achieve the same things, with better performance? Or will it always be a pain switching between all the apps? I am hoping to achieve full access to everything via remote control on the couch, or XBOX Series X controller, if at all possible!

I was thinking that a fresh Windows 11 install with Steam Big Picture Mode on boot up could perhaps handle everything via custom shortcuts to the things I need? Windows is not my favourite OS but if I want to do any gaming it's probably going to be ideal. Not sure when it comes to YouTube, IPTV and Netflix though?

All in the form of "easy to use, living room apps", as I'm not running Android TV anymore. Regardless, whatever I go with will end up staying powered on 24/7. For gaming I tend to stick with "max performance" on Windows power management, which may not always be ideal if just sitting there idle every night. Not sure if that can kick in only whenever gaming, and have power management when not gaming? Intel 7700K is not likely going to be anywhere close to Intel N100 in terms of power consumption though.

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated!

Note: I'm referring to GDDR5 version MSI GT1030 2G LP OC

What people are saying

Everywhere I've read about this card says mostly the same thing - 4K Display Output, Playback, HDR playback, 60fps YouTube, works fine - and this is true

But they all say that 4K playback while tonemapping HDR content to SDR is really stuttery and laggy with GPU pinned at max usage.

Setup in VLC

This hasn't been the case for me with VLC. I just set Tools > Preferences > Video > Output > OpenGL Video Output for Windows.

This automatically does tonemapping so my HDR 4K movies dont look washed out on my SDR TV.

My experience

Theres only a slight stutter when starting the playback, and the very very occasional stutter during playback.

However these stutters are incredibly rare and you have to squint to see them. When you're fully immersed in a movie, you're just not going to notice.

I only had about 0.01% frames of dropped across 10 minutes of playback.

GPU Usage hovers around 60-70% with the occasional 90% spike.

More info

So I'm just making this post to inform that it is possible to get it smooth on a GT1030 (albeit maybe only this MSI OC one).

Because when you google this card, all you find 2 year old reddit posts that say 4k tonemapping lags in general on the GT1030, when its actually possible to get 4k tonemapping smoothly at this card's price point.

It's a big thing because:

1. I got this GPU for £30 off eBay, whereas GTX 1050(Ti) LP / GTX 1650(Ti) LP both hover around £70-£100 on eBay... and that's on a good day.

2. Almost all 4K Movie torrents are in HDR, so the card is rendered useless for 4K HTPC duties if it can't do tonemapping and you don't have an HDR TV (our Sony BRAVIA is just 1 year too old from 2014...)

Note about youtube: currently, the GT1030 will be pinned at 100% on 4K 60fps YouTube, even tho it doesnt drop any frames.

I have built htcp and really liked kodi as OS, but since it does not support "propietary" services like netflix or setup would be more complicated I would like to use linux or windows as base OS and have fullscreen menu popped out after boot that allows me choose what service I would to use. So that setup would be similar to kodi and I don't have to start browser and type netflix or youtube everytime when wanting to use them.

Does running a smaller board reduce the idle power consumption due to having less and shorter circuits throughout the board or is it all just about what the CPU, GPU, RAM and Chipset sip on?

One small observation I noticed with GPU's when all of the PCB's were analyzed, the ones with less power phases had lower idle power draw. I don't know if this was a coincidence or not.

I have both an Intel NUC 8 (w/ i7-8559U) and a M1 Mac Mini not being used anymore. Which one should I turn into a HTPC? I have both Plex and Emby servers running on an UnRaid NAS and I’m wondering if I can build something that would be better or equivalent to an Nvidia Shield Pro. I’m upgrading my projector to one that has Dolby Vision (which my 2017 Shield doesn’t support) so if I could turn one of these into a nice HTPC and avoid buying a new Shield that would be awesome. So, which one? And what software should I run?

Sorry if this has been asked before but if I could first narrow it down to which hardware would be better that would really help me out.

Hey Everyone,

I've been interested in repurposing my first computer (built ~2012) as a HTPC but the more I browse sub-Reddits the more I'm thinking it may not be worth the time and energy. I'd love to hear what you all think. Is it possible to keep the old electronics chugging along or is the juice just not worth the squeeze? One previous poster on this sub had similar specs as this build but his goals repurposing were different.

SPECS:

• CPU: Intel I7 - 3770K
• MoBo: Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 (EVGA)
• Memory: 16 GB DDR3
• Storage: Roughly 8TB spread across several drives - some mechanical drives are likely nearing end of life.
• I/O: 2x USB 3.0 PCI cards, Optical Drive (Not BluRay), Memory Card Readers.
• Case: Cooler Master HAF 912

Goals (if repurposed as HTPC):

• Content streaming (not necessarily plex but more YouTube, Netflix, HBO, Disney+, etc.)
• Watching DVDs and Blue-Rays (would I need more then just upgrading to a blue-ray drive?)
• Streaming Steam games via Steam Remote Play (perhaps may accomplish this with dual-boot configuration - HTPC OS as main boot and Windows as secondary)

Concerns:

• Based on the FAQ it appears that 4K streaming of anything is out of the question. Not the end of the world but would be nice to have.
• I like the HAF 912 case and will probably reuse in a newer build but a HTPC case it is not - most of the HTPC cases I've looked at are more expensive then the components it'd contain.
• I've considered repurposing as a NAS but the age of the hard drives, size of the computer, cost to run locally compared to available 3rd party cloud services, and the can of worms that comes with securely self-hosting doesn't make a NAS seem like a great choice.

Alternatives?:

• Most of my nieces and nephews are still to young to really get into PC gaming or haven't really shown interest in it. Perhaps I could hold onto the computer a bit longer and see if the "chosen one" appears and then hand it down to them.
• Emulator box that sits in the corner of the room or closet and gets used once every so many months. I'm sure its capable of playing most emulators up to Xbox360/PS3.
• Part it out on eBay. I don't really want to do this but I do have the original box for most components and could disassemble and repackage. I'd probably keep the graphics card just for troubleshooting other rigs.
• Any ideas you all may have.

I'd love to hear what you all have to say. I personally hate wasting good tech and, if I'm being honest, there is a little bit of sentimental value being my first computer I built. If anything maybe just keeping the case will tide me over.

Hi, i have LG CS oled, it supports 4k 120hz.

I thought to use my old pc as htpc, but there are 2 problems, first one and major is that the fans are really loud, even on idle.

and the second problem is that it has HDMI 2.0(GTX 970 card), meaning it supports only up to 4k 60hz, not big deal as most media content is at 60 fps anyway, the only downside is the non 120 fps browsing and scrolling.

third issue is that the pc is very bulky, and i need to either hide it behind the TV, or buy specific TV stand that can store the pc inside.

So i thought maybe to buy a mini pc, problem is, most of them are HDMI 2.0 as well unless i go for the expensive ones that support HDMI 2.1.

so a couple questions:

1. Can i just use Display port instead? I heard they deliver less color and don't support HDR, not sure about that. DP usually supports 120hz 4k no problem as i understood.

2. I thought about buying external SSD and possibly connecting to middle device so i can swap connection between mini pc and directly TV with press of a button/remotely (so i can run 4k media with all the TV magic like HDR, dolby). is there something like that?

3. Are mini pcs in general a good idea as HTPC? If so i was thinking about blackview mp80, what do you think of it? Basically looking for something cheap, small, quite, that can run 4k media, and 4k monitor with as much as possible frames, gaming is not needed.

Thanks!

I am sick of Logitech's K400. I've been using it for years. I taped an Apple Magic Touchpad to it using strong 3M double sided tape.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y0gnZ4WLYQikQRIh26rhbb53S41VyVdX/view?usp=drivesdk

I tried the Form Split, but Amazon shipped me one with a broken power switch and I tried this instead.

Thought I'd share for those of us looking for a nicer wireless touchpad and keyboard. : |

EDIT: I got this CK721 for around $35 off of woot.

Ver. 2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NfDi6736EQdLrsw7QVxm1qz-CBipud4T/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vlumfOyXMBoGzMiKso9Q6H7-Ew7BORfP/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wKbW3OlQHfqv_76YyoEYHaXvbFb_Aj3P/view?usp=drivesdk

Jsut wanna talk about my experience with optical drives.

I had an 20€ LG GH24NS90 for years, and just bought a Pioneer BDR-S12UHT. And it's night and day!

My experience with dBpoweramp and Accurate Rip for exemple had been awesome. I had 3 faulty rip CD's with my old drive ("Not Accurate" with Accurate Rip). Cleaned the CD, done a lot to have the most clean and readable surface, but still had error while ripping.

One try with my new drive for those 3 difficults CD's... And they're all now accurately rip with Accurate Rip.

Add to that :

1. I could hear the error on the previous Not Acurate file (it's a big jump on the audio)
2. But the CD played without any error on my living room player (Denon DCD520 AE).
3. For sure, the new rip (that are Accurate Rip with new Pioneer drive) have no error.
4. Playing directly the CD on VLC with my new drive had no error at all.

This is absolutely perfect!

This is a beginner's question.

Movies recorded on discs are recorded at frame rates that include decimals, such as 23.976 FPS. When sending this to a display with an integer refresh rate (such as 72Hz), there should be a timing discrepancy.

This should be corrected by the player software, but what kind of correction algorithm is commonly used in this case? (For example, what is the algorithm used in MadVR?)

i have movies and tv shows spread across 6 NAS servers.

is there a program (like mediaelch) that just lists all the shows and lets you see which NAS server which show is located on?

it gets tiresome hunting for the location of tv shows when adding new episodes.

i mentioned mediaelch because it works great on windows, but i can't get it to recognize any SMB shares on linux.

When I looked up how to use RTX HDR in MPC-BE, the thing I found works with the MPC Video Renderer. But in a lot of places, I've read that MadVR or other renderers are better than MPCVR - but I'm not sure if anything else has RTX HDR options? A lot of those posts were also old, so I'm not even sure if those opinions still hold true?

Hi friends!
I'm starting going the HTPC route, I have a few question before trying everything out, you might certainly help!

I plan to hook up my GTX1080 (KFA2 GeForce GTX 1080 EXOC SNIPER Black, 8 Go) to my LG G2 via HDMI.

1. Does Kodi have an option to auto switch refresh rate and colorspace, so my TV display the file at native frame rate/colorspace? Does this function have any issue or it's 100% trustable everytime?

2. Is there a particularly good upscaller I can run that can compete with the very good (imo) Nvidia Shield IA upscaller?

3. Do you think computer powersupply can have an effect on the audio or video stabilty? (mine is a EVGA Supernova 850 G3)

4. What can I do to lower the noise of the PC while functionning? (I already use a watercooling Corsair Hydro H115i).

Thank you very much!