Plex has completely blown me away!

[BoredSysAdmin]

Is shield tv still having issues with HDR->SDR color mapping?

 

[panteragstk]

Is shield tv still having issues with HDR->SDR color mapping?

... yes

It apparently is a kernal issue, but somehow the fire TV doesn't have the issue.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I should be picking up my $200 Shields TV Pro from Best Buy after work today. Will give it a try. I'll be using the same USB keyboard I've been using for Kodi and Plex.

 

[thrillcat]

Regarding remote, maybe someone here can answer a question for me.

Last fall I put my Shield on one of their beta builds (whatever they call them) to fix a problem where lossless audio was suffering dropouts in a hardwired setup.

It fixed that problem, but my Harmony hub stopped talking to it, and I’ve not been able to reconnect.

Has the lossless dropout problem been fixed in the primary public release, and how do I get back on that release so I can use my Harmony again?


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[AcuDefTechGuy]

There is a remote app, the Bluetooth remote it comes with or a harmony. I use a harmony hub and its great. It will recognize a wireless mouse/keyboard if you plug the USB adapter it. I've got one in mine, but don't use it much.

I think you'll really like it. It's the only thing that got me away from htpcs

Any tricks to setting up Shield Kodi HDR/Atmos? Or is it the same setup as desktop Kodi?

 

[panteragstk]

Any tricks to setting up Shield Kodi HDR/Atmos? Or is it the same setup as desktop Kodi?

Pretty much the same. HDR switches automatically. At least it does on plex, I don't use Kodi on my shield much, but I remember it working without any hassle.

Just make sure you enable all the audio codecs and you're good

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Pretty much the same. HDR switches automatically. At least it does on plex, I don't use Kodi on my shield much, but I remember it working without any hassle.

Just make sure you enable all the audio codecs and you're good

I just tried on Shield for both Kodi and Plex. HDR switches automatically for both. There is a pause/black screen for about 4 seconds for the switch to HDR and another 4 seconds to switch back to SDR.

Another thing I just noticed was that the Lamp Mode also switches from Eco to Normal when switching to HDR.

The big question is how much better is HDR vs Plex’s HDR—>SDR Tone Mapping that uses Eco Lamp Mode?

No doubt HDR looks awesome whether it is from the Sony X700 or the Shield TV.

But the Plex HDR tone mapping also looks awesome.

 

[panteragstk]

I just tried on Shield for both Kodi and Plex. HDR switches automatically for both. There is a pause/black screen for about 4 seconds for the switch to HDR and another 4 seconds to switch back to SDR.

Another thing I just noticed was that the Lamp Mode also switches from Eco to Normal when switching to HDR.

The big question is how much better is HDR vs Plex’s HDR—>SDR Tone Mapping that uses Eco Lamp Mode?

No doubt HDR looks awesome whether it is from the Sony X700 or the Shield TV.

But the Plex HDR tone mapping also looks awesome.

That's really going to be preference on your part. I do agree, when the tone mapping works properly it looks awesome, but HDR is "supposed" to be better. Lamp mode switching for HDR is interesting though. I wonder if there's a setting you can change to prevent that?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

That's really going to be preference on your part. I do agree, when the tone mapping works properly it looks awesome, but HDR is "supposed" to be better. Lamp mode switching for HDR is interesting though. I wonder if there's a setting you can change to prevent that?

I've read about the lamp mode switching to high/normal also when using HDR since HDR requires more brightness.

But now I have confirmed this 100%. The PJ switches back and forth from Eco to Normal to Eco when color setting switches back and forth from SDR to HDR to SDR.

Again, the HDR pass-through looks awesome.

But then when I switch back to the Plex desktop, the HDR->SDR tone mapping done by Plex looks just as good to my naked eyes even though the HDR is Normal Lamp mode and the SDR is Eco Lamp mode.

It sounds very weird, but if Plex Tone Mapping looks just as good as HDR Pass-through plus I don't have to put up with the 4-second HDR-switching-pause black screen nor the Lamp mode switching from Eco to Normal, I think I'm going to just use the Plex desktop.

It sounds strange not to care about HDR Pass-through, but oh well.

HDR Passthrough is supposed to be better. It probably is better. But everyone is different. We see what we see just like we hear what we hear. Haha.

I also prefer the looks and feel of my HTPC much better than Shield.

But yeah, like you said, it's personal preference.

 

[panteragstk]

I've read about the lamp mode switching to high/normal also when using HDR since HDR requires more brightness.

But now I have confirmed this 100%. The PJ switches back and forth from Eco to Normal to Eco when color setting switches back and forth from SDR to HDR to SDR.

Again, the HDR pass-through looks awesome.

But then when I switch back to the Plex desktop, the HDR->SDR tone mapping done by Plex looks just as good to my naked eyes even though the HDR is Normal Lamp mode and the SDR is Eco Lamp mode.

It sounds very weird, but if Plex Tone Mapping looks just as good as HDR Pass-through plus I don't have to put up with the 4-second HDR-switching-pause black screen nor the Lamp mode switching from Eco to Normal, I think I'm going to just use the Plex desktop.

It sounds strange not to care about HDR Pass-through, but oh well.

I also prefer the looks and feel of my HTPC much better than Shield TV.

But yeah, like you said, it's personal preference.

That's how I was when I switched from HTPC to the shield, but it eventually won me over. Especially since I've moved to so many streaming services. Having them all in one place and every TV in the house having the same interface is big for wifey. HTPCs never were as easy to maintain/use, but it's been 5 years since I've had one be a primary source.

However, in the theater I have an HTPC specifically for Kodi (as we've discussed) and it works great. Kodi has come a LONG way from when I last used it. I don't mind it at all.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

That's how I was when I switched from HTPC to the shield, but it eventually won me over. Especially since I've moved to so many streaming services. Having them all in one place and every TV in the house having the same interface is big for wifey. HTPCs never were as easy to maintain/use, but it's been 5 years since I've had one be a primary source.

However, in the theater I have an HTPC specifically for Kodi (as we've discussed) and it works great. Kodi has come a LONG way from when I last used it. I don't mind it at all.

Shield is a lot cheaper than buying a HTPC for sure. So if the only objective is to stream movies/TVs, I think Shield is a winner.

Overall, I am very impressed with Shield- highly recommended for sure. It just depends on the application and preference.

 

[panteragstk]

Shield is a lot cheaper than buying a HTPC for sure. So if the only objective is to stream movies/TVs, I think Shield is a winner.

Overall, I am very impressed with Shield- highly recommended for sure. It just depends on the application and preference.

True. I've been surprised more than once with what all it can do. I have all my old school games set up with emulators on it and it works shockingly well for that. My kids are having fun playing all the retro games.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have now confirmed that you can manually change the Lamp mode from Normal back to Eco mode while playing HDR. And the PJ remembers this and keeps the lamp mode in Eco mode for the other HDR videos.

I compared between HDR Eco vs Normal Lamp mode. I don’t see much difference. So I will use Eco.

 

[Sealman]

Can Plex access movies from Vudu? Would I want it to access movies from Vudu?
I do not have any of my over 2k movie/TV shows on any hard drives. I just can't see myself attempting to even get started doing that large of a project to be honest.
I do however have around 300 of those on VUDU from the "ultraviolet" codes which is the reason for my question.

I have Plex installed on my Roku Ultra but am a total newbie on how to set everything up or what it really is even capable of.

 

[panteragstk]

Can Plex access movies from Vudu? Would I want it to access movies from Vudu?
I do not have any of my over 2k movie/TV shows on any hard drives. I just can't see myself attempting to even get started doing that large of a project to be honest.
I do however have around 300 of those on VUDU from the "ultraviolet" codes which is the reason for my question.

I have Plex installed on my Roku Ultra but am a total newbie on how to set everything up or what it really is even capable of.

Not sure what the point would be considering there is a Vudu app for most streamers. Plex is geared towards personal collections, but is moving in the direction of getting content deals.

Just use the Vudu app unless you have a personal server with your movie collection on it.

 

[thrillcat]

I don’t want to throw everyone for a loop, but this weekend I switched to Emby.

There are still a few things I’ll allow Plex to do, like the DVR. Emby has not yet released commercial removal from recordings, but it’s in the works.

Emby on the Shield just has a much more enjoyable interface, and PLEX has been too focused on implementing features I don’t care about, like the free movies that I can watch for free ten other places, and now they’ve announced they’re going to start selling and renting content, too. I don’t want it for that. I want it to be as powerful as possible with MY LIBRARY.

I’d also like to reiterate that I still don’t believe PLEX or Kodi or Emby are doing ANY tone mapping at all. They’re just passing info through. If you were getting tone mapping, I think something was set incorrectly and they were transcoding and you weren’t getting native playback. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no evidence of any tone mapping procedure being performed for the purpose of tone mapping.


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[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm returning the $200 Shield TV to BB today.

I think Shield works well. But I just don't think the PQ is any better than my HTPC PLEX. So I'm just going to use HTPC PLEX for most videos. KODI is my backup - mainly for some manual subtitles.

 

[panteragstk]

I don’t want to throw everyone for a loop, but this weekend I switched to Emby.

There are still a few things I’ll allow Plex to do, like the DVR. Emby has not yet released commercial removal from recordings, but it’s in the works.

Emby on the Shield just has a much more enjoyable interface, and PLEX has been too focused on implementing features I don’t care about, like the free movies that I can watch for free ten other places, and now they’ve announced they’re going to start selling and renting content, too. I don’t want it for that. I want it to be as powerful as possible with MY LIBRARY.

I’d also like to reiterate that I still don’t believe PLEX or Kodi or Emby are doing ANY tone mapping at all. They’re just passing info through. If you were getting tone mapping, I think something was set incorrectly and they were transcoding and you weren’t getting native playback. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no evidence of any tone mapping procedure being performed for the purpose of tone mapping.


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They are...sort of. Kodi has a tone mapping feature, but it sucks. Plex (and literally any other video player) has issues on the shield converting from HDR to SDR. My PC can do that no problem, so can a FireTV.

As for Plex vs Emby, I do agree the Plex interface isn't that great, but I have so much content in Plex that the thought of switch to a new platform makes my head hurt. There's just too much. I've been putting stuff into Plex since it was pretty much first available. I turn off all the online stuff because I just don't care.

If I want a pretty interface I just use Kodi and the plexkodiconnect plugin that pulls in the Plex libraries and metadata, but has all the fancy tweaks Kodi has. Works very well.

 

[Sealman]

Thanks!

 

[henkeli]

I don’t want to throw everyone for a loop, but this weekend I switched to Emby.

There are still a few things I’ll allow Plex to do, like the DVR. Emby has not yet released commercial removal from recordings, but it’s in the works.

Emby on the Shield just has a much more enjoyable interface, and PLEX has been too focused on implementing features I don’t care about, like the free movies that I can watch for free ten other places, and now they’ve announced they’re going to start selling and renting content, too. I don’t want it for that. I want it to be as powerful as possible with MY LIBRARY.

I’d also like to reiterate that I still don’t believe PLEX or Kodi or Emby are doing ANY tone mapping at all. They’re just passing info through. If you were getting tone mapping, I think something was set incorrectly and they were transcoding and you weren’t getting native playback. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no evidence of any tone mapping procedure being performed for the purpose of tone mapping.


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I went with the Z9S for this reason.

Z9S Best Android TV Box, Stick, 1080p 4K Streaming Media Player for XBMC Kodi

www.zidoo.tv

Handles all BR+4K MKV, handles 3D-BR (that's rare), passes all the HD audio. Info from the Kodi forum:

• Kodi doesn't run natively, but Zidoo's fork ZDMC Leia & Krypton-based are both available.
• ZDMC (Kodi fork) is mostly used a front-end to push media playback to external (native) media player app.
• 4K HDR with Max CLL/FALL infoframe data passthrough
• HDR to SDR mapping
• Fully supports HD audio (including ATMOS & DTS:X) and LPCM.
• Best player for full 1080p 3D + 4K support in one
• Deinterlacing for OTA TV has never been a strong performer on this platform.
• Only SD quality Netflix, Amazon, etc.

Will continue Roku and/or AppleTV for external content, but not holding my breath that they will fully support my local files so just bit the bullet and went with a good player for that.