I’m looking to get a something to plug in to my TV for streaming jellyfin and streaming games. Criteria:
- can play 1080p h264 from jellyfin without transcoding
- can stream 1080p 60hz games via steam link / moonlight
- low power consumption so it’s not a big deal if I leave it on
- runs an open OS (raspian etc)
- wifi and bluetooth
- hdmi output
- less than ~150 AUD (100 USD)
Thanks in advance! Any tips around remote control and/or home assistant integration for it would also be welcome.
The Le Potato AML-S905X-CC has h.264 and h.265 decoders up to 4k, emmc connector So you don’t have to run off an SD card. I’ve used it as a media player and its pretty damn solid. I can’t speak to streaming games because I don’t do that, so I don’t know if it’s a different format. It does not have a powerful processor, so if the stream is encoded differently I wouldn’t expect it to be very good.
Its pretty old, around rpi3 performance, but having the decoders in there make it better than the RPI 4 for playing those types of videos.
Is Open/CoreELEC OK?
Have a look at the DuneHD box. It’s an unlocked android box, CoreELEC support, kann play HDR and 3D content.
That is the cheapest solution I know.
Dune HD?
Typo, thanks. Fixed it.
Yes, DuneHD . Pro Vision works well. I use it on a 3D Beamer. ShellyFin in house, plays everything, h264,h265 HDR and 3D content, everything hardware decoded. And this with CoreELEC on it.
I have never seen these. Thanks for mentioning them. I use a bunch of nvidia shield boxes and they are getting older by the day. Seeking alternatives and I like the looks of these. They do state they are not Netflix certified, but what does that mean? Will it work and they just don’t guarantee it? I’d say half the shield’s duty is Netflix and the other half is streaming from a nas. I use a separate pc w/FF for youtoob for the ad blocking. Would love to distill down to one box and this looks very nice. Thanks again!
Netflix needs some fucked up DRM. Without it Netflix will only work in 720p (maybe 1080?) without HDR.
But that is the usual Linux user experience…
As they have an unlocked bootloader, no Netflix certificate.
So, it will work, but with limits
Less than $100 is tricky, but I’ve been meeting all your criteria with a Beelink EQ14. I also use it as my router.
haven’t tried steam link but the raspberry pi still does all that for 150 or less
I have an Odroid c2 as server with a chromecast (with Google TV) as viewer with Kodi. For videos it is stable. It can play 1080p x264 and x265.
The odroid c2 server runs DietPi (based on Debian).
For games I have no idea… If your interested in odroid, do not pick up the c2 but the successor the c4.
I already have a Chromecast but want to move away from google stuff.
I have a C2 with LibreELEC but last time I checked there were zero os updates for years :( any suggestions?
Maybe a used minipc like the Lenovo Tiny series, although it might be slightly exceeding your budget.
The only SBC I can think of is the Raspberry pi (5)i.
But not the 8+ gb ram version.Raspi4?
$94 from PiAustralia, or $144 with a case, psu, cables, etc from RS. (both 4GB version, 2GB stock hasn’t been reliable since Covid)
Plays h.264/265 at 60fps fine, does 10bit too both via hardware accel, can play 1080p vp9 but it’s CPU decode only, can’t handle AV1.
2x minihdmi, USB-C for power (needs 5V 3A), 802.11ac and BT5, pcie ethernet.
Raspi5 is a lot more money and removed h264 hardware accel.
I prefer the LS1
Back in the day I used a raspberry pi 3 for 1080p h.264 and steam link / moonlight. Problem was omxplayer plays up to 1080p60 beautifully, but anything else would struggle. Eventually ‘upgraded’ to an old laptop to easily YouTube/netflix in the browser too.
Same. Eventually upgraded to a Pi 4, which doesn’t have any trouble with 1080p content. Pi 3’s onboard wifi was also problematic, and I had to run it over wired networking. Kept that for the Pi 4, so I don’t know if its wifi is any better.
Steam deck? Or an old laptop with bazzite?
