Is a nvidia shield still the best? Are there others? I'd like to play various 4k HDR video files. Which one to buy? Any recommendations? Nvidia shield looks very much outdated but there's nothing new.
What about plasma bigscreen? Would that be good? I'd just use it for jellyfin, the DE doesn't matter much.
The shield pro 2019 is probably still the best overall, it's not perfect as there are some weaknesses due to the age of its chipset, but for all the common formats used in Movies and TV it works perfectly, especially if you are playing full remux files, not re-encoded compressed video. Kodi runs very well, Plex runs very well, Jellyfin is mostly perfect too, but has some limitations in the current version.
Yes it supports HDR10 (not10+) and Dolby Vision, which covers 98% of all 4K blurays and TV shows, anything HDR10+ just gets played in HDR10 compatibility mode, if you TV doesn't do DV it plays the HDR10 layer on 99% of files. There are some issues with HLG as it isnt properly supported but you don't come across that format all that often and there is usually an SDR or regular HDR version available, if your TV supports manually activating HLG then it works fine.
Yes there is a minor colour bug in some DV content, no it isn't the end of the world as some people make it out to be.
It is one of the only players that will give you full DTS:X and Dolby Atmos support, it has a very nice configurable upscaler for lower res content (AI upscale on low works excellently with minimal artifacts), it still has a lot going for it despite its age.
Also its easy to decrapify with ADB, you can easily configure third party launchers and other fun stuff.
Thx! That's a great review. HDR10 compatibility mode sounds good, I assume it doesn't make too much of a difference. And the HDR layer for DV is great as well.
I've been rocking a shield pro for years, never had in issue. Still runs butter smooth.
If you want to avoid transcoding entirely, a Nvidia Shield is probably your best bet as it supports a few more audio codecs and HDMI passthrough that an Apple TV doesn't support. That being said, the Nvidia Shield is both more expensive and older than an Apple TV. I would argue that an Apple TV has a better overall experience with third party apps, newer hardware, more up-to-date OS, whereas a Shield works best for Plex/jellyfin.
I bought a Nvidia Shield first to replace a Smart TV and Steam Link and was pretty disappointed with my overall experience. I ended up biting the bullet and getting an Apple TV and the only issue I've had is that now TrueHD streams are getting transcoded.
Of course, your experience and desires are probably different so would just suggest looking around for what works best for you.
I have a regular-ass Amazon Fire TV stick 4k max that I use to play my Jellyfin content. It has native hardware support for h.265. I can't remember the last time it needed a stream transcoded. Of course, it is encumbered with the Amazon ecosystem, but it was cheap.
I also have one of those $20 Walmart Android TV boxes. The UI is a little slow in it but it plays the same Jellyfin content just fine, and you can replace the stock launcher on it with whatever you want.
