Any personal recommendations for media streaming devices?

[smitbret]

As mentioned above I like my Intel NUC running Kodi either in OpenElec (likely to be LibreElec soon) or Windows 10 mode. I currently have it dual boot. This is great for my main system which powers my 4K TV and does upscaling. I have a Pi 2 B I use for whole house audio but have been looking at either 2 more NUCs or possibly Pi 3 Bs to replace my WD Live boxes. On question I have is what bitrates are your 1090P files ? I rip mine Blu-Rays at full bitate which often can hit close to 40mb/s. Are you running hit bitrates ? If so, how high ?

My Raspberry Pi Model B couldn't do full bitrate BD Rips; couldn't do anything that was more than 30-32mbps for longer than 5 seconds. The RaspPi 2 has no problem.

[jbinkley60]

My Raspberry Pi Model B couldn't do full bitrate BD Rips; couldn't do anything that was more than 30-32mbps for longer than 5 seconds. The RaspPi 2 has no problem.

Thanks. I an thinking of Pi 3 Bs. For the cost I might as well build one and see what happens. Are you doing any 4K upscaling with LibreElec ? I've been running OpenElec 6.0.3 on my Intel NUC but when doing 4K upscaling I get intermittent video drops and a sec of a black screen. I tried the latest OpenElec beta, which has newer Intel drives but it is even worse. Video drops out consistently with 4K upscaling. When I dual boot into Windows 10 running Kodi 4K upscaling is rock solid. I've been eyeing LibreElec as an option.

[smitbret]

Thanks. I an thinking of Pi 3 Bs. For the cost I might as well build one and see what happens. Are you doing any 4K upscaling with LibreElec ? I've been running OpenElec 6.0.3 on my Intel NUC but when doing 4K upscaling I get intermittent video drops and a sec of a black screen. I tried the latest OpenElec beta, which has newer Intel drives but it is even worse. Video drops out consistently with 4K upscaling. When I dual boot into Windows 10 running Kodi 4K upscaling is rock solid. I've been eyeing LibreElec as an option.

I literally have zero experience with 4k anything. I haven't upgraded my TVs or invested playback equipment for 4K. I am a surprisingly late adopter for things like that. I haven't been nearly impressed with the jump from 1080p to 4k as I was from 480p to 720p/1080p so I will wait until the tech comes down in price. I am kind of the opinion that 4k might end up like the 3D thing where it's fun to play with but might never catch on mainstream.

[jbinkley60]

I picked up a Raspberry Pi 3 and added a Flirc I had lying round, loaded it up with LibreElec and the Kodi add-on and so far things are working well with playing Blu-Ray full bitrate videos. I ordered a set of heatsinks for it just to keep it a bit cooler and I am still playing with some of the remote control keys with my Logitech Harmony remote. But so far I am pleased with the results for less than $100.

[jbinkley60]

I've continued testing with my Rasberry Pi and things are going well. I moved to an internal GPIO infrared receiver which is working very well. I also ended up ordering both the MPEG2 and VC-1 licenses from the Raspberry folks. I am able to play full bitrate Blu-Ray quality videos for AVC, Mpeg2 and VC-1 encoding. The only problem I have noticed is with VC-1 and I use the plugin resume from a specific time option. I get pixalation and such. If I started from the beginning and time jump or skip it works fine. I don't see this on any other platform (i.e. NUC running Kodi, PC running Kodi etc...)

[digital-2k]

Joe,

To get this thread back on target, I have tested a number (6) of my WD Live units. It seems that a recent firmware upgrade broke the box/Mezzmo combination. I too have been getting the spinning wheel of death. I tested and confirmed this theory by doing a plug-and-play replacement with a unit that is been in the closet. If fired up and found the Mezzmo collection without a hiccup. To confirm the situation, good testing practices call for restoring the questionable configuration. Sure enough the updated unit did not function again. So in my opinion, this problem falls on WD. I did not as yet test a reset to factory of one of the broken boxes. That will be this evening's experiment.

As for other boxes to try, we use Brightsign and work because they need to run 24/7. But that's why they are pricey, because they do work without constantly trying to outsmart the equipment. Another personal opinion, I gave up playing with Arduino and Raspberry because there just isn't enough time in the day to reinvent something that a manufacturer is already done the R&D on. Also remember that Conceiva, as with all manufacturers, test their software/hardware under precise scenarios and therefore only support and guarantee such combinations and conditions.

-Dave

[digital-2k]

Joe,
This may help too.

From the forum....

Tip: If you regularly experience disconnection problems from your device when streaming videos at the 20-30 minute interval, you can try changing Mezzmo's advertisement value to 86400 (which is 24 hours).

Tip: If your device has trouble detecting Mezzmo, then you can try reducing the advertisement interval to 180 (which is 3 minutes).

Important: You must restart your Mezzmo server after making any changes to the Server advertisement interval setting.

I will test this evening. - Dave

[visiter555]

I dumped all my WD Lives and moved to several ChromeBox units (Celeron) dual booting and now running LibreELEC (V7 including Kodi 16.1). I started with OpenELEC and it has been super easy to update and then upgrade to the new LibreELEC.

It was extremely easy and the WAF was very high. I have now done more than 10 boxes for family and we have four in our house. Cheap and usable for other things.

I got lucky and got the ChromeBoxes all for $99 and the family ones were $149 less a $25 coupon back in the spring.

Asus, Dell, and so on make the better ones and good luck. I went the same path you did, and the WDs were good, the ChromeBoxs and even better and better supported over at the Kodi forums.

[john9832]

I recommend

HD Subs z100 Android Media Box.

[john9832]

There are various types of streaming box available in market but not all of them provide equal features to end users.

So, i recommend HD Subs streaming box for live internet entertainment.