xbmc/plex media player
- Thread starter harsh247
- Start date
dheerajjotwani
Active Member
Dont go for the android based devices if u want 5.1 sound. Cheapest and reliable option is a raspberry pi running openelec. Power it from the usb port on tv and control it using the tv remote with hdmi-cec
tapped on Note II cdma
tapped on Note II cdma
Dheeraj , I never knew it was possible to use Pi in this manner. Is HDMI CEC supported by TV brands like Sony, Panasonic etc. ?
dheerajjotwani
Active Member
Yes amit... most 2009 onwards lcd and led tvs have hdmi cec built in. Plus using piwer from the tv usb port makes it a complete and well integrated setup
tapped on Note II cdma
tapped on Note II cdma
dheerajjotwani
Active Member
Works on samsung and sony. Have tried on lcd, led, vfd across some 7 different models. A good hdmi cable is the key
tapped on Note II cdma
tapped on Note II cdma
Android supports all the formats. You can check out "VLC" application for the support. There are many players which have optical out as well.
You can have a look at this player
Kaiboer F4 Android 4.2.2 Quad Core RK3188 Google Smart TV Box Media Player
Feature:
Quad core rockchip RK3188 Android tv box Cortex A9 1.8ghz 28nm
The F4 Android TV box body use aluminum ingots metal material, Externall added exquisite matte process
Ultra HD Play, perfect picture quality
Besides Main Video Format, Also support H.265 encoding
Currently the network will be gradually transformed into online video format H.265 encoding, F4 quad-core smart player supports perfect decodin Without worrying about the product concept to be eliminated ultra smooth HD quality Luxury fashion, the perfect exquisite
High speed WI-FI signal receiving antenna
Configuring high-speed WI-FI module independent
High signal-gain antenna to receive enhanced WI-FI
Provide a stable network signal
Online on-demand ultra-smooth experience
CPU : RK3188 Quad Core Cortex A9 1.8Ghz GPU Mali-400 28nm
Ram : 2GB DDR3
Rom : 8GB NAND FLASH
IOS : Android 4.2
Storage : External Storage hardware
Output resolution : HDMI/YUV Output:1080p/1080i/720p/576p/480p
Video : MPEG-1/2,MPEG-4,DIVX,H.264,VC-1,H.263,REAL MEDIA,MVC,GOOGLE VP8,WMV,
Video decoder : H.264/AVC
Audio : MPEG,WMA,WAV,APE,OGG,FLAC,ACC
Audio encoding : AMR,AAC
Picture Formats : JPEG,BMP,GIF,PNG
Subtitle formats : SRT SUB SSA
Language : Multi Langueage
Wifi Wireless : Support
Video Port : HDMI*1,CVBS *1
Audio : FL/FR *1,HDMI*1,Optical*1
network interface : Lan port 100MB
Wifi : Built in 150MB wireless network adapter , 802.11b/g/n,Double external antenna
Other Port : "1*SD card slot,USB(2.0)* (connector portable hard disk,USB hard disk base) ,Reset*1,OTG*1, 5.1Optical port
Operation : Remote control, Air Mouse and so on
Power : 5V 2A
Size : 187mm*128mm*24mm
Housing : Aluminium alloy Housing
Antenna : Double external antenna
You can have a look at this player
Kaiboer F4 Android 4.2.2 Quad Core RK3188 Google Smart TV Box Media Player
Feature:
Quad core rockchip RK3188 Android tv box Cortex A9 1.8ghz 28nm
The F4 Android TV box body use aluminum ingots metal material, Externall added exquisite matte process
Ultra HD Play, perfect picture quality
Besides Main Video Format, Also support H.265 encoding
Currently the network will be gradually transformed into online video format H.265 encoding, F4 quad-core smart player supports perfect decodin Without worrying about the product concept to be eliminated ultra smooth HD quality Luxury fashion, the perfect exquisite
High speed WI-FI signal receiving antenna
Configuring high-speed WI-FI module independent
High signal-gain antenna to receive enhanced WI-FI
Provide a stable network signal
Online on-demand ultra-smooth experience
CPU : RK3188 Quad Core Cortex A9 1.8Ghz GPU Mali-400 28nm
Ram : 2GB DDR3
Rom : 8GB NAND FLASH
IOS : Android 4.2
Storage : External Storage hardware
Output resolution : HDMI/YUV Output:1080p/1080i/720p/576p/480p
Video : MPEG-1/2,MPEG-4,DIVX,H.264,VC-1,H.263,REAL MEDIA,MVC,GOOGLE VP8,WMV,
Video decoder : H.264/AVC
Audio : MPEG,WMA,WAV,APE,OGG,FLAC,ACC
Audio encoding : AMR,AAC
Picture Formats : JPEG,BMP,GIF,PNG
Subtitle formats : SRT SUB SSA
Language : Multi Langueage
Wifi Wireless : Support
Video Port : HDMI*1,CVBS *1
Audio : FL/FR *1,HDMI*1,Optical*1
network interface : Lan port 100MB
Wifi : Built in 150MB wireless network adapter , 802.11b/g/n,Double external antenna
Other Port : "1*SD card slot,USB(2.0)* (connector portable hard disk,USB hard disk base) ,Reset*1,OTG*1, 5.1Optical port
Operation : Remote control, Air Mouse and so on
Power : 5V 2A
Size : 187mm*128mm*24mm
Housing : Aluminium alloy Housing
Antenna : Double external antenna
dheerajjotwani
Active Member
Android players deliver video well but sound wise it is left lacking. Moreover the earlier ones had flaky wifi at best hence the suggestion to stay away. Moreover hardware acceleration for the cortex a8/9 is beta hence xbmc is still testing. And to top it all the build quality is always below par on these players and sticks...
I feel a better option is the e350 platform or the atom ion build. For out of the box experience rpi meets the requirements well.
The media playback now is more than just a simple browser feel... so previous generation players like wdtv etc cant match up even though they get job done mighty well. One gpod priced product is the playon hd mini2 for around 5.5k
tapped on Note II cdma
I feel a better option is the e350 platform or the atom ion build. For out of the box experience rpi meets the requirements well.
The media playback now is more than just a simple browser feel... so previous generation players like wdtv etc cant match up even though they get job done mighty well. One gpod priced product is the playon hd mini2 for around 5.5k
tapped on Note II cdma
I saw this product in a store in Mumbai.
The streaming issue was because all the players available were having the WIFI antina inside it so the signal use to break. This player is having dual wifi so no need of worrying for the signal strength. Go only for quad core processors as the performance of those players is only good and are future proof.
Most of the dual core players lags if they don't have a dedicated GPU. This player is having Mali 400 GPU which is enough for playing all your video files.
This player also supports play store while other players hangs up when you turn on play store. You can also use WhatsApp, skype on the player. Make your android phone as a remote control. Download XBMC for best experience.
Available on ebay. Product is from Kaiboer same seller who was selling Kaiboer before. Better you
visit his website and call him for discounted prices.
Quality of the product is very good. Does not lags. You can also get an air mouse by paying some extra price. Air mouse is also too good. I feel it should be the best Air mouse i have ever used. Response time of the mouse is too good.
The streaming issue was because all the players available were having the WIFI antina inside it so the signal use to break. This player is having dual wifi so no need of worrying for the signal strength. Go only for quad core processors as the performance of those players is only good and are future proof.
Most of the dual core players lags if they don't have a dedicated GPU. This player is having Mali 400 GPU which is enough for playing all your video files.
This player also supports play store while other players hangs up when you turn on play store. You can also use WhatsApp, skype on the player. Make your android phone as a remote control. Download XBMC for best experience.
Available on ebay. Product is from Kaiboer same seller who was selling Kaiboer before. Better you
visit his website and call him for discounted prices.
Quality of the product is very good. Does not lags. You can also get an air mouse by paying some extra price. Air mouse is also too good. I feel it should be the best Air mouse i have ever used. Response time of the mouse is too good.
baijuxavior
Well-Known Member
Does it support HD audio bitstreaming?
I have a Minix Neo X5 which has almost identical specs as the Kaiboer F4 (actually the elder brother - Neo X7 has the same specs). Only difference is that the cabinet is plastic not Aluminum which IMHO, looks spectacular.
Here's the thing - it offers incredible value for such little money, and is very compact and is completely silent.
However, Android and these custom Rockchips are still not at the same level as x86 in terms of software support. So, if you run into an issue (like I think HD bitstreaming is not supported but not 100% sure), you're basically stuck. x86 on the other hand offers you many other options simply because there is so much more software built for it. Even the controller for these Android devices doesn't always work 100% well. I had to spend several hours figuring this out before I settled on the Logitech K400 keyboard with inbuilt trackpad.
So instead of something like this, you might be better off buying either an Android based device but that is custom built for watching movies (lots of threads in this forum discussing this). I personally use Roku which also supports Plex by the way, and the usability and clarity of Roku just cannot be matched by my Minix Android device (and I did do a A/B comparison on several videos). Or you can get a x86 based basic HTPC which really won't cost all that much more. There are plenty of power efficient and cheap x86 solutions starting from Intel Atom to AMD A4 to even the upcoming Baytrail chips.
So I can't give strong advice as I don't know enough about this field myself. However, my next HTPC/audio server solution will definitely be x86 based. Maybe, I will build something that will also run Steam and let me do lightweight gaming.
Here's the thing - it offers incredible value for such little money, and is very compact and is completely silent.
However, Android and these custom Rockchips are still not at the same level as x86 in terms of software support. So, if you run into an issue (like I think HD bitstreaming is not supported but not 100% sure), you're basically stuck. x86 on the other hand offers you many other options simply because there is so much more software built for it. Even the controller for these Android devices doesn't always work 100% well. I had to spend several hours figuring this out before I settled on the Logitech K400 keyboard with inbuilt trackpad.
So instead of something like this, you might be better off buying either an Android based device but that is custom built for watching movies (lots of threads in this forum discussing this). I personally use Roku which also supports Plex by the way, and the usability and clarity of Roku just cannot be matched by my Minix Android device (and I did do a A/B comparison on several videos). Or you can get a x86 based basic HTPC which really won't cost all that much more. There are plenty of power efficient and cheap x86 solutions starting from Intel Atom to AMD A4 to even the upcoming Baytrail chips.
So I can't give strong advice as I don't know enough about this field myself. However, my next HTPC/audio server solution will definitely be x86 based. Maybe, I will build something that will also run Steam and let me do lightweight gaming.
Netgear RN102 External Hard Drive - Netgear: Flipkart.com
what if i get this and use roku to stream? can someone tell me how to set it up as a plex server etc. i suck at understanding networking
what if i get this and use roku to stream? can someone tell me how to set it up as a plex server etc. i suck at understanding networking
dheerajjotwani
Active Member
@harsh
plex/xbmc are great platforms. the only difference is plex needs a background server running on a nas/computer on your network from which the client i.e roku/ipad/devices etc can stream.
so before selecting hardware first identify what you want to run. xbmc is free of such a tie and runs fully on the client. raspberry pi/old x86 computer may be a good start when paired with any nas like the one you have picked out.
if you are comfortable buy a custom made mini htpc from ebay based on a e350/atom ion build for 12-13k and run xbmc on it using openelec on a pen drive. else a raspberry pi can do the same for ~4k running the same xbmc on openelec.
plex/xbmc are great platforms. the only difference is plex needs a background server running on a nas/computer on your network from which the client i.e roku/ipad/devices etc can stream.
so before selecting hardware first identify what you want to run. xbmc is free of such a tie and runs fully on the client. raspberry pi/old x86 computer may be a good start when paired with any nas like the one you have picked out.
if you are comfortable buy a custom made mini htpc from ebay based on a e350/atom ion build for 12-13k and run xbmc on it using openelec on a pen drive. else a raspberry pi can do the same for ~4k running the same xbmc on openelec.
bullet.350
New Member
@harsh
can you please post your requirement in more details.
I am also interested in this kind of setup.
my 2 cents -
Before buying anything new.... check all option available with your current available HW.
Sometime an old PC could do which you never imagined. it will save your paisa and less devices to manage.
can you please post your requirement in more details.
I am also interested in this kind of setup.
my 2 cents -
Before buying anything new.... check all option available with your current available HW.
Sometime an old PC could do which you never imagined. it will save your paisa and less devices to manage.
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