Streaming Equipment (Nvidia Shield, Apple TV, Roku, Fire Stick et al)

[Mainstreet]

About the only things I watch for an hour or more on television is sports, documentary/ adventure and travel.

I don't do all the streaming stuff right now because DirecTV has everything I want. Plus, I have the internet.

I think at least one of DirecTV or Dish will stick around.

 

[blindseyed]

About the only things I watch for an hour or more on television is sports, documentary/ adventure and travel.

I don't do all the streaming stuff right now because DirecTV has everything I want. Plus, I have the internet.

I think at least one of DirecTV or Dish will stick around.

I hear ya, the only thing I watch live is sports I don't do commercials anymore, even during the game commercial I switch games in a picture in picture lol everything else I stream with no commercials , it's all out there, The only problem I have is when my wife wants to watch something specific she makes me find it lol

 

[Mainstreet]

I hear ya, the only thing I watch live is sports I don't do commercials anymore, even during the game commercial I switch games in a picture in picture lol everything else I stream with no commercials , it's all out there, The only problem I have is when my wife wants to watch something specific she makes me find it lol

I haven't done commercials in a long time. I zone them out mentally. It also helps to be playing on the computer.

I have a man cave to watch games, but surprisingly I have found my daughter is a real Suns fan so she is invited.

 

[Devilmaycare]

I wish I had caught this earlier. For set-top boxes is goes like this:
#1 AppleTV - it's hands down best of class. Fastest out of any of them and it gets the new services and features (atmos, DolbyVision (DV), etc) first for the streaming services. The apps on it also usually receive higher bit rates from the services than the other devices. Being in the apple ecosystem doesn't really matter for it since you're using the streaming services and don't have to rent from the Apple stores.

My main negative on it is that it doesn't support lossless Atmos for streaming home rips.

#2 nVidia Shield - Down at #2 but only by a hair. It does ATV's main negative so that's a plus. These days it'll handle most of what the streaming services throw at it but doesn't alway get the Atmos and DV streams. It also usually lags the ATV in getting the new features too which drops it to 2. The shields also has red push issue with some DV titles. It's a bit annoying when you run into one.

#3 everything else and the gulf isn't close. I don't know why anyone would settle for a FireStick, Roku, smart tv built-in, etc. None of them perform well due to lack of processing power. Their sluggish UIs and spotty support for the advanced features means they're paper weights at best.

Honorable mention: Zidoo Z9X - It's the best in home stream for a ripped collection. Amazing PQ and supports multiple DV profiles. It DOES NOT DO the streaming services though. It's only for in home streaming.

My setup has an ATV, Shield, and Zidoo in it. The zidoo is for all of my watching from my home server and the ATV is for pretty much everything else. The Shield mainly gets used if I run into an ATV issue and the TV in my Kitchen/great room only has a Shield which is mainly for watching YouTube while cooking.

If you guys ditch cable and go to OTA for games I'd highly recommend getting an HDHomeRun. I've been using one for football for almost a decade now and it should work great for the Suns once they're on broadcast tv (hopefully DBacks go that way too).

The HDHomeRun is a box that puts your OTA antenna onto your home network. You plug it into both the antenna and your network then it digitized the OTA signal so that you can watch it on anything in the house that has network connect. Then you can watch the games directly from your ATV or Shield.

Bonus on doing it is that OTA isn't delayed like Cox and DTV are. That lets you see the action first and gives you a snark advantage in the game day threads.

 

[jf-08]

I wish I had caught this earlier. For set-top boxes is goes like this:
#1 AppleTV - it's hands down best of class. Fastest out of any of them and it gets the new services and features (atmos, DolbyVision (DV), etc) first for the streaming services. The apps on it also usually receive higher bit rates from the services than the other devices. Being in the apple ecosystem doesn't really matter for it since you're using the streaming services and don't have to rent from the Apple stores.

My main negative on it is that it doesn't support lossless Atmos for streaming home rips.

#2 nVidia Shield - Down at #2 but only by a hair. It does ATV's main negative so that's a plus. These days it'll handle most of what the streaming services throw at it but doesn't alway get the Atmos and DV streams. It also usually lags the ATV in getting the new features too which drops it to 2. The shields also has red push issue with some DV titles. It's a bit annoying when you run into one.

#3 everything else and the gulf isn't close. I don't know why anyone would settle for a FireStick, Roku, smart tv built-in, etc. None of them perform well due to lack of processing power. Their sluggish UIs and spotty support for the advanced features means they're paper weights at best.

Honorable mention: Zidoo Z9X - It's the best in home stream for a ripped collection. Amazing PQ and supports multiple DV profiles. It DOES NOT DO the streaming services though. It's only for in home streaming.

My setup has an ATV, Shield, and Zidoo in it. The zidoo is for all of my watching from my home server and the ATV is for pretty much everything else. The Shield mainly gets used if I run into an ATV issue and the TV in my Kitchen/great room only has a Shield which is mainly for watching YouTube while cooking.

If you guys ditch cable and go to OTA for games I'd highly recommend getting an HDHomeRun. I've been using one for football for almost a decade now and it should work great for the Suns once they're on broadcast tv (hopefully DBacks go that way too).

The HDHomeRun is a box that puts your OTA antenna onto your home network. You plug it into both the antenna and your network then it digitized the OTA signal so that you can watch it on anything in the house that has network connect. Then you can watch the games directly from your ATV or Shield.

Bonus on doing it is that OTA isn't delayed like Cox and DTV are. That lets you see the action first and gives you a snark advantage in the game day threads.

Which device is easier to set up and then use? ATV or Shield?

And I'm not in the Apple environment. Is that an issue?

 

[Yuma]

Which device is easier to set up and then use? ATV or Shield?

And I'm not in the Apple environment. Is that an issue?

I just watched the video on the Apple device on Apple.com. They don't really show why you should buy one, imho. Who does their marketing?

 

[Devilmaycare]

Which device is easier to set up and then use? ATV or Shield?

And I'm not in the Apple environment. Is that an issue?

Initial set-up is probably a wash with Shield a hair easier for android user and ATV a little easier for iPhone users. Both have a feature where they'll suck in your account info from your phone. After that it's about the same.

For everyday use I find the ATV a little easier. The UI follows the same pattern as a smart phone, big grid of icons with folders whereas the Shield is a little odd to me. One row for apps and then "channels" that you can turn on for different apps. The channels are stuff like YouTube recommendation, top picks, your favorites, etc.

Once you're in one of the streaming apps they're pretty much the same since you're dependent on the app at that point. Netflix, HBO, whoever usually do the app UIs similar across platforms. The one in app big plus for me with an ATV is that touchpad on the remote. It's so much nicer for scrubbing than trying to use the arrow buttons on other remotes.

Not being in the Apple environment isn't a big deal to me. I don't use any of Apple's services like Arcade, Music, News+, etc. Only one I do is AppleTV+ depending on what's currently airing and I'd be doing that on the Shield too since ATV+ has some of the best shows. Other than that nothing apple is needed except for making an iCloud ID so that you can download from the app store.

 

[jf-08]

Initial set-up is probably a wash with Shield a hair easier for android user and ATV a little easier for iPhone users. Both have a feature where they'll suck in your account info from your phone. After that it's about the same.

For everyday use I find the ATV a little easier. The UI follows the same pattern as a smart phone, big grid of icons with folders whereas the Shield is a little odd to me. One row for apps and then "channels" that you can turn on for different apps. The channels are stuff like YouTube recommendation, top picks, your favorites, etc.

Once you're in one of the streaming apps they're pretty much the same since you're dependent on the app at that point. Netflix, HBO, whoever usually do the app UIs similar across platforms. The one in app big plus for me with an ATV is that touchpad on the remote. It's so much nicer for scrubbing than trying to use the arrow buttons on other remotes.

Not being in the Apple environment isn't a big deal to me. I don't use any of Apple's services like Arcade, Music, News+, etc. Only one I do is AppleTV+ depending on what's currently airing and I'd be doing that on the Shield too since ATV+ has some of the best shows. Other than that nothing apple is needed except for making an iCloud ID so that you can download from the app store.

Thank you so much for this info.

 

[jf-08]

I just read this article. Pretty cool info.

Apple TV 4K vs. NVIDIA Shield Pro: Battle of the Titans

Explore Apple TV 4K vs. NVIDIA Shield Pro in-depth! Compare features, performance, & usability to find the perfect streaming device for you.

androidtvnews.com

 

[Devilmaycare]

Thank you so much for this info.

No problem. Since you ordered the Shield already I'd go with it for now. Give it a spin and see how you like it. They're great devices and it had been my goto for home streaming due to supporting lossless atmos until I bought the Zidoo for that.

 

[Devilmaycare]

I just read this article. Pretty cool info.

Apple TV 4K vs. NVIDIA Shield Pro: Battle of the Titans

Explore Apple TV 4K vs. NVIDIA Shield Pro in-depth! Compare features, performance, & usability to find the perfect streaming device for you.

androidtvnews.com

That was a fair article and along the lines of what I was getting at. I like that it stressed the chips in each at the start since that's what sets these two apart from the field. They have the horsepower to give fluid, responsive UIs and they're powerful enough to decode and play anything you throw at them. That's one of the biggest things that drives me nuts whenever I try to use any of the lower end streamers.

 

[CFLredzoned]

That was a fair article and along the lines of what I was getting at. I like that it stressed the chips in each at the start since that's what sets these two apart from the field. They have the horsepower to give fluid, responsive UIs and they're powerful enough to decode and play anything you throw at them. That's one of the biggest things that drives me nuts whenever I try to use any of the lower end streamers.

Thanks for the info on this. That makes sense about processing power and who's using the best chips. I'm on Roku stick. So that's my problem.

How about the integrated smart tv function? I'm guessing they cut corners on that to make the TVs affordable at Walmart. Using the cheapest chips they can get away with.

Do the ATV and Shield give you better precision over rewinding and fast forwarding?

 

[Dr. Jones]

@Dr. Jones I have Apple products, but not the Apple TV unit. What cool things could I do if I ditch my Firestick?

Main thing for me is power, speed, and overall zippyness.

I also love the voice commands on the ATV best.

The masters app is amazing.

No ads anywhere.

The AppleTV app for your library is by far the best IMO.

I don't do any of the 3rd party stuff the Nvidia has so it doesn't matter to me. And the closed ecosystem apple provides makes screen share, password transfer, and other setup a breeze.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I have ipads and android phones in my house. One Roku Ultra (my wife's) and I have two ATV 4k's.

The ATV's are by far the best. We also have a travel streamer and its the Nvidia shield. Its much smaller and lighter than the ATV so it stays in my charger bag for trips.

I've had roku sticks, fire sticks, a roku 1 and a fire cube. None hold a candle to my ATV's or the shield. DMC is dead on.... The delta to #3 is WIDE.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Thanks for the info on this. That makes sense about processing power and who's using the best chips. I'm on Roku stick. So that's my problem.

How about the integrated smart tv function? I'm guessing they cut corners on that to make the TVs affordable at Walmart. Using the cheapest chips they can get away with.

Do the ATV and Shield give you better precision over rewinding and fast forwarding?

Smart TVs are the worse. I wish I could get dumb panels. There's a bunch of problems with them. First is that they're always way under powered. Especially the cheaper the TV is. They're not going to put a $40 chip into a $200 retail tv.

Second they're slow to get updates if they ever get one. The TV makers don't have much incentive to keep updating the software over time. If you're lucky you'll get an update or two before they move on to the next year's model.

And privacy. When you buy a lot of TVs you're both the consumer and the product. They keep the price of them lower than they should be due to data tracking that they collect and then sell. Samsung has also been caught using the camera and mics to directly spy on users too. Personally I don't give my TVs an internet connection unless I know that there's an update available, then it's update and turned back off.

Yes, the ATV and Shield give better scrolling precision. I'd give the ATV the advantage there too due to the touch pad scrubbing that I mentioned. It makes jumping forward or back really nice IMO. I wish the other streaming boxes copied it.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Smart TVs are the worse. I wish I could get dumb panels. There's a bunch of problems with them. First is that they're always way under powered. Especially the cheaper the TV is. They're not going to put a $40 chip into a $200 retail tv.

Second they're slow to get updates if they ever get one. The TV makers don't have much incentive to keep updating the software over time. If you're lucky you'll get an update or two before they move on to the next year's model.

And privacy. When you buy a lot of TVs you're both the consumer and the product. They keep the price of them lower than they should be due to data tracking that they collect and then sell. Samsung has also been caught using the camera and mics to directly spy on users too. Personally I don't give my TVs an internet connection unless I know that there's an update available, then it's update and turned back off.

Yes, the ATV and Shield give better scrolling precision. I'd give the ATV the advantage there too due to the touch pad scrubbing that I mentioned. It makes jumping forward or back really nice IMO. I wish the other streaming boxes copied it.

The LG OS is hands down better than all of the rest. If I were purchasing a TV for myself, I wouldn't even consider one with Roku or Android built in.

 

[Devilmaycare]

The LG OS is hands down better than all of the rest. If I were purchasing a TV for myself, I wouldn't even consider one with Roku or Android built in.

FYI, I meant that in relation to an ATV/Shield, not between the different TV brands. There's still a huge gulf there.

 

[jf-08]

Ok I got the Shield set up.

Is there any way to watch any type of replay of streaming sports event on streaming services Amazon or Peacock that allows you to watch it in double or quadruple time? In other words can you fast forward while watching the preview on the screen rather than just a stopped picture of the screen while it's fast forwarding?

No matter what I try can't get it to do it. When I hit the fast forward button it just stops and the fast forward bar goes from left to right but you can't preview anything in fast time.

If I can't do that streaming services suck for me because most of the recorded sports events I watch via "fast watch".

 

[Dr. Jones]

Ok I got the Shield set up.

Is there any way to watch any type of replay of streaming sports event on streaming services Amazon or Peacock that allows you to watch it in double or quadruple time? In other words can you fast forward while watching the preview on the screen rather than just a stopped picture of the screen while it's fast forwarding?

No matter what I try can't get it to do it. When I hit the fast forward button it just stops and the fast forward bar goes from left to right but you can't preview anything in fast time.

If I can't do that streaming services suck for me because most of the recorded sports events I watch via "fast watch".

I subscribe to fubo tv and some people have YouTube TV.

Both have record capabilities for subscribers.

 

[jf-08]

I subscribe to fubo tv and some people have YouTube TV.

Both have record capabilities for subscribers.

Do those carry Peacock channels or is that something totally not conceivable? My wife wants to watch the tour de France but she wants to fast forward and stop where she wants to and the peacock app won't do that. It will just fast forward without having any type of preview.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Do those carry Peacock channels or is that something totally not conceivable? My wife wants to watch the tour de France but she wants to fast forward and stop where she wants to and the peacock app won't do that. It will just fast forward without having any type of preview.

What about from a PC browser?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

What about from a PC browser?

Not ideal, but may work for you, for this one program.

 

[jf-08]

Tried to watch Netflix and Prime last night with my Shield. But all I got was a pink screen with sound. The Google says something about HDMI connections but I bought new 8K cables and it streams Peacock fine and allows me to do the setup screens in Netflix + Prime, but won't actually show the show. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[puckhead]

Tried to watch Netflix and Prime last night with my Shield. But all I got was a pink screen with sound. The Google says something about HDMI connections but I bought new 8K cables and it streams Peacock fine and allows me to do the setup screens in Netflix + Prime, but won't actually show the show. Anyone have any suggestions?

Anything else in-between the TV and the Shield like a receiver?

 

[jf-08]

Anything else in-between the TV and the Shield like a receiver?

No, but my Samsung tv has a One Connect Box though.