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42
Best TV box for connecting to streaming services? (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
43 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

We currently have Roku's on our tvs to connect to streaming services and servers but they are infested with advertisements.

Some other comments mentioned Walmart's $20 ONN 4k boxes, but these are android and I don't have the time or knowledge/patience to go through the flashing process on one of those; if there is even a working custom ROM.

Basically we just want a functioning (libre) streaming box. The closest I could find was OSMC's Vero V (just released a few months ago), although it's a little pricey at $160 usd. Are there any other options out there or does anyone have any experience with the Vero V?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

The best thing I can think of is my raspi with libreelec. Youtube and Twitch work but its still young. Lots of work to put in for privacy and freedom. Its far better than my newer appletv (legacy) and since my old appletv (1st gen) was declared obsolete by apple, it could not play anything anymore.

Honestly, I would definitely start using SBCs (raspi, bananapi, rock64) and learn to make plugins since they have an awesome api already completely done so you barely need to program. Its far better than running custom janky roms on proprietary shit hardware and probably the same amount of work.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I have a roku, and I gotta ask.... what ads? I think they run one on the side at the menu screen but I never even notice it. Because the only time i am on that screen is to get to a channelm

Then when something isn't playing it just goes to the aquarium screen saver.

What are you doing that had so many ads?

If you want to talk about how chatty the damn things are with their servers, yes that is an issue.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If you have a smart TV you can use stremio, don’t even need a box.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

I believe the general consensus is that hooking a smart TV to the Internet is generally a bad idea.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You did not say what kind of streaming services.

For anything self-hosted or torrents/debrid, just get a Raspberry Pi with LibreELEC.

If you use Netflix and the likes, you will likely want something officially supported. My partner likes Netflix for some reason and after years of using the unofficial addon by CastaginaIT, I gave up and got her a Firestick this winter (having set up a separate VLAN for it and ripped out the microphone, of course).

The unofficial Kodi addon is an amazing piece of reverse engineering work, but it's not really great that you have to log in using your computer every month or two, and occasionally download a 2GB binary, before you can watch a movie on Netflix half-asleep.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I know it’s not a popular option around here and expensive but I absolutely love my Apple TV.

Besides the set up plug for Apple TV+ I never get any ads from the OS outside of the specific apps. Yeah, you go into Amazon or something you get their ads all over but not sure you can do anything about that. Even without a pinhole it’s a much better experience compared to my TV (when I allowed it online) or a friend’s Roku with piholes.

Overall though it’s an unobtrusive OS, has apps that are updated well, supports high quality output (4K/atmos etc.). You just have to pay up front for it, but of all the Apple stuff it’s the best bang for the buck. I love to tinker with my tech but for TV, me (and especially) the family need something that just works nicely without needing to fiddle with it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I’ve been wondering about that, since my Firestick became so shitty that I actually prefer streaming apps on my TV. Most of my devices are already on Apple, so how about this one?

  • I like fewer ads
  • if it’s like the Apple TV app, there’s too much pressure to buy stuff I’m never going to buy.

So, on the home screen, can you tell which Videos are to purchase without clicking into them? Are things you subscribe to easily distinguishable from god forsaken ad infested ones?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It is basically like a basic iOS device so the apps are separated and by each developer. You can rearrange the Home Screen and do folders in the same way. The App Store is similar and just has the tv specific apps.

The Apple TV app is exactly the same as the app on other Apple devices, but you don’t have to use it. (You may have to change a setting so the home button goes home and not the tv app but I forget)

The third party apps are pretty much like using Netflix/youtube/whatever on an iPad. So if you hate them they’re you’ll not like this.

If you can try one I’d give it a shot.

Also: some people don’t like the remotes (especially the older one), but I really like it. It’s nice that it charges with usb and I only charge it like one a year.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Seems like a lot of pluses

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I have rokus and use a pihole plus NAT routing rules to force them to not use hard coded DNS so they can't reach their APIs and most ad domains and while not perfect I don't see many ads. Maybe the odd poster scrolling around to get to Plex or Netflix

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Kodi via LibreElec on a RaspberryPi in a Flirc case with the Flirc remote.

Streaming pirated content used to bother me but now I see it as these streaming companies steal my data, give me ads after I pay for the service, and if I "purchase" something it's not actually mine, not DRM free, and they have the tendency to remove that so called purchased content due to licensing issues.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I use old Intel nucs or just mini PC's in general put debian or whatever you want on them paired with an Amazon wireless keyboard and trackpad, I think I searched wireless pc remote on Amazon, and blamo you have a media centre pc... if you use plex they have a desktop app or a media center version of it you you can boot into on boot which is great because I don't need to launch it everytime. Plus when I press any button on the keyboard it wakes up the TV and pc seamlessly... honestly it's fantastic, I have a smart TV that cost way too much because I exclusively just use the pc connected to it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
DNS Domain Name Service/System
NAT Network Address Translation
PiHole Network-wide ad-blocker (DNS sinkhole)
Plex Brand of media server package
SBC Single-Board Computer
VPN Virtual Private Network

6 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 10 acronyms.

[Thread #504 for this sub, first seen 12th Feb 2024, 00:55] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If you want things to just work: Chromecast with Android TV, plus PiHole or Adguard to pull out of all the telemetry and advertising (except maybe Amazon Prime's new stuff).

Also, Google at least gives you the possibility to pull out of the personalized stuff and doesn't work much with 3rd party advertiser's. And those they work with are being taken care of with PiHole and Adguard.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have that setup. The entire front page of Chromecast is baked-in advertising with a small row of your apps and pihole with a good list still doesn't get rid of them, sadly.

Chromecast is built for and of ads. That being said, it definitely does "just work". Jellyfin + Chromecast is a great streaming experience. I don't have to deal with skipping and stuttering like on the android app.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Replace the launcher.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Any suggestions?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have an Nvidia Shield running LineageOS.

The setup process wasn't too bad, but the Shield might be more money than you want to spend.

I use it for Netflix and Plex, as well as Spotify, with no problems. It tells me that Netflix is not optimised for the device, but plays fine. I've heard that Netflix may limit it to 720p, but the quality is as good as you can expect from Netflix anyway.

Plex works perfectly, can stream 4k from my media server with no issues. I will eventually transition to Jellyfin, once I convince the 4 other households that have access to my Plex library to sort themselves out.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

LineageOS on the Shield? Any drawbacks?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No drawbacks for my use case, but there are a few quirks.

Some apps that I've dabbled with might show vertically, but most of the Android TV compatible apps were fine.

Some apps seem to expect a touchscreen input, and don't really show what's highlighted or selected very well, so navigating with just a TV style remote control can be tricky. I have a mouse and keyboard that I also use, definitely the easiest option.

Lastly, the Shield is a pretty powerful device, so I always kinda feel like I'm not using it to its fullest potential. I haven't really tried any gaming with it, I don't use it as a media server or anything, just a simple stream box. That's less of a quirk with the device itself, and more an issue with me feeling like I should be putting it to better use.

Happy to answer any other questions you may have!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

@[email protected] suggested that HW accelerated video decode doesn't work, is that the case?

Does GPU accel in general (OGL and vulkan) work?

Does Widevine DRM work?

Highly specific long-shot question but is the Shield TV's GPU fast enough for https://github.com/bloc97/Anime4K/?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Last I heard GPU accelerated video decoding didn't work

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

That's... a rather huge drawback. Why even pay for a shield at that point?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For maximum compatibility with all services you are limited in your choices due to DRM licence requirements.

You can mostly decrapify android based boxes via ADB to strip out much of the bloat, strip most of the telemetry entirely then block the rest in your firewall, and replace the launcher with a super barebones one like Flauncher but it will never be 100% perfect.

If you must be in full control of what is on the device and what it is doing, a small, low powered miniPC (intel n100 is a good chip for basic AV for example, 4k 10bit with perfect H265 and AV1 decoding) and use the operating system of your choice, but you are then limited in what you can stream via browser or third party apps, often in nowhere near full quality, again this is due to licencing and drm.

The best option is to avoid streaming services altogether and download your own content, then use an offline player like kodi or a server/client solution like Jellyfin (a free and open alternative to plex, with most of the base features well implemented) to play it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Kodi is good for many streaming services too, just not Netflix. It has been good with HBO Max.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have the $20 Walmart one, no need for flashing anything, it let's you install 3rd party apps out of the box. I googled guides online for recommended apps and it took all of 20 minutes to get my own loader, etc set up with just the apps I want installed.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

trying to get away from Google services / looking for a libre solution.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah that's fair. I sidestepped the google issue by creating a new account not used for anything else but the box but that's not a perfect solution either.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I would just use a tiny PC and connect it to the Internet, then use Linux and pirating services to build a library of stuff. Works well for me.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I would 100% do this (minus the pirating part) if there was a way to get a tv style remote for the box. That's the biggest obstacle for me because I've never been able to find a PC/tv remote and non technical users will be using the TV.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

You can get a USB IR receiver and use software like LIRC to map the inputs of basically any remote you have. Setting it up takes a little effort, but it works great when it's done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Search wireless pc remote on Amazon, they have a trackpad scroll wheel and media controls and theyre about the size of a smartphone in landscape with full qwerty keyboard, they're fantastic, I bought one for every TV in the house... connected to old mini pc's

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I just use a kb/mouse combo device and treat it like a PC and use VLC/online services/DVD drive to play media. It's not super traditional but it feels pretty easy since most of it is in a web browser!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Get an ir usb receiver like a flirc and just use a normal remote. I think flirc even sells a remote.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Look for air mouse. It's basically a wiimote. Uses gyroscope to pretend to be a pointer device. You'll need that because you're basically going to need to use a web browser if you want to go down this path.

It's not a nice experience but all the nice experiences you won't like.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I mean the Vero V seems to be a nice polished experience. It's just a lot of work to setup a linux box and get it to work, the latter being the hard part. The wiimote and the flirc have some comments in reviews about being poor experiences, and I just want it to be on par with the Roku or it'll wind up in the trash heap. I don't mind paying a little bit extra for a finished solution, and it seems like a plus that the Vero is a community/libre project.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

OSMC on a rpi3 with a hifiberry+ has served me well for many years. Most things just work, even passthrough TV remote over i2c if the TV supports it (brand name for the implementation varies by TV manufacturer I think). My setup has been really slow in recent months, but I probably just need a new sd card... Streaming service integration in kodi isn't perfect but e.g. Netflix works well enough.

It's a bit of tinkering to get it just the way you want it, but not too much and then it's great with a lot of flexibility. I have slapped an IR LED onto a GPIO, for example, and I have a service running that checks for audio output and turns my old hifi system on and off accordingly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

It seems to me like you've kinda made up your mind and are just waiting for someone to back you up before dropping the cash for the Vero :P

With the criteria you've listed, I doubt you'll find a better solution. I say go for it (as long as you can afford it)!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I just want it to be on par with the Roku or it’ll wind up in the trash heap

in the nicest way possible. lower your expectations. or accept the data-selling, or VPN through europe so you can deny the ads.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

currently using a laptop and a bluetooth KB/mouse, works fine for me

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Why would you need to flash the Walmart one?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Android/Google telemetry.

I'd like just one piece of technology that doesn't use my information to sell to the highest bidder.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Oh of course. I've given up.