Serviio

Hello Everyone,

Up until now I have been using a Sony Playstation 3 as my media streaming device. I like it but it has some frustrating shortcomings. I had originally been using it only to view pictures from my Serviio server. Although it is a fantastic picture viewer, the PS3 has some frustrating shortcomings. First of all, it can't play MOV files that are generated by my Nikon D500 camera. The audio and video stutter badly and are out of sync.

I ripped a lot of my DVD collection to M4V format and it doesn't seem to have trouble playing those movies. Many of by Blu-Rays have been a different story. The PS3 cannot seem to pass-through a DTS-HD MA soundtrack. Many of my Blu-Rays have DTS-HD MA sound and the PS3 seems to have trouble with them. It plays video but no Audio. I tried to re-encode it using AC3 but the soundtrack then shows up as Dolby Digital in my Yamaha receiver. I have a Roku stick and it seems to pass though the DTS setting but the interface is frustratingly simple.

The thing is, despite the shortcomings of the PS3, I LOVE the interface and the options. For Pictures you can zoom, pan, rotate and other nice features. For video, you can display the stream statistics, choose different audio tracks, fast forward at different speeds (1.5x, 10x, 120x, etc) and also browse the video timeline and jump to parts of the movie/video. It just so nice and feature rich.

So, my question to you is: What device do YOU use to watch your Serviio streams? Roku? Firestick? TV? Blu-Ray Player?

I have a Panasonic Plasma TV so it's not a smart TV. I need to use a device for streaming. I was thinking of buying a new Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Player. I figure that I can use that to watch my streams. I imaging it would retain a lot of the nice features of the Playstation 3 but have better compatibility for Audio and Video tracks.

I'm open to suggestions...

If you want everything (lossless audio including Atmos, captions, play anything), it's tough to beat the Nvidia Shield. It comes in two versions: the Pro and standard (sometimes called the tube). The difference between them is the Pro supports 64 bit apps, has a little more memory, and has a USB port for connecting a hard drive. For streaming media, none of that matters. The Shield has a Gigabit Ethernet connection, along with 802.11ac wireless. I have two Shield players ('19 tube and '17 standard) and both play everything I have on my Serviio server without transcoding. I get Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio, and Atmos/DTS:X if the media has that. Every codec I've tried has played, in every container. I use Kodi as the player app. About the only place the Shield is lacking is YouTube HDR, which it does not support.

For more casual players, I've used Roku players and TVs. They don't support lossless audio (although TrueHD support appears to be coming in the 9.3 OS update, but still no app that supports it), and their caption support is limited. The only place the Roku fails me is when streaming my UHD movie rips, as the Roku players only have a Fast Ethernet connection (the ones with a wired connection). My WiFi isn't working like it should, so I can't say if they could play my UHD movies that way. Roku devices only support a handful of containers and codecs, so transcoding is necessary for some media. But Serviio has a number of profiles designed to support each type of device as much as possible (I'm the author of those profiles).

Many Blu Ray players support DLNA streaming, but it's difficult (or impossible) to find one that will stream both Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA. For some reason, they are dropping that support. I had an older Sony BD player that supported both, but a newer replacement dropped DTS MA. It still plays both from a BD disc of course. It's just the DLNA support they've removed.

I've never used a Fire TV device, but it will have most of the same limitations the Roku devices have. Limited codec and container support. Also, some people really don't like the Amazon-centric user interface.

I've largely given up on Smart TVs. They don't support lossless audio, never have Gigabit networking, and usually their user interface is just plain bad. Samsung, I'm talking to you.

I use chromecast but it has a video limit of 720p. None of my media is over 10000kbps bitrate and I have it over wireless works great. The only bugaboo is it seems to require the bubbleupnp app on the phone as a remote and the bubbleupnp server app on the server that serviio is on. Without bubbleupnp transcoding doesn't work very well. But with it I can watch anything. I got one stutter once with my highest bitrate content and there is a setting in the app to transcode medium (default), fast, faster, fastest, ultrafast. I set it to ultrafast and have never had a problem since. The other thing worth mentioning is a new development since I bought the chromecast is that you need a phone that is logged into a google account to set up the chromecast.

Thanks for the replies!

Sounds like the NVidia Shield is the way to go for maximum movie/video codec support. Dan, how is the Shield as a photo browser? I don't want to forget my original purpose for using Serviio, which was to browse my photo gallery on the TV so my family could view along with me as opposed to huddling around the computer.

Is the Pro worth the extra money? I mean, the 64-Bit support may or may not be important for streaming but extra memory is never a bad thing...

Viken

I can't say how the Shield might work for photos. My guess is there's likely a bunch of different apps that would support that. Kodi might as well. I just don't use it that way, so really can't say.

If you're only using a Shield for streaming, I don't think the extra cost is worth it. About the only valid reason might be the USB port. Some owners connect an IR receiver to it so they can use a different remote. The Shield remote uses Bluetooth, and you can also connect a BT keyboard and mouse if desired. But to use a Harmony IR remote, you need the USB port to add an IR receiver. But for streaming, the additional memory does nothing. However, some users will also game on a Shield, and in that case the extra memory and 64 bit support becomes more desirable, and perhaps even necessary.

I often shoot with my camera and iPhone 12 Pro, so the inability to playback MOV files is also a big drawback of the PS3. So I understand you, bro. Also, not all files from Serviio you can play there, even if they are static images. Plus, the PS3 doesn't support the HEIC format of live pictures, which I do on my iPhone or iPad. I recently found a way out of this situation. I studied the camera reviews at alloptica.com and realized that I could track the movement of people around my property. This camera has a playback feature and a screen. This device supports all formats, so I stream video and photos there. You can follow my example if you want.