make dumb TV work with subscriptions - eviltoast

I have a dumb TV, and a spare computer. I want a nice easy way to interface with several services. (Jellyfin, disney+ etc)

I know of Kodi, but really dislike the interface. I know I could get a USB keyboard/mouse remote thing, but that isn’t very elegent. Is there a simpler solution to this?

  • thejevans@lemmy.mlEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    The best solution at the moment is using an nvidia shield (2019) instead of a PC:

    • it’s tiny
    • it’s fanless
    • it’s got low power draw (5-10w)
    • it can do 4k, hdr, and dolby vision (most importantly, it has the best support for these among services. good luck getting 4k video from netflix, disney+, and amazon on a PC)
    • it has usb ports for dacs, controllers, external drives, and keyboard + mouse
    • you can sideload android apps including ad-free home screens, remote button remappers, SmartTubeNext as a youtube replacement frontend, and moonlight for game streaming
    • you’ll have the most up-to-date and best supported versions of apps like jellyfin and plex
    • it has pretty much the best selection of audio/video codecs, so you shouldn’t need to transcode anything
    • you can set up the nvidia shield remote to control tv power and volume on the tv or on a separate av receiver
    • TrenchcoatFullOfBats@belfry.ripEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      This is the correct answer.

      Run an *arr stack somewhere on your network, install Jellyfin on the server and the Jellyfin app on the Shield and you’re golden, no need for subscriptions.

    • vividspecter@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      it has pretty much the best selection of audio/video codecs, so you shouldn’t need to transcode anything

      No AV1 hardware decoding at least, not that it’s all that common yet.