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.

  • valek879@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    1 year ago

    To add to everyone else, I moved from Kodi to Jellyfin and it was a game changer for my home server solution. (I run the server off of my gaming PC)

    • Someology@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      The fact that my video collection will mostly not play in browser just breaks the entire navigation environment of Jellyfin.

      • vividspecter@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I’m not sure which client device you’re using, but on desktop there is the desktop player as well as jellyfin-mpv-shim which don’t rely on the browser for playback, but do use it for management, show selection etc

      • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I think the solution is to get hardware-accelerated transcoding set up correctly.

        Either that, or maybe bulk-transcode all your media outside of Jellyfin and then add it all back as alternate versions and hope Jellyfin is smart enough to choose the best supported version automatically?

        (I’m in the process of setting up a Jellyfin server and noticing the same issue with some of my media.)

        • Someology@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          But with Kodi, there is zero transcoding required. I just play directly from an SMB share without the processing overhead of transcoding. So, despite Kodi’s many flaws, I’ve stuck with it.

          • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Doesn’t that just mean the clients (running Kodi) need to have all the right codecs installed themselves? If that’s an option, then Jellyfin wouldn’t need to do any transcoding either.

            The advantage of Jellyfin is that the client apps can run on things like Rokus where you can’t install Kodi and/or that have limited codec support.

    • CannaVet@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      31·
      1 year ago

      Seconding Jellyfin. I used to run XBMC as God intended on my old OG Xbox but Kodi is so bloated and garbo these days from what I’ve seen.

  • bstix@feddit.dkEnglish
    123·
    1 year ago

    Just use a Chromecast. You can use it from every device (phone/laptop/tablets) on the same WiFi.

    • Carter@feddit.ukEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      Yeah I was thinking this. How can anyone hate an interface that they can entirely configured themselves.

      • Dust0741@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        Okay I may have to look into kodi again. Any recommended skins to make browsing things like Disney+ easier?