Comment by Arainach | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Arainach | Hacker News Reader

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Hard disagree. I ran various HTPCs over the years, including Windows, and they're untenable with streaming. No remote control is any good at any web interface. Many services block surround sound and the highest resolutions on any full PC experience (Windows, Mac, Linux, whatever).

I'm forced to agree with the article's premise - everyone's gotten worse. I loved my NVIDIA Shield, but Google's UI refresh made it into another adfest like all the cheapest devices so there's no point in paying for the premium experience. I tried to use an XBox Series X which works fairly well but its apps are all neglected - Paramount Plus had subtitles broken for a long time, the back button works only half the time, and Plex will randomly flash static on the screen when streaming plain old h264 from the local network.

I've recently ordered an Apple TV, which is my last hope. If that's garbage, perhaps it's time to stick to my new year's resolution and stop watching things on the TV.

> Many services block surround sound and the highest resolutions on any full PC experience

I have 4k streaming from Netflix, Disney, Prime. I don't know about sound, but as far as resolution is concerned, I'm fine here.

> I'm forced to agree with the article's premise - everyone's gotten worse.

I also agree. Windows has native apps for most of the streaming services - have you tried that? You get full 4k, audio and all the usual bits (as far as I'm aware, but I haven't tested).

> Plex will randomly flash static on the screen when streaming plain old h264 from the local network

I have not experienced this.

> I have 4k streaming from Netflix, Disney, Prime.

No you don't. Disney and Prime both only stream in HD in the browser/Windows App and Netflix requires Edge or Safari to stream in 4K and is limited to 720p in Chrome.

I have a really hard time telling the difference.

Edit: in the "App Setting" on the Edge browser, it says up to 4k UHD. On the Windows Store App, in the same place, it says "Up to HD". I use the browser most of the time, and if I'm only getting HD then it's just really good.

>I have not experienced this.

AV setups are a pain to debug and I have no patience for it. Something in the Plex -> XBox -> HDMI Cable -> Receiver -> TV pipeline has issues, and it's only Plex on the XBox. Plex on any other device (including Android devices hooked up to the receiver/TV) are fine. Other apps on the XBox are fine.

I also have massive issues getting content to direct play on my XBox that worked fine on my Shield similar to this user: https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/xmg7xk/xbox_plex_why_...

I haven't tried the Windows apps lately, but with whatever they're calling the framework-formally-known-as-UWP I doubt they're much better than the XBox versions. Heck, I bet the XBox versions get more testing.

> Plex will randomly flash static on the screen when streaming plain old h264 from the local network.

Like, actual old school static like on an analog TV that's tuned to a dead channel? Because (with the exception of the HBO intro sequence), that really shouldn't be happening since the switch to digital.

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