TV upgrade, SONY AndroidTV or Generic TV + Nvidia shield?

[x-cimo 23]

I was looking at the SONY 2017 E900; looks like a great TV, but everyone tend to agree that Android TV on it is kinda slow. Also I am not sure if support DTS/Atmos pass through for a receiver.

 

Anyone have experiance with Emby + Sony AndroidTV;

 

I could also get a slightly cheaper TV and get a Nvidia shieldTV which should have a solid performance + DTS/Atmos (http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1477908330)

 

Any recommendations?

 

Thanks

[Jdiesel 1114]

Don't buy a TV for the smart features buy it for the image quality. I bought a Sony x850d with the plan to sell my Shield TV and use the built in Android TV features. The MediaTek processor in Sony TVs is junk and MediaTek is not supporting it at all. Tons of things don't work, it's slow, and it frequently crashes. I had terrible lipsync issues with the Emby app that made it unusable in my case. I ditched using it after a week and went back to the Shield TV. That being said the TV is great otherwise and the 900E is even better yet.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EPzlq_ipIPMCDoMqMgDl0IuKmTsMoZHeKKwE_zxbFUk/pub

[x-cimo 23]

Don't buy a TV for the smart features buy it for the image quality. I bought a Sony x850d with the plan to sell my Shield TV and use the built in Android TV features. The MediaTek processor in Sony TVs is junk and MediaTek is not supporting it at all. Tons of things don't work, it's slow, and it frequently crashes. I had terrible lipsync issues with the Emby app that made it unusable in my case. I ditched using it after a week and went back to the Shield TV. That being said the TV is great otherwise and the 900E is even better yet.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EPzlq_ipIPMCDoMqMgDl0IuKmTsMoZHeKKwE_zxbFUk/pub

 

Wow that link was quite a read;

 

I guess I'm going to go for a shield (I heavily rely on chromecast + google home); 

 

Thanks

Edited July 15, 2017 by x-cimo

[mastrmind11 717]

Wow that link was quite a read;

 

I guess I'm going to go for a shield (I heavily rely on chromecast + google home); 

 

Thanks

That article is referring to the 2015 model of the Bravia series.  The new models like the 900E use the MT5891 SOC on the X1 and is far superior to the 5890.

[Jdiesel 1114]

That article is referring to the 2015 model of the Bravia series. The new models like the 900E use the MT5891 SOC on the X1 and is far superior to the 5890.

All the same issues apply to both the 2015 and 2016/7 versions. I have the 2016 version with the faster chip. Here is a list of bugs that apply to both SOCs.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16I2L2dKm3NGVkAilSOxO6i6fuylp2UEUi-DwE7CUPc8/pub

[mastrmind11 717]

All the same issues apply to both the 2015 and 2016/7 versions. I have the 2016 version with the faster chip. Here is a list of bugs that apply to both SOCs.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16I2L2dKm3NGVkAilSOxO6i6fuylp2UEUi-DwE7CUPc8/pub

I recommended the 900E for my in-laws because they couldn't figure out how to use the Roku if I wasn't standing in the room.  Are you saying Emby on the 900E runs like crap and I recommended the wrong thing?  I thought I saw somewhere else on here that Emby ran great on the Sony ATV's....

 

edit:  here's the post https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/48698-anyone-have-success-using-emby-on-a-sony-android-tv/?hl=sony

Edited July 15, 2017 by mastrmind11

[Jdiesel 1114]

I recommended the 900E for my in-laws because they couldn't figure out how to use the Roku if I wasn't standing in the room. Are you saying Emby on the 900E runs like crap and I recommended the wrong thing? I thought I saw somewhere else on here that Emby ran great on the Sony ATV's....

 

edit: here's the post https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/48698-anyone-have-success-using-emby-on-a-sony-android-tv/?hl=sony

I wasn't able to get smooth plackback on Emby and had very bad lip sync issues. Kodi was a bit better but still not great playback. My Shield TV and my cheap chinese s905 Android box do not have this problem. Also the Sony Android TV doesn't passthough DD/DTS over optical, doesn't do refresh rate switching, and is generally much slower to navigate. For some it may work just fine but for others who are picky like me it is unacceptable. Sony cheaped out as much as possible and MediaTek dropped the ball on support. Others in that thread, I actually started it because of my issues, had success with their Android TV so maybe I just have something in my setup that caused my issues.

[x-cimo 23]

I recommended the 900E for my in-laws because they couldn't figure out how to use the Roku if I wasn't standing in the room.  Are you saying Emby on the 900E runs like crap and I recommended the wrong thing?  I thought I saw somewhere else on here that Emby ran great on the Sony ATV's....

 

edit:  here's the post https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/48698-anyone-have-success-using-emby-on-a-sony-android-tv/?hl=sony

 

The 900E is the best TV in it's category (in term of picture quality). The only "built-in" emby alternative that I know of would be the TV with Roku built-in; but I think they tend to be the lesser quality ones.

 

From youtube video I think the 2017 sony are still a bit sluggish; but they look great and I agree with Jdiesel that it should be your primary focus. Therefore I think your recommandation is a very good one...  if worst comes to worst; they can get a nvidia shield and ignore the smart feature of the TV; they will have all the bells in whistles. (Powerful "Smart" feature, and best image quality).  

 

I am thinking of doing a similar move, get a 49'' 900E for the bedroom, hope for the best in term of androidTV, and if I have issue, get a shield.

I am also thinking of getting the Sony OLED A1E when it drop in price after Christmas, depending on how I like the 900E, that will either keep me on Sony's train, or I will jump to LGs + Shield.

[x-cimo 23]

BTW: It looks like they improved the performance with the android 7 update:  

[x-cimo 23]

Received my X900E upgraded to Android 7.0; the TV is great, as expected AndroidTV is a little sluggish but its tolerable.

Performing the following tricks made the TV almost lag free: https://www.marketcast.co/blog-sonybraviaperformance.html

 

Emby is working very well on it; Emby for AndroidTV is quite good. Honestly, I am pretty happy with it, and if newer version of Android becomes slow, I'll be fine with getting a Nvidia shield.

 

For now, Emby, YouTube & Netflix can stream in beautiful 4K with HDR and it comes with chromecast built in. If Sony would have put a slightly more powerful CPU/GPU it would be a perfect TV.

[Luke 37123]

Thanks for the feedback.