Which playback hardware delivers the best video quality?

[xframe88 0]

HI there

 

I am looking to get the absolute best video quality output from Emby to my high quality projector as possible.

My library is largely bluray rips, along with some HDTV TV series.

 

I am open to using ANY hardware player, be it PC, AppleTV, Roku or other, my only concern is getting the best possible video and audio quality.

All content is stored on a central NAS.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions, purely around output quality.

 

Many thanks

[AdrianW 1058]

It'd have to be a Windows PC running ET with MadVR configured with optimal settings (see this thread: ET Setup Guide with MadVR and Bitstreaming HD-Audio).

 

A PC is about the only thing that will direct play absolutely everything - just about all other platforms will end up transcoding something or other.

 

I'm using an i5 NUC and it's great  - but if I was starting again I'd go for a top end i7 NUC - one of these: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/change-the-game-with-nuc.html

[JeremyFr79 228]

Make sure you go with with an AMD video card as well, their hardware playback is bar none the best out there for picture quality.  Nvidia still has issues to this day with proper color spacing and refresh rates.  I'm running an A8 chip using it's built in GPU for playback on my fully calibrated Epson 8350 and it's awesome.

[pir8radio 1312]

I keep trying to get people on this forum to buy one of these and tell me how it works.  LOL...  Looks like I may have to be that guinea pig...  

 

This thing looks cool on paper though.. seems like it would make a nice emby player...

 

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha-r2-desktop/pd

[ebr 16184]

I keep trying to get people on this forum to buy one of these and tell me how it works.  LOL...  Looks like I may have to be that guinea pig...  

 

This thing looks cool on paper though.. seems like it would make a nice emby player...

 

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha-r2-desktop/pd

 

If you want to play games, okay but playing normal video just doesn't require that much hardware.  An i5 NUC can be had for less and an i3 is probably all you need.

[AdrianW 1058]

An i5 NUC can be had for less and an i3 is probably all you need.

 

I'm using a two year-old i5 NUC and while it's great, I have to be careful with the MadVR settings and ET's GUI can be very jittery when scrolling sideways. A newer i5 would probably fix everything.

[Xorp 48]

Make sure you go with with an AMD video card as well, their hardware playback is bar none the best out there for picture quality.  Nvidia still has issues to this day with proper color spacing and refresh rates.  I'm running an A8 chip using it's built in GPU for playback on my fully calibrated Epson 8350 and it's awesome.

Intel is just as good now.

[JeremyFr79 228]

Intel is just as good now.

my experience is that intel has a fixed color space among other things, and in scenarios like mine where everything is fully calibrated, having control over color space handling among other things is paramount for an output device.  There's a lot more to video playback than just playing smooth and getting a picture to your screen.

[Harblar 29]

AMD over Nvidia is debatable. I'm running a GTX760 and get a fantastic picture and great color. (granted I'm running it to a non professionally calibrated 58" plasma, but I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two short of specialty color calibration tools) If you want the absolute best, I'd look at the new GTX 1080's. They should be able to max out Madvr easy and be well suited for 4k when the time comes.

 

Another route would be to look at an Oppo BDP105D. It's a dedicated bluray disc player, with top of the line audio/video decoders. It can also handle most media files via DLNA and what not, though I don't know of anyone who has actually tested one with Emby and the playto function (when it was still working). I've been toying with the idea of trying it, but I'll probably wait to see what kind of features they cram into their UHD disc player when it's released. I'm hoping they'll put in some kind of app functionality that would allow an Emby app to be developed for it. Ultimately it would be a cheaper solution than building a dedicated PC, and provide a much more theater friendly interface.

[pünktchen 1409]

AMD over Nvidia is debatable. I'm running a GTX760 and get a fantastic picture and great color. (granted I'm running it to a non professionally calibrated 58" plasma, but I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two short of specialty color calibration tools) If you want the absolute best, I'd look at the new GTX 1080's. They should be able to max out Madvr easy and be well suited for 4k when the time comes.

 

Another route would be to look at an Oppo BDP105D. It's a dedicated bluray disc player, with top of the line audio/video decoders. It can also handle most media files via DLNA and what not, though I don't know of anyone who has actually tested one with Emby and the playto function (when it was still working). I've been toying with the idea of trying it, but I'll probably wait to see what kind of features they cram into their UHD disc player when it's released. I'm hoping they'll put in some kind of app functionality that would allow an Emby app to be developed for it. Ultimately it would be a cheaper solution than building a dedicated PC, and provide a much more theater friendly interface.

 

That's exactly what i've thought about.

[schmitty 66]

Oppo does actually have apps pre-installed, I don't know if they have an api or sdk for third party access though

 

 

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[xframe88 0]

That would be nice, after 10+ years of using a HTPC, I really do love the idea of not having to use a PC at all. I realise a PC is the most powerful solution, and I really do love the Emby interface via PC, but to just have an appliance that required zero management or configuration would be really nice.

Having said that, quality will win with me so I guess it will be a windows PC in the end, but I wish it was avoidable!

[Harblar 29]

Oppo does actually have apps pre-installed, I don't know if they have an api or sdk for third party access though

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, but their pretty much the basic Netflix/Hulu/Amazon ones from what I can tell and no third party route. The way things keep heading towards streaming media it should be interesting to see what they come up with for their UHD disc player.

 

That would be nice, after 10+ years of using a HTPC, I really do love the idea of not having to use a PC at all. I realise a PC is the most powerful solution, and I really do love the Emby interface via PC, but to just have an appliance that required zero management or configuration would be really nice.

Having said that, quality will win with me so I guess it will be a windows PC in the end, but I wish it was avoidable!

 

A PC isn't necessarily more "powerful" than a set top disc player. Usually it's just more flexible. the beauty of set top disc player, like the Oppo is that it takes out all the extra functionality you'd have on a PC and puts it all towards hardware A/V playback. I can guarantee you that you will indeed get a better image and color out of a properly configured Oppo than you will from a top of the line video card from AMD or Nvidia. How much better and whether or not it's a noticeable difference for 99% of the people comparing the two... hard to say, there. (the audio, on the other hand, is really hard to beat on the Oppo!)The ideal solution would be an Oppo with a native Emby app capable of direct playback of 1:1 Blu-Ray MKV rips with full subtitle support. That would be the cleanest and simplest interface with the best performance.

 

For what it's worth, I have tried and managed to get MKV's to play on my old OPPO BDP-83 (probably closing in on 10 years old) via a built in DLNA browser. It was very clunky to navigate and locked up on me quite a bit when trying to browse and/or play an MKV, but every 5-6th time I managed to get it to play.  Not bad considering it was never designed to stream and most of that functionality got added via firmware well after it's initial release.  I hear the 103/105 models are an order of magnitude better and would expect anything with UHD capability to be an equal step forward.  Should be fun to see what they come up with. :-)

[schmitty 66]

Yeah, but their pretty much the basic Netflix/Hulu/Amazon ones from what I can tell and no third party route. The way things keep heading towards streaming media it should be interesting to see what they come up with for their UHD disc player.

 

 

A PC isn't necessarily more "powerful" than a set top disc player. Usually it's just more flexible. the beauty of set top disc player, like the Oppo is that it takes out all the extra functionality you'd have on a PC and puts it all towards hardware A/V playback. I can guarantee you that you will indeed get a better image and color out of a properly configured Oppo than you will from a top of the line video card from AMD or Nvidia. How much better and whether or not it's a noticeable difference for 99% of the people comparing the two... hard to say, there. (the audio, on the other hand, is really hard to beat on the Oppo!)The ideal solution would be an Oppo with a native Emby app capable of direct playback of 1:1 Blu-Ray MKV rips with full subtitle support. That would be the cleanest and simplest interface with the best performance.

 

For what it's worth, I have tried and managed to get MKV's to play on my old OPPO BDP-83 (probably closing in on 10 years old) via a built in DLNA browser. It was very clunky to navigate and locked up on me quite a bit when trying to browse and/or play an MKV, but every 5-6th time I managed to get it to play. Not bad considering it was never designed to stream and most of that functionality got added via firmware well after it's initial release. I hear the 103/105 models are an order of magnitude better and would expect anything with UHD capability to be an equal step forward. Should be fun to see what they come up with. :-)

My father has the 105, I think. It is the best Blu-Ray/DVD player I have ever used... excellent quality and, a very good and easy to use ui.

 

 

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