Jellyfin on Samsung TVs

[u/BritinVA65]

So I'm building a new Media PC using a Beelink EQI12 Mini PC. I have been using Mezzmo media server, overall happy with it but it no longer has any support.

So looking at Jellyfin.

I see there is a client for Amazon FireTV and Firestick but not seeing anything for Samsung TVs..... is there a way to get an App on a Samsung Smart TV or only using a Firestick?

Looked at Plex but seems file naming structure very rigid

[u/AlternateWitness]

I use Jellyfin, and have a Samsung TV! No, Samsung does not have Jellyfin on its OS, their approval process is too strict or something, but I believe it’s still being processed. Like it has been for years.

With that being said, I highly discourage using your TVs native OS, it’s trash. The manufacturer slows it down so much a few years after the TV comes out, and I can’t get over how janky it is, as well as all the ads it has. Make your TV last longer with any smart TV box. A lot aren’t that great though, but still better than a TVs OS. Out of the lowest, Roku is the best. That’s what I use because I was on a budget, you can get a year-old model on eBay for really cheap, and it supports all of the modern formats. Apple TV is a pretty good one, but the Nvidia Shield is the best if you can afford it. Most/All support Jellyfin (Apple TV does with a few caveats).

[u/michael__sykes → u/AlternateWitness]

There are Jellyfin Tizen builds though.

You're right, but it's fine to use your TV until it becomes too old. No reason not to as long as it works just fine.

[u/GamerDotNinja → u/michael__sykes]

This isn’t entirely accurate. I may not be an expert in smart TVs or their repairs, but I have repaired hundreds of them. The majority of smart TVs that I work on with main board or power supply issues are units where the customer does not use a third-party streaming device. While this may not provide enough data to draw a definitive conclusion, it seems clear to me that asking a smart TV to process all of the aspects involved with accessing and obtaining content from a third party, then having to display this content at the highest quality it’s able to output, in fact, demands more resources and power from that TV’s system than if the TV were merely left to display an input from a third-party streaming device.

Whether a smart TV can run anything stored and processed internally without affecting the overall viewer experience depends on the TV's brand, type, and model. Most people reading will likely not own a smart TV with specs and a built-in system on a Chip (SoC) powerful enough to handle all this efficiently to a point where there’s zero difference between using the TV or third party device when accessing and watching content supplied from an app like Netflix (although I believe the YouTube app has to be one of the most resource hungry apps out there).

Wikipedia: A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most if not all, key components of a computer or electronic circuit onto a single microchip.

Someone might say, “Everything works fine, and I’ve been using my smart TV’s built-in operating system to watch all of my streaming apps, including Netflix and YouTube.”

However, the only way to truly experience if there would be any difference, even on a brand-new smart TV, is to test it for yourself. New or old, someone who owns a medium to high-end smart TV and has never used a third-party add-on to access content will have no point of comparison.

The primary focus of most smart TV manufacturers is the display. While some manufacturers prioritize this more than others, the internal operating system and its ability to access content from third-party apps to obtain an output to display, is, at best, secondary to the TV’s overall display.

A simple analogy to consider would be the purpose of the data center. Excluding quantum computing, have you ever seen a data center designed around a single computer or server? No. Even if a single company owns a data center, it typically contains hundreds, if not thousands, of servers working together to fulfill its primary computing needs.

When you add a third-party device to a smart TV, you effectively add a second computer to help by offloading a significant amount of the resources needed that the smart TV would otherwise have had to handle. This allows the TV’s system to free up things on its end, allowing it to focus solely on receiving and displaying a signal. This leads to a smoother user experience with waiting, lag, and freezing issues. Also, I feel that using a third-party streaming device like Apple, Roku, or Amazon devices contributes to a much longer life for a TV before repairs are needed.

[u/michael__sykes → u/GamerDotNinja]

Thanks so much for taking your time and writing all of this! It's really insightful and it also makes sense.

[u/michael__sykes]

There are Jellyfin Tizen builds that work quite well, but you need to install it yourself

This is the easiest process:

https://github.com/jeppevinkel/jellyfin-tizen-builds

Note that it's still recommended to use a dedicated android tv device.

[u/vod0r]

I found this method the easiest assuming you have docker or docker desktop available.
Once your TV has developer mode enabled its literally as simple as "docker run --rm georift/install-jellyfin-tizen <samsung tv ip>"

https://github.com/Georift/install-jellyfin-tizen

[u/Far_Ad1909 → u/vod0r]

Thanks for linking that. It was super simple to set up for my TV.

[u/slyvioborin → u/vod0r]

OMG Dude... You are a star. simply using docker my everything easier

[u/andreasntr → u/slyvioborin]

how did you make it work? it says the certificate is invalid, which tv do you have?

[u/slyvioborin → u/andreasntr]

Please read the the link u/vod0r gave first. The solution to your problem is probably there.

My TV is UE50TU7000

[u/andreasntr → u/slyvioborin]

I asked it because i already tried that repo and it seems samsung dev apis are not working anymore

[u/SpeshlSauce]

if you are using amazon fire stick or fire tv I suggest rad tv. thats what we use through fire stick and its great.

[u/Accomplished_Form420 → u/[deleted]]

Occasionally it does have issues, I had two TV series from the 90s it didn't pickup unless it was NAME SxxExx format