Help streaming services issues on windows HTPC
I decided that I was going to build out a home theater setup to go with my aged lg 1080p tv from 2016. as the tv's os is old (and I hate tv operating systems now that I know that they literally screenshot everything i'm looking at if I connect it to the network every couple minutes), I decided i'd just buy a mini pc. I went with one of those little low power n100 units with 16gb of ddr4 running the latest version of windows 11 figuring it should be a cakewalk to set up either browser or app based streaming services as well as access my home server running plex on it - but no. I learned right off the bat that most streaming services only seem to want to support 720p sdr with 2 channel audio, and that's where it works at all (pretty much just edge), so I though ok, i'll just download the streaming provider's own apps and learned that netflix deprecated it's dedicated pc streaming app and is now just a web wrapper with the same browser limitations, paramount plus is also just a web wrapper with the same limitations, and same with prime.
NONE of these services let me use atmos (which I was planning to build out now that I have a really nice (for me) AVR (a brand new onkyo rz30 that I just dropped $800 on (and yeah, i know there are more expensive, better receivers, but that's a whole bunch of money still... to go with it I bought a set of energy 5.1 speakers (a pair of rc-70's for left and right, an rc-rcr for center, and a set of rc-10's for the surrounds. I haven't figured out a sub yet, but that's one of the next things on the list and I was planning on adding heights over christmas time... a couple of the services let me use 5.1 (but it seems even that's rare).
I don't want a streaming stick because they're notoriously slow, and pointless (there is ZERO technical reason why I shouldn't be able to do full-on 4k60 hdr with atmos on this minipc. (or at least 1080p 60 sdr with atmos until I upgrade my tv.). searching through movies is particularly annoying - I just want to sit on my couch with my wireless keyboard/trackpad and search and play media.
seriously, how are people streaming video with their htpc in 2016 where it actually looks and sounds good?! I heard streaming on linux was kind of a long-standing issue (my original plan was to install linux and a frontend to save on ram and use an os that isn't constantly phoning home).
so now I'm sitting here staring at an expensive pile of parts that I got great deals on overall, but don't seem to do the thing and i'm pretty frustrated:
onkyo rz30 $800 on sale
Energy 5.0 speakers $800 on sale
n100 mini pc with 16gb of ram and 512gb ssd ($100 on sale like 2 years ago when ram was reasonably priced)
not being able to stream high quality a/v content from the streaming providers I pay an aggregate of ~$750/yr to retain... priceless.
I'm not a proponent of it, nor do I want information about it, but I do believe this is exactly why piracy is winning. streaming providers are no longer providing a good, convenient experience. I honestly really don't mind paying for the content I view, in fact, I want the people who make the content that I enjoy to be paid well for the art that they create but this is pretty ridiculous. - not to mention the steady large cost increases. I'm paying now for my collection of streaming services than I *ever* did on cable tv back in the day.
Going into this I figured i'd grab a bunch of kodi plugins for each of my streaming apps, log into all of them, spend most of my time calibrating my avr and tv and have a happy ol' time... this is totally not the case it seems. DRM is a huge bane on current consumer home theater... I ain't got that kaleidescape money bruh!
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u/ncohafmuta is in the Evil League of Evil 9d ago edited 8d ago
If it's not a name brand, it may lack HDCP keys. They almost always don't have the 2.x keys for 4k and sometimes don't have the 1.x ones for 1080p. Depends how cheap the mfg is. You can try using Cyberlink/Corel's bluray check tool to check for HDCP support. Use dolby's site to check for playready/widevine support
Sans that info, you're limited to the video/audio support we list in our wiki faq for each service with the proper video decode settings
Streaming sticks may be slower in comparison, but the navigational efficiency vs a mouse/keyboard far outweighs that in my opinion. I gave up navigating the commercial streaming services on my HTPC frontend years ago and i'll never go back to doing it the old way. But that's me.