Media Player/Receiver Suggestions.

LTorana on 17/09/2018 - 12:15
Last edited 17/09/2018 - 12:28

Looking to buy a media player/receiver to plug into my Plasma TV, yes the TV is about 7 years old and outdated but it still looks and sounds great and is for my shed/man cave, …doesnt pick up HD channels, its mainly used to watch the footy and movies through a media player/receiver i got off ebay, but this box doesnt support H.265 and there is no sound when watching free to air HD channels through it.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, prefer using USB over streaming so it must support MKV H.265 and digital TV HD channels and under $100

Cheers.

Electrical & Electronics Media Player Plasma TV

Comments

  • EightImmortals on 17/09/2018 - 13:47

    Raspberry Pi3 with Kodi?

  • McBanjo on 17/09/2018 - 16:03

    Odroid C2 supports native HEVC H.265 as a Raspberry Pi upgrade. Connect a HDHomerun in there for Digital TV signals.

    I think you are going to be hard-pressed to find x265 support for under $100. Those codecs are licensed and they cost money for proper hardware decoding.

    This solution would require a bit of set up knowledge. Might be best searching Aliexpress or eBay for "HEVC set top box" for a plug and play solution, but they don't look to be cheap, good or recommendable.

    I usually recommend the FetchTV Gen3 Mighty as a good, supported, all-round solution. Supports 4 channels and records, you don't need to pay for the streaming services, just use the free ones. Streaming is going to be the way to go in future, so might as well future-proof.

  • AdamFury on 17/09/2018 - 16:57

    Xiaomi Mi Box

    H.265 HEVC MP-10 at L5.1, up to 4K x 2K at 60fps

    Probably your best option for playing H.265 however no digital tuner. Not sure if there is something you can buy to provide that functionality.

  • jelko on 17/09/2018 - 19:03

    Fetch TV Mini - $169 retail but it will do all FTA channels, plays back h.265 media, has apps such as Netflix, Stan, catch-up services for all FTA channels. Also have access to IPTV from Fetch as well.

    Go look for a used one on Gumtree, but make sure you get a retail box and not an ISP/Telco (Optus/iiNet box) branded box.

    Alternatively, you can get a VodafoneTV box (works on any ISP) - does all FTA, plays back h.265, apps, catchup etc. Works on any ISP.

    If you're with Telstra, get a Telstra TV 2 box.

    • Torana on 17/09/2018 - 23:43

      So just to clarify the Fetch Mini plays H.265 files off the USB

      • jelko on 19/09/2018 - 15:52
        +1

        Correct. I've done it myself. MKV h.265 from torrent sites.

        Note: The Fetch Mini/Mighty doesn't play DTS audio from USB. So you may need to re-encode the DTS audio into AC3. It only takes a couple of minutes using a free tool.

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