What do you use for streaming services for tv?

I had this old HP tower with a 3rd gen. Intel I7 and an old Nvidia card running as my media player for personal videos, photos and streaming services.
I recently replaced that one for a Lenovo ThinkCentre with an AMD processor. I bought it with Windows and I also bought a 4K tv with that which happened to be on sale.
The TV is a couple of years old, so the “smart” function is already out of date and doesn’t support the most recent streaming apps.

With the combination of the two, I really do notice the screen resolution difference between the streaming services on Linux and Windows.
I always knew that Linux has a lower DRM level in comparison with mainstream streaming devices and Windows, but with this TV it becomes painfully clear.

I already tried the user agent extension, but it won’t work with every streaming service. So, my question is, what do you use for streaming content in such a similar case?

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I use a LG TV, an AXMultibox for satellite reception and my computer as NFS server. My movies and music is on my computer on each 1TB Sata disk. I have access via the NFS protocol with the AXMultibox or the SONY 4kDVD player which also upscaled to 4k. Since I only watch public channels here in Germany, HBBTV is a good option for me.

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Unfortunately, that one isn’t a serious option for me because of the different firmware used. The Dutch OpenPli firmware isn’t supported with that one.

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Im running OpenHDF and as a second Image PureE2. Everything works fine with it. For the reason that openPLI does not support the HBBTV plugin anymore I have refrained from using it. It should be able to handle the NFS protocol, right?

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I use an inexpensive streaming box like a Roku.

Simple, inexpensive and easy to use.

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I use a FireBox (Alexa)* for that since I want hassle free 4K and HDR on an LG 9G, a lousy TCL bedrom TV, and two smaller Samsung TV’s.

*Yeah I know, but the two other flat residents are extremely not tech savy and low on patience

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I keep using a cheap and simple China TV Box like this one, running Android-TV as OS with my old Samsung smart-tv which over the years has become much less smart…

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That looks interesting, but it isn’t officially available in The Netherlands, so I’m afraid my local TV provider doesn’t have an app for that platform but I’m not completely sure, so i have to look into that.

Unfortunately, there’s no support for my local TV provider in that one.

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Perhaps we should start with the list of what your local TV provider supports.

It only is supported by the mainstream (Chromecast, AppleTV, Android or Windows)
To be honest, they do stream on Linux using the browser in HD, so what I’m actually looking for is a, more or less, less privacy-intruding option for the likes of Prime Video, Netflix, Disney Plus etc. If there isn’t one, I will continue to use Windows on the ThinkCentre for entertainment purposes.

I have never found an option for a Linux software-based solution that provided a satisfactory streaming performance and ease of use when connected to a TV.

If those choices are what are available to you, I would probably use an inexpensive, low-power android TV box. They can be had for small money and can be deployed as an always-on solution so you don’t have to worry about booting a windows box(or leaving it running all the time) when you want to watch TV.

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I also came to that conclusion myself, but I was hoping there was one I overlooked. I already have the Nokia android tv box in mind and the ThinkCentre I purchased with store credit that was almost past its refund date.
So, I guess EndeavourOS has an extra AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 3300U with an 8GB RAM test machine.

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I used to use all of the things mentioned, but now just use the box provided by Sky in the UK, it has apps built-in for all the streaming providers, so I just gave up fighting with it.

For laptop to TV, I use Serviio DNLA server, Plex started to become a PITA.

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I left my previous provider that included such a box three years ago because I was paying a lot for channels that I didn’t even watch. The last drop was when they swapped BBC Four for another R&B/Hip Hop channel and announced another price increase.
From that time on, I only pay separately for streaming services and channels I want to watch. (Including one that streams BBC, ITV and Channel 4/5 live as in the UK)

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I’m using a Nvidia shield pro for streaming, not cheap but the best you can get imho.

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Thank you all for your suggestions. I am going to take the ThinkCentre with Windows for a spin as my streaming device this coming month. I mean if there isn’t a proper Linux solution for it choosing between Android and Windows won’t make a difference.

The ThinkCentre is a small form factor PC, the size of a connection dock, and performance - and energy wise it is the same as a budget laptop. I already was used to using a mouse for navigation on the couch with my old HP tower.:wink:

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Is the x86 Android project any good? Never tried it myself.

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I use the Nvidia Shield pro and am quite happy with it. If you’re looking for something more diy maybe a Rasberry Pi might interest you https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/raspberry-pi-smart-tv-projects/
Or maybe an Android VM might be lightweight to stream from as well

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I use an Apple TV 4K, it’s the 2nd best Plex + IPTV device after the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro. The former is well priced in India, the latter is prohibitively expensive (not officially available), and has older hardware as well. Yes, it’s a completely closed device, but works great for my purposes.

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LG C1 hooked up with Nvidia Shield Pro. Streaming my own content ( :pirate_flag:) via Plex.

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