A Budget Home Theater & PC Setup: 4K, HDR, UHD Blu-ray, and More
by Ganesh T S on December 26, 2017 8:30 AM ESTUHD Blu-ray Playback in Action
Prior to testing out HDR UHD Blu-ray playback using the TCL 55P607 and the Denon AVR X3400H, we did a trial run with the LG 43UD79-B monitor. The playback was flawless in SDR mode. Emboldened by these results, we moved the hardware to the home theater setup. At that time, the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update was yet to be released. Intel and CyberLink had adopted their own scheme to activate HDR in full screen mode while playing back HDR-enabled titles. Unfortunately, the TCL 55P607 (on firmware version 7.7.0 at that time) did not really like the mode switch.
Corrupted HDR Display with TCL 55P607 Firmware v7.7
I reached out to both Intel and TCL with the above results. While the latter simply washed their hands off the issue, Intel was very responsive. They went to the extent of even sourcing the same display to check at their end. Around the same time, TCL released a firmware update (v8.0.0 4127-30) that resolved the problem.
By the time I was able to upgrade my TV, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update had released and Intel's 4877 driver had also become public. My next testing round had interesting results. The 4877 driver had flawless desktop and streaming HDR, but, playing back the Planet Earth II title resulted in a BSOD, or a PowerDVD crash, or a message indicating that PowerDVD was denied access to the graphics hardware. With an older driver version (4771), I was able to play back the Blu-ray with HDR, but, had no desktop or streaming HDR.
On checking with Intel again, it became evident that the issue was specific to the Planet Earth II title. They provided me with early access to a driver slated for release in January 2018. This driver enabled both the Intel NUC7i7BNHX and the ASRock Beebox-S 7200U to successfully play back the Planet Earth II Blu-ray with HDR, while also performing as per specifications in our other tests detailed in the previous sections.
Note that the Pioneer BDR-211UBK comes with an OEM version of PowerDVD 14 that does support 4K UHD Blu-ray playback.
We tracked the power consumption of the set (PC + Blu-ray drive with the SATA-USB bridge) while playing the first chapter of the first disc in the Blu-ray set (after a full menu loop).
We find that the Beebox-S 7200U is more power efficient for this particular task. The NUC7i7BNHX is much more versatile with its Thunderbolt 3 ports, Optane support, and other bells and whistles. Can those make a difference in a generic HTPC setup? We will address that in our concluding section.
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Doomtomb - Monday, January 22, 2018 - link
I guess I'll throw my two cents in because everybody is jumping in with their own opinions on Home Theater. (there is no right answer to satisfy everybody).I'm 28, just moved into my first house, trying to do HT right, on MY budget. My TV crapped out on me so I put my money into an OLED during Black Friday. No regrets, Zero. The picture quality is hands down better than my 2015 Samsung LED-LCD. It is significantly noticeable, by everybody that views it. Second, I spent some money on 5.1 speakers and subs about 7 years ago. Can you really count that cost? Maybe ~$1000 including the receiver. Speakers are by Polk Audio, could be better, but just fine for entry level. AV Receiver is not super fancy but is reputable brand, Marantz, from 2012. Got it on craigslist with some speakers at a super deal. Thing sounds beautiful, has all the Dolby codecs minus Atmos. I find myself only wanting audio out from my TV. If you need 4K picture, plug the device into the TV and output the audio with optical. Sound quality doesn't change much over the years, only features. Keep the smart features on your TV or set-top box. Keep the audio on your receiver, heck you could go with just an Amplifier but you probably want surround sound so you need processing = receiver. Do not overspend on that device, they become outdated VERY quickly.
bella44 - Monday, June 4, 2018 - link
Xbox is a nice option. Now we can also install apps like terrarium tv on Xbox to watch movies and Tv shows for free. Get terrarium tv from https://terrariumtv.io29a - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
Rather than getting an XBox they should download a pirated copy. That's the only way the studios will take notice.RiZad - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
" Further research revealed that the Tegra K1 SoC in the SATV does not support VP9 Profile 2" The Shield TV never came with the K1, the 2015 and 2017 version both have the X1RiZad - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
https://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shi...ganeshts - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
Thanks. I fixed that typo.trane - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
Vega supports HDCP 2.2. So is it just the driver we are waiting for? Nvidia released a driver for it much later, too.ganeshts - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
Still looking for a compact machine with Vega GPUs....Chaser - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
Linux based Myth TV PVR server back end. (Works great with any decent CPU/RAM) HDHome Run cable converter box. (Free) Comcast Cable card. Amazon Fire TV w/Kodi plug in to manage my channels, lineups, recordings. Pure bliss and I save a lot of money.ddrіver - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
That would just be too budget... Plus, nobody sponsors articles with "ghetto" solutions.