A Budget Home Theater & PC Setup: 4K, HDR, UHD Blu-ray, and More
by Ganesh T S on December 26, 2017 8:30 AM ESTNetflix Streaming
We have been using Netflix's El Fuente test clip to evaluate the Netflix streaming capabilities of various HTPCs. Though it does have 4K streams at bitrates of up to 16 Mbps, it doesn't have a HDR version. Our search for a suitable test stream ended with Season 4 Episode 4 of the Netflix Test Pattern series.
The TCL 55P607's Roku platform has a Netflix app. It was able to play the 16 Mbps 4K Dolby Vision version along with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio that was sent back to the receiver using the ARC feature.
Netflix 4K Dolby Vision HDR Stream in the TCL 55P607
Note that the SMPTE text in the boxes are related to the HDR metadata. As we shall see further down, the non-HDR versions of the clip have blank white boxes in that space.
The NVIDIA SATV's Netflix app plays the HDR10 version of the clip, as evident from the stream information detected by the TV.
Netflix 4K HDR10 Stream in the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV
Our test clip is not suitable for bringing out the advantages of dynamic metadata / Dolby Vision, but, suffice to say that the SATV's Netflix HDR capabilities are compatible with every HDR TV currently in the market.
On the PC front, we have Netflix's 4K HDR working with the natie Windows Store app as well as the Edge browser. We evaluated with the Windows Store app, and the HDR version played back in all three PCs.
Netflix 4K HDR10 Stream in the Windows 10 Netflix Store App
The Windows 10 Netflix playback provides extensive insight into the available streams as well as current playback status. Note the (hevc, hdr, prk) entry corresponding to the Video Track in the debug OSD, as well as the ST.2084 boxes. Playing back the same clip with the desktop in default non-HDR mode plays back the 16 Mbps 4K stream without HDR. Note that we only have (hevc) in the Video Track codec entry, and the ST.2084 boxes are completely blank.
Netflix 4K non-HDR Stream in the Windows 10 Netflix Store App
We also tracked the power consumption of the various playback devices while streaming the HDR version. Similar to the YouTube case, we graph the TCL 55P607 Roku app separately since it involves the display power consumption also.
| Netflix Streaming - Power Consumption | |||
Similar to the YouTube streaming case, we find that the most power efficient of the lot is the ASRock Beebox-S 7200U.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
191 Comments
View All Comments
Alreyouano - Monday, January 1, 2018 - link
Sir, good day, im new in the home theater field. May i know what kind of speakers and how many do i need to buy to set up a 7.1.2 home theater at home. Thank you.Reflex - Monday, January 1, 2018 - link
Well to start the number you listed there actually tells you the total. 7.1.2 = 7 surround speakers (two front left/right, one center, one on each side, two behind), 1 subwoofer and 2 upwards firing drivers or ceiling mounted speakers for the space above the viewer.As to brands and so on you need to make certain your receiver or soundbar supports Dolby Atmos, I suggest avsforums.com for more info and user preferences.
Golgatha777 - Monday, January 1, 2018 - link
That would be 10 speakers if you include the subwoofer.5 up front (R,L,C, RP, LP), 4 in the back (RS, LS, RSB, LSB), and the subwoofer.
Reflex - Tuesday, January 2, 2018 - link
I think that's what I said? You included the RS/LS as 'back' and I listed them separately as "one on each side" in my description. One question I would have for you though: The upwards firing ones, if you only have 2 of them should they be front or back?I'm using a Samsung HW-K950 so it has four upwards firing drivers, but in a 7.1.2 you'd only have 2 presumably unless you drop the sides...
Alreyouano - Tuesday, January 2, 2018 - link
Thank you.kallek - Friday, January 5, 2018 - link
My biggest problem with HTCP's is the stutter from playing 23.976 clips. Using Reclock helps but it only works with some programs and I haven't got it to work well with DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HDVorl - Monday, January 15, 2018 - link
So, I haven't read all 18 pages of comments, so if this has been mentioned already, sorry.Why a 4k tv? They are a gimmick. If you sit more than a couple feet from your 55' TV, you can't see the difference. Here is a good link to explain it. https://referencehometheater.com/2013/commentary/4...
Sure, you can see the difference if you were gaming, and sitting NEXT to your monitor, but most people sit several to many feet from their TV, so even a big tv at 4k isn't something you can see. A lot of extra cost for no real gain.
mikato - Thursday, January 18, 2018 - link
Fun time reading the comments :) I’d just like to say that I came here and read it for the HTPC info. I would like to make a (better) HTPC but I won’t be upgrading my old home theater setup, so I wasn’t looking for stuff about receivers, TVs, etc. Doesn’t matter to me, but just figured I’d throw in my perspective. If I bought a new house or something, then I might be interested in that stuff. But as it is, I’ll be using what I have now for those items which work pretty darn well.iescheck2 - Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - link
It is not clear to me if the ASRock Beebox-S 7200U or Intel NUC7i7BNHX can stream Dolby True HD and DTS-HD MA through the HDMI to the AV receiver. Comparing those setups to a i5 notebook, what would be the advantages and disadvantages of each, since they may be similar in price?prateekprakash - Saturday, July 21, 2018 - link
Greetings @ganeshts .It would be great if you did a follow-up article, now that HDR & wcg mode works much better on windows 10.
I have a query: does the HDMI out of the pc go into the AVR, and the 4k60p out of the AVR goes to the TV?
I am asking this because I have my Sony x800d TV connected to my GTX 1060 HDMI out, and the windows sound icon shows only stereo and 5.1 as available options (the 7.1 option is greyed out).
Does that mean GTX 1060 HDMI out is limited to 6 channels only? Or is it somehow related to my msi b250 Mobo?
If I routed
GPU HDMI out>>AVR source in>>AVR>>AVR HDMI out>>TV
Would it then show 7.1 option?
I am new to home theatre space, and I intend to set-up my first home theatre, so I thought it would be wise to learn about it.