A Budget Home Theater & PC Setup: 4K, HDR, UHD Blu-ray, and More
by Ganesh T S on December 26, 2017 8:30 AM ESTYouTube Streaming
Our HTPC testing with respect to YouTube has been restricted to playback of a 1080p music video using the native HTML5 player in Firefox. However, the shift to 4K and the necessity to evaluate HDR support have made us choose Mystery Box's Peru 8K HDR 60FPS video as our test sample moving forward.
The TCL 55P607's Roku platform has a YouTube app. Our sample stream played back the 4Kp60 HDR version encoded in VP9 Profile 2 along with AAC audio.
4K YouTube HDR on the TCL 55P607
The NVIDIA SATV also has a YouTube app. However, accessing the sample clip resulted in the fetching of the 4Kp60 VP9 version without HDR. Further research revealed that the Tegra K1 X1 SoC in the SATV does not support VP9 Profile 2. Google's refusal to use HEVC for the HDR videos on YouTube mean that SATV owners can forget about HDR in YouTube streams.
4K YouTube on the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV
On the PC front, the KBL-U systems support VP9 Profile 2 decoding. Using the recommended browser (Microsoft Edge) allows us to play back the HDR stream after putting the desktop in HDR mode.
4K YouTube HDR on the ASRock Beebox-S 7200U using Microsoft Edge
The Zotac EN1080K, however, does not have VP9 Profile 2 hardware decoding. Our sample clip played back the 4Kp60 VP9 version without HDR even with the desktop set to HDR mode and streaming HDR videos enabled.
4K YouTube on the Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN1080K using Microsoft Edge
We also tracked the power consumption (using a Ubiquiti Networks mPower Pro) of the various playback devices while streaming the YouTube sample clip.
| YouTube Streaming - Power Consumption | |||
The Roku power numbers also include the display itself. So, it is not really fair to compare it against that of the other players. Disregarding the Roku data, we find that the ASRock Beebox-S 7200U is the most power-efficient of the lot with respect to YouTube streaming. If the display power consumption were to be considered in addition, it is likely that the Roku would emerge as the winner.
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Gasaraki88 - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
You also obviously didn't read the title. It said 4K, HDR, UHD Blu-Ray. 1080p is not 4K nor HDR nor UHD-Bluray.You know what, you can say the TV is too expensive too. Get a 1080p 42" for $100. Get a old receiver for $150 that doesn't do Atmos. Get a cheap android tv box from China for $60. Too bad it can't do anything like the title said. You also wouldn't need a article at Anandtech because it doesn't even have a PC.
Bullwinkle-J-Moose - Thursday, December 28, 2017 - link
Gasaraki88You also obviously didn't read the title. It said......
"A Budget Home Theater & PC Setup:" then listed the authors requirements instead of mine
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StevoLincolnite - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
If you want 4k blu-ray on a budget. The Xbox One S is it. It's not even up for debate.And if you get Kinect, you don't even need to use any kind of controller.
Gasaraki88 - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
Stop looking at home theater articles if you are not looking to spend more than a $1000. You people just like complaining. Anandtech should just remove the comments section because it serves no purpose with these idiots around.Makaveli - Thursday, December 28, 2017 - link
wow so much anger. There is a lot of cheap people on this site. Have most of you complaining every been in an Audio video store??Most of you need to stick to using your XBox for your HT experience.
Cygni - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
Don't take it personally, ddriver enjoys posting dumb histrionics on every single AT article. Dude is an absolute nutter.mr_tawan - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
And he has so much free time to respond to every single article here. I wish I could have this much free time myself!lmcd - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
Yea the dude has both time to post all his rubbish, and come back and search for replies in a comment system without notifications. That's dedication.Mo3tasm - Tuesday, December 26, 2017 - link
No seriously, this is a very bad comment system by all means, readability, comment organization, notifications, accounts etc.. I mean, it actually discourages one to write a comment. My free blog has a better one...ddrіver - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
You have time to read AND reply to my comments. The difference is that you don't have anything to say and when you do it's either to insult someone else or to say something wrong.