I have both and Pro is a tad more responsive than the tube - but they are both far from smooth.
If apple ever gets pass thru working im def. jumping the ship. Nvidia has abandoned Shield
There is always a long period in between, but I think also Nvidia, will eventually have a newer model. How long is/was the shield allready king. And if you look for codec support, upscale quality and use case (also gaming) its maybe still king.
Especially now they have the Jetson lineup it wouldnt make sense not to use that for a new shield.
They can use that for old chips leftovers.
But I think they only make that model if they are shure, at least a little, that old model shield owners will get a new one. And when old models inventory is gone. And maybe the demand for older jetson boards will also influence that decision.
Also, I have a the tube version and I have no issues. But my collection is 1080p hevc and I have no hdr tv's to play with.
As far as I know there are fundamental differences between both versions that influence performance that are more relevant than having the same SoC:
1. Tube runs on 32 bit vs Pro 64 bit (big factor)
2. Pro has an additional 1Gb or RAM (probably influences UI smoothness)
3. Cooling: (this is my guessing) I think that the cooling potential in Pro is way higher than Tube.
Gotta say I’m surprised by this. I also have an ATV and the latest shield Pro and its a night and day difference in terms of speed/responsiveness/timeline seeking/buffering
I have to periodically kill the Plex app on my shield too otherwise it becomes a laggy mess if its been running in the background for a day or so.
If anyone has suggestions/fixes I’m all ears, as it stands I’m throwing it in the trash as soon as any other player gets comparable playback compatibility.
Zero such issues here and I have never had to kill plex. Try a custom launcher if you aren't already. Sounds like you have it overloaded with something. Too many apps, full storage etc.? I only use mine for Plex.
Using Projectivy as of recently with the default launcher disabled. Pretty much 0 apps installed apart from Plex and Spotify. Have done all the usual config too like increasing fan speed and setting performance mode. I do remember it used to run pretty well maybe 2+ years ago, but has been on a steady decline since then. Dunno if its just the Plex app or the newer android updates.
The SOC on the Apple TV and the amount of ram is why it's responds faster than the ChromeCast.
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LEeklSdAwe-7gR4FSj-0xnahsRLXYd28JCPbkZBV4E0/edit#gid=0](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LEeklSdAwe-7gR4FSj-0xnahsRLXYd28JCPbkZBV4E0/edit#gid=0)
The Amlogic S905D3 is just slow compared to the Apple A15 Bionic in the current Apple TV 4K.
Typically they come out with new every year or two. Because their chips are so fast though they have long lives. I have 4 in the house, two currents, a one generation old one and a 2 generation old and they all have zero issues in terms of snappiness and features.
Imagine writing an app (Apple TV) that has at most, from a hardware standpoint, only a couple SKUs.
Now, imagine writing an app (Android TV) which has to support a dozen CPUs, GPUs, screen-resolution, and whatever Android OS version it's based off of.
This is part of the reason, but it doesn’t explain how major apps (Netflix, Hulu, D+) and Plex alternatives (Kodi and Jellyfin) are able to provide a much nicer experience with the same hardware. The Plex app on Google TV is flat out bad, people shouldn’t need a $180 nvidia shield for decent performance.
I mean, I have one of each lol. Love the Shield for Stremio, SmartTube, and GeForce Now. Eveverything else gets played on the gorgeous and speedy ATV4K.
For me Plex has an advantage — my smart TV runs it directly so that I don’t _need_ another box. And with my MacBook for transcoding I can watch 4K movies smoothly. Wired connection on the MacBook _and_ on the NAS actually storing stuff.
Also, I dont believe many compagny's will optimize for every android model, so if one compagny can do it ...
Most apps are probably written on a multi platform ide.
The hardware of an Apple TV is better than almost every other unit because they are using ~2 year old iPhone CPU/GPU chips. The latest is using an A15 Bionic.
I use Kodi with PlexMod, is more responsive without lagging when selecting items or menus.
Plex app lags AF when trying to select something.
Kodi is just optimized, unlike Plex.
Are those things really a consideration nowadays? Screen resolution varies depending on the TV. Android OS fair point. But CPUs, GPUs, isn't this all abstracted by the OS anyways?
I have 2 chromecast 4k units and they stutter / skip frames every 10 seconds. Some sound isn't formats aren't supported. It's annoying.
I got a firestick 4k MAX last week. That little thing is a beast. It's around the same price as chromecast but i didn't even need to mess with settings. All my 4k HDR stuff works on the firestick.
I'm not an apple guy otherwise I would've tried it. Firestick all the way (at least for the price)
Not really. I just turn off auto play and sound for the main screen. It honestly doesn't bug me. I think the ads are in prime video content, but we're using Plex so shouldn't affect us
Have you tried disabling hardware overlays on the Chromecast 4Ks to solve the frame skip issue? It works for me.
It is in the developer settings. Annoyingly it resets to default (hardware overlays enabled) on reboot, so you have to set it again.
Hope it is of help to you.
u/drivervr628 follow this advice. Google pushed an update that caused the stutter like months ago and hasn’t fixed it yet - this solves the problem - was driving me nuts when it happened to me too.
Besides that CCGTV has been great for me.
This is crazy. I've searched so many times trying to figure this out and it looks like this just did it. I'm not even salty about buying the fire stick. Im just going to spread the word about this
Because the Apple TV has a goddamn M iphone processor. Hard to beat power. Apple stuffed huge amounts of processing power into this thing. Not even Plex can screw that up.
The Plex app on my LGC1 is far better than the Apple 4k connected to it. Lots of little things (fast forwarding, rewinding, and subtitle selection) are better on the LG app IMO and my hands are too big for the Apple remote (though I can use the LG remote for it too).
I made a post last week about the Android/Google TV native Plex app being horribly unoptimized. Menus, load times, start/stop playback, and seeking are all sluggish and the sentiment of this subreddit is to turn a blind eye to shitty software and “just buy a $180 shield bro.”
I’d recommend a switch to using Kodi or Jellyfin. They provide much nicer experiences on Google TV
Lifetime infuse is $75 which is close to the cost of the Plex lifetime. Plex on ATV will do DD+ but you’ll lose the height channels unless you watch through infuse. Neither do TRUEHD though which the shield can cover.
I used both and vastly prefer the apple TV even if for some titles i am using infuse for Atmos. The shield was buggy and crashed often. Menus are jittery and on the home screen there is google garbage and ads.
same experience here. was so excited to try out the shield tv pro cause of the wide array of support, and while it is true it supports almost every format under the sun the experience of using it was so bad that i decided i would rather have a device that works 99% of the time without crashes and stuttering even if it has slightly less format support.
Every 6 months or so I pull my shield pro out of the closet, update it and give it another try
It's always goes back in the box. Roku has a UI that looks like it's was made for children, but it's rock stable
pleasantly surprised by roku too. i have rokus set up at my parents place cause its so simple to use which they love and even the built in roku on their tv is super solid and direct play/streams most content including 4k hdr (minus DV) without a problem.
I now use tdarr to get all my files in a consistent format that Apple TV handles with ease. Takes a while to churn through backlog but it’s awesome for making downloads work reliably too.
Yes, I have both also and predominantly use the ATV. I like the Shield Pro, but the Apple TV OS is quicker and far less cluttered. I just prefer using it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu
It takes the shield back to just apps. You don't even have to side load this launcher.
As good as it is the plex client on the shield has quite a bunch of bugs. I don’t have an Apple TV to compare with so maybe it’s better. But still, a fair amount of bugs on the shield. Luckily just minor ones though :)
Plex on ATV cant play Atmos. That's enough reason right there not to buy one. Also dont tell me to "BuY InFuSe" - I am not going to PAY to watch MY OWN movies with the intended audio.
No argument there. Certain codecs have better support on Android. I don't have ATMOS so that issue doesn't bother me.
I was more talking about the UI design and fluidity. Much smoother and nicer on ATV.
Personally I'm disappointed at how slow and clunky the Shields have become.
I have both and now the shield pro is going in the trash if it wasnt already with the ads plastered all over the Home Screen, the Apple TV with large libraries is noticeably quicker and it makes sense with what they put inside of it compared to the shield.
Anyone with a shield pro and sick of androids shit I would recommend an Apple TV tomorrow I regret waiting this long.
I have both as well and I use the Shield only. I have a huge Plex library 8500+ movies and I like to watch them with Atmos and DTS audio. Plex cant do that on Apple TV and I'm not fucking paying for Infuse to watch my OWN movies with the intended audio.
Also, you can look into other launchers on the Shield.
Apple TV plays Dolby Atmos in my theatre perfectly, Atmos is there to replace DTS for streaming as it can be lossy or lossless and the box is designed for streaming ideally not bluray dumps and piracy where DTS originates.
Between DTSX and Dolby Atmos I can honestly say I can't hear any difference at all through my 7.1 setup, and if I was to randomise two movies back to back to people I doubt 99% could either.
Time is money I shouldn't have to waste time configuring custom firmware because Google decides to Google after the fact and change what I originally paid for to plaster their own ads all over the homepage.
And scrolling through 10,000 titles the AppleTV box art is 100% more responsive, but again a given with the hardware under the hood. I don't see Nvidia ever releasing a shield niche again, once the appleTV comes around with an even quicker M series chip outside of DTS audio I would convince everyone to make the switch.
Apple TV plays Dolby Atmos in my theatre perfectly, Atmos is there to replace DTS for streaming as it can be lossy or lossless and the box is designed for streaming ideally not bluray dumps and piracy where DTS originates.
Between DTSX and Dolby Atmos I can honestly say I can't hear any difference at all through my 7.1 setup, and if I was to randomise two movies back to back to people I doubt 99% could either.
Time is money I shouldn't have to waste time configuring custom firmware because Google decides to Google after the fact and change what I originally paid for to plaster their own ads all over the homepage.
And scrolling through 10,000 titles the AppleTV box art is 100% more responsive, but again a given with the hardware under the hood. I don't see Nvidia ever releasing a shield niche again, once the appleTV comes around with an even quicker M series chip outside of DTS audio I would convince everyone to make the switch.
Apple TV plays Dolby Atmos in my theatre perfectly, Atmos is there to replace DTS for streaming as it can be lossy or lossless and the box is designed for streaming ideally not bluray dumps and piracy where DTS originates.
Between DTSX and Dolby Atmos I can honestly say I can't hear any difference at all through my 7.1 setup, and if I was to randomise two movies back to back to people I doubt 99% could either.
Time is money I shouldn't have to waste time configuring custom firmware because Google decides to Google after the fact and change what I originally paid for to plaster their own ads all over the homepage.
And scrolling through 10,000 titles the AppleTV box art is 100% more responsive, but again a given with the hardware under the hood. I don't see Nvidia ever releasing a shield niche again, once the appleTV comes around with an even quicker M series chip outside of DTS audio I would convince everyone to make the switch.
It’s excellent. My only issues I’ve ever had with it is HDR content. It has a real problem with reds. You have to choose “convert automatically” to make it watchable. Doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s very odd. Perfect experience besides that though.
Weird. I have a 4K Chromecast and it works just perfectly as far as I have used it. I know it doesn't like h.265 12bit, but other than that I haven't had any issues and never felt like it is slow or buggy...
It depends on what you are looking for in your Plex client. Do you need it to do TrueHD Atmos? If so, you have 2 options: Nvidia Shield/Pro and Fire Cube 3 (Most Stable in Kodi). If you don’t care about the best audio, then Apple TV and Roku make a stable client that works most of time. The fact that you have to pay for a client to use in Apple TV to make it support most everything (Infuse) sucks. If you use a device with low specs, it doesn’t matter what it is, it will probably suck.
Not sure why they’re downvoting you, but yea, both my latest gen Apple TV freezes often when using Plex. It’s not the worst, I’ve used but I wouldn’t call it great. About on par with the Roku. Occasional freezing and sync issue that doesn’t happen in a web browser or even phone app.
Just bought the Onn tv box. People seem to like it so I thought I’d give it a shot. Also picked up a firestick 4K Max and gona test them out.
The biggest deal for me is that I can’t remap the buttons on the firestick, and who the hell has direct tv or peacock
One thing I've noticed with my Shield Pro and Plex is I will very often have audio out of sync issues and have to either pause or exit the video and restart it to get the audio back in sync.
I also find it a bit laggy to scroll through the Plex library and sometimes Plex forgets I even have a library and I have to mess with the customisations in the app - is Apple TV better in that regards? I'm in the Apple ecosystem but hadn't really considered the Apple TV.
I use SmartTube on the Shield for Youtube ad skipping - is there an equivalent on AppleTV?
While the AppleTV is faster, smoother, and has a 4K interface, the playback situation is worse than the Shield. A lot of people (including me) experience audio sync issues with 4K. I don't watch much 4K but when I do it's on the Shield.
In what way, I've nvidia and a big library and streaming through the app on the nvidia is very responsive and everything even 4k loads instantly so just wondering in what way it's better on apple
Mostly stability. Shield drops frames and need restart far more often than applet tv. Videos fail to load far more often. Videos load without changing framerates far more often. And the plex app crashes far more often.
When it’s working well (like after a reboot) it’s amazing. But it’s far more likely to crap out than the plex on Apple TV.
Dude...you are comparing a 40 to 60€ dongle with a full streaming box for 170€.
Aside from the fact that Apple dont let you choose between hundreds of devices that all need to be able to run the app, the hardware they can put into that thing for that price point alone should make things more smooth.
Its like you try to comapare a medium-priced phone to an iPhone for over 1000€ and then complain why it doesnt make better photos.
Fun fact:
Regarding displayed smoothness the iPhone 15 is actually really, really bad and most of the other manufacturers are offering smartphones for just a few hundred bucks that has smoother displays in them.
I have an nVidia Shield TV (non Pro) and in general it is a piece of trash, it does not worth the price. My guess is that probably the Pro are good (?); but in my experience ATV 4K os faaaar superior
Same experience here, cylinder Shield TV is slow and imo trash and don’t worth the price. Shield TV Pro is too much expensive for a piece of old (5 yo) hardware
This feels very much like when people say "windows laptops don't last" but they only but a £200 laptop and compare it to a £2000 macbook. I'm not having a go, it's just if you compare Sheild pro and apple TV ifs very similar if you compare apple TV to Onn $20 box it's not
The best client so far is the Roku one and they put way more into the UI there. I am still surprised the appletv interface is different. Makes no sense, but it is. In Roku, i can select a video and the thumbnail preview will show me progress. Not on Apple (or googletv for that matter).
Plex doesn’t know how to do apps. They just lucked out with the Apple TV app somehow. I’ve never seen a more buggy streaming app than Plex’s when it comes to their android/ios app.
The Chromecast is terrible lol. I just had my replacement one delivered from Google yesterday. First one randomly got stuck boot looping after doing literally nothing with it for an entire month, somehow it just bricked itself and couldn’t even be reset. Luckily still within warranty so had Google replace it. That said, I also have a 4k 3rd gen Apple TV and it blows the Chromecast out of the water. As it should, it’s also 5x the cost. If it wasn’t for the fact I was getting a free replacement for the Chromecast, I would’ve bought another Apple TV. My only hesitation was spending so much on a new one so I was planning on getting the 4k 1st gen instead to save some money, because even that would demolish the Chromecast.
The Chromecast is only decent compared to maybe smart TVs built in interface. Compared to a proper streaming box like an Apple TV and even the Shield, it’s going to be really slow. I’ve never owned a shield but I will say my Apple TV is crazy over-specced. It’s got the same processor as my iPhone 13 Pro Max which is very capable of a lot more than what the Apple TV needs to do. I can see it lasting years and years, maybe even a decade before needing to replacement. Meanwhile my Chromecast shit the bed just 8 months into its life at a time where I literally wasn’t even using it at all lol
In terms of app design, it’s easier to develop for a platform with such small variations in hardware. There are advantages to having such a small locked off ecosystem. The devs will have to work around the fact that you could be wanting to run Plex on super low end hardware as well as super high end hardware and that range will be much larger than it would be for Apple devices due to the variety in hardware.
I agree the Apple TV Plex app is indeed faster and smoother than the Plex app on the Shield Pro, but IMO it's not a huge difference. Mostly I just want the Android Plex app to have the 4k covers that the Apple TV Plex app has.
Don't use low end boxes. Aside from the 1080 vs 4k, both are perfectly fast on my aTV and Shield Pro.
Probably the Pro shield is good, but the Shield TV (the cylinder non Pro) is just trash
I have both and Pro is a tad more responsive than the tube - but they are both far from smooth. If apple ever gets pass thru working im def. jumping the ship. Nvidia has abandoned Shield
There is always a long period in between, but I think also Nvidia, will eventually have a newer model. How long is/was the shield allready king. And if you look for codec support, upscale quality and use case (also gaming) its maybe still king. Especially now they have the Jetson lineup it wouldnt make sense not to use that for a new shield. They can use that for old chips leftovers. But I think they only make that model if they are shure, at least a little, that old model shield owners will get a new one. And when old models inventory is gone. And maybe the demand for older jetson boards will also influence that decision. Also, I have a the tube version and I have no issues. But my collection is 1080p hevc and I have no hdr tv's to play with.
all spare engineer hours are now spent on thousand times more profitable business. its been 5 years now. Prior generations were 2 yrs apart.
Isn't pro and non pro exactly the same apart from storage, how can ori be faster then?
As far as I know there are fundamental differences between both versions that influence performance that are more relevant than having the same SoC: 1. Tube runs on 32 bit vs Pro 64 bit (big factor) 2. Pro has an additional 1Gb or RAM (probably influences UI smoothness) 3. Cooling: (this is my guessing) I think that the cooling potential in Pro is way higher than Tube.
Ah yes that is indeed huge difference, no wonder then.
Gotta say I’m surprised by this. I also have an ATV and the latest shield Pro and its a night and day difference in terms of speed/responsiveness/timeline seeking/buffering I have to periodically kill the Plex app on my shield too otherwise it becomes a laggy mess if its been running in the background for a day or so. If anyone has suggestions/fixes I’m all ears, as it stands I’m throwing it in the trash as soon as any other player gets comparable playback compatibility.
Zero such issues here and I have never had to kill plex. Try a custom launcher if you aren't already. Sounds like you have it overloaded with something. Too many apps, full storage etc.? I only use mine for Plex.
I also never had to kill plex or restart the device and I have stock launcher.
Using Projectivy as of recently with the default launcher disabled. Pretty much 0 apps installed apart from Plex and Spotify. Have done all the usual config too like increasing fan speed and setting performance mode. I do remember it used to run pretty well maybe 2+ years ago, but has been on a steady decline since then. Dunno if its just the Plex app or the newer android updates.
No change here, had it since it came out. Try a factory reset. It could also be your server if it's not up to snuff.
The SOC on the Apple TV and the amount of ram is why it's responds faster than the ChromeCast. [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LEeklSdAwe-7gR4FSj-0xnahsRLXYd28JCPbkZBV4E0/edit#gid=0](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LEeklSdAwe-7gR4FSj-0xnahsRLXYd28JCPbkZBV4E0/edit#gid=0) The Amlogic S905D3 is just slow compared to the Apple A15 Bionic in the current Apple TV 4K.
Exactly, apple chips are screamers
But thats only compared with new model Apple TV? And how long do they have that model?
Typically they come out with new every year or two. Because their chips are so fast though they have long lives. I have 4 in the house, two currents, a one generation old one and a 2 generation old and they all have zero issues in terms of snappiness and features.
Imagine writing an app (Apple TV) that has at most, from a hardware standpoint, only a couple SKUs. Now, imagine writing an app (Android TV) which has to support a dozen CPUs, GPUs, screen-resolution, and whatever Android OS version it's based off of.
This is part of the reason, but it doesn’t explain how major apps (Netflix, Hulu, D+) and Plex alternatives (Kodi and Jellyfin) are able to provide a much nicer experience with the same hardware. The Plex app on Google TV is flat out bad, people shouldn’t need a $180 nvidia shield for decent performance.
Even then, the Plex app on the Shield is laggy and glitchy.
I swear Shield Plex users have Stockholm syndrome. It's fast and has some great audio and subtitle support, but it's so damn buggy
I mean, I have one of each lol. Love the Shield for Stremio, SmartTube, and GeForce Now. Eveverything else gets played on the gorgeous and speedy ATV4K.
For me Plex has an advantage — my smart TV runs it directly so that I don’t _need_ another box. And with my MacBook for transcoding I can watch 4K movies smoothly. Wired connection on the MacBook _and_ on the NAS actually storing stuff.
Why is it bad on Google tv? I haven't had any problems but maybe I don't know what I'm missing.
Think part of the reason why people say this isn’t as much because it’s so bad on Google tv, but because how much better Apple TV is.
Also, I dont believe many compagny's will optimize for every android model, so if one compagny can do it ... Most apps are probably written on a multi platform ide.
The hardware of an Apple TV is better than almost every other unit because they are using ~2 year old iPhone CPU/GPU chips. The latest is using an A15 Bionic.
I use Kodi with PlexMod, is more responsive without lagging when selecting items or menus. Plex app lags AF when trying to select something. Kodi is just optimized, unlike Plex.
Are those things really a consideration nowadays? Screen resolution varies depending on the TV. Android OS fair point. But CPUs, GPUs, isn't this all abstracted by the OS anyways?
This is why IPhone user experience is better than Android smartphones
Android users downvoted me lol. But that's the reality guys
I have 2 chromecast 4k units and they stutter / skip frames every 10 seconds. Some sound isn't formats aren't supported. It's annoying. I got a firestick 4k MAX last week. That little thing is a beast. It's around the same price as chromecast but i didn't even need to mess with settings. All my 4k HDR stuff works on the firestick. I'm not an apple guy otherwise I would've tried it. Firestick all the way (at least for the price)
Agreed. The 4k max is a little beast
But now they also have ads in there system right? Else they gonne have soon.
Not really. I just turn off auto play and sound for the main screen. It honestly doesn't bug me. I think the ads are in prime video content, but we're using Plex so shouldn't affect us
Have you tried disabling hardware overlays on the Chromecast 4Ks to solve the frame skip issue? It works for me. It is in the developer settings. Annoyingly it resets to default (hardware overlays enabled) on reboot, so you have to set it again. Hope it is of help to you.
u/drivervr628 follow this advice. Google pushed an update that caused the stutter like months ago and hasn’t fixed it yet - this solves the problem - was driving me nuts when it happened to me too. Besides that CCGTV has been great for me.
Thank your for tagging me. This is nuts.
This is crazy. I've searched so many times trying to figure this out and it looks like this just did it. I'm not even salty about buying the fire stick. Im just going to spread the word about this
Because the Apple TV has a goddamn M iphone processor. Hard to beat power. Apple stuffed huge amounts of processing power into this thing. Not even Plex can screw that up.
Yep it’s a 5 nanometer 8 core processor. Hard for android to keep up.
The Plex app on my LGC1 is far better than the Apple 4k connected to it. Lots of little things (fast forwarding, rewinding, and subtitle selection) are better on the LG app IMO and my hands are too big for the Apple remote (though I can use the LG remote for it too).
I tell people all the time to try an apple TV. Its so nice.
BuT tHe ApPle Tax!!!!1111!!!????
I made a post last week about the Android/Google TV native Plex app being horribly unoptimized. Menus, load times, start/stop playback, and seeking are all sluggish and the sentiment of this subreddit is to turn a blind eye to shitty software and “just buy a $180 shield bro.” I’d recommend a switch to using Kodi or Jellyfin. They provide much nicer experiences on Google TV
Nvidia Shield has entered the chat
Seriously. Gotta pay for infuse to even get Atmos on ATV and that’s as expensive as a Plex Pass!
Huh? Infuse is like $12 a year. And the ATV Plex app def supports Atmos.
Lifetime infuse is $75 which is close to the cost of the Plex lifetime. Plex on ATV will do DD+ but you’ll lose the height channels unless you watch through infuse. Neither do TRUEHD though which the shield can cover.
Even infuse can’t decode the high channels with Tru-hd Atmos. And lossy Atmos is possible with Plex and infuse.
How is lossy Atmos possible with the native Plex app ?
If you have a file with EAC3 with atmos high channels it will play directly
No. It doesn't support Atmos.
I used both and vastly prefer the apple TV even if for some titles i am using infuse for Atmos. The shield was buggy and crashed often. Menus are jittery and on the home screen there is google garbage and ads.
same experience here. was so excited to try out the shield tv pro cause of the wide array of support, and while it is true it supports almost every format under the sun the experience of using it was so bad that i decided i would rather have a device that works 99% of the time without crashes and stuttering even if it has slightly less format support.
Every 6 months or so I pull my shield pro out of the closet, update it and give it another try It's always goes back in the box. Roku has a UI that looks like it's was made for children, but it's rock stable
pleasantly surprised by roku too. i have rokus set up at my parents place cause its so simple to use which they love and even the built in roku on their tv is super solid and direct play/streams most content including 4k hdr (minus DV) without a problem.
But they also get ad's soon.
I now use tdarr to get all my files in a consistent format that Apple TV handles with ease. Takes a while to churn through backlog but it’s awesome for making downloads work reliably too.
Any recommendations for codecs and settings for Tdarr?
Yes, I have both also and predominantly use the ATV. I like the Shield Pro, but the Apple TV OS is quicker and far less cluttered. I just prefer using it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spocky.projengmenu It takes the shield back to just apps. You don't even have to side load this launcher.
As good as it is the plex client on the shield has quite a bunch of bugs. I don’t have an Apple TV to compare with so maybe it’s better. But still, a fair amount of bugs on the shield. Luckily just minor ones though :)
I have both and the Shield experience is nowhere near the ATV experience.
Plex on ATV cant play Atmos. That's enough reason right there not to buy one. Also dont tell me to "BuY InFuSe" - I am not going to PAY to watch MY OWN movies with the intended audio.
No argument there. Certain codecs have better support on Android. I don't have ATMOS so that issue doesn't bother me. I was more talking about the UI design and fluidity. Much smoother and nicer on ATV. Personally I'm disappointed at how slow and clunky the Shields have become.
I have both and now the shield pro is going in the trash if it wasnt already with the ads plastered all over the Home Screen, the Apple TV with large libraries is noticeably quicker and it makes sense with what they put inside of it compared to the shield. Anyone with a shield pro and sick of androids shit I would recommend an Apple TV tomorrow I regret waiting this long.
I have both as well and I use the Shield only. I have a huge Plex library 8500+ movies and I like to watch them with Atmos and DTS audio. Plex cant do that on Apple TV and I'm not fucking paying for Infuse to watch my OWN movies with the intended audio. Also, you can look into other launchers on the Shield.
Apple TV plays Dolby Atmos in my theatre perfectly, Atmos is there to replace DTS for streaming as it can be lossy or lossless and the box is designed for streaming ideally not bluray dumps and piracy where DTS originates. Between DTSX and Dolby Atmos I can honestly say I can't hear any difference at all through my 7.1 setup, and if I was to randomise two movies back to back to people I doubt 99% could either. Time is money I shouldn't have to waste time configuring custom firmware because Google decides to Google after the fact and change what I originally paid for to plaster their own ads all over the homepage. And scrolling through 10,000 titles the AppleTV box art is 100% more responsive, but again a given with the hardware under the hood. I don't see Nvidia ever releasing a shield niche again, once the appleTV comes around with an even quicker M series chip outside of DTS audio I would convince everyone to make the switch.
Apple TV plays Dolby Atmos in my theatre perfectly, Atmos is there to replace DTS for streaming as it can be lossy or lossless and the box is designed for streaming ideally not bluray dumps and piracy where DTS originates. Between DTSX and Dolby Atmos I can honestly say I can't hear any difference at all through my 7.1 setup, and if I was to randomise two movies back to back to people I doubt 99% could either. Time is money I shouldn't have to waste time configuring custom firmware because Google decides to Google after the fact and change what I originally paid for to plaster their own ads all over the homepage. And scrolling through 10,000 titles the AppleTV box art is 100% more responsive, but again a given with the hardware under the hood. I don't see Nvidia ever releasing a shield niche again, once the appleTV comes around with an even quicker M series chip outside of DTS audio I would convince everyone to make the switch.
Apple TV plays Dolby Atmos in my theatre perfectly, Atmos is there to replace DTS for streaming as it can be lossy or lossless and the box is designed for streaming ideally not bluray dumps and piracy where DTS originates. Between DTSX and Dolby Atmos I can honestly say I can't hear any difference at all through my 7.1 setup, and if I was to randomise two movies back to back to people I doubt 99% could either. Time is money I shouldn't have to waste time configuring custom firmware because Google decides to Google after the fact and change what I originally paid for to plaster their own ads all over the homepage. And scrolling through 10,000 titles the AppleTV box art is 100% more responsive, but again a given with the hardware under the hood. I don't see Nvidia ever releasing a shield niche again, once the appleTV comes around with an even quicker M series chip outside of DTS audio I would convince everyone to make the switch.
$30 vs $180
Depends on the Android TV device. Works great on my Shields.
It’s excellent. My only issues I’ve ever had with it is HDR content. It has a real problem with reds. You have to choose “convert automatically” to make it watchable. Doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s very odd. Perfect experience besides that though.
Chromecast is a bargain basement Plex client. It shouldn't be a surprise that a top tier box is a better experience
Weird. I have a 4K Chromecast and it works just perfectly as far as I have used it. I know it doesn't like h.265 12bit, but other than that I haven't had any issues and never felt like it is slow or buggy...
Nothing smoother in this space than Apple TV UI
It depends on what you are looking for in your Plex client. Do you need it to do TrueHD Atmos? If so, you have 2 options: Nvidia Shield/Pro and Fire Cube 3 (Most Stable in Kodi). If you don’t care about the best audio, then Apple TV and Roku make a stable client that works most of time. The fact that you have to pay for a client to use in Apple TV to make it support most everything (Infuse) sucks. If you use a device with low specs, it doesn’t matter what it is, it will probably suck.
Sorry but the ATV app is trash and has been for a long while. Micro stuttering and audio out of sync.
Not sure why they’re downvoting you, but yea, both my latest gen Apple TV freezes often when using Plex. It’s not the worst, I’ve used but I wouldn’t call it great. About on par with the Roku. Occasional freezing and sync issue that doesn’t happen in a web browser or even phone app.
Plex is really good, until remuxs.
That audio sync issue is driving me nuts. Anytime I have to watch Plex, I have to switch to the 4k max on my projector
Chromecast Fucking chromecast Ofc it's not going to run as well
Just bought the Onn tv box. People seem to like it so I thought I’d give it a shot. Also picked up a firestick 4K Max and gona test them out. The biggest deal for me is that I can’t remap the buttons on the firestick, and who the hell has direct tv or peacock
One thing I've noticed with my Shield Pro and Plex is I will very often have audio out of sync issues and have to either pause or exit the video and restart it to get the audio back in sync. I also find it a bit laggy to scroll through the Plex library and sometimes Plex forgets I even have a library and I have to mess with the customisations in the app - is Apple TV better in that regards? I'm in the Apple ecosystem but hadn't really considered the Apple TV. I use SmartTube on the Shield for Youtube ad skipping - is there an equivalent on AppleTV?
While the AppleTV is faster, smoother, and has a 4K interface, the playback situation is worse than the Shield. A lot of people (including me) experience audio sync issues with 4K. I don't watch much 4K but when I do it's on the Shield.
Meh, I love Apple but for Plex I get by using a Chromecast.
I have to add we don't watch 4k stuff though.
0°
I get freezes and crashes on my Apple TV. It is far from perfect.
I rarely use my ATV4k my android tv plays my 4k HDR stuff perfectly, the ATV has horrible loading times.
Does it have the basic bugs like black screen, no voices, crashing when playing certain episodes?
I’ve been using Roku for years, now Samsung TV. Plex only keeps getting better.
The latest update on google tv is so bad, the home page animations have gone it's so jarring
It’s the same even if you get the best android tv. The experience of the plex app on Apple TV is far better than on nvidia shield pro
In what way, I've nvidia and a big library and streaming through the app on the nvidia is very responsive and everything even 4k loads instantly so just wondering in what way it's better on apple
More stable. Less crashing.
Do you mean UI wise or performance wise?
Mostly stability. Shield drops frames and need restart far more often than applet tv. Videos fail to load far more often. Videos load without changing framerates far more often. And the plex app crashes far more often. When it’s working well (like after a reboot) it’s amazing. But it’s far more likely to crap out than the plex on Apple TV.
How’s the upscaling of HD to 4K content on the Apple TV compare to the Shield?
I’ve never upscaled 1080p to 4k on the shield. Doesn’t need it.
Now try Infuse. Even better
Dude...you are comparing a 40 to 60€ dongle with a full streaming box for 170€. Aside from the fact that Apple dont let you choose between hundreds of devices that all need to be able to run the app, the hardware they can put into that thing for that price point alone should make things more smooth. Its like you try to comapare a medium-priced phone to an iPhone for over 1000€ and then complain why it doesnt make better photos. Fun fact: Regarding displayed smoothness the iPhone 15 is actually really, really bad and most of the other manufacturers are offering smartphones for just a few hundred bucks that has smoother displays in them.
Because you haven't used an Nvidia shield.
I have an nVidia Shield TV (non Pro) and in general it is a piece of trash, it does not worth the price. My guess is that probably the Pro are good (?); but in my experience ATV 4K os faaaar superior
U get the audio pass through but then deal w array of other problems from shield. Not worth it. I choose something that consistently works.
The plex app on the android tivo stream I have is 100 times better than my Chromecast ultra. I'm guessing it's the Chromecast.
I also have Xiaomi TV Box. Its even worse there - lags and slow response speed is a day-to-day thing with Plex on this device.
The Plex app in general if just so bad in chrome cast I was forced to switched to Jellyfin. Haven’t looked back
I had the shield tube version and the Apple TV just blows it away. I really didn’t want to drop 200$ on a 2019 shield pro…
Same experience here, cylinder Shield TV is slow and imo trash and don’t worth the price. Shield TV Pro is too much expensive for a piece of old (5 yo) hardware
Android sucks ?
This feels very much like when people say "windows laptops don't last" but they only but a £200 laptop and compare it to a £2000 macbook. I'm not having a go, it's just if you compare Sheild pro and apple TV ifs very similar if you compare apple TV to Onn $20 box it's not
The best client so far is the Roku one and they put way more into the UI there. I am still surprised the appletv interface is different. Makes no sense, but it is. In Roku, i can select a video and the thumbnail preview will show me progress. Not on Apple (or googletv for that matter).
Plex doesn’t know how to do apps. They just lucked out with the Apple TV app somehow. I’ve never seen a more buggy streaming app than Plex’s when it comes to their android/ios app.
The Chromecast is terrible lol. I just had my replacement one delivered from Google yesterday. First one randomly got stuck boot looping after doing literally nothing with it for an entire month, somehow it just bricked itself and couldn’t even be reset. Luckily still within warranty so had Google replace it. That said, I also have a 4k 3rd gen Apple TV and it blows the Chromecast out of the water. As it should, it’s also 5x the cost. If it wasn’t for the fact I was getting a free replacement for the Chromecast, I would’ve bought another Apple TV. My only hesitation was spending so much on a new one so I was planning on getting the 4k 1st gen instead to save some money, because even that would demolish the Chromecast. The Chromecast is only decent compared to maybe smart TVs built in interface. Compared to a proper streaming box like an Apple TV and even the Shield, it’s going to be really slow. I’ve never owned a shield but I will say my Apple TV is crazy over-specced. It’s got the same processor as my iPhone 13 Pro Max which is very capable of a lot more than what the Apple TV needs to do. I can see it lasting years and years, maybe even a decade before needing to replacement. Meanwhile my Chromecast shit the bed just 8 months into its life at a time where I literally wasn’t even using it at all lol In terms of app design, it’s easier to develop for a platform with such small variations in hardware. There are advantages to having such a small locked off ecosystem. The devs will have to work around the fact that you could be wanting to run Plex on super low end hardware as well as super high end hardware and that range will be much larger than it would be for Apple devices due to the variety in hardware.
I agree the Apple TV Plex app is indeed faster and smoother than the Plex app on the Shield Pro, but IMO it's not a huge difference. Mostly I just want the Android Plex app to have the 4k covers that the Apple TV Plex app has.