4K, streamers, XboneS and WMC7

Talk about speakers, TVs, receivers, STBs, etc.
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werds

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4K, streamers, XboneS and WMC7

#1

Post by werds » Tue Feb 07, 2017 2:00 am

OK, So if you click under my name you will see the specs of my WMC7 machine. A year and a half ago I moved from a Comcast are to a Mediacom area and tried to stay using the WMC ecosystem that I had been using for ages... unfortunately it couldn't maintain signal on a regular basis and the wife was becoming frustrated so we entered a 2 year contract with DirecTV with a whole home dvr...

With a few months left in the contract I want to revive the WMC system in the background to see if the signal and reliability issues with Mediacom have been resolved... because my wife loved the WMC setup and still occasionally mentions how much better it was than DirecTV's system. If I cannot revive the working system I will end up remaining on DirecTV or going to Dish or possibly purchasing a whole home setup for Tivo usage...

In the meantime I need help - I want to upgrade my main TV to 4k. I have my eyes kinda set on a 60" Vizio M60-D1 as it provides marginally what I would like at a decent cost. But I am trying to decide if purchasing a ROKU or an X Box One S is a better idea... We abuse Amazon Prime video and Netflix in our house, all of it is currently streamed using our old Xbox 360's. I know a Roku would provide more options but was intrigued by the possibility of having the Xbox One S serve as a passthrough and overlay for WMC or the DirecTV system for example- then there would be no need to switch inputs etc and I get the bonus of a 4k Bluray player.

No we hardly ever rent or purchase 4k Bluray, but with it having streaming, passthrough and bluray it has crossed the mind as viable... but is it truely viable or am I misunderstanding how it functions or how well it would function in this scenario for daily use in a household where the wife and kids expect the TV system to be an appliance?

Thanks for the feedback in advance!

P.S. Right now while the WMC system has been dormant it pretty much just serves as a movie streamer for all the movies we have backed up. Media Browser had such a perfect setup where I could scroll an alphabetic list of movies with the cover art on the side, so simple the kids could navigate it without missing stuff like when it is in wall display or banner mode...my wife also loves having all her workout videos in an easy to find place too. Moving back to WMC would make this easier to use... but in case we have to permanently say adios to WMC I am trying to figure out if something like the ROKU might work better overall...

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#2

Post by werds » Tue Feb 07, 2017 11:52 am

Well scratch the middle paragraph... I found a decent deal on a Vizio P55-C1 and jumped on it...so now the question of, ROKU, stick with the chrome/streamcasting the TV has, or set up Xbox One S with the passthrough overlay as mentioned above...

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#3

Post by Bryan » Tue Feb 07, 2017 5:09 pm

I'm sure it's not a problem any more, but look up the recent Vizio class action about their "smart" TV's - I wouldn't want a TV networked, or at least with internet access. Not to say other streaming devices aren't susceptible to this, but TV's don't have a great record there.

Personally, I like my Xbox One, but I also game on it. I couldn't really justify it just as a streaming device. In that situation I'd probably go Roku. However, I also don't use the passthrough on my Xbox.

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#4

Post by werds » Tue Feb 07, 2017 5:17 pm

Bryan wrote:I'm sure it's not a problem any more, but look up the recent Vizio class action about their "smart" TV's - I wouldn't want a TV networked, or at least with internet access. Not to say other streaming devices aren't susceptible to this, but TV's don't have a great record there.

Personally, I like my Xbox One, but I also game on it. I couldn't really justify it just as a streaming device. In that situation I'd probably go Roku. However, I also don't use the passthrough on my Xbox.

Thanks for the info. Yes, I have been aware of the lawsuit but I also am aware that the majority of the social media apps I use are also actively listening as well so as much as I used to be concerned, I am not as concerned as I used to be... old age has actually reduced my paranoia and turned it more into a who cares attitude sometimes... not that I am diminishing what Vizio has done.

Yea, my Xbox's are all mostly streaming devices and working as extenders (6 of them in the house). I game pretty much solely on my PC when I get the time or urge anymore... As to the passthrough, most of the posts I see about it being used in that fashion seem to be dated so was hoping to find someone who is actively using it to get their firsthand thoughts.

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DavidinCT

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#5

Post by DavidinCT » Wed Feb 08, 2017 2:09 am

If your interested in 4K... Xbox One S would be your best option, as most streaming sources offer 4K on the Xbox one S and you also get UHD Blu-ray if you decide to rent or buy a movie. The 4K is a much better picture but, what is the point of a 4K tv, if you really don't have many 4K sources.

WMC can be run at 4K (look up my threads), and if you can rip 4K video, you could store it in the movie library and play it in WMC. I personally run my Windows 7 WMC machine at 2160p (4k) @60hz and it runs awesome.

I have about 5 4K movies (4K Blu-ray rips...shhhhh) and I have compared them between a USB 3.0 stick right into the TV or in WMC and look at 2 inches from a 65" 4K TV, I cant see a difference nor can anyone else.
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Windows Media Center certified and WMC MVP 2010 - 2012

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#6

Post by werds » Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:38 am

Yes! I was thrilled when I saw your post. Now that you reminded me about Xbone S and it's 4K output I decided to check something that randomly popped in my head... and sad face! :( Looks like even though it does hdmi passthrough it does not support 4K passthrough...

http://www.whathifi.com/news/no-xbox-on ... ss-through

Hoping that it has changed via firmware since then but my google fu is not pulling anything of that like up... That said I do appreciate the info you provided on setting up WMC to output in 4k as I am really hoping the Mediacom signal has improved...

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#7

Post by DavidinCT » Wed Feb 08, 2017 3:19 pm

werds wrote:Yes! I was thrilled when I saw your post. Now that you reminded me about Xbone S and it's 4K output I decided to check something that randomly popped in my head... and sad face! :( Looks like even though it does hdmi passthrough it does not support 4K passthrough...

http://www.whathifi.com/news/no-xbox-on ... ss-through

Hoping that it has changed via firmware since then but my google fu is not pulling anything of that like up... That said I do appreciate the info you provided on setting up WMC to output in 4k as I am really hoping the Mediacom signal has improved...
Keep in mind, the Xbox one S is not a full fleged 4K device. They upped the video memory and a h265 decodedr in it so you can play back 4K videos, and mostly low bit rate streaming videos. Try to play a game and it's a whole different story (upscalling and a TRUE 4k game 2 completely different things).

So inputting a 4K source, not sure if that would work fine. Are you putting WMC through there ? Even if it supported 4K, I bet it would only go to 30hz...WMC looks like a JOKE (slide show) in 30hz..
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#8

Post by werds » Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:19 pm

DavidinCT wrote:
werds wrote:Yes! I was thrilled when I saw your post. Now that you reminded me about Xbone S and it's 4K output I decided to check something that randomly popped in my head... and sad face! :( Looks like even though it does hdmi passthrough it does not support 4K passthrough...

http://www.whathifi.com/news/no-xbox-on ... ss-through

Hoping that it has changed via firmware since then but my google fu is not pulling anything of that like up... That said I do appreciate the info you provided on setting up WMC to output in 4k as I am really hoping the Mediacom signal has improved...
Keep in mind, the Xbox one S is not a full fleged 4K device. They upped the video memory and a h265 decodedr in it so you can play back 4K videos, and mostly low bit rate streaming videos. Try to play a game and it's a whole different story (upscalling and a TRUE 4k game 2 completely different things).

So inputting a 4K source, not sure if that would work fine. Are you putting WMC through there ? Even if it supported 4K, I bet it would only go to 30hz...WMC looks like a JOKE (slide show) in 30hz..
Yuck, that was the original plan. But as I piece together things on the internet I may be best off just sitting on my hands for now and running WMC in 4k on the tv and chromecasting everything else... until a decent cheap bluray player comes out or until the next xbox or ps4 comes out that does it all in one... I was really hoping to pull of a one input setup for blu-ray, streaming, and WMC by using passthrough... but I will not do a compromised version. I guess that's why I bought a Harmony 900 for lol.

Wow, didn't even realize that the Xbox One S only does 30hz... darn... The Roku does 60hz at least...

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#9

Post by werds » Thu Feb 09, 2017 11:44 am

Adding this here since the spying tv stuff was mentioned :) http://thewirecutter.com/blog/your-priv ... %20article

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DavidinCT

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#10

Post by DavidinCT » Fri Feb 10, 2017 4:55 pm

werds wrote:
Wow, didn't even realize that the Xbox One S only does 30hz... darn... The Roku does 60hz at least...
I didn't say the Xbox one S only supported 30hz, I said I would bet the HDMI PASS THROUGH would only support 4K at 30hz. I dont believe the HDMI in supports 4K anyway, as it's designed for TV broadcasts and the max broadcast TV supports is 1080i or 720p. (no 1080p or even 4K). At least in the US.

The Xbox one S does support 60hz games but, Only at 1080p. As no game is TRUE 4K on the Xbox one S... I would also say that for streaming sources as well as the UHD blu-ray player, it would support 60hz in 4K...

So, it does support 2160p in 60hz but, with limits....
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#11

Post by werds » Tue Feb 21, 2017 12:52 am

DavidinCT wrote:
werds wrote:
Wow, didn't even realize that the Xbox One S only does 30hz... darn... The Roku does 60hz at least...
I didn't say the Xbox one S only supported 30hz, I said I would bet the HDMI PASS THROUGH would only support 4K at 30hz. I dont believe the HDMI in supports 4K anyway, as it's designed for TV broadcasts and the max broadcast TV supports is 1080i or 720p. (no 1080p or even 4K). At least in the US.

The Xbox one S does support 60hz games but, Only at 1080p. As no game is TRUE 4K on the Xbox one S... I would also say that for streaming sources as well as the UHD blu-ray player, it would support 60hz in 4K...

So, it does support 2160p in 60hz but, with limits....

Thanks for the clarification! Yes, I only meant it did not do 60hz in Passthrough. :( So I am putting the ROKU or Xbox One S purchase on pause for the time being. I am liking the TV, my kids instantly noticed the increased resolution and they are only 6 and 4 lol, they woke up the next morning were talking about how much nicer the shows looked before somewhere in the middle of the morning they asked if it was a new TV. Have not had a full chance to mess with WMC yet, but in initial setup for 4k it does look smooth. Now the process of small tweaks will begin as I just realized I have it set up to stream all our movie collection to the XBox 360's in the house but they are almost all in VOB format... so now to find a 4k and blu-ray container format that compresses decently but that the xboxes won't choke on...

Also as to the Vizio spying aspect, now that I had a chance to settle in on the tv purchase and a weekend of full use. I checked the Vizio website and apparently it does not have those settings turned on or available in SmartCast series tv's https://www.vizio.com/viewingdata

At some point I will tackle the 4k warning message from WMC - but will put that off until a future date since it looks like it required some registry tweaking and time. Thanks for the comments and information so far!

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