What is the best media player for streaming 4k content (HDR + DTS audio)?

by lorelimo

I have 4k content that I'd like to stream from my NAS (Media Server) to my TV. The problem is that I can't find any free(or cheap) option that allows smooth playback of large files (± 20 GB) and has the ability to change the audio string or the subtitles. Support for HDR content, DTS audio and .mkv etc. files are a necessity.

Does anyone know an optimal solution?

  • TV: Phillips 55PUS6401
  • File Explorer: ES file explorer
  • Tested Media Players:
    • X-plore (integrated in file explorer)
    • VLC
    • MX Player
    • ES (integrated in file explorer)
    • bunch of others (can't remember the names)...

Maybe the easiest solution is to just buy the codec package of a media player that is suitable, but I don't know which is the best.

My Network supports gigabit transfer rates and the media server is fast enough to be able to stream at the rate of the 4k files.

Please forgive me for any mistakes I made for English is not my mother tongue.

Thanks

Andrroid

Shield TV, no competition.

brp

Shield TV for sure.

Kodi will play anything, including full 40+GB ISOs or 60+GB .mkvs streamed from as NAS (via gigabit ethernet) with full DTS-HD/Atmos/TrueHD pass through. You can also organize different media libraries all nice and fancy like.

Bodycount9

Like others have said. Shield TV. The Xbox One S also does a nice job of 4k streaming and it has an added bonus of being able to play super bluray discs (if you're still into physical media) and it costs about the same price as the 500 GB shield. Mi Box might be good after the Nougat update but that's yet to be seen. Right now Mi Box sucks at 4k.

LiquidPoint

As I understand your post, you were looking for something free or cheap, which the Shield certainly isn't. But I can vouch for it myself, of course..

It's generally known in this sub that most TV's that come with ATV are under-powered, or are handicapped in other aspects of the hardware (it doesn't have to be CPU, it could be about wifi/network performance)...

In general, if you can't get VLC or MX Player to perform well, it's not an app problem, unfortunately (they're the most popular simplistic single-purpose apps).

You know, I could suggest you to buy an nVidia Shield or a BeoVision 14* but neither are cheap; My own preference when I buy a TV is about picture quality (also during action scenes) over "smart" features, because "smart" moves too fast to be the 10-year investments that TV's used to be.

* I do not have detailed system specifications about, or experience with, BV14, since I haven't been an employee of that company for years by now.

zires

Shield TV. But I gave up on my 2017 Shield TV to stay connected to my NAS. It connected and was fine for a couple of days but doesn't work reliably anymore. I gave up and use an external 1tb hd for my movies. Do a search on the Shield TV sub and you'll see what I mean. There are work arounds but they don't work for everyone. Just telling you my experience.