Getting the most out of streamed video: Netflix and Plex (with NVIDIA Shield Pro?)

I have read that some of the newer Zidoo players support HDR and Dolby Vision, but Dolby Vision is not listed directly on the website.  You may want to email them to make sure.

As far as I can tell, Dune and Zappiti do not have Dolby Vision yet.  These are somewhat small companies (not like Marantz/Denon which have a team of 80+ engineers).  New technology updates are always a challenge to keep up with.  But you should ask yourself the question as to what's more important?  New features and functionality?  Or overall audio/video quality.  A lot of content from Netflix/Hulu/etc. is not going to be in HDR or Dolby Vision anyways.

Just to report back some of my research...

The Zidoo (and other similar players) are purposely designed with local storage and a native menu for playing media.

So to get the most of these devices, you would copy media directly to it, then play. And the quality is supposed to be superior to even the Nvidia Shield for pic + audio.

However, support for other apps is limited and possibly clunky. For example, they currently dont have licensing from Netflix therefore you will only get 480 SD (NOT HD) quality when streaming.

I’m not sure what the limitations are for Plex, but then again, the Zidoo is a replacement for Plex for local network play via ethernet. i.e. it has a nice poster wall for displaying remote media.

Conclusion: for streaming services like Netflix, top choice seems to be Nvidia Shield TV Pro 2019. For local media, the Zidoo, Dune and Zappiti are ideal.

Wow, thanks for finding all that!  I had not researched down in the weeds that deep yet.  I've done some more research today and it seems all of these high end players are not Google certified and are actually still using very old Android OS versions (Version 6.0 from 2015, and in some cases Version 5 from 2014).   That's too bad because the hardware is really excellent.

There is a side-install work around for Netflix on these Zidoo.  You have to go into security settings and "allow outside install programs" or something.  But that is only for netflix and you have to get the install directly from the netflix site.

There is one Zidoo device that seems to be newer - Zidoo H6 Pro.  This runs a slightly newer Android 7.0.  All indications do say that the H6 does support Google Play and Netflix 4K HD.  You can upgrade this one with a 5V linear power supply, but you probably have to figure out the proper size DC plug.

So, yeah, the Nvidia Shield Pro has a newer Android TV 9.0 OS and pretty much supports everything, but the power connector is proprietary and will be difficult to upgrade to linear power supply.

I did find a product called Himedia S500 that also runs the Android TV 9.0 and indicates it is fully GooglePlay certified.  It is so new that it's not yet available from a US distributor.  You can order it from a UK/Germany distributor.  Not that expensive at about $98.  You can also upgrade to 12V linear power supply, and you will have to figure out the proper DC plug for this.

An Sbooster with all those different plug adapters could be an easy answer for the Zidoo H6 Pro or the Himedia S500.

Hi irave,

I know this thread is over an year old but I wanted to share my HT setup in case you're still having issues. And also in case anyone has advice to throw my way as well. 

Currently I have about 400+ bluray discs (300@1080p & 100@4KUHD) all ripped to my FreeNAS 32TB server (now also called TrueNAS). I used MakeMKV with a 4K Libre friendly external drive to rip ONLY the core movie to a single MKV file. Which I understand is a 1:1 copy of the movie (not the entire disc). My FreeNAS server also acts as a Plex Server which sites in my server rack in my basement. 

My LivRm TV which is my Home Theater TV is where I have a 5.2.4 Klipsch setup with the Shield Pro connected to my Denon X3700H AVR (AVR is also connected to an Emotiva A5 amplifier) which then goes to a LG CX77 OLED. I use the Plex app on the Shield to access the FreeNAS PlexServer over ethernet via the LAN (wireless works too but kinda laggy when streaming 4KUHD MKV files even with Wifi 6).  I am able to get HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos TruHD, DTS:X etc... just fine so far. 

In my 3 other bedrooms I have a normal shield stick and 2 Chromecasts w Google TV and they all use the Plex app to access the server as well. None of them have home theater set ups so simple plex watching is good to go there. 

So far I haven't had any video or audio issues with streaming these uncompressed rips to any of my devices. What I'm wondering now is if adding a bluray player like the Sony UBP-X800M2 or the Panasonic DP-UB820 be a welcome upgrade or not worth it? First of all I HATE inserting and removing discs to watch anything from my library, hence the Plex Server.  But if there's a player out there that has a great video processor that also plays MKV/M2TS files over LAN with no loss in video/audio quality, Dolby Vision/HDR and TruHD/DTS:X, then I definitely would want to know if it is worth considering compared to the video quality coming out of the Shield Pro with Plex. 

Side note - I'm aware that the OPPO 203 can check all these boxes but at the cost of $1,500 is the upgrade in quality worth that? 

Thanks for listening and If you have any questions with my setup please feel free to ask away :) 

Zebruh

Putting in a Sony UBP-X800M2 or the Panasonic DP-UB820 is not likely going to provide any significant upgrade over the Nvidia Shield for Plex streaming because they are both relatively low cost players with switching power supplies.  The Oppo 203 may be an upgrade, but it's still lacking a linear power supply for the digital section (which can be fixed using a LPM upgrade from oppomod $280-360).

If you are absolutely requiring the ability to use Plex as the streaming app, then the only potential upgrade I see for you is to get the Roku Ultra and then add a linear power supply.  This can even be a cheap Teredak LPS for $130 or less.  Adding a good power cord and an Audiomagic Superfuse will significantly increase the quality as well.  The only caveat is that you need a special size plug on the DC power cord.  The Roku Ultra uses a 4.75mm x 1.7mm DC plug.  I have had absolutely excellent results with linear power supply on Roku.

The problem with Nvidia Shield is that the power supply and power supply connector are completely proprietary.  The AppleTV uses an internal switching power supply so that is out.  The Amazon FireCube uses an even smaller size DC plug and it's a pain to handle.  The Roku Ultra is the best choice for linear power supply upgrade.

If you can let go of your Plex requirement, then the upper end media streamers from Zidoo / Zappitti and Dune will also be an upgrade.  Make sure you get one with a built-in linear power supply.  The cost would likely be in the $600-1200 range.  These media streamers/players are likely the best outcome because they will probably play at native rates and have excellent video processing circuits.  You can configure Roky to play video at native rates, but I found that it actually degrades the video (Roky default is 60hz).