Best computer to connect to a TV for video playback?

[BattleToads]

How much graphics power would you need to have worry-free video playback on a decent modern television? Is it something that a NUC-type box can handle or would it be better to build a small form factor PC with a dedicated GPU? I would imagine this is overkill. 

[ToboRobot]

Lots of the streaming sticks, which work fine, are basically a raspberry pi.  A nuc should work fine.

[Blue4130]

5 minutes ago, BattleToads said:

How much graphics power would you need to have worry-free video playback on a decent modern television? Is it something that a NUC-type box can handle or would it be better to build a small form factor PC with a dedicated GPU? I would imagine this is overkill. 

It's all going to depend on codec and resolution.

[BattleToads]

25 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

It's all going to depend on codec and resolution.

Well it's going to be used as a TV, so probably 4K and whatever codec YT uses or movies. 

[Biohazard777]

25 minutes ago, BattleToads said:

How much graphics power

You are looking at the wrong way.
You don't want your video decode to be done the "brute force" way, like for example your general purpose CPU cores slaving away at it.
It is inefficient, puts a load, wastes energy and generates unneeded heat.

 

That is why all modern CPUs and GPUs have ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) that do just the decode part (and encode, but that is irrelevant for your use-case).
On Intel CPUs for example that ASIC = dedicated video encoding and decoding hardware core = Intel Quick Sync Video.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video

 

For Nvidia cards:
https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-and-decode-gpu-support-matrix-new

 

TL;DR
You don't need a dedicated GPU,
having a newer generation CPU helps a lot (since it will have hw accelerated decoding for newer codecs).

[saintlouisbagels]

2 hours ago, BattleToads said:

How much graphics power would you need to have worry-free video playback on a decent modern television? Is it something that a NUC-type box can handle or would it be better to build a small form factor PC with a dedicated GPU? I would imagine this is overkill. 

I'd probably find a heavily discounted M1 Mac Mini. Very strong CPU, compact body with tons of empty internal space airflow.

[seanondemand]

I wouldn't hook up a computer to a TV at all. Streaming service video support is all over the map; want HDR in Disney+ on a PC/Mac? Too bad! Getting HDR to play nicely in Windows on a TV is still, in 2023, a dicey proposition. You've still got to figure out a solution for keyboard/mouse, which can be clumsy. I just don't see a good reason to do a PC over a streaming box like an nvidia shield, where you get native support for all these services, you can use GeForce Now or Steam Link to play games, Plex to stream content (which isn't perfect but just works for most people). It just doesn't seem worth the trouble or expense.

[dilpickle]

12 hours ago, seanondemand said:

I wouldn't hook up a computer to a TV at all. Streaming service video support is all over the map; want HDR in Disney+ on a PC/Mac? Too bad! Getting HDR to play nicely in Windows on a TV is still, in 2023, a dicey proposition. You've still got to figure out a solution for keyboard/mouse, which can be clumsy. I just don't see a good reason to do a PC over a streaming box like an nvidia shield, where you get native support for all these services, you can use GeForce Now or Steam Link to play games, Plex to stream content (which isn't perfect but just works for most people). It just doesn't seem worth the trouble or expense.

This. HTPC is dead. 

[Donut417]

20 hours ago, BattleToads said:

How much graphics power would you need to have worry-free video playback on a decent modern television? Is it something that a NUC-type box can handle or would it be better to build a small form factor PC with a dedicated GPU? I would imagine this is overkill. 

As others have stated if you use a PC for streaming you will be penalized by streaming services. I know this because I use my Mac for streaming. But I only have a 720p TV so it doesnt much matter in my eyes. 

[cmndr]

Streaming stick... 

If you want to stream from your own media library, install the plex app or similar and stream off of a NAS.

 

This will be more energy efficient, FAR less janky, etc. 

[The Hope]

On 7/9/2023 at 4:14 PM, Blue4130 said:

It's all going to depend on codec and resolution.

The app you use to play the videos also has a big impact. mpv is more efficient than VLC, and mpv also has remarkably better picture quality than media player classic and VLC. If I use mpv to play a 1080p webm file and leave eight other light apps open in other workspaces, the 4 threads of the i3-3240 (11-year-old CPU) usually stay under 6% load which you can see here:

 

[BattleToads]

In my instance, I'm basically going to use a TV as a monitor and will watch mostly YT, NetFlix, etc. Keyboard/mouse clutter isn't really an issue. 

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, BattleToads said:

In my instance, I'm basically going to use a TV as a monitor and will watch mostly YT, NetFlix, etc. Keyboard/mouse clutter isn't really an issue. 

As long as you understand you will be limited on the quality of the video. Because many services dont give full quality thru a web browser. 

[thiccbeard4linux]

On 7/10/2023 at 10:08 PM, BattleToads said:

In my instance, I'm basically going to use a TV as a monitor and will watch mostly YT, NetFlix, etc. Keyboard/mouse clutter isn't really an issue. 

This what I do.  I've got an old NUC running Linux with a light DE (XFCE) and a cheapo keyboard / remote combo thing from Amazon.  I have not noticed any decreased quality using a web browser.  Works perfectly and I use Kodi for local content stored on my fileserver.

 

EDIT: just tried Prime video and it may be a bit softer than using their app, but it's fine.  Worth the trade off imo.  My TV is only 1080, so no idea what the 4k situation is like.  I don't remember prime video ever having stellar quality anyway. Youtube definitely looks better.

 

Most of the time if I actually want to watch something, I'll watch it on Kodi which will sync my TV refresh rate to the frame rate of the content and look much better.