So I've just bought a 4k TV online (Samsung UN50KU6300) and I'm now starting to think about what I will do for a media solution. I've not dealt with 4k video sources at all before and I'm finding the available options to be somewhat overwhelming. In my first few hours of surfing around about this and reading about features, it seems like the Chromecast Ultra might be my best bet at $70, but I feel really out of the loop. I was looking at the Fire TV media player at first, but it seems like there's no HDR support if I go that route. The Xiaomi solution has HDR, but no ethernet port and I'm not sure that 4k streaming through wifi is wise. The Shield sounds like the most capable out-of-the-box option, but is rather more expensive and it sounds like the next iteration is right around the corner, making me reticent to pay out for it now.
And then it gets more complicated because I know that out of the box features are not the whole story. My friend is rather taken with his 1080p setup with just a jailbroken firestick and has been helping everyone accomplish similar setups back in my hometown. So what advantages are gained compared to the original device? And is this only accomplished on devices running a variant of Android? Chromecast Ultra runs chromeOS, right? But aren't both operating systems based on linux? Shouldn't the hardware in either system be capable of being used to run custom software instead, which is essentially what is being done when you jailbreak the Amazon device, right?
And then there is going whole hog with a NUC or other small form factor x86 system. I can build a system easily enough, but I don't know what advantage that might confer as compared to say, just buying a package solution like the Shield or Chromecast Ultra. And I've historically pretty hopeless when it comes to home networking, but I suppose I will need to leap on that learning curve no matter what solution I choose.
Can anyone weigh in on some of this and help me get my head on straight?
And then it gets more complicated because I know that out of the box features are not the whole story. My friend is rather taken with his 1080p setup with just a jailbroken firestick and has been helping everyone accomplish similar setups back in my hometown. So what advantages are gained compared to the original device? And is this only accomplished on devices running a variant of Android? Chromecast Ultra runs chromeOS, right? But aren't both operating systems based on linux? Shouldn't the hardware in either system be capable of being used to run custom software instead, which is essentially what is being done when you jailbreak the Amazon device, right?
And then there is going whole hog with a NUC or other small form factor x86 system. I can build a system easily enough, but I don't know what advantage that might confer as compared to say, just buying a package solution like the Shield or Chromecast Ultra. And I've historically pretty hopeless when it comes to home networking, but I suppose I will need to leap on that learning curve no matter what solution I choose.
Can anyone weigh in on some of this and help me get my head on straight?