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I have both and they've been functionally the same.
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Jul 26, 2017 17:42
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LastInLine posted:
Not that I've noticed.
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Jul 26, 2017 18:12
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I just noticed that the Shield hasn't seen a hardware update since 2014. If buying one isn't urgent, is it worth waiting for some kind of refresh?
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Jul 26, 2017 20:34
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Neon Belly posted:I just noticed that the Shield hasn't seen a hardware update since 2014. If buying one isn't urgent, is it worth waiting for some kind of refresh? They recently did a refresh that eliminated the IR receiver on the base SKU. Its only real competition is the AppleTV, which Apple barely gives a gently caress about and it already supports 4K, so I wouldn't expect a refresh soon.
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Jul 26, 2017 20:46
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Neon Belly posted:I just noticed that the Shield hasn't seen a hardware update since 2014. If buying one isn't urgent, is it worth waiting for some kind of refresh? Assuming you mean Shield TV? A Gen 2 was actually released earlier this year. Though it has the same processor and video as the Gen 1. It is smaller than the Gen 1, and ships with a "cheapened" remote. Even today the Shield TV is still one of the fastest devices running Android TV, or even Android itself for that matter. The majority of changes and improvements over the device's lifetime have been in software, which is the same for both the Gen 1 and Gen 2.
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Jul 26, 2017 20:52
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Nvidia isn't in the end user SoC space anymore, so the Shield won't undergo any major updates. That said, it's using the Tegra X1 which still stands up today and will be supported by Nvidia for quite awhile since it's also underpinning the Nintendo Switch.
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Jul 26, 2017 21:12
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Is the Shield the de-facto 'king' if money isn't an option? I'm happy so far with the FireTV I just got but the Shield seems to have more options and horsepower. As a Prime member, now that they have Amazon, seems like no reason to switch. Mainly use Plex, Kodi, some Netflix and Prime streaming. The gaming aspect does interest me, possibly in the future. The main thing right now is being able to use Plex live tv OTA with an EPG and currently isn't only available on the Shield and mobile devices.
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Jul 26, 2017 21:15
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LastInLine posted:From what I read the Smart Control hub differs from the newer hub.. I've used Harmonys for over a decade and I know what it's like to have some of their "forgotten hardware". It's not pleasant. This is old and outdated info. They updated the software on the hub so now it runs the same firmware as their other units. They're functionally identical now.
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Jul 26, 2017 21:25
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EconOutlines posted:Is the Shield the de-facto 'king' if money isn't an option? Until a Dolby Vision steamer that does Amazon comes out, it's the king. Right now, the only Dolby Vision steamer is the Chromecast Ultra, so it doesn't have Amazon support.
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Jul 26, 2017 21:33
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LastInLine posted:From what I read the Smart Control hub differs from the newer hub.. I've used Harmonys for over a decade and I know what it's like to have some of their "forgotten hardware". It's not pleasant. This is what I have (I actually have two of each - one set for bedroom and one set for family room). It will do IR, BT and WiFi (some devices you can remote control over the network) Hub: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Entertainment-Devices/dp/B00N3RFC4Q/ Companion Remote: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Companion-Programmable-Ultimate/dp/B00LTKGFDQ/ It's actually about $10 cheaper than the bundle, which is strange. I use the Harmony app on my phone to set it up. No connecting to a computer and no MyHarmony poo poo. quote:I almost never have my phone on me or near me while in the house so that doesn't appeal to me. The Hub does not accept voice input, full stop. So no being able to use in place of a fireTV/ATV/AndroidTV for doing voice input via the Harmony. There is a model that integrates with Alexis, but that's to control the Harmony Hub using Alexis. I personally haven't experienced lag on it, either with the phone/tablet app or using the companion remote.
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Jul 26, 2017 23:49
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chocolateTHUNDER posted:This is old and outdated info. They updated the software on the hub so now it runs the same firmware as their other units. They're functionally identical now. Thanks, this is something I was unable to resolve through multiple Google searches. Proteus Jones posted:Hub: The Companion Remote was exactly the one I've been considering. The lack of context buttons seems like it will be annoying but I'm glad to hear that it works well. Proteus Jones posted:The Hub does not accept voice input, full stop. So no being able to use in place of a fireTV/ATV/AndroidTV for doing voice input via the Harmony. There is a model that integrates with Alexis, but that's to control the Harmony Hub using Alexis. I use Google Home and everything I've seen everywhere says the Harmony Hub works with it (through a convoluted phrase: "Hey Google, talk to Harmony to perform [activity name]"). Is this not the case? Thanks for the lag comments.
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Jul 27, 2017 05:46
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Yeah, that's how the native integration with Harmony works with Google home. You can also just setup any IFTTT recipe to whatever hotword you want and you can just speak naturally to it. I have one setup for "turn on Tivo", so all I have to say is "Hey Google, turn on Tivo" and it executes the Tivo activity.
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Jul 27, 2017 05:54
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LastInLine posted:The Companion Remote was exactly the one I've been considering. The lack of context buttons seems like it will be annoying but I'm glad to hear that it works well. Yeah, I feel the same, and I almost bought the "Elite" or "Ultra" (or whatever that version was a few years ago) that comes with a companion with a touch LCD. But it's very easy to map each button to whatever you want. I just made sure I was consistent with how I assign the buttons. So for both the ShieldTV and ATV activities Exit = Home and Menu = Menu and swoopy arrow = Back. The ShieldTV is a little weird because the profile matches the remote and not the controller. So there's no "Menu" button which drove me insane until I figured out a work-around. I had to add an Apple Mac profile to my activity to get a "menu" action that worked in my ShieldTV Activity. I detailed it a while ago in this thread, so you can either search the thread or hit me up with PM for how I set it up.
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Jul 27, 2017 06:14
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TheScott2K posted:They recently did a refresh that eliminated the IR receiver on the base SKU. Its only real competition is the AppleTV, which Apple barely gives a gently caress about and it already supports 4K, so I wouldn't expect a refresh soon. The Roku Ultra disagrees. This going based on some reviews: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/932-roku-ultra-vs-apple-tv.html https://www.knowyourmobile.com/amp/devices/roku-ultra/23818/apple-tv-vs-roku-ultra-does-4k-always-trump-1080p http://www.appletvhacks.net/2017/01/27/apple-tv-4-vs-roku-ultra-better/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/roku-ultra-vs-amazon-fire-tv-vs-nvidia-shield-vs-apple-tv/amp/ I seem to be the only person with the Ultra in this thread, but yeah... It has a different OS from the other models and does 4K HDR just fine via Plex for me, which honestly covers the whole "it can't cast" limitation for me. I get that Roku apparently molested some of you as children, and the Shield is by far a more powerful and overall better system, that's not really a question, but for the price point, availability of every service, speed of use, and the notification channel plus a remote you can just plug headphones into and wander around with because it's Bluetooth... Yeah. I seriously do not understand the goon hate. HBO Go has a mediocre interface, but DTVNow is excellent and you can watch Amazon and Hulu really easily. Plex, Kodi, and Emby all work on it out of the box. It has a loving obscene number of channels, including a whole pile of hidden ones, some of which are cool, like the Hammer films one or 10 different cooking networks based on the specific type of food you want to learn to cook. It's a Good Device. Check it out. Fuzz fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Jul 27, 2017 |
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Jul 27, 2017 06:59
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bull3964 posted:Yeah, that's how the native integration with Harmony works with Google home. I've had issues with IFTTT, namely I can never remember the exact phrasing I need to use but I think I could get used to this one. Thanks! Proteus Jones posted:Yeah, I feel the same, and I almost bought the "Elite" or "Ultra" (or whatever that version was a few years ago) that comes with a companion with a touch LCD. But it's very easy to map each button to whatever you want. I just made sure I was consistent with how I assign the buttons. So for both the ShieldTV and ATV activities Exit = Home and Menu = Menu and swoopy arrow = Back. Despite the purpose of the thread, the main thing reading it has done for me is convince me that it's not worth cutting the cord. All of my devices show up just fine in the Harmony software. I only instigated this derail because there seemed to be knowledgeable people on both sides (Hub vs. 650) and I knew I'd get a lot of good data about the actual nuts and bolts of living with a hub. I've been researching this on and off for months and it's great to finally get some real info about it.
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Jul 27, 2017 09:13
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Fuzz posted:The Roku Ultra disagrees. I had the Ultra for a week. My issue was the PSVue app didn't have the same live TV/guide function as AppleTV or FireTV, and I didn't like the overall interface of the box. That said streaming wise I found it better than the FireTV. Honestly I still prefer AppleTV over any other box, and once they release a 4K box + Prime app I'm selling my other boxes. Is the rumor still a new AppleTV will be announced in September with the new iPhone?
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Jul 27, 2017 11:07
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Just so I'm clear: This Harmony Smart Control with Smartphone App and Simple All In One Remote for $70 is identical to this Harmony Companion All in One Remote Control for Smart Home and Entertainment Devices for $130 except the remote for the latter has six buttons I don't want (lights/outlets)? There's no difference at all for the $60 in the hub itself? For $70 I'm willing to just try it on a lark.
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Jul 27, 2017 11:48
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nate fisher posted:
Generally, yes.
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Jul 27, 2017 12:49
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nate fisher posted:I had the Ultra for a week. My issue was the PSVue app didn't have the same live TV/guide function as AppleTV or FireTV, and I didn't like the overall interface of the box. That said streaming wise I found it better than the FireTV. I thought there was basically a snowball's chance in hell of Apple TV getting Prime? EDIT: Wow, look at that. And they're not even limiting it to only the newest Apple TV. You know that was Bezos' doing, and not Apple's.
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Jul 27, 2017 14:41
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Fuzz posted:I seem to be the only person with the Ultra in this thread, but yeah... It has a different OS from the other models and does 4K HDR just fine via Plex for me, which honestly covers the whole "it can't cast" limitation for me. I wouldn't really call it hate, they've just really let the platform stagnate for awhile now. Up here the Ultra is nearly the same price as the Shield TV and frankly a lot of the apps are balls. I would also note that while Plex and Emby have apps for the platform but last time I checked Kodi had no official app/channel and was only supported through some screen mirroring cast workaround. Not something I would want to rely on.
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Jul 27, 2017 14:46
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LastInLine posted:Just so I'm clear: Looks like it. Very weird there's no picture of the hub itself, but the product description includes the hub.
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Jul 27, 2017 14:58
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Harmony input. Hub with companion=excellent Hub with Ultimate= awful Hub with Elite=excellent I have the Ultimate. The touchscreen placement is terrible leading to accidental presses all the time and general layout not good. Elite touchscreen is at the very top in a better spot. The companion had the best useability and feel in your hand but lacks the wow factor of a touchscreen. Lastly, they all support a different number of devices with the companion being least and elite being most. So, make sure whichever you buy supports the number of devices you have or will have.
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Jul 27, 2017 15:18
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Yea the ultimate lcd is way too far away from the touch screen making it impossible to line up touches. The elite owns.
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Jul 27, 2017 15:21
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Is it possible to assign playstation vue favorite channels to either the companion remote or the elite? I have a handful of channels I really watch and the interface can get in my way of changing channels more often than not.
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Jul 27, 2017 15:31
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RE: Roku You are pretty much going to get this attitude from early adopters of a well regarded platform whenever they seemingly abandon innovation for the pursuit of revenue. Roku has spent most of their resources in the past few years developing their ad network and getting their platform on to smart TVs while seemingly adding few new features (and even being unresponsive on bug reports) for the rest of the platform. That, understandably, has fostered discontentment in the long term user base. I have 3 Roku devices and am likely to add a Roku TV within the next year so it's not like I think they're junk. What really turned me though is as the quality of my home theater increased, it became clear that Nvidia was catering to that enthusiasts market better than Roku. Things like only having stereo on Google Play Movies for the longest time really soured me on the whole thing. Having to reboot the Roku nearly every time I used it to get it to recognize that I had a 5.1 sound system in Netflix and Amazon are other examples. Meanwhile, Nvidia was doing things like adding HDR though just a software update and making 4k game streaming work. Roku would instantly earn me back as a loyal user if they would add native frame rate passthrough and fix the black level issue. Those aren't huge asks and people have been asking for both for almost 5 years now.
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Jul 27, 2017 16:04
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bull3964 posted:
Nah sounds like they are just fine ignoring your requests
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Jul 27, 2017 16:06
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Don Lapre posted:Nah sounds like they are just fine ignoring your requests Ha, to be fair though they are hardly ever used and they were purchased a long time ago. And if they aren't used, they aren't getting ad revenue which is the growth part of their business The TV doesn't have anything to do with the smart platform, it just happens to be cheap and good.
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Jul 27, 2017 16:12
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I've seen a few of the recent Roku TVs. It sounds like a good idea, but best I can tell some manufactuers are sticking Gen 1 Roku Stick hardware in them. Every one I've used has been much slower than my 3 year old Roku 3. My next door neighbor has one of the 4k TCL Roku TVs. The main menu is OK, but apps like YouTube and Plex are slow. YouTube in particular is bad. If you cast a YouTube video to it, it takes well over 30 seconds to load YouTube and start playing the video. Sometimes it takes so long the casting device times out and gives up. Some updates have made it better, but I get the impression they are at the limit of what the hardware can do.
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Jul 27, 2017 16:39
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LastInLine posted:Just so I'm clear: Pretty sure this is what I have, and it works great. Go for it. The hub only does 2.4ghz wifi just fyi.
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Jul 27, 2017 16:53
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Yeah, like I said, the smart platform isn't why I would want the TCL p-series. It's the fact that it's a $600 TV that can go head to head with a $4000 Samsung TV and even best it in some places. I plan on making it a dedicated gaming TV. Otherwise, I remain very impressed with LG's WebOS 3.0 platform on my C6 OLED. It's quick and it works and it works well. It just has gaps in services that I need something else to plug (like HBO Go.)
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Jul 27, 2017 16:54
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I like WebOS too, but don't really use it that often (except for 4K stuff) simply because one day it could just break and won't ever be fixed.
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Jul 27, 2017 17:11
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For me, it will always be my first choice when watching something as it's the no bullshit solution to get correct frame cadence from streaming services. If Google/Roku/Amazon ever got their heads out of their asses about supporting 24hz output, I wouldn't care. I would be perfectly happy using Chromecast for everything if it had a native frame rate option. The video quality and streaming stability out of the Chromecast Ultra is about the best I've ever seen from any device. It's just locked in stupid 60p (except for DV output.)
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Jul 27, 2017 17:40
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I'm glad my TV is 60hz and 24fps content always looks bad so I just don't have to worry about who supports 24hz output.
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Jul 27, 2017 17:56
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bull3964 posted:For me, it will always be my first choice when watching something as it's the no bullshit solution to get correct frame cadence from streaming services. Do none of those boxes do 24p over 60i? That's pretty odd.
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Jul 27, 2017 18:01
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EL BROMANCE posted:Do none of those boxes do 24p over 60i? That's pretty odd. None of them do interlaced at all. Roku allows you to select 720p60, 1080p60, or 4kp60. Shield is similar. It does actually have a 4k24p output you can choose though, but it's buggy and often results in lip sync issues. (I suspect it's going 3:2 pulldown first and then converting BACK to 24p.) Ditto for fireTV. Chromecast actually has no display output options except to switch to 50hz, it will just use the max resolution of your display always. What's funny is TiVo, out of anyone, actually does frame rate pass through for their streaming services. The one company that has a more glacial software rate than Roku got it right.
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Jul 27, 2017 18:09
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It's amazing how nobody can make a box that just ticks all the boxes in 2017. It's a huge market and everyone manages to balls it up somehow. I wish the LG screens just pulledown 60p>24p with no issue, but it also doesn't feel like asking the earth to have native 24p on a box when it's been in bluray players for years.
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Jul 27, 2017 18:21
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EL BROMANCE posted:It's amazing how nobody can make a box that just ticks all the boxes in 2017. It's a huge market and everyone manages to balls it up somehow. I really wonder how big the market is. Your average person isn't going out and buying a streaming box for their new TV since they all come with stuff built-in anyway.
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Jul 27, 2017 19:25
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There's plenty of boxes that tick all the boxes for 90% of consumers, like "has Netflix and Hulu" but don't fit the million edge cases that get you guys bitching and moaning.
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Jul 27, 2017 19:28
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chocolateTHUNDER posted:I really wonder how big the market is. Your average person isn't going out and buying a streaming box for their new TV since they all come with stuff built-in anyway. Until a year or two in when the app on the tv breaks. Or it was a pain in the rear end to use anyway. Rokus and Chromecasts obviously sell enough that there's a dozen variants and you can get them from tons of places. FCKGW posted:There's plenty of boxes that tick all the boxes for 90% of consumers, like "has Netflix and Hulu" but don't fit the million edge cases that get you guys bitching and moaning. Pretty much all people are asking is 'hey take this file and just loving play it as is. Don't gently caress with the audio and don't gently caress with the frame rate', not a magical box that cooks you breakfast and blows you too.
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Jul 27, 2017 19:44
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EL BROMANCE posted:I wish the LG screens just pulledown 60p>24p with no issue, but it also doesn't feel like asking the earth to have native 24p on a box when it's been in bluray players for years. It's not even just LG that's failing at this now. Even the high end Sony TVs have stopped doing reverse telecine properly with the current firmware. I've found dejudder of 1 comes very close to matching correct 24fps cadence without introducing SOE, but I can't use it on animation as the artifacts are too severe. My receiver of all things can do it right, but it's an on/off setting that's a pain to change and only works on 1080p content. That's what I usually do with my shield, I'll drop down to 1080p60 and let my Denon force reverse telecine. That works perfectly for most apps (not FX now though, and I suspect that they are doing 720p30 for steaming which would explain it). That's the same reason why I found SlingTV vomit inducing, 24fps content on a 30fps carrier is a dumpster fire.
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Jul 27, 2017 19:47
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