Hey gang,
I’m looking for a cheap SBC for 4k HDR local content streaming on my TV. I’m moving away from streaming “services” and towards the Caribbean seas.
What I already have
- a LG 55B9 OLED tv. It has a serviceable media player, but due to ongoing enshittification (every update is slower than the previous one, ads everywhere, basically becoming useless) it’s been airgapped for the past couple of years, forcing me to transfer content on a USB drive
- an Apple TV 4K. It’s amazing for streaming but absolutely useless for local HDR content. VLC is years away from HDR playback and the leading media players are stupidly expensive, I hate the subscription model and I’m not buying a 150€+ lifetime licence.
What I’m looking for
- a cheap/affordable SBC
- running Linux (obviously)
- guaranteed to play 4k HDR content from my local network.
- bonus points if it can do all this while running a general enough purpose distro for light emulation.
What are your ideas? Thanks!
Believe me, OP, SBCs are much more expensive than secondhand laptops and the performance is crap. If form factor is in consideration, consider a mini PC in the shape of NUC, or just get a Mac Mini M4 (install Asahi). If you want something flat, you can buy a secondhand Macbook with the screen removed.
Always, always choose amd64 or Apple Silicon.