Roku stick does this, and it's pretty simple to set up. I can't speak to other sticks.The short version: I'm looking for a device that can stream Netflix and Amazon Prime (possibly Hulu or others) at 1080p.
Longer version: For a couple of years now my mom has used space in my apartment for sewing quilts. I recently moved to a new apartment, and in the new layout her quilting space now has a good view of the TV, and she'd like to watch while sewing. Previously I've used a 15' HDMI cable to feed the TV from my computer, and that still works (my Blu-ray player's Netflix app is too old), but I want to be able to keep using my computer while she's watching.
I assume the simplest answer is going to likely be either a Roku, Amazon or Google stick of some sort, but I want to check to make sure I'm not missing something. Also, I want to consider the possibility that this might be an excuse for me to tinker around with a Raspberry Pi. The cost increase of a Pi is acceptable, since it would give me a project to work on, but it still needs to be reliable and somewhat easy for my mom to use.
Any opinions?
I'm assuming that any of the dedicated solutions is going to be easy enough for her to use. It doesn't have to be stupid easy to use, in fact I'm struggling to think of any likely interface problems that couldn't be figured out, assuming that everything can I can get everything pre-configured. I'm more worried about reliability of the Pi. i.e how likely it is that compatibility is going to break, and how long will it take for things to start working again? Do any of the streaming services seem to be actively trying to break Linux/Pi/DIY streaming support?If she knows how to open things on her phone, Chromecast is pretty easy to use and won't require her to navigate new menus or anything. Do you prefer ease of use or something that is as multi-purpose as possible?
To clarify, I mentioned that to discourage anyone from recommending a more expensive model just because it handles 4K. I'm too used to nerds insisting that everyone needs to buy the best specs possible (like this recent Engadget article on "budget" streaming devices.)And it does 1080p.
We've recently had 2 cheap tv's go out, and I replaced them with relative cheap roku tv's. I got the stick for traveling purposes.We got the kids smart TVs for Christmas that have all that built in with no need for attachments. Just use the remote to select which streaming service you want to watch. The remote claims to have Alexa but we haven’t tried it. The TVs were not expensive (don’t tell the kids!).
Yeah, but there's a difference between the cheap model eventually not supporting the latest version (with no update ever), and the open source version not working for a week because the DRM got updated and someone "accidentally" broke compatibility with all open source stuff. I don't know how often this happens to a Raspberry Pi, but I know Disney+ didn't work at launch on Linux, for no good reason. And I know that, on Windows even, Amazon Prime and Netflix have gone through periods where they only fully support certain browsers. Like, I had to start using Edge to watch Netflix a while back beause Firefox was only permitted to get 720p streams. (They even patched out a workaround that allowed forcing 1080p on Firefox.)As for breaking compatibility later, I would treat that as an eventuality. Between the push to move to 4K and the fight for vendor lock-in, as the guy on the Titanic said, "Eventual failure is a mathematical certainty."
If only I had funds to keep the Hulu account going, I'd be set. This TCL TV is a damn good value.I will always pimp Roku. I love my Rokus.
EFF Resigns From W3C After DRM In HTML Is Approved In Secret VoteDisney+ didn't work at launch on Linux...
Amazon Prime and Netflix have gone through periods where they only fully support certain browsers...
And Disney+ didn't work on Linux because they (Disney) didn't "trust" Linux's implementation of EME, so it was actually working as designed, just not in the viewer's favor. There are also other articles about how supporters may have promoted EME as an open standard that anyone can join, but then go on to show that the amount of development required and the regulatory burden basically mean that only companies big enough to have sufficient resources (Google, Amazon, etc) are going to actually be able to do it, and then even if you build a fully-functional EME you still have the battle to convince browser manufacturers to support it in their code and studios to support it in their distribution... i.e., it's the VHS v. Beta or HD-DVD v. Blu-ray format wars all over again.With Google and Microsoft shipping W3C EME and content providers moving over their content from plugins to W3C EME Firefox users are at risk of not being able to access DRM restricted content[. Therefore] We have come to the point where Mozilla not implementing the W3C EME specification means that Firefox users [would] have to switch to other browsers to watch content restricted by DRM.
free Live TV for everyone, in all 220+ countries that Plex serves. With over 80+ channels (plus even more coming soon) across all your favorite genres. And this is in addition to the 14,000 (and counting) free movies, documentaries, and TV shows you can find on Plex on-demand
...this is the argument that's been made for years, but has it ever changed anything? Noooo...it's still stupid that it would be easier to pirate the content I want than it is to get this Pi set up for streaming from a service that's paid for.
cough 4K UHD Blu-ray Drives on computers cough cough...this is the argument that's been made for years, but has it ever changed anything? Noooo...
--Patrick
It works!Whoops, originally posted this to the wrong thread:
Raspberry Pi OS Gets Official Widevine Support
Well, I know what I'm doing today.
Well as of Feb 2nd, you can now officially 64-bit your Pi. One caveat, though: Widevine support still requires the 32-bit version of Chromium, but it seems pretty simple to switch back and forth.- The 4GB version of the Raspberry Pi 4 is more than enough if you're just going to use it to playback video or do light web browsing. I don't know who would need the 8GB version
Huzzah! That means that development on Twister OS can continue!Well as of Feb 2nd, you can now officially 64-bit your Pi. One caveat, though: Widevine support still requires the 32-bit version of Chromium, but it seems pretty simple to switch back and forth.