A Budget Home Theater & PC Setup: 4K, HDR, UHD Blu-ray, and More
by Ganesh T S on December 26, 2017 8:30 AM ESTEvaluating Display Sources: HTPCs & CE Devices
Home Theater PCs used to be bulky versatile machines that had to support built-in TV tuners, a number of hard disks, as well as optical drives. However, the rising popularity of network TV tuners, network-attached storage (NAS) devices, and OTT streaming have resulted in the a transformation of the functionality that people expect from HTPCs. Simply put, a modern-day HTPC needs to be a flexible and versatile media player capable of handling a multitude of codecs and DRM requirements. The latter is not restricted to the handling of the encoded video. The display output also needs to be secure, while providing enough bandwidth and features to take full advantage of the capabilities of the downstream devices in the setup.
The average consumer often finds the 'it just works' nature of consumer electronic (CE) equipment such as the Roku streamers, game consoles, and standalone Blu-ray players to be attractive. However, for power users, the flexibility of HTPCs (such as the ability to support arcane subtitle formats or specific container features such as MKV chapters, or, even serve as a gaming machine) is simply too much to give up. Certain CE devices such as the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV STB attempt to offer the best of both worlds. However, they are still closed platforms, and often do not have enough horsepower to fall back upon software decode for unsupported codecs.
Despite my predilection for HTPCs, I wanted to bring out the pros and cons of other closed solutions. Towards this, the evaluation of various options for media playback / display sources addresses the following aspects:
- HDR Support
- OTT Streaming (YouTube and Netflix)
- Local Media Playback (via USB)
- UHD Blu-ray Playback with HDR
The first candidate is the TCL 55P607's built-in Roku platform. Our tests were processed with the TV connected to the network using its wired 10 / 100 Mbps interface and Wi-Fi disabled. Firmware version 8.0.0 4142-30 was used.
The second solution in our evaluation set is one of the most popular Android TV STBs in the market - the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV (SATV). Despite having launched back in 2015, the combination of high-end hardware and regular firmware updates have kept it at the top of the media player / Android TV STB market. Our tests were processed with the SHEILD connected to the network using its wired 1 Gbps interface and Wi-Fi disabled. Firmware version 6.2 was used.
The use of a RF remote / controller, combined with IP control using a smartphone app, mean that the SHIELD can be safely tucked away out of sight in a home theater setup.
Moving on to the HTPC front, we have three different PCs, with configurations and driver versions listed in the table below.
| Compact Home Theater PC Candidates - 2017 | |||
| PC | Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN1080K | ASRock Beebox-S 7200U | Intel NUC7i7BNHX1 |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-7700 | Intel Core i5-7200U | Intel Core i7-7567U |
| GPU | NVIDIA GTX 1080 (8GB GDDR5X) | Intel HD Graphics 620 | Intel Iris Graphics 650 |
| RAM | Corsair Vengeance 2x16GB DDR4-2667 SODIMM | Micron 16ATF1G64HZ 2x8GB DDR4-2133 SODIMM | Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 2x16GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM |
| Storage | Toshiba OCZ RD400 (512GB) | Kingston SSD Now V+ SNV325S2 (128GB) | Samsung SSD 840 EVO (500GB) + Intel Optane (16GB) |
| BIOS | 2K170814 | 1.73 | BNKBL357.86A.0054 |
| GPU Driver | 388.31 | 4877+ (beta) | 4877+ (beta) |
| Specifications | Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN1080K Specifications | ASRock Beebox-S 7200U Specifications | Intel NUC7i7BNHX1 Specifications |
| Pricing (NOT as configured) | USD 2000 (with 120GB SSD, 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM, and Windows 10) | USD 349 (Barebones) | USD 506 (Barebones) |
Note that we are using a beta driver from Intel that will be released to the public in January 2018. The reason behind the use of this driver will be apparent in our UHD Blu-ray Playback section.
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update was used as the OS for all the tests done using the above PCs. This version is critical for cutting-edge HTPC functionality, as it brings HDR desktop and media payback support into the stable release channel.
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Lord of the Bored - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
He didn't use a DVD player. He used a BluRay player. Completely different.And until streaming gets better bitrates it is an incomplete replacement from a purely technical standpoint. I mean, when regular BR supplies 50 megabits per second, UHD BR is a hundred mbps, and UHD Netflix is 25 mbps, there is OBVIOUSLY a quality sacrifice that has to be made(though the UHD situation is better than HD, where Netflix is a ridiculously compact FIVE mbps. I'll take a quarter the data over a tenth any day).
I mean, if you don't care about image and sound quality, you may as well watch VHS tapes off that old CRT you found in gramma's garage. I always thought home theater builds were about getting the best experience, not a really expensive mediocre experience.
CharonPDX - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
"without worrying about it getting obsolete within the the next 3 to 5 years."JFC... A home theater system should last far longer than 3-5 years...
Bullwinkle-J-Moose - Thursday, December 28, 2017 - link
"JFC... A home theater system should last far longer than 3-5 years..."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not with DRM!
A mans gotta know his limitations (Clint Eastwood)
pixelstuff - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
I wish the manufacturers would create a decent set of components (AVR, Blu-ray, etc) that are not more than 8" deep so you can sit them below a wall mounted TV and they don't protrude way out into the room compared to the TV.Wiring would have to be on the sides with a standardized way to hide them, but I don't think extra width would be a big issue when placed under a large TV.
Dionysos1234 - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
Recommending a Denon 999$ reciever is not only NON budget - It is also an extremely poor choice for reciever in that price range from an audio perspective. Guess HTPC is not an area where Anandtech have qualified people e.g. the amount of time devoted to showing poorly made graps on power consumption seems bizarre.Aikouka - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
As for all the remarks about the receiver, my biggest piece of advice is to always buy last year's model UNLESS you absolutely need a feature only on the newest model. For example, I bought an X4300 for less than the article's X3400, and there really aren't any differences that would make me consider swapping.Aikouka - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
As a quick note for the uninitiated, Denon's model numbers work where the thousands place is the model number and the hundreds place is the year. So, the 4300 that I mention above is the 4th-tier model (higher is better) from the third year. The 3400 is the third-tier model from the fourth year. So, mine is a higher model, but it's a year older. To see whether it's worth an upgrade, the AVS Forum's Denon Owner's Threads usually have comparisons to previous years (e.g. X#400 vs. X#300) that can help you decide whether the latest is worth it.r3loaded - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
All I'm getting from this article is that HDR is a mess of confusing and incompatible standards and support, compounded by Hollywood's almost autistic fixation with ramming DRM down the throats of anyone wanting to watch 4K HDR content, and the very specific hardware requirements that it imposes on consumers.Also, why is it that there are tons of HDR TVs on the market but barely any HDR monitors? And conversely, why does no one make a 4K HDR TV smaller than 40 inches (say, 32 inches)? Not all of us are blessed with big houses that can fit the 55 inch TV mentioned in the review.
benedict - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
Yep, sounds like too much trouble for what you're getting and you always risk some weird standard won't work on your expensive setup. Until they make this as simple as torrenting a movie the home theater market will remain a very tiny niche.CityBlue - Wednesday, December 27, 2017 - link
The BDA is expected to announce that the free to licence HDR10+ open standard is being added to the UHD BluRay standard in January at CES, and not the proprietary Dolby Vision. After that announcement I imagine DV will become a niche format. HDR10+ is simply what HDR10 should always have been.HDR10+ (compared with DV) also has a dramatically easier workflow as far as creative's are concerned, so combine that with the reduced licencing cost for manufacturers and there's very little reason to choose DV - the only winner there is Dolby.
It's not yet announced, but recommending DV over HDR10+ may not be such good advice.