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TV Streaming Devices
Here is a list of devices that can be used if the TV is not a smart TV. It might be cheaper to go this route for a non-smart TV or existing TV than the expense of a new smart TV that might not support the video and audio codecs that are the latest and best. The other issue for many location is that broadcast TV over the air is moving to a new signal format so that they can broadcast in 4K resolution. In the United States they are moving to ATSC 3.0. The benefit of going with this particular setup and streaming devices is that it is not need to replace all the TVs to be able to watch the new broadcast formats in 4K. Archon server will handle all of this, even if the TV is not a 4K TV as well.
The least expensive device, at the time of writing, is the Walmart Onn Android TV UHD 4K which does everything but the AV1 video codec. The Amazon Firestick 4K Max is currently, at the time of writing, the least expensive device that supports the AV1 video codec.
Note that most devices are able to support VP9 Video Codec, Opus Audio Codec and WEBM container. If subtitles are converted to VTT subtitles then it becomes possible to create an entire container for videos that is open-source and patent license free.
Note that for streaming live TV from the Internet there are still issues that need to worked out to support every stream. Specifically full complete support of RFC-7933 and RFC-8216.
Dolby AC-4 and MPEG-H 3D Audio support is missing from FFmpeg in order to be able to record and play back ATSC 3.0 over the air 4K broadcasts as well.
Please check with stores for current pricing on devices.
| OS | Max Resolution | Audio Codecs | Video Codecs | Containers | Storage | Connectivity | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple TV HD | iOS | 1080p | HE-AAC (V1), AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, WAV, AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1) and E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound) | MPEG-4, H.264, H.265/HEVC, Main/Main10 | M4V, MP4, MOV | 32GB | 802.11ac, 100Mb Ethernet | $149.00 |
| Apple TV 4K | iOS | 4k | HE-AAC (V1), AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, WAV, AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1) and E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound) | MPEG-4, H.264, H.265/HEVC, Main/Main10, Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10 | M4V, MP4, MOV | 32GB | 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6, 1Gb Ethernet | $179.00 |
| Amazon Firestick Lite | Fire OS 7 | 1080p | HDMI Audio passthrough for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+, Dolby Atmos, and DTS. AAC-LC, HE-AACv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, DLS, XMF, MP3,Vorbis, Ogg, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, VP8, VP9, H.265/HEVC, Main/Main10, HDR10/HDR10+/HLG | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $29.99 |
| Amazon Firestick (2020) | Fire OS | 1080p | Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, Vorbis, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, Main/Main10, HDR10/HDR10+/HLG | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $39.99 |
| Amazon Firestick 4K | Fire OS | 4k/2160p | Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, Vorbis, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, Main/Main10, Dolby Vision HDR10/HDR10+/HLG | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $49.99 |
| Amazon Firestick 4K Max | Fire OS | 4k/2160p | Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, Vorbis, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, AV1, Main/Main10, Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10+/HLG | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 | $54.99 |
| Amazon Fire TV Cube (2019) | Fire OS | 4k/2160p | Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, Vorbis, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, WMV9/VC1, H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, Main/Main10, Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10+/HLG | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 16GB | 802.11ac | $119.99 |
| Chromecast with Google TV | Google TV 11.0 | 4K/2160p | FLAC, HE-AAC, LC-AAC, MP3, Opus, Vorbis, WAV, WEBM | H.264, HEVC/H.265, Main/Main10, VP9, Dolby Vision HDR10, HDR10+ | MP2T, MP3, MP4, OGG, WAV, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $49.99 |
| Mi TV Stick | Android TV 9 | 1080p | MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, OGG, DOLBY, DTS | MPEG1/2/4, Real8/9/10, VC-1, H.264, H.265, VP8, VP9 | RM, MOV, VOB, AVI, MKV, TS, WMV, MP4 | 8GB | 802.11ac | $55.99 |
| Mi Box S | Android TV 9 | 4K/2160p | MP3，APE，FLAC, OGG, DOLBY, DTS | MPEG1/2/4, Real8/9/10, VC-1, H.264,VP9 | RM,MOV, VOB, AVI, MKV, TS, MP4, 3D | 8GB | 802.11ac | $68 |
| NVidia Shield | Android TV 11.0 | 4K/2160p | AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WAVE, AMR, OGG Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, PCM, WMA, WMA-Pro, WMA-Lossless, Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD (pass-through), DTS-X (pass-through), and DTS-HD (pass-through) | MPEG1/2, H.263, MJPEG, MPEG4, WMV9/VC1, H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10 | Xvid, DivX, ASF, AVI, MKV, MOV, M2TS, MPEG-TS, MP4, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $149.99 |
| Nvidia Shield Pro | Android TV 11.0 | 4K/2160p | AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WAVE, AMR, OGG Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, PCM, WMA, WMA-Pro, WMA-Lossless, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD (pass-through), DTS-X (pass-through), and DTS-HD (pass-through) | MPEG1/2, H.263, MJPEG, MPEG4, WMV9/VC1, H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP8, VP9, Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10 | Xvid, DivX, ASF, AVI, MKV, MOV, M2TS, MPEG-TS, MP4, WEBM | 16GB | 802.11ac, 1Gb Ethernet | $199.99 |
| Roku Express | Roku | 1080p | 802.11b/g/n | $29.99 | ||||
| Roku Express 4K+ | Roku | 4k/2160p | HDR10/10+/HLG | 802.11ac | $39.99 | |||
| Roku Streambar | Roku | 4k/2160p | HDR10/HLG | 802.11ac | $99.99 | |||
| Roku Streaming Stick 4K | Roku | 4k/2160p | Dolby Vision, HDR10/10+/HLG | 802.11ac | $49.99 | |||
| Roku Streaming Stick 4K+ | Roku | 4k/2160p | Dolby Vision, HDR10/10+/HLG | 802.11ac | $69.99 | |||
| Roku Ultra | Roku | 4k/2160p | AAC, MP3, WMA, FLAC, PCM, AC3/EAC3, DTS, ALAC, HEAAC, AC-4 with Atmos, DD+ (EAC3) with Atmos | H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP9.2, AV1, Dolby Vision, HDR10/10+/HLG | AC3, ASF, FLAC, MP3, MP4, MKV, MOV, WMA, WAV | 802.11ac | $99.99 | |
| Tivo Stream 4k | Android TV | 4k/2160p | MEPG, AAC, HE-ACC, OGG, OGA, FLAC, Opus, ALAC, Ape, M4A, RM, MPEG-1 layer1/2, MPEG-2 Layer II, Dolby Digital/Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro (WMV optional) | AVS, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP9, RealVideo 8/9/10, Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10+/HLG | AVI, DAT, ISO, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, MKV, RM, WEBM, WMV | 8GB | 802.11ac | $39.99 |
| Walmart Onn FHD | Android TV 9 | 1080p | Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, Vorbis, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | H.264, H.265, VP9, Main/Main10 | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $14.88 |
| Walmart Onn Android TV UHD 4K | Android TV 9 | 4k/2160p | Dolby Atmos, AC3, eAC3, AAC-LC, HE-AACv1, HE-AACv2, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, Vorbis, PCM/Wave, AMR-NB, Opus | H.264, H.265/HEVC, VP9, Main/Main10 | 3GP, AAC, FLAC, M4A, M4P, MKV, MP4, OGG, MPEG-TS, WEBM | 8GB | 802.11ac | $19.88 |