Years ago, I made the decision to assemble a media player myself rather than a turnkey solution, also due to poor hands-on experiences with strange solutions.
The idea is that I have a device with the TV, that can play all the media over the network (NAS).
I think that for the majority of media player users, this build already exists or could work.
Advantages of the self-designed system in conjunction with KODI:
- Adjust audio options / subtitle timing
- Less chance of formats that are not supported in terms of codecs, or, for example, viewing RAW images.
- More options regarding image adjustment. For example, subtitles can be placed in the black bar below movies with a width greater than 16:9.
- Updates: Virtually No Limit
- Updates: Less chance of problems after an update, or often better options to undo the update.
Negatives:
(maybe) more expensive
(maybe) bigger
I (now) use the Intel NUC in a passive housing (because you don’t want any distractions during the movie).
It can also be controlled by infrared, and the remote control can operate it. HDR works through separate version HDR Edit.
I never use the smart part of the TV and I think the Pathé at home or something like that has been used two or so times in four years.
Besides NUC, I use a UHD bluray player. These are unfortunately quite pricey too, but at least you don’t have the hassle of the quality being pinched when they’re supposed to fit the provider. You don’t pay for it.
