Screen Resolution needed for watching on TV

[Konini]

I have a TV android box that doesn't do what I thought it would, it'll be OK for the bedroom but for the lounge I'm going to do what I should have to start with and buy a 2nd hand netbook or tablet. It's a smart tv so I only need this for streaming, which is pretty much all the television we watch - really not very much so I don't want to spend a lot of money buying something new or expensive. To be honest, it's just to get around having HDMI cables across the middle of the room (the TV will connect to my laptop via wifi but it's far from perfect and it won't stream, only connects to a prenominated folder, so I can't even run XBMC\Kodi without the cable). The Samsung browser isn't great, and their Apps don't have Firefox as far as I am aware to be able to run Ad-Block or similar which I use for most streaming sites.

My question is probably quite simple; what screen resolution on a tablet or graphics hardware on a netbook or laptop would I need for a reasonable picture? I say or laptop because a very quick look at some netbooks show that the graphics is onboard rather than being separately listed on all 8 I clicked on. It doesn't have to be full top quality HD, it's mainly for my husband watching football and motorbike racing. Is there a minimum I need to be aware of when buying? Or is the niggle in the back of my mind that the poorest quality netbook would be better than any TV correct? It's a very long time since I heard that one, back when I wanted to display Windows 3.1 on our old CRT so even if I do remember correctly it could be a very outdated situation.

Thanks for reading (and hopefully answering).

[IMHO]

Can you give us more info on the nature of the problem you have?

If it's the picture quality when streaming online video, it's likely not the box itself - most Android boxes are perfectly capable of 1080P resolution and bluray quality - it's most likely to be poor quality streams and/or a low bandwidth internet connection - it doesn't matter how much computing power you put behind a low quality stream, the quality will remain the same.

As for alternative hardware - all it needs to do is be able to output 1080P video to an external display - and that doesn't mean it needs a 1080P display in it. Again, most Android boxes are perfectly capable of 1080P.

Do you have a high quality video file you can put on a USB stick and test playback quality with? That will help eliminate (or confirm) the box being the problem. From there, the next step becomes easier to guess

Edited December 29, 2014 by IMHO

[Konini]

Thanks for the response, sorry, I really didn't explain myself properly. The main problem with the box is that it boots straight into XBMC on Linux - I'm not at all familiar with Linux and I suspect from what I've read that the factory reset button has been hobbled. I can't install a browser for when none of the streams won't work or to download, and can't update to Kodi - I thought it would have been automatic but it isn't. I have several preloaded repositories and a few others I've added myself, but sometimes I can't get a particular channel to work and know I can get it via the browser on Film On (I don't find the FilmOn repo very good, I don't believe it's official. When I get the streaming going, it's almost always perfect. I can restart XBMC, but that's the only option at the turn off menu - there's no option to turn the program off and reboot into the operating system

The box physically doesn't have issues, it goes at least to 1280, it's just the way it was bought (pre-configured) which is the problem and I'm not sure I can do a factory reset. I thought it would be safer to buy it preconfigured - D'oh! As I said, that'll be OK for the bedroom, I rarely watch anything in bed. I just want something to run in the lounge, something I can tuck behind the TV out of sight. I don't want to buy another box, and don't want to buy a laptop or tablet if I'm not going to be able to get a good quality picture - that's the question really, do I need a minimum res on any laptop or tablet I buy to ensure it will look good on the TV.

The easiest way to solve this would be to format and put Android on the IPTV box, but I wouldn't know where to start even if I could reset it so that it boots up in Linux (although that may not be such a bad thing to try out as I could get step by step instructions on installing Firefox and Kodi).

[phazey]

What's the box make and model ?

I ask because there's possibily two methods. If it's an intel x86 cpu, you can probably get away with androidX86 - there's downloadable live boot iso's out there.

If it's arm, you may also be in luck. I know of one android 4.4 image floating about, i'm also expecting there are a few howtos out there telling you how to put Android on it.

[Konini]

It's branded Xstreamtec, has MX on the box but is probably generic Chinese made one, the link to it is here - bought earlier this year from Amazon UK. I should have done more research before buying.....

[phazey]

Looks like a nifty little box.

After a quick google, i found these interesting quotes;

Android firmware can be installed if you wish, ask us for details

These boxes are pre setup with the optimised XstreamTec Linux based XBMC version 12.3! Meaning these are XBMC ONLY. This is the best solution if you are looking to use XBMC. Android firmware can be installed instead if you wish, just ask us for details.

[email protected]

[thedemon]

Perhaps this could be a solution: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2418029

[Anthony5]

If you have a smart tv you don't need any box whatever.

Either install plex media server on your laptop, or share folders.

The reason that your tv doesn't connect to all folders on your laptop has probably to do with your firewall and sharing settings.

[Konini]

Looks like a nifty little box.

After a quick google, i found these interesting quotes;

Android firmware can be installed if you wish, ask us for details

These boxes are pre setup with the optimised XstreamTec Linux based XBMC version 12.3! Meaning these are XBMC ONLY. This is the best solution if you are looking to use XBMC. Android firmware can be installed instead if you wish, just ask us for details.

[email protected]

I saw this last week, but assume t's only an option before you buy the box. Probably worth me contacting them to ask if possible though to see if the factory reset would work rather than me relying on what I've read on forums about it being hobbled - I'd forgotten about it to be honest.

[Konini]

Perhaps this could be a solution: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2418029

Indeed it could - I have a bootable Android USB stick that I was playing around with a couple of months ago.

[Konini]

If you have a smart tv you don't need any box whatever.

Either install plex media server on your laptop, or share folders.

The reason that your tv doesn't connect to all folders on your laptop has probably to do with your firewall and sharing settings.

I thought so too when we bought the TV earlier this year. I used to have a old laptop hooked up to our previous TV but it was fatally dropped when we moved. I honestly thought that getting a smart tv, especially a Samsung (my laptop is Samsung) would solve the issue of things being a bit untidy behind yhe TV, but unfortunately not. I'm quite disappointed in how little functionality it has. One thing I've found really annoying is no matter that I update the share folder, it isn't reflected on the screen - something that I've already watched and deleted still shows while something new that I've added does not. I've played around with this quite a lot including asking on forums, and it while some people say it's not possible, I'm certainly not the only one to describe the exact same thing with Samsungs. The only way I (and others) have been able to get around this is by reformatting.

Not saying that it wouldn't, but I can't see how plesk would work - the only way the TV will connect wirelessly is by the inbuilt media player opening pictures, audio or video files that are in the shared folder the first time it's linked after a format, and I want to stream - no problem using HDMI apart from the danger of tripping over the wire (we've both done it).

[WhizBang]

I use a Minix H8X which supports up to 4K. Cheaper than a notebook and works extremely well.

I also have a WDTV Live box that supports up to 1080p. Cheaper than the Minix and also works very well.

Both are readily available at Fortune or Pantip.

[Turkleton]

It's branded Xstreamtec, has MX on the box but is probably generic Chinese made one, the link to it is here - bought earlier this year from Amazon UK. I should have done more research before buying.....

Nothing wrong with this box.

It's a rebranded G-Box Midnight MX2 (or Pivos Xios MX).

Loads of different Firmwares available, even Android.

Your box is sold with Android too. LOOK HERE

The box is a little bit outdated, but for streaming Movies or other stuff, absolutely sufficient.

HOW TO FLASH

[Konini]

Thank you all for the helpful replies. I've learned my lesson about researching a bit more thoroughly. I've sent the company and email and if I don't get any joy I'll do the flash update.

[Chicog]

For pinging from your PC to TV without a cable, Chromecast is your best option.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Chicog