Ask HN: How are you watching your legally obtained 4k videos?

by wombat-man on 3/5/2024, 4:58 PM with 4 comments

I'm trying to watch all the best picture nominees, and I've found that watching digital 4k at home is kind of a bad experience now.

On Chromecast 4k: First I gotta rent on my computer, can't really do it on the device. Then when I'm watching I notice occasional frame skipping. The device processor cannot keep up with 4k content, despite the name.

Windows computer: I buy a 4k movie off the microsoft store. I can't download it in 4k, only in 1080p. So I stream it in 4k and despite my gigabit connection, there is buffering. I need to pause the video to let it load. Otherwise it's very blurry.

Apple TV: I don't have the device, I read that it also skips frames? I can stream from my laptop, which at least works better than the microsoft store.

Amazon: no 4k playback in browser, I'm kinda assuming it's not going to play way better than the google play app on my chromecast.

I could probably dust off the Ps4 and try that again, but why is watching 4k video so annoying. It kinda seems like I need to either watch on a console, but even then I'm not really sure it'll let me download the video so I still fear buffering.

It's 2024 and I think I might actually just sign up for a 4k bluray rental service. Is there a better way?

I know about piracy, but I figured I should at least try and patronize the arts.

  • by lauriewired on 3/6/2024, 3:58 AM

    Check out Jellyfin (open-source project) + it's associated clients. Pretty simple to spin up in a docker container, and if your machine is fast enough; it can auto-transcode for device and bandwidth limitations.

    For example, your iPhone probably won't be able to stream an uncompressed blu-ray over 4G, Jellyfin can transcode the original file at a lower bitrate before sending to your device.

  • by mattl on 3/5/2024, 5:26 PM

    Does anyone have any suggestions for a 4K BluRay drive that's USB and works with Linux and Mac?

  • by yorwba on 3/5/2024, 5:47 PM

    I use this ffmpeg command line:

      ffmpeg -i "$input" -vf scale=w=640:-1 -b:v 200k -maxrate:v 400k -bufsize:v 1000k
    Which scales the video to a width of 640 and tries to hit a bitrate of 200 kbit/s, peaking to 400 kbits/s. Definitely avoids frame skipping and makes hoarding much easier due to smaller file sizes.

    Probably not what you were asking for if you're dissatisfied with 1080p downloads, but I thought I'd mention it anyways.

  • by disadvantage on 3/5/2024, 7:11 PM

    iPad pro with VLC