Tech Movie Share

Monday, March 14, 2016

Roku 4 vs Fire TV (2015): Best Box for Streaming 4K movie to 4K TV

When you get a 4K TV, you may want a 4K streamer, even though there's not a lot of 4K content available at such a high frame rate. As the leader of 4K streamers, Roku and Amazon both launched 4K media streamers last year, letting users watch higher-resolution video without having to rely on the often-clunky interface of a smart TV.

Unfortunately, we can't both after all. So which one will be the best 4K streamer for 4K TV? How can we choose the most suitable box for streaming 4K movies to 4K TV? It is sure that some differences will help make the buying decision a bit easier: different prices ($100 for the new Fire TV, $130 for the Roku 4), different shapes and sizes, varying levels of 4K app support. But the Roku 4 and second-gen Amazon Fire TV still have little in common, which can make us confused which one should choose. Read on for our guide to choosing the right 4K media streamer.

What’s the deal with 4K?

The new all-singing Roku 4 boasts 4K Ultra HD streaming, the same as the new Fire TV box, but it also supports frame rates of up to 60 frames per second (fps), double what Amazon's new streaming box can muster. While that's impressive, it's something of a moot point right now. While most 4K TV sets these days come with an HDMI 2.0 port (which supports 4K up to 60fps) there aren't any providers besides YouTube out there that are currently offering 4K content at such a high frame rate. Netflix and Amazon's own 4K content is currently delivered at 24fps, so there's not a massive advantage to plumping for the Roku 4, at least not from day one.
On the other hand, you'll find more to enjoy with the Roku 4. Right now, Amazon's Fire TV only supports 4K video from Netflix and Amazon, and the company isn't even allowing 4K playback in third-party apps. The way Fire TV handles 4K playback might be to blame. Instead of outputting in 2160p all the time, the Fire TV runs at 1080p, then switches to 2160p output when playback begins. The process feels a bit clumsy, and as AFTVNews speculates, Amazon may want to be careful about opening it up to any app.
Whatever the reason, the result is a much wider 4K app lineup with the Roku 4, which always outputs in 2160p (with an upscaled 1080p interface in apps and menus). In addition to Netflix and Amazon, users can buy or rent 4K videos from Vudu, M-Go, and UltraFlix. Plex can serve up 4K videos from a networked storage device, and YouTube's vast 4K video library is available for free. Smithsonian Earth offers subscription nature videos in 4K format, and you'll even get higher-resolution images in the photo apps Flickr and 500px.
You can see a side-by-side comparison of Roku 4 and Fire TV (2015) in spec, features and apps below:

	Fire TV (2015)	Roku 4
SPECS
Performance1	8x	3x
CPU	Quad-core, 64-bit	Quad-core, 32-bit
Memory	2 GB	1.5 GB
User Storage2	8 GB	Not advertised
Ethernet Performance3	1x	1x
Wi-Fi Performance3	3x (802.11ac)	3x (802.11ac)
HDMI	HDMI 1.4	HDMI 2.0
MicroSD Card Slot
USB 3.0 Ports for expansion/accessories	1 USB 2.0	1 USB 2.0
Game Controller (included)
HDMI Cable (included)
FEATURES
Resolution	4K 30 Ultra HD & 1080p	4K 60 Ultra HD & 1080p
Voice Search
Voice Commands
Cross-App Search
Cast to your TV
Mobile Compatibility	Android	Android & iOS
Private Listening4
Console-Class Games5
Stream Games from PC
Cloud Gaming	720p
APPS
Netflix	4K Ultra HD & 1080p	4K Ultra HD & 1080p
YouTube	4K 30 Ultra HD & 1080p	4K 60 Ultra HD & 1080p
Hulu Plus
Sling TV
Pandora
HBO Go
HBO Now
Amazon Instant Video
Google Play Movies
Google Play Music
Showtime
VUDU
PBS & PBS Kids
Vevo
MLB
NBA
Plex
Kodi (XBMC)
Twitch

Which 4K Box You should Choose?

If you want higher resolution and frame rate, Roku 4 will give you more ways to enjoy them.On the other hand, The Fire TV (2015)doesn’t have as much 4K content—or as deep of an app catalog in general—but it’s a better box overall for people who plan to consume a lot of Amazon Prime video. And given that 4K is built into the $99 product, you can dabble in the higher-res format without having to spend even more on hardware (those 4K TVs aren't cheap).

Related Software Recommended to Help You Enjoy 4K on Roku 4 & Fire TV (2015)

Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate is an all-in-one media solution. It can convert your MKV, AVI, MP4, H.265, FLV,MOV, WMV, TS, VRO, M2TS, etc video, no matter downloaded from YouTube, Netflix, YIFY and other torrent sites, to Roku 4 & Fire TV (2015). It also can batch upscale SD/HD video to 4K video for Roku 4 & Fire TV (2015) playback.
Pavtube ChewTune can remove the DRM protection of iTunes M4V video then convert them to 4K video for Roku 4 & Fire TV (2015). If you have some 4K content in iTunes and want to stream the 4K content with Roku 4 & Fire TV (2015), this software can help you.
Money Saving Tips: There is a bundle software promotion to help you save money:
Video Converter Ultimate($65) + ChewTune($29) = Only $74.9, Save $19.1
Check More Guides on Roku 4 & Fire TV：

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Playing Blu-Ray BDMV folder with VLC?

VLC maybe is the most popular media player software, which can run on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc. Its official site claims that the 2.0 and later version support Blu-ray media playback with some extra operations. But strangely, some people will have troubles in playing Bluray BDMV folder in VLC:

“I have a Blu-Ray folder and I've tried opening the BDMV file in it with VLC but it doesn't open it properly, displaying a menu and all that Jazz. Instead, it seems it just parses that file to play everything inside it willy nilly, choking on JAR files and other stuff.”

If you can’t play Bluray BDMV folder in VLC, you should make sure you use the "open BDMV folder" function in the open panel, and you need to choose the upper folder which contains the bdmv folder (with VLC 2.1.3). Still failing? Maybe because VLC bluray support is still rather experimental. And your Blu-ray producer just make it harder to play its discs.

Or, you can try to rip your Bluray BDMV folder to VLC supported digital format like MP4, MKV, etc with a Blu-ray Ripper.Pavtube ByteCopy is a nice choice. It can rip and convert any copy & region protected Blu-ray, Blu-ray BDMV folder to VLC supported MP4, MKV, MOV, WMV, etc with excellent video quality and fast speed.

It also can convert DVD, DVD IFO/ISO to VLC supported MP4, MKV, etc with original video quality. It allows you to adjust video/audio codec, resolution, bitrate, channel, frame rate, display aspect ratio and deinterlacing video, rotate video, add/extract subtitle to Blu-ray/DVD video, add watermark, trim/crop video.

Free download and install:

Other Download:
- Pavtube old official address: http://www.pavtube.cn/bytecopy/
- Cnet Download: http://download.cnet.com/Pavtube-ByteCopy/3000-7970_4-76158512.html
How to convert Bluray BDMV folder to VLC?

Step 1: Load Bluray BDMV files

Click “File” to load Bluray BDMV folder to Pavtube BDMV to VLC converter. Or you can simply drag and drop the Bluray BDMV folder to the app. You can see all the chapter added will be listed. The main title will be automatically detected to convert. But if also can select certain chapter to convert.

Tip:
1. At the bottom of the chapter list, you can choose desired subtitle/audio track in “Subtitle” and “Audio” box. You even can keep forced subtitle.
2. You can preview the video on the right window and take a snapshot of your loved scene.

Step 2: Choose MP4 for VLC

Click the “Format” bar to get the drop-down menu and you can get “HD Video -> H.264 HD Video (*.mp4)” as the best output format for playing in VLC.

If the default A/V settings cannot fit your needs, you can click “Settings” button to custom the output video and audio settings by yourself. But if you are not good at it, you’d better use the default parameters, they will ensure you a good balance between file size and image quality basically.

Step 3: Start to convert Bluray BDMV to VLC

Press the “Convert” button on the bottom-right corner of this Bluray BDMV to VLC Video Converter to start doing video conversion. The larger the Bluray BDMV folders are, the more conversion time should be taken.

After converted Bluray BDMV to MP4, then you can add it to VLC to play now.

if you want to convert VOB to VLC, MKV to VLC, AVI to VLC, WMV to VLC, ISO to VLC, Blu-ray to VLC, DVD to VLC, etc, you can use Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate. There is a bundle software promotion which can help you save money when you want to purchase these two apps:

ByteCopy($42) + Video Converter Ultimate($65) = Only $79.9, Save $27.1

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