Smart TVs are what all manufacturers call modern televisions with an integrated computer and operating system. Samsung uses Tizen, LG – webOS, Xiaomi, Philips, TCL, and others – Android TV. According to manufacturers’ ideas, smart TVs are capable of playing video content from any source. And, of course, delivering the picture in the best quality. For this, appropriate matrices are installed in the TVs and electronic hardware is present.
However, all this doesn’t work quite smoothly. Usually, in 99% of cases, the electronics’ power is not enough to process and output signals in 4K format, for example. Not to mention video or audio codecs that require licenses. And here comes the TV-Box to the rescue. Even a device from the lowest price segment turns out to be many times more powerful than the electronics in the TVs.
Smart TV or TV-Box – the choice is obvious
Regardless of the brand and model range, but considering the screen size, you will have to buy both a TV and a set-top box. When choosing a TV, the focus is only on matrix quality and HDR support. And the TV-Box is selected based on budget and ease of control.
There are ardent opponents of set-top boxes who claim that most smart TVs output content in 4K from YouTube or flash drives perfectly. Yes, they do. But either with freezes or without sound (relevant for flash drives). Freezes are dropped frames. When the processor cannot fully process the signal and loses about 10-25% of frames. This manifests as flickering images on the screen.
As an option, reducing the content resolution, for example, to Full HD, can help eliminate video quality issues in 4K format. But then the natural question arises – what is the point of buying a 4K TV? Ah, yes. There are fewer and fewer offers with old matrices on the market. That is, 4K is already standard. But watching videos in quality on it is impossible. A vicious circle. This is where the TV-Box comes to the rescue.
How to choose the right set-top box for your TV
It’s simple, like with mobile devices. High platform performance is for gaming. You can connect joysticks to the set-top box and play your favorite games on the TV, not on a PC or console. Set-top boxes are based on the Android operating system. Accordingly, games will work from Google Play. The exception is the nVidia TV-Box. It can work with games for Android, Windows, Sony, and Xbox. But you will need to create an account and purchase the necessary games on the nVidia server.
When choosing a set-top box for your TV, focus on:
- Availability of all popular video and audio codecs. To guarantee playback of content from any source, especially torrents. There are many videos with DTS sound or compressed with strange codecs.
- Compatibility with wired and wireless interfaces for the TV. Specifically, HDMI, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Often, a smart TV supports HDMI 1, but the set-top box has an output of version 1.4. Result – HDR 10+ cannot work.
- Ease of setup and control. The set-top box is beautiful, powerful, but the menu is unclear. This often happens. And it is only discovered during the first connection. The problem can be fixed by installing an alternative firmware. But why spend time on this if you can buy a decent set-top box for your TV from the start?
Apple TV – is it worth buying this brand’s set-top box
Apple TV-Box runs on tvOS. The feature of the operating system is ease of control. Plus, the set-top box itself is quite powerful. But it is better suited for owners of Apple smartphones or tablets. For Android users, owning an Apple TV-Box can be a nightmare, as it only uses licensed services.
Among the advantages of Apple set-top boxes are high platform power. TV-Box is suitable for watching 4K videos and gaming. Naturally, all games are downloaded and installed from the Apple Store. The choice is good, even despite the cost.
Which brands to consider when choosing a TV-Box
The most important criterion is the brand. There are dozens of manufacturers on the market. Each brand has three device classes – budget, mid-range, premium. And the differences are not only in price but also in electronic hardware.
Solutions from Xiaomi, VONTAR, X96 Max+, Mecool, UGOOS, NVIDIA, TOX1 have established a good reputation. There is also the cool brand Beelink. But it has left the set-top box market, switching to mini-PCs. These mini-PCs are also suitable for connecting to TVs. However, there is no reason to buy them solely for video playback. They are expensive.
Set-top boxes from brands such as Tanix TX65, Magicsee N5, T95, A95X, X88, HK1, H10 should not be purchased. They do not meet the declared specifications.
Another important point is the remote control for the set-top box. Rarely do complete sets include good remote controls. It’s better to buy them separately. There are solutions with gyroscope, voice control, backlight. Price ranges from $5 to $15. It’s a small price for convenience. For the past 2 years, the market leader in remote controls is G20S PRO.
What parameters to consider when choosing a TV-Box
- Processor. Responsible for performance, both in games and in video signal processing. It’s simple: the more cores and the higher their frequency, the better. But overheating can occur, especially if the set-top box is mounted behind the TV. Therefore, look for a TV-Box with good passive cooling. The well-known brands listed above work smoothly like clockwork.
- RAM. The norm is 2 GB. Some set-top boxes have 4 GB. Video quality is not affected by RAM size. It mainly influences gaming performance.
- Internal storage. 16, 32, 64, 128 GB. Needed mainly for programs or games. Content is streamed over the network or stored on external drives. So, you don’t need to chase after large storage capacity.
- Network interfaces. Wired – 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps. The higher, the better, especially for 4K movies over a wired network. Wireless – Wi-Fi 4 and 5 GHz. Preferably Wi-Fi 5, at least. Support for 2.4 GHz is welcome if the router is in another room – more stable signal, but lower bandwidth.
- Wired interfaces. HDMI, USB, SpDiF or 3.5 mm audio. HDMI standard should be at least version 2.0a. USB ports should include both version 2.0 and 3.0, as incompatible external drives may be encountered. Audio outputs are needed if you plan to connect a receiver, amplifier, or active speakers to the set-top box for sound output. Otherwise, sound is transmitted via HDMI cable to the TV.
- Form factor. This is the type of set-top box. It can be desktop or stick format. The latter is made in the form of a flash drive. It is inserted into the HDMI port. For video viewing, this is enough, and the rest of the functionality can be ignored.
