This actually a great idea.
What about older Xbox One S/X I believe ppl would dumping it cheaper once new one arrived.

Both are suitable for online streaming & can sideload apps.
Unless using it for local playback then there are other factors to look at.
Using the device with compatible apps won't affect the performance except side loading apps that are not optimized for Android TV OS.

For that price range & usage, CGTV is sufficient but do note that it has some issues unfortunately.

Here are some Pros & Cons:-

The tube plays remux file without issues with Kodi, it was smooth at least for me. Only downside is it's not supporting AI upscale to 4k 60hz

Haven't try iso files, but so far remux or any file I throw at it with Kodi runs perfectly, i notice while playing Flac files the front section like 1-2 seconds was skipped not sure why. The AI sampling I mean is from HD 1080 source to 4k . Tube can support up to 4k 30fps . But the pro with latest update can go up to 4k 60fps. Therefore the only disadvantage I feel. But anyway 30 fps should be sufficient with most content, even cinematic standard is 30 fps as I read.

may I know what app you use to get in BR menu? As far as I know Kodi can't support this , is it Plex you are using?
I understand that Remux is same as BD iso. Is my understanding correct? If that's the case iso issue is not a big deal.

you playing the .m2ts ?

Use MakeMKV to remux the files into an MKV container. It won't encode it or anything, just make it easier for media players to play the file

It is a know problem if you are using the Tube version when playback of high quality 4K UHD REMUX with lossless audio. Less common or is not an issue if using the Pro version.

However, I believe the issue may be resolved when NVIDIA release the next firmware upgrade in the near future.

Alternative is to use VLC.

yah i'm using the tube version.
I thought Shield is using the most powerful cpu , still have this problem.

This are test build based on stable version with specific fix by Team Kodi.
In this case it has only one changes(fix) related to audio dropout.

No, this won't brick your device because this is app not firmware.
It doesn't affect kernel or system files.
The Maven's Build is unofficial build with additional features(DV-MKV & BD-J) that Team Kodi can't or not interested to add it into the official Kodi build but still it won't brick the device.

Not exactly. BD-J is the Blu-ray Disc Java which contains Blu-Ray Menu that requires JRE to read it. Also referred as "Full Blu-ray Menu".
Official Kodi can play Blu-ray ISO but without the full menu means that it will directly go to the video and iirc this need some tweaking at Kodi settings first.

With Maven's build, it will able to launch Full Blu-ray Menu just like playing it on Blu-Ray player thanks to JRE addon and modification done by Fandangos.

In your case, the Spears & Munsil ISO contains BD-J Menu and Maven's build will able to show full menu.
The ISO file will have 'BDJO' folder or files with '.bdjo' extension.

I have shared demo previously with Fandangos build, can refer here:
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...ost&p=100510473

Fyi, the Fandangos build is no longer updated so better to use Maven's build.
Some info on Kodi development for Android, since past one or two years there's no official Kodi Android maintainer so any bug related to Kodi for Android will take time to fix depends on Team Kodi availability or until community members submit the fix.
They also have started to remove hacks/workarounds for specific SoC staring Kodi 19(or 18.5). Now everything depends on how well is the device firmware.

Spotted this comment by Team Kodi member on Shield Tube RAM issue..😅
>> https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=36...0486#pid3050486

That 2GB RAM is really 'killing' the device..😄
Btw, Kodi 19.3 is out with the high bitrate TrueHD/Atmos fix but they missed the micro stuttering fix. Might available in Kodi 19.4 at the end of next month.

kind of disappointing that "flagship" android tv don't have enough ram to play 4k videos?

Shield tube isn't flagship though... considering its price, it's actually a pretty bad android player.

My Shield Pro has zero issues playing UHD Remux with lossless tracks (Atmos/DTSX) on Kodi 19 and Plex. No issues playing encoded DV files either.

Fyi, Shield TV support frame rate matching since 2015 and that's how Kodi, VLC, Nova Player & other apps that support the Frame Rate API able to 'switch' refresh rate on supported display.

If you're referring to Android TV 12's frame rate match then it is very similar to what Shield TV already does now and it still won't force auto frame rate matching because it will require app developers to add the feature into their app first.

NVIDIA has the capability to force auto frame rate matching on system level on Shield TV but due to Netflix certification requirements they can't implement it. This the reason why NVIDIA's Match Frame Rate feature will remain in 'beta'.

To overcome this issues, someone develop an app called Refresh Rate for Shield TV that does AFR based on source info on some unsupported app like Chromecast, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime & etc but of course it is not perfect/stable.

Haiz..still no Youtube HDR. Wish that they able to enable it at software/firmare level.

Shield Experience 9.0 update is officially released to ALL Shield TV model!!

Full release note:


Known Issues:

...and there's already Hotfix 9.0+ update available for some known issues in SE 9.0 but do note on the limitations for the hotfix image.
Refer: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums...0-hotfix-image/
New knowledge Base articles that also went live today:

p/s:
1. Best to monitor feedback from other users before updating unless the device is set to auto-update..
2. After going through some feedbacks, might wait for next update..👀