[ListedGuru]

I've been thinking about getting the Tivo Stream 4K to run my Sling subscription as well as my other streaming services I sub to. What exactly is the HDR issue? It sounds like HDR is on all the time for all content (is that correct)? So would HDR be on when I'm watching the regular channels on Sling (not 4K stuff)? What about Dolby Vision? Does that work like it's supposed to?

I currently have Roku's but recently found out that they are all single band and therefore can't see my 5ghz wifi network. Per the specs the Tivo Stream 4K is dual band. I have also read that sling runs really well on the Tivo and is very snappy. I just worry about the above mentioned HDR issue. Hopefully it gets fixed soon unless it has been already?

Also does anyone think the price will stay where it is after the end of July? I see Amazon is now selling the device as well.

Thanks,

-Guru

 

[Alex_7]

HDR is always on correct. Which I think causes the screen to flicker sometimes.

Tivo said the update was coming in late June, its now almost August and we are still waiting for the update..

I feel that the price will stay at the discount promo price for a little while, no official announcement just my speculation. I purchased my device directly from tivo, I recommend ordering through amazon since their return and customer service is a lot better than tivo's.

 

[Robert Simandl]

The always-on HDR causes non-HDR-encoded content (even the device's own menus) to look oversaturated, blown out, and cartoony. I returned mine for this reason.

 

[ListedGuru]

The always-on HDR causes non-HDR-encoded content (even the device's own menus) to look oversaturated, blown out, and cartoony. I returned mine for this reason.

Well that doesn't sound promising. Maybe I'll wait and see if they release a fix for this before I make the jump. Hopefully the price doesn't jump up though. I think this streamer would work really well for me.

 

[rczrider]

It boggles the mind that they haven't figured out how to turn HDR off when the more likely scenario should have been that a company promised to turn it on (something that, in theory, would have required more work on the development side).

Personally, I would not buy the TS4K hoping for any more than what you get when you buy it. Do not expect updates. While the device has potential, TiVo has made it clear that they are not interested in providing any significant support for it. When a company can't manage to meet their own deadlines from the beginning, do not expect them to suddenly make it a priority.

Now, regarding the price: I would not expect it to go up to $70, ever. The AirTV Mini is the only competition and it's priced at $80. Saving $30 gets you a device that works proportionally less well. If they bump it to $70, only an idiot would choose it over the AirTV Mini. And once Google's Sabrina (aka Chromecast Ultra 2) is out (possibly at $70-80), the TS4K will likely start its death spiral, even at $50. If they bump the price, it's immediately dead.

And that's not taking into account that there are already cheaper, better-performing options from Roku (which I hate) and Amazon (which I don't love, but it's hard to beat a $25 Fire Stick 4K). If the Mi TV Stick 4K ever materializes...well, I'd rather give my money to them.

 

[ListedGuru]

It boggles the mind that they haven't figured out how to turn HDR off when the more likely scenario should have been that a company promised to turn it on (something that, in theory, would have required more work on the development side).

Personally, I would not buy the TS4K hoping for any more than what you get when you buy it. Do not expect updates. While the device has potential, TiVo has made it clear that they are not interested in providing any significant support for it. When a company can't manage to meet their own deadlines from the beginning, do not expect them to suddenly make it a priority.

Now, regarding the price: I would not expect it to go up to $70, ever. The AirTV Mini is the only competition and it's priced at $80. Saving $30 gets you a device that works proportionally less well. If they bump it to $70, only an idiot would choose it over the AirTV Mini. And once Google's Sabrina (aka Chromecast Ultra 2) is out (possibly at $70-80), the TS4K will likely start its death spiral, even at $50. If they bump the price, it's immediately dead.

And that's not taking into account that there are already cheaper, better-performing options from Roku (which I hate) and Amazon (which I don't love, but it's hard to beat a $25 Fire Stick 4K). If the Mi TV Stick 4K ever materializes...well, I'd rather give my money to them.

I like the fact that the TS4K also has the peacock app available on it as well. Not sure what I'll do at this point. I really need a stick that's dual band so it'll find my 5ghz wifi network. I guess a Roku Streaming Stick+ is dual band. So is a Fire stick 4K but I don't have any experience with the fire stick.

I wonder when the new Google stick is going to come out? That might be the one to get. Decisions, Decisions.

 

[Alex_7]

I like the fact that the TS4K also has the peacock app available on it as well. Not sure what I'll do at this point. I really need a stick that's dual band so it'll find my 5ghz wifi network. I guess a Roku Streaming Stick+ is dual band. So is a Fire stick 4K but I don't have any experience with the fire stick.

I wonder when the new Google stick is going to come out? That might be the one to get. Decisions, Decisions.

You can sideload the peacock app to the firestick

 

[ListedGuru]

You can sideload the peacock app to the firestick

Is that easy to do (and legal)? Sorry I've never sideloaded an app before. Thanks for the tip.

 

[rczrider]

I like the fact that the TS4K also has the peacock app available on it as well. Not sure what I'll do at this point. I really need a stick that's dual band so it'll find my 5ghz wifi network. I guess a Roku Streaming Stick+ is dual band. So is a Fire stick 4K but I don't have any experience with the fire stick.

I wonder when the new Google stick is going to come out? That might be the one to get. Decisions, Decisions.

I'd go with the Fire Stick 4K over a Roku any day. If you haven't purchased one on your Amazon account before, you should be able to get it for $25 using the promo code 4KFIRETV through the end of the year.

Is that easy to do (and legal)? Sorry I've never sideloaded an app before. Thanks for the tip.

It's not hard, just more work than using an app store. I'd say the only way it's illegal is if you download a "pro" version of an app that you're supposed to pay for. Apps that simply give you access to a paid subscription (Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, etc) still require that subscription, so you're not "stealing" anything.

Anyway, here's a how-to: Sideload Fire TV Apps on Your Fire TV Stick or Cube

I would suggest getting the APK from apkpure or apkmirror, since they don't (as far as I know) host illegal content so what you're getting are untouched / unmodified APKs.

 

[jaselzer]

I'd go with the Fire Stick 4K over a Roku any day. If you haven't purchased one on your Amazon account before, you should be able to get it for $25 using the promo code 4KFIRETV through the end of the year.

It's not hard, just more work than using an app store. I'd say the only way it's illegal is if you download a "pro" version of an app that you're supposed to pay for. Apps that simply give you access to a paid subscription (Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, etc) still require that subscription, so you're not "stealing" anything.

Anyway, here's a how-to: Sideload Fire TV Apps on Your Fire TV Stick or Cube

I would suggest getting the APK from apkpure or apkmirror, since they don't (as far as I know) host illegal content so what you're getting are untouched / unmodified APKs.

The problem with side loading is that the app will not auto-update. One day, sooner rather than later, the sideloaded app will not work properly and you'll have to go and find it again and reinstall the new APK. Just my 2 cents.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[moyekj]

The problem with side loading is that the app will not auto-update. One day, sooner rather than later, the sideloaded app will not work properly and you'll have to go and find it again and reinstall the new APK. Just my 2 cents.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly. That was my experience with HBO Max on FireTV. Just stops working after a while until you manually update again.

 

[rczrider]

The problem with side loading is that the app will not auto-update. One day, sooner rather than later, the sideloaded app will not work properly and you'll have to go and find it again and reinstall the new APK. Just my 2 cents.

Exactly. That was my experience with HBO Max on FireTV. Just stops working after a while until you manually update again.

So...you manually update.

I guess if you're like the other guy who has 8 TVs in their house and a device on each one, that could become a big hassle, but it's literally just a few minutes every couple of months. I'll take that over spending twice as much on a buggy device that sucks to use every time.

Everyone's situation is different, though. I'm not actually advocating the Fire Stick 4K and sideloading as the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm simply pointing out that as of this moment right now, the average person who doesn't need or want every streaming service available would probably find the Fire Stick 4K at $25 to be a better purchase than the TS4K at $50.

 

[NashGuy]

So...you manually update.

I guess if you're like the other guy who has 8 TVs in their house and a device on each one, that could become a big hassle, but it's literally just a few minutes every couple of months. I'll take that over spending twice as much on a buggy device that sucks to use every time.

Everyone's situation is different, though. I'm not actually advocating the Fire Stick 4K and sideloading as the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm simply pointing out that as of this moment right now, the average person who doesn't need or want every streaming service available would probably find the Fire Stick 4K at $25 to be a better purchase than the TS4K at $50.

If you don't care about either HBO Max or Peacock, and you don't mind the cluttered Fire TV UI, then the Fire TV Stick 4K at half the price is definitely a better deal than the TS4K.

As for sideloading the HBO Max or Peacock apps, I'm not sure it's just something that would only need to be done every couple of months. I've read reports of folks sideloading HBO Max more than once on Fire TV and then it stops working in the next 24-48 hours. Maybe that's not the norm though?

For folks who already have a Fire TV, sure, give sideloading a try. But if HBO Max and/or Peacock are services you care about, I don't think it makes sense to purchase a Fire TV device right now.

 

[BillyClyde]

The always-on HDR causes non-HDR-encoded content (even the device's own menus) to look oversaturated, blown out, and cartoony. I returned mine for this reason.

This is only true if you don't bother to make sure the display is also in HDR mode and most importantly, setup properly.

All that has to happen is the SDR rec709 video content is supposed to be mapped to the HDR bt2020 gamut in the TS4K, and it is, so it should most definitely display properly if all settings are correct.

This is no different than when I calibrate my display and have it setup as 4K HDR bt2020 output and in the CalMAN calibration process it goes through each color gamut choice in succession, rec709, DCI-P3, bt2020 to make sure each is mapped correctly into the HDR bt2020 color space. It does this all without changing the source test patterns out of 4K HDR bt2020 mode.

I know this is true and no I won't argue with you.

I do however agree that we should be given a choice, so I agree there should be an update to allow this.

 

[rczrider]

If you don't care about either HBO Max or Peacock, and you don't mind the cluttered Fire TV UI, then the Fire TV Stick 4K at half the price is definitely a better deal than the TS4K.

You forgot "functional". The Fire Stick 4K is functional out of the box; the TS4K is buggy and appears abandoned.

Again, I'm not a huge Fire Stick fan. I agree about the UI and while not difficult, sideloading is annoying. But buying something like the TS4K knowing the bugs it has and realizing that TiVo can't even meet their own deadlines for fixing them seems like a disappointment waiting to happen.

Now, if you don't care about it being half-baked and staying that way - and paying twice as much for the privilege - then sure, the TS4K is a steal.

 

[compnurd]

You forgot "functional". The Fire Stick 4K is functional out of the box; the TS4K is buggy and appears abandoned.

Again, I'm not a huge Fire Stick fan. I agree about the UI and while not difficult, sideloading is annoying. But buying something like the TS4K knowing the bugs it has and realizing that TiVo can't even meet their own deadlines for fixing them seems like a disappointment waiting to happen.

Now, if you don't care about it being half-baked and staying that way - and paying twice as much for the privilege - then sure, the TS4K is a steal.

The Fire Stick also on hardware revision 4?5? It also has had plenty of bugs over the years

 

[NashGuy]

You forgot "functional". The Fire Stick 4K is functional out of the box; the TS4K is buggy and appears abandoned.

Again, I'm not a huge Fire Stick fan. I agree about the UI and while not difficult, sideloading is annoying. But buying something like the TS4K knowing the bugs it has and realizing that TiVo can't even meet their own deadlines for fixing them seems like a disappointment waiting to happen.

Now, if you don't care about it being half-baked and staying that way - and paying twice as much for the privilege - then sure, the TS4K is a steal.

Whether you see the TS4K as "functional" largely depends on your tastes, your set-up and the specific apps you use. As I understand it, the complaints boil down to these:

• forced HDR output if connected to an HDR-capable TV
• HDMI-CEC bugs with some TVs, receivers, soundbars, etc. (Some of the HDMI-CEC bugs were squashed in an earlier update but the problem lingers for *some* set-ups.)
• flashing/blinking video with output set to 60Hz when using certain niche apps like Kodi

Do you realize that a LOT of the buying public would not be bothered by these issues or even realize they exist? Most folks still don't have an HDR-capable TV. And among those who do, many actually *like* having that feature engaged all the time, even if it means having very saturated colors that video purists see as unnatural looking. As for the HDMI-CEC bugs, again, these are sporadic and don't affect everyone. Lots of folks don't make use of HDMI-CEC. They have a TV and use its internal speakers. They have a streaming device and maybe a disc player connected to the TV. And the HDMI-CEC feature can be turned off on those devices if necessary. Lastly, most consumers have no idea what Kodi is.

The problems you have with the TS4K are the sorts of things that bother video/tech geeks, i.e. the sort of guys who come to websites like this. And, yes, those things would bother me too. But video geeks aren't the norm among the buying public. Which is why you can find lots of positive reviews for the TS4K elsewhere from folks who say it runs great; they have no idea about the bugs that you find so bothersome.

Now, if the existing issues that the TS4K has happen to be deal-breakers for you, then it would probably be a good idea to hold off on buying it to see if TiVo does come through with a fix for those issues as they said they would. But again, for lots of consumers, when weighing the pros and cons of the TS4K against those of a Fire TV or Roku, the TS4K would come out ahead.

 

[MScottC]

I recognize that the TiVo 4K Stream is not perfect. I find it perfectly usable. I find it a great way to find entertainment when I don't know what I want to watch, it gives me a great place to look on all my streaming services on one device. Sure it's not perfect, but ya know, I just don't let perfection be the enemy of good.

Oh, and I can assure you, I have a fairly decent understanding of the technical issues.

 

[Alex_7]

Whether you see the TS4K as "functional" largely depends on your tastes, your set-up and the specific apps you use. As I understand it, the complaints boil down to these:

• forced HDR output if connected to an HDR-capable TV
• HDMI-CEC bugs with some TVs, receivers, soundbars, etc. (Some of the HDMI-CEC bugs were squashed in an earlier update but the problem lingers for *some* set-ups.)
• flashing/blinking video with output set to 60Hz when using certain niche apps like Kodi

Do you realize that a LOT of the buying public would not be bothered by these issues or even realize they exist? Most folks still don't have an HDR-capable TV. And among those who do, many actually *like* having that feature engaged all the time, even if it means having very saturated colors that video purists see as unnatural looking. As for the HDMI-CEC bugs, again, these are sporadic and don't affect everyone. Lots of folks don't make use of HDMI-CEC. They have a TV and use its internal speakers. They have a streaming device and maybe a disc player connected to the TV. And the HDMI-CEC feature can be turned off on those devices if necessary. Lastly, most consumers have no idea what Kodi is.

The problems you have with the TS4K are the sorts of things that bother video/tech geeks, i.e. the sort of guys who come to websites like this. And, yes, those things would bother me too. But video geeks aren't the norm among the buying public. Which is why you can find lots of positive reviews for the TS4K elsewhere from folks who say it runs great; they have no idea about the bugs that you find so bothersome.

Now, if the existing issues that the TS4K has happen to be deal-breakers for you, then it would probably be a good idea to hold off on buying it to see if TiVo does come through with a fix for those issues as they said they would. But again, for lots of consumers, when weighing the pros and cons of the TS4K against those of a Fire TV or Roku, the TS4K would come out ahead.

Out of all the bugs, the only one that bothers me the most is the flickering screen on kodi/or other sideloaded apks. The HDR always on issue doesn't bother me at all.
I found a temporary fix for the flashing video, I set the framerates below 30HZ, but the issue with that is that it makes everything else stuttery (fubotv, hbo max, netflix, etc.) So I have to switch to 30HZ and then back to 24HZ when I want to use Kodi again, Very annoying, Still waiting on their update, ugh.

EDIT: and sometimes when I press the power button on the remote to turn on my tv I get an hdmi source not available, I have to click another button on the remote to "wake up" the tivo stream.

 

[BillyClyde]

Most folks still don't have an HDR-capable TV. And among those who do, many actually *like* having that feature engaged all the time, even if it means having very saturated colors that video purists see as unnatural looking. ....

.....The problems you have with the TS4K are the sorts of things that bother video/tech geeks, i.e. the sort of guys who come to websites like this. And, yes, those things would bother me too. But video geeks aren't the norm among the buying public.....

I already explained why this is incorrect.

I am a "video purist" and a "tech geek" that understands it all. Enough that I know (and apparently more) it isn't an issue that it maps the regular rec709 to bt2020, when the display is set properly. It happens all the time, like when UHD Blurays are mastered to DCI-P3 points, but it's mapped into a bt2020 gamut container. Also enough to know that I agree it should be a choice as well.