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How's The Xbox One S As A Video and 4K Blu Ray Player?

Infinite Xero

Infinite Xero

Member
I'm considering getting an Xbox One S to use purely as a video and 4K Blu Ray player and wanted to know if it is worth buying for this purpose. If anyone could share their experience or knowledge regarding my questions below, that would be appreciated. Thanks.

Questions about using the Xbox One S as a Video Player

1. I know that there is a VLC app for the Xbox One and would like to know if it can play (almost) every video file similar to its PC counterpart?
2. Does the VLC app support software rendering for playing video files that the Xbox One S does not natively support?
3. If VLC supports software rendering, is the Xbox One S' CPU powerful enough to render "intense" video files? Say for example something like h.264/h.265, 10-bit at 1080p without dropping frames/stuttering?

I currently have an Nvidia Shield that I use exclusively to play just about any video file with MX Player and I would like to replace this with the Xbox One S + VLC if possible.

Questions about using the Xbox One S as a 4K UHD Blu Ray Player

1. How is playback experience? Any films that don't work or have issues?
2. I read one review about the Xbox One S rendering of HDR movies to be a bit off. Is it safe to assume this is minor and that the Xbox One S overall does a good job with HDR or should I just get a dedicated Blu Ray player after all?
 
Picture quality is great but I occasionally get sound syncing issues on some discs, which doesn't happen on my PS3/PS4.
 
Had mine for a couple of weeks, paired with a 55" B6.

I love it.

As far as your specific questions, I haven't explored enough to give a sufficient answer.
 
I'm very happy with my Xbox One S as a video player, though I'd recommend getting the Xbox One Media Remote or a programmable remote that can send Xbox commands.
 
Some people have issues with gamma, and audio bitstreaming. Some lockups.
Others are fine or don't care about the audio.

If you want a dedicated player though just buy the Sony one released a few weeks ago.
 
I'm a media hog on my Xbox One but I owe a lot of that to the ease of use with the media remote, I definitely recommend picking up one of those and setting it up to control your tv volume so you can just use one remote during movies.
 
I've had no major issues with 4K playback that wasn't disk related like any regular blu ray disk. It's always the copy protection that causes this. On Xbox one if you have any issue with playback 99.9% rebooting the system fixes it. I'm in the preview program alpha wave and have a had a great viewing expierence I use bitstreamng and HDR in my setup with the system running thru my AVR.

And Sony can kiss my ass not including the drive in new PS4's including my Pro I refuse to buy their Stand alone player.
 
I got mine for $250 back during the Holidays and it seems just as good as the $400+ dollar options I saw. Of which there was like two. I got no complaints about it as a UHD player.
 
Why not just buy it from a Best Buy and if it doesn't run your files well you refund it within 14 days?
 
For the price it's decent but it doesn't compare to a more expensive dedicated UHD player like the Sony UBP-X800, Panasonic DMP-UB900 or Oppo UDP-203.

You get what you pay for but it's still great value, as it's a games console too.
 
Some A/V nuts report one or two minor issues, but I think for the price it's absolutely unbeatable.

I got mine for £199 with a game and its Bluray playback quality is better than the PS4 even at 1080p.

And if you think about the fact you're getting access to a library of games, including Forza Horizon 3, one of the best games of the generation, as well as the ability to play 4K discs, then it's one hell of a value proposition.

And it's sexy as hell too.
 
UDH Blu Ray player - it's good

Video player - no idea. I use the built-in TV apps to stream and just use the XBO for 4K blu rays.
 
HDR is borked with the Netflix app, and Amazon only outputs in 1080p.. I don't know about VUDU or Hulu. The UHD BD player is fine for the money. I use it quite often.
 
scitek said:
HDR is borked with the Netflix app, and Amazon only outputs in 1080p.. I don't know about VUDU or Hulu. The UHD BD player is fine for the money. I use it quite often.
Click to expand...
Vudu's 4K is still exclusive to Vizio last time I checked could be wrong. And Netflix is responsible for their app Microsoft can't do anything unless they update their app. Hulu I don't know don't ever use it.
 
For owners: How does it handle standard DVDs? For some reason on my PS4 Pro and KS8000 TV the DVD quality is awful.. not sure if it's because it's not upscaling correctly or what.

But I was wondering if this upscales Blu-rays and DVDs to 4K like the K8500 dedicated player does.
 
I've been using the One S to watch 4K HDR movies and it's fine.

It's good if you want an Xbox One with a 4k bluray player.

If you don't want it for games, I'd get a standalone player for the superior video quality.
 
I like the plex app when watching my digital stuff, have not tried vlc.

As for it being noisy... It may be louder than a standalone but I gotta say if you can hear it during playback you either have an issue or you have the volume muted.
I personally get more volume from the windows rattling when I watch movies ;)
 
Nope not as good as standalone player. Especially pic quality for HDR. I've tested it with quite a few other UHD player.


If you really concern about quality then dont get it. There should be more budgeted and better quality UHD player out there.
 
VLC on my one s only plays in 1080p and does not play every format. H264 & MP4 seem ok but some of the compressed ones won't play.
HDR works well with disks but as mentioned above Netflix app is not right.
 
Is it possible to watch stuff through media player or the blu-ray player and receive audio through headphones connected to the controller?
 
Lizardus said:
Is it possible to watch stuff through media player or the blu-ray player and receive audio through headphones connected to the controller?
Click to expand...

Unless there's a quirk I don't know about involved, you get normal system/game audio through that controller port, yeah.
 
It output at weird resolution every now and then and i have to unplug it and replug it back to my avr to get it to work.
 
Does no one here have the light bleed issue with HDR UHD Blu Rays? I bought it primarily to play UHDs and it's disappointing. I have a KS8000.
 
basically the only reason why theres an xbox in my house. im no videophile by any stretch, but its fine from what i can tell.
 
TheKevn said:
Does no one here have the light bleed issue with HDR UHD Blu Rays? I bought it primarily to play UHDs and it's disappointing. I have a KS8000.
Click to expand...

I have a KS8000 as well. Can't say I have ever experienced light bleed with HDR media particularly. But the KS8000 does suffer from vertical blooming due to the backlight
 
Pjsprojects said:
VLC on my one s only plays in 1080p and does not play every format. H264 & MP4 seem ok but some of the compressed ones won't play.
HDR works well with disks but as mentioned above Netflix app is not right.
Click to expand...

On the flip side, the Amazon app does now stream 4K HDR and it works perfectly.
 
One thing to remember is the Blu Ray player app gets updated quite often so it should always get latest tech added and better playback tweaking.
 
CrayToes said:
Loud. But it's perfect for the price.
Click to expand...

Loud? It is barely louder than the whisper quiet OG Xbox One. I wouldnt exactly call it loud, esp compared to the jet engine fan the PS4 has, and that doesnt even play UHD disks.

I suppose it is loud compared with a standalone BD player, but it certainly doesnt qualify as a loud device in general, IMO.

OP: Considering you can snag one for $199 or less rather easily, I'd say it beats the hell out of a standalone UHD player.
 
Great value but if you are just comparing disc reproduction it's the worst or nearly the worst UHD disc player out there. If you didn't have anything to compare it to you'd probably never know but if you're deep in to home theater stuff you can and should do better.
 
For the price its a steal.

But I am sure dedicated Bluray players would be better but it gete the job done for me.
 
It's pretty much the reason I got a 1S, works great with my KS8000 55".

Cheaper than a normal UHD player, plus you get a Xbox One with HDR, win/win!
 
I sold my X1 for an X1S purely as a temporary stopgap between now and the day when better 4k bluray players become more affordable. Competing against the standalone players it is poor in relative picture quality. It's a snack to keep me going until I can get dinner.
 
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