Can the Raspberry Pi manage a really good job as a media center/server?

Question

Greetings:

Obviously I'm interested in building a media center on a Raspberry Pi. I've already got a DVR built on a 1B+. I've seen and read several posts regarding this type of endeavor. Adafruit even has a kit for doing this, https://www.adafruit.com/product/3114 .

However, the specs of the video output, on even the newest Pi 3B+, seem to be wanting when it comes to being able to actually push really good quality video. 1080p30? The same Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU that appears to have been the same workhorse as on the original Pi?

So, has anyone actually built a streaming media center on a Pi that can provide a practical review of it? Back to my original question: Can the Raspberry Pi manage a really good job as a media center? Not just, can it run the software. I'm pretty sure it can do that. But, can it push excellent quality video to a large screen modern television that will satisfy, through it's built-in HDMI port?

I look forward to the many replies!

Thanks!

shabaz · Answer

Hi Neil,

This is a very popular use-case for the Pi - possibly hundreds of thousands of Pi's are deployed in this way, so I think it must meet such needs for 1080p.

By the way, the new Pi 3Bplus has an advantage for media server (as opposed to media center) capability. Since it has a better network interface, it should be possible to stream 4k video. So, if the TV supports streaming (google 'DLNA'), then the Pi's HDMI connection isn't even needed, and you could just use the Pi for streaming movies off attached storage, and play them on any TV in the home.