[jsmailes]

For me, the big killer feature would be if this device is approved for modern media DRM. As much as I'm tired of streaming and its level of control over how I watch TV, it's still a decent part of my media consumption, but any Linux mini-PC I connect to the TV can only do low-resolution streaming from most providers. If the steam machine is approved for high-resolution streaming, it could totally replace the smart TV stack in most homes.

[johnnyanmac]

Yeah. This is why I threw that all away and simply pirate for my NAS. Im not watching much new media to begin with. and they make it hell, if not impossible, to stream a lot of older shows. And of I do find them I need to compromise with how I stream it, with what account, and where.

I just got tired of all VPNs, the DRMs, and trying to tune my network just to try and get a decent feed. Instead, map a network drive once, find torrent, save to movies file, and let Plex (or Emby in my case, for historical reasons) find the metadata.

[MagicMoonlight]

If you pay £20/month you’ll get 720p. If you pay £0/month you get 4k original rips.

It’s just pointless paying.

[ZeroCool2u]

Yes, I think one of the most important things we as consumers can do is flood the zone for companies like Netflix, Disney, and Apple and keep asking about native Steam Machine apps installed directly from the Steam store that support 4k streams.

[linuxftw]

But if more people didn't have locked down devices, the streamers would be forced to open up.

[nitwit005]

If Netflix can only get approval with Microsoft Edge or their app on Windows, with specific supported graphics hardware, I doubt there is much hope of that. They want essentially all the hardware and software locked down.

[arianvanp]

Won't happen. HDMI 2.0 only. This is due to HDMI forum blocking open source implementation in the Linux kernel with lawyers citing security risk

[lousken]

why is that a problem? if those companies don't give you options, you can pirate everything up to 4k just fine

[bobbob27]

Hmm there's a chance you simply need to make sure the Widevine drm is installed on your system

[array_key_first]

This doesn't help much. It will let the content load, but many platforms will limit you to 720p or even standard definition (gasp!!)

YouTube, for example, will give you 480p. For movies. That you bought. With money.