Hardware suggestions to run LE with Netflix

    Hi All

    I am wanting to build an LibreElec TV box - which can do the following things:

    * View video content at 1080p x265 over network.

    * Works with Netflix... (I know - I don't use it this myself - it's for my child)

    Without going into detail here, there are known issues with how Netflix works with DRM system Widevine after a change this year, and it's causing problems which currently haven't been solved. The hardware I am running LE from - a 6-8-year-old x86-64 PC - doesn't work with the Netflix add-on though it used to. But this issue may not affect all LE hardware platforms...

    In other words - has anyone got an LE setup running currently which works with Netflix? In which case - what is the hardware?

    (Perhaps recent RPi's are able to work with Widevine L1 - or something?)

    Thanks very much for looking at this.

    • Best Answer

    RPi4/5 can handle HEVC at 1080p resolutions but ultimately it's a Linux device so you'll experience whatever challenges and problems that Netflex chooses to inflict on the FOSS community via API changes and such. To eliminate that you need to use Kodi with an Android device with a Widevine L1 license. The device used by most Team Kodi staff is the nVidia shield; largely because nVidia shipped a load of them to be used as test devices a few years ago, but also because nVidia provides regular OS updates for the device over time unlike most Android boxes which are obsolete within minutes of shipping. The other would be Amazon firesticks and such which (again) have the DRM licenses needed for long-term easy access to the DRM protected services.

    Netflix for Kodi is basically an add-on problem, not a hardware problem. Netflix often changes encodings. Add-on developers are at Kodi forum - ask there.

    Because we know about that, we gave you non-LE hardware suggestions at your last thread: Click!

    No need for a Netflix hardware thread.

    I'll revise my answer somewhat. The Widevine L1 license isn't required to use Netflix. If the box is not L1 licensed (e.g. only has L3) you will be restricted in resolution to 1080p max. The key thing is to be using the official Netflix app installed from the official Android app-store and I'd always want an OS that is updated periodically: and that combination of requirements still herds you towards a Firestick/Shield like device.