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Starting to have some buyer's remorse after building a budget GT1030-powered HTPC. Don't get me wrong, it works great for 1080p 5.1ch Netflix and 4K60fps YouTube and all that, but I wanted to rent a movie through a streaming service, only to find UHD movies are really, really difficult to stream. Everything requires a specific device, often affiliated with a specific service. I have a 2015 Sony smart TV and I hate the UI, general Android update woes, and how choppy some video becomes.

What legal service allows me to rent/stream any UHD movie to a Windows desktop? Or even a Windows 10 app?

I think I understand now why Plex is so popular.

(Wasn't sure where to put this but I see this as more of a software/service issue than a hardware one)

I think Amazon has 4K available but I don't know if it's on the desktop, maybe just their devices.

DragonDaddyBear wrote:

I think Amazon has 4K available but I don't know if it's on the desktop, maybe just their devices.

Unfortunately it's just certified devices:

Supported Devices
At this time, UHD playback is supported on the following Prime Video devices:

Amazon Fire TV (2nd Generation)
Roku 4, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere +, Roku Ultra
Samsung Ultra HD TVs (2014 or later models)
Sony Ultra HD TVs (2014 or later models), and Sony Xperia XZ Premium mobile devices
LG Ultra HD TVs (2014 or later models)
Vizio Ultra HD TVs (2014 or later models)
Xbox One S

Netflix, but again only certain devices and browsers. I think Edge on W10 will work, but i'm not certain about the video card.

iTunes?

Netflix, through the Win10 App or Edge, can stream in 4K, but for some bizarre reason it requires 3GB of VRAM in order to do so. The GTX 1050 in my HTPC is limited to 1080p because it only has 2GB.

I've heard the Netflix limitations of Edge Browser or Windows 10 app, needing the UHD Netflix account, 25Mbps internet service, and setting your Playback Settings to High/Auto.

The GTX1050+ with 3GB VRAM minimum is true also, but that might be a limitation applied by Nvidia's drivers. Not sure about AMD.
There's a reason Nvidia released that 3GB GTX1050

Netflix might be the only service that actually works on Windows, but the issue is they don't have movies anymore. It's all relegated to their DVD service.