Plasma Bigscreen rises from the dead with a better UI

https://www.neowin.net/news/kdes-android-tv-alternative-plasma-bigscreen-rises-from-the-dead-with-a-better-ui/

by bundie • 1 year ago

202 71 1 year ago

The biggest thing they need to do is find a vendor that will sell devices with this on it, then figure out which Distro to set it up with.

I would love an Arch or Debian based distro powering my TV streaming apparatus. In the meantime, I'll continue to use Apple TV since I'm in that ecosystem already, bit I'm always open for a true Linux TV experience if someone makes a small form factor Linux for TV device that lets me SSH into it if I really want to, but contains all the eye candy of a TV OS.

MisterTea2• 1 year ago

I have an AMD APU Linux PC hooked to my TV with a Logitech K400. Its a bit more fiddly than a throw away android based TV stick thing but you have complete freedom and control.

m_t• 1 year ago

Would you care to share the specs?

Any issue for streaming DRM content like netflix, or decoding high nitrate h265?

Thank you !

bobson381• 1 year ago

yep, k400 and a dell optiplex mini running debian with plasma. can stream, pull up youtube, cast to spotify, whatever. it rocks.

const_cast• 1 year ago

I watch everything on my web browser with a fancy OLED monitor. The problem is that many services won't give you even HD, let alone UHD. I'm stuck at 480p for renting movies on YouTube.

Android TV sticks scare me, but the Apple TV seems... okay.

KetoManx642• 1 year ago

Try KDE-Connect, you can send mouse in-out, change volume, open links, etc.

heavyset_go• 1 year ago

Streaming platforms won't serve Linux desktops high resolution content, unfortunately. Been the case for like a decade

nfriedly• 1 year ago

Yeah, I have a similar setup. I recently tried out an Apple TV - I went back to the PC the same day.

mschuster91• 1 year ago

The problem is, any streaming device that's not fully locked down and blessed by the holy gods themselves (i.e. iPhone, un-rooted Android, Fire TV, Chromecast 4K, Apple TV) will not be able to get more than 720p/1080p quality. The streaming providers are really really nasty about that, no matter that enough ways exist to dump any and all shows in full quality anyway.

newsclues2• 1 year ago

Just need to support media servers like Plex and Jellyfin at 4K.

In fact needing to access a streaming service, instead of a local server, sounds like a feature people don't need, even if it would be nice.

qmr• 1 year ago

So don't pay the streaming providers if you want 4K.

Vote with your wallet and dollars.

Sail the high seas.

yjftsjthsd-h4• 1 year ago

I would love an Arch or Debian based distro powering my TV streaming apparatus.

I'd prefer one of the immutable variants for that kind of appliance device. My personal bias is toward OpenSUSE MicroOS, but Debian or Arch based would also be good. (That doesn't mean you can't ssh in, just that there are more guardrails and the system can better self-maintain by default.)

giancarlostoro3• 1 year ago

Immutable is a new part of the distro world for me I kind of want to like it but last time I tried to setup one of those Atomic distros it didnt really work for me, I appreciate them for what they are but it made me realize what I personally wanted was Arch, bleeding edge so I always have up to date software.

Atomic distros would do it for me I think. Something very stable.

Course atomic distros make me think of Debian more than anything ;)

ThatMedicIsASpy2• 1 year ago

I would not want to deal with anything and have a stable system so Fedora Atomics or a custom ublue image.

https://github.com/ublue-os/image-template.

grebnek• 1 year ago

Would be nice if valve released a steamOS box, steam big picture for gaming/game-streaming and Plasma big screen for other media. Like you know can use the plasma desktop on steam deck.

saghm• 1 year ago

They did something kind of close to this in the past, but as a streaming device that connected to a desktop [1]. A roommate of mine had one hooked up to his projector we used as a TV in the living room. If I'm remembering correctly, there was both a dedicated first-party controller and the ability to use console controllers (Xbox, PS4, etc.).

What's interesting to me in retrospect is how this might have been an intentional stepping stone on the way to the Steam Deck; they got to dip their toes in hardware at a time when the company didn't have much experience in it, as well as a lot more testing data for their controller support that would become an important part of how users interact with the Steam Deck. When I first got a Steam Deck, I realized how many years they probably had been planning something like this given all of the long-term bets like this that it capitalized on (heavy investment into Linux gaming being another big one). It took me until their more recent official support for other handheld gaming devices on SteamOS to consider that if they planned that far ahead for the Steam Deck, there's no reason that wouldn't have to be their ultimate end-goal, and they could have similarly long-term plans still in motion that the Steam Deck itself could just be a stepping stone to. My current theory is that they might not even care about being in hardware in the long run as much as making SteamOS the de facto default for the emerging market of "handheld desktop" gaming consoles (or whatever the term is for devices like the Steam Deck). I could easily imagine that getting the Steam Deck out first as an established player being a strategy to try to prevent what presumably would otherwise be a Microsoft-dominated future for the market in the same way that they've been basically the only player in traditional desktop gaming systems for so long, and using Microsoft's own playbook to do it by just providing the OS and not the hardware. Interestingly, the Steam Deck is remarkably open to being used pretty much however I want (i.e. giving me a full-fledged desktop mode where I can install whatever I want and letting me set up games I didn't get from Steam to run in the more streamlined gaming mode in the exact same way I already do it on my Linux desktops), so my perception is that in the long run they're expecting for the investments to pay off in terms of the revenue from game purchases made by users of these devices, since buying from Steam is still the most streamlined option even though playing games from anywhere else is still supported. Considering the fringe benefits all this has had in terms of making Linux desktop gaming a pretty viable alternative nowadays and that their support for using the hardware however I want is better than what the vendors of the existing major players in mobile devices offer today, it's hard for me to be unhappy with the idea of a future where this plan succeeds.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Link

somat• 1 year ago

I am halfway convinced the idea of a "10 foot ui" driven by a remote is... well not wrong, but perhaps we could do better. Have the big screen be for just that, a spot to display video. Have the remote control, with the entire UI, be on a phone. I would keep the interface as a web interface so you don't have to screw around with an app to make it work, and include collaborative features so everyone gets to fight^wshare over what is shown.

KetoManx642• 1 year ago

You can already do this with KDE-Connect. Touchpad input, send text, change volume, open URLs. Works great on my Media PC in the living room.

ghc• 1 year ago

I bet apple would actually be a great case study here. They have a great 10 foot UI, the world's shittiest TV remote, and a very easy to use system where your phone can be the entire UI and the TV can just play video (AirPlay).

If people still use the 10 foot UI despite the bad remote, I think the 10 foot UI must be the right idea. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure apple will never share those usage stats with us.

wolrah• 1 year ago

This is basically what a Chromecast was. Internally they were basically just an appliance that booted to a very minimal version of Chrome which could be remote controlled by a compatible application, web site, or device.

It was a neat concept but I always found it annoying to have to keep going back to the app to control it when I was doing something else, or keep a tab open in my web browser, and it would often disconnect the session so no one could control it without just stopping and restarting entirely.

You can still use that interaction model on the newer Chromecast-branded devices but they're also full-fat Android TV devices that can be used standalone with a dedicated remote control and run actual apps, which I think is a nice balance.

constantcrying• 1 year ago

The biggest thing they need to do is find a vendor that will sell devices with this on it, then figure out which Distro to set it up with.

If you can not figure out how to boot a raspberry pi or another micro computer with this, you should not be using it. There is a base technical competency required to run any Linux distro and being able to flash an image to an SD card and boot from it is part of that basic tech literacy.

MattTheRealOne3• 1 year ago

This is great news. I am currently using regular Plasma on a mini pc with my TV, but it would be great having an optimized interface. That being said, without apps also being optimized, it would not be that significant of an improvement.

giancarlostoro3• 1 year ago

Which distro do you use? :)

MattTheRealOne3• 1 year ago

I am using Fedora Kinoite since I mostly just use Firefox on my TV, so the limitations of an atomic distribution are not relevant for my use case.

WorldPeas• 1 year ago

currently using a NEC billboard with an OPS module and linux mint (not ideal, when the monitor connection sleeps, the audio turns off). This could be good, especially now that there are a dearth of 1.6b small models that could probably run on the SFP's APU (though I could be wrong)

aquova• 1 year ago

Oh this is wonderful news. I had stumbled upon Plasma Bigscreen a few years ago, and while it looked like exactly what I wanted, development was pretty dead. I shall have to take a look at running it again, it would be great as a Roku alternative

raffael_de• 1 year ago

How does this work? You write an ISO file on a USB stick and plug it into a TV? Or do you need something like an Amazon Fire TV stick with an HDMI plug? Does this project have a GitHub repo?

bundie• 1 year ago

Does this project have a GitHub repo?

Here you go: https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-bigscreen/

MattTheRealOne3• 1 year ago

This is just an interface for a Linux distribution. You would still need a computer plugged into the TV to run it on. I use a Beelink mini PC with mine, but I have not tried this interface yet.

IshKebab• 1 year ago

I don't understand why so many TV interfaces waste the top half of the screen with nothing...

Anyway a big flaw with custom smart TV OSes is that you won't ever get proper support for commercial services like Netflix and Prime. You can't even use Android apparently because it needs widevine nonsense that only commercial Android versions have.

prmoustache• 1 year ago

I am pretty sure most netflix subscribers don't pay for the 4k enabled subscription anyway.

Are their public stats somewhere?

walthamstow• 1 year ago

Not nothing, Google TV manages to fill it with a carousel of three lovely big adverts for shows you may not want members of your family to see or for networks you're not even subscribed to

FuriouslyAdrift• 1 year ago

I haven't found anything more reliable and performant than a nVidia Shield Pro plus Kodi

imiric• 1 year ago

Nice! I currently run KDE on my HTPC, and I might give this a try. I hope it allows playing media with external players like mpv, instead of having its own media player. A way of loading remote libraries would also be welcome.

stuaxo• 1 year ago

I have an Android TV and its pretty disappointing.

If this can get some of the missing pieces sorted (like input from a remote, and a decent onscreen keyboard that works with it), it could be pretty decent.

I could imagine using some Android TV apps with this via waydroid.

shmerl2• 1 year ago

Plasma Mobile didn't get far, but nice to see Plasma Big Screen progressing.

linmob• 1 year ago

It did not get far in market share, sure, but it never stopped going like Big Screen did and made the transition to 6 at the same time as Plasma Desktop.

Here are some recent developments:

1. https://plasma-mobile.org/2025/07/08/releases-25-07/ (also explaining that most software is part of 'Plasma Gear', which makes sense as it is software for both mobile and desktop, but has the downside of making Mobile less visible)

2. https://blogs.kde.org/2025/07/05/this-week-in-plasma-chuggin... and look for Plasma Keyboard in this post. (Personally I am a bit sad that they are seemingly abandoning Maliit, which is also used in Sailfish OS and Ubuntu Touch and is IMHO fine, but hey, at least it shows that Mobile is not dead.)

shmerl2• 1 year ago

I mean more like it didn't progress beyond prototype designs. It never felt polished or even close to nice looking. More like desktop Plasma UI minimized to touchscreen scenario, rather than significantly designed for it (like Sailfish). But good to see it's progressing too.

dark__paladin• 1 year ago

Perfect timing. Was just about to redo my linux set top box (a beelink mini PC with Arch on it). Fucking pumped to try this out.

andsoitis• 1 year ago

do you have a designer on the team?

porridgeraisin2• 1 year ago

The first screenshot of the home screen in the article made me retch. But also, the KDE _default_ desktop has an equally weird design, so this is not really an exception.

Superblazer• 1 year ago

They do, but they always use that weird design by default on KDE Plasma. It's a concious decision to go with those weird margins and spacing between elements

poly2it• 1 year ago

I know people who use KDE and like it, and I'm sure it's great technically, but I don't understand why KDE chooses to be stuck with a design language which looked dated years ago, while GNOME continues to develop their style. It's not the type of tried and tested design which isn't in fashion but has remaining qualities. The design of KDE is visually displeasing and brings a poor user experience.

Maskawanian• 1 year ago

You could not be more wrong. Kde is the last vestige of interfaces are powerful, pretty, and that don't their users like idiots.

You have your GNOME and simmilar ilk, be content with that and leave KDE alone.

yokljo• 1 year ago

This is basically asking for a response that's just the original comment but with "KDE" and "Gnome" switched. I personally find KDE to look very nice and bring a much better and less clunky user experience than Gnome, so it's completely subjective I suppose. I congratulate the KDE contributors on continuing to make a great product even with people saying it sucks all the time.

tmtvl• 1 year ago

I know, right? KDE always looks so good, it's amazing how their designers make it work so well while allowing users to fully customise everything.

porridgeraisin2• 1 year ago

From the install page:

As of right now, Plasma Bigscreen isn't available for public use yet. This is due to not being developed for so long. The project has been revived, but it might take a while until it becomes stable and is available for public use.

ListeningPie• 1 year ago

Will it run on the tv hardware or a computer via hdmi?

MostlyStable• 1 year ago

I had a similar question. After a bit of perusing, it isn't immediately clear (especially since the install page just has a message saying it's not yet available to the public). But the following FAQ seems to suggest that it will run directly on the TV:

Can I run Plasma Bigscreen on my TV or setup-box?
In theory, yes. In practice, it depends.
Hardware support is not dictated by Plasma Bigscreen, instead it depends on the devices supported by the distributions shipping it. See the install page for more details of distributions shipping Plasma Bigscreen.

nicman23• 1 year ago

cec in x86 is basically not working. in arm maybe

tocs3• 1 year ago

So is this something that is run on an external computer, using the TV for the display, or something else?

yjftsjthsd-h4• 1 year ago

Yes, it's a nice user interface to run on a computer that works well on a TV screen.

jeroenhd• 1 year ago

If you can run your own Linux version on your TV, it can run on-device as well. Unfortunately not many TV manufacturers release usable Linux sources for their TVs even though they probably should be doing that.

whazor• 1 year ago

A good television interface is certainly still missing on Linux. Now you either choose Android TV (which doesn’t run nicely with x86), or Steam big screen (which is missing the more media parts). But with very powerful and affordable mini PCs that can play games and media (with latest codecs), it would be much more interesting to have a great user interface that combines media watching and gaming.

Borealid• 1 year ago

Kodi, which is capable of rendering directly to a framebuffer (underlying desktop env not required) is pretty good at media parts.

Nullabillity• 1 year ago

That's true, but switching between all these 10ft UIs (Kodi, Steam for local games, Steam Link because its streaming client seems to be a lot less buggy than Steam's built-in one, browser for the stuff not covered above) is still kind of a mess.

If anything, things seem to have regressed slightly, since Steam removed the one good 10ft browser I'm aware of during the Steam Deck rollout.

bsimpson• 1 year ago

The desktop shell feels out of place on tablet+controller devices like the Steam Deck.

Would be great if you could choose a shell like Mobile or Bigscreen that is designed for being used without a mouse.

Plasma Bigscreen rises from the dead with a better UI

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