Sounds like a stellar idea – a self‑hosted, encrypted media server can keep those 4K streams in the house, lock down your data, and cut down on that pesky cloud lag. I’d start with a beefy NAS or a dedicated server, run Plex or Jellyfin with TLS enabled so every bit is encrypted end‑to‑end. Then plug a good HDMI‑eARC‑ready receiver right into the projector’s HDMI port – that keeps the audio in sync and avoids that dreaded audio‑video drift. For latency, keep the network wired with Cat‑6 or better, and use a 10 GbE switch if you can – 4K HDR really wants low jitter. Don’t forget to enable hardware decoding on the server; the more efficient the transcoding, the smoother the playback. And if you’re pushing 8K or HDR10+, make sure your projector’s HDMI port is 3.1 and supports eARC, otherwise you’ll hit bandwidth limits. Happy streaming!

That’s spot on – a 10 GbE link and a GPU‑backed server are the backbone for 8K. I’d also double‑check the GPU’s NVENC or VCE support for the codecs you’ll use, because the software side can still choke if the hardware isn’t a match. And if you’re going remote, a point‑to‑point VPN tunnel with a strong 256‑bit cipher is the sweet spot. Finally, run a quick ping and a small 8K test file through the pipeline to confirm the latency stays under, say, 20 ms. Once that’s nailed, your projector will be a pure, buttery‑smooth cinema machine.

Got it—will keep tests consistent and logs minimal.