[smitopher]

I just bought an Audio/Video receiver with 5 HDMI inputs to manage my media devices connection to my TV and get some of that HD audio stuff. (Kodi, Apple TV, maybe a ChromeCast too.)

Pioneer VSX-1024-K, a $250 Newegg Shell Shocker Deal. It seemed like a good deal.

Responsiveness and Playback from Kodi looks worse. LOOOOOONG delays whenever starting or stopping playback. I hear sound before I see picture.
But dammit, I could live with that. The picture looks darker and muddier. That is just NO GOOD.

I looked for any AVR settings that might stop the AVR from messing with the signal but there were NONE. The only thing it said was that for 4K/60p, use the BD\Sat-Cab\Game HDMI input ports.

Well, I do not have any 4K equipment and the result looks the same on any HDMI port.

I went with the new AVR to get simpler connections, simpler remote control, and HD Audio. I'm now tempted to go back to my old Denon (NON HDMI) AVR. My TV only has 2 HDMI inputs and I really wanted to get CEC working.

Any suggestions for the apparently degraded Picture?

[noggin]

Very odd. My Onkyo AVR is essentially transparent - no artefacts introduced at all.

So :

1. What is running Kodi?
2. What levelspace and colour format - 16-235 Limited or 0-255 Full, RGB or YCrCb, 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 ?
3. What resolution and frame rate is Kodi configured for/
3. Is the AVR configured for pass-through or upscaling to a fixed resolution?
4. What levelspace is the HDMI input your TV is connected to the AVR configured for ?

I run my Onkyo with Limited 16-235 sources and it is connected to an HDMI input on the TV that is configured for 16-235 Limited sources, and my Onkyo is configured to not upscale. 16-235 is the default and standard levelspace for HDMI, and it is the levelspace used for DVD, Blu-ray, DVB/ATSC broadcast TV and most streamed content.

[smitopher]

My Kodi is OpenElec 6 Beta 1 (Isengard Beta 1) running on a Sandy Bridge i5(Foxconn Nano), soon to be replaced by a Braswell
Levelspace on both the TV and Kodi is set to 16-235
Kodi is configured for 1920x1080p at 60fps. Adjust Display Refresh Rate is set to "Always"
Render Method is "Auto Detect"
All of the "Allow Hardware Acceleration" options are enabled
"Perfer VAAPI" is selected.
No Idea on how to check the "colour format" in OpenElec ( silly brits, it's color tee hee )

HDMI in the AVR is set to "Thru", "Enable Control" and "Enable ARC"

TV is set to play audio "Home Theater" which I presume is ARC.

[noggin]

My Kodi is OpenElec 6 Beta 1 (Isengard Beta 1) running on a Sandy Bridge i5(Foxconn Nano), soon to be replaced by a Braswell
Levelspace on both the TV and Kodi is set to 16-235

Where is Kodi set to 16-235?

Kodi is configured for 1920x1080p at 60fps. Adjust Display Refresh Rate is set to "Always"

Would suggest on start rather than Always.

Render Method is "Auto Detect"
All of the "Allow Hardware Acceleration" options are enabled
"Perfer VAAPI" is selected.
No Idea on how to check the "colour format" in OpenElec ( silly brits, it's color tee hee )

Err - it's called ENGLISH for a reason. It comes from ENGLAND, like ME! You guys and your making words easier to spell... You'll be telling me you don't know what a licence is yet, or analogue audio... Please tell me you watch TV PROGRAMMES...

HDMI in the AVR is set to "Thru", "Enable Control" and "Enable ARC"

TV is set to play audio "Home Theater" which I presume is ARC.

Hmm - have you played any test signals though it to check you aren't getting mangled levels somewhere?

[knives of ice]

I just bought an Audio/Video receiver with 5 HDMI inputs to manage my media devices connection to my TV and get some of that HD audio stuff. (Kodi, Apple TV, maybe a ChromeCast too.)

Pioneer VSX-1024-K, a $250 Newegg Shell Shocker Deal. It seemed like a good deal.

Responsiveness and Playback from Kodi looks worse. LOOOOOONG delays whenever starting or stopping playback. I hear sound before I see picture.
But dammit, I could live with that. The picture looks darker and muddier. That is just NO GOOD.

I looked for any AVR settings that might stop the AVR from messing with the signal but there were NONE. The only thing it said was that for 4K/60p, use the BD\Sat-Cab\Game HDMI input ports.

Well, I do not have any 4K equipment and the result looks the same on any HDMI port.

I went with the new AVR to get simpler connections, simpler remote control, and HD Audio. I'm now tempted to go back to my old Denon (NON HDMI) AVR. My TV only has 2 HDMI inputs and I really wanted to get CEC working.

Any suggestions for the apparently degraded Picture?

what resolution output is set to your avr? you should have the avr set to 1080p output or set it to match the refresh rate.

[smitopher]

Where is Kodi set to 16-235?

System>Settings>System>Video Output>Use limited colour range (16-235) is enabled (damn... they misspelled color )

Would suggest on start rather than Always.

I'll try that suggestion

Err - it's called ENGLISH for a reason. It comes from ENGLAND, like ME! You guys and your making words easier to spell... You'll be telling me you don't know what a licence is yet, or analogue audio... Please tell me you watch TV PROGRAMMES...

Well, I do have a Driver's License, I don't believe good Analog Audio sounds any better than good Digital Audio and I watch TV PROGRAMS on Kodi.

Hmm - have you played any test signals though it to check you aren't getting mangled levels somewhere?

No. Do you have any recommendations on test signal sources?

THANK YOU for your help, even if you spell funny

[wesk05]

No. Do you have any recommendations on test signal sources?

You can use the ramp patterns in one of these calibration disks.
AVS HD 709 - http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-displa...ation.html
Masicor's Calibration Disc - http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-displa...-disc.html
Ted's LightSpace CMS Calibration Disk - http://www.displaycalibrations.com/reque...o_ads.html

My personal suggestion would be Ted's.

All three of them have formats that can be burnt on to a DVD/Blu-ray and also in MP4 format that can be played directly in Kodi.

[noggin]

Where is Kodi set to 16-235?

System>Settings>System>Video Output>Use limited colour range (16-235) is enabled (damn... they misspelled color )

Have you tried disabling that?

The 16-235 mode in Kodis video menu is there only for use when your system is configured for the GPU to output 0-255 but you want 16-235 output. You don't normally need it on Intel GPU boxes as Intel GPUs running 720p or 1080i/p output modes default to the GPU being in 16-235 output mode by default for standard video modes. You may need that option with an nVidia or AMD video card (and you haven't edited xrandr to output Limited range) OR if you have altered your Intel output range to Full using xrandr.

If you select limited colour range and your Intel GPU has defaulted to 16-235 output as well you end up with very grey blacks and washed out colours as you are doing a double conversion to Limited range.

[smitopher]

Where is Kodi set to 16-235?

System>Settings>System>Video Output>Use limited colour range (16-235) is enabled (damn... they misspelled color )

Have you tried disabling that?

The 16-235 mode in Kodis video menu is there only for use when your system is configured for the GPU to output 0-255 but you want 16-235 output. You don't normally need it on Intel GPU boxes as Intel GPUs running 720p or 1080i/p output modes default to the GPU being in 16-235 output mode by default for standard video modes. You may need that option with an nVidia or AMD video card (and you haven't edited xrandr to output Limited range) OR if you have altered your Intel output range to Full using xrandr.

If you select limited colour range and your Intel GPU has defaulted to 16-235 output as well you end up with very grey blacks and washed out colours as you are doing a double conversion to Limited range.

Wow, toggling that made a huge difference, one that I never saw before when toggling that setting.

I think I'm now satisfied with the picture. The long delay where the tv screen goes to black when starting and stopping playback is annoying but I can live with that.

[noggin]

System>Settings>System>Video Output>Use limited colour range (16-235) is enabled (damn... they misspelled color )

Have you tried disabling that?

The 16-235 mode in Kodis video menu is there only for use when your system is configured for the GPU to output 0-255 but you want 16-235 output. You don't normally need it on Intel GPU boxes as Intel GPUs running 720p or 1080i/p output modes default to the GPU being in 16-235 output mode by default for standard video modes. You may need that option with an nVidia or AMD video card (and you haven't edited xrandr to output Limited range) OR if you have altered your Intel output range to Full using xrandr.

If you select limited colour range and your Intel GPU has defaulted to 16-235 output as well you end up with very grey blacks and washed out colours as you are doing a double conversion to Limited range.

Wow, toggling that made a huge difference, one that I never saw before when toggling that setting.

I think I'm now satisfied with the picture. The long delay where the tv screen goes to black when starting and stopping playback is annoying but I can live with that.

What have you set your refresh rate to in Video Output? If you set that to the frame rate that the majority of your videos are in you will reduce this. The black screens are caused by the change of frame rate between the UI and the files you are playing. If the UI and file have the same frame rate, then you won't have as many changes.

I live in Europe and watch TV and DVDs in Kodi. These are 50Hz - so I have 1080/50p as my standard frame rate. I therefore don't get flashes to black when watching DVDs or TV, but do when watching 24p/23.976p Blu-rays.

[doug]

I think I'm now satisfied with the picture. The long delay where the tv screen goes to black when starting and stopping playback is annoying but I can live with that.

The long delay is your TV switching between different modes/frame rates. You don't experience it with component video. Some TVs are pretty quick with the switch and some are pretty slow. Depending on your content (i.e., lots of 23.976 and 59.94Hz) and if you can't see the effects of 3:2 pulldown, then you may consider disabling the Adjust Frame Rate setting in Kodi. I'd say most have it enabled because they prefer the better quality video.