[gamecrusader]

Hello all,

I just put together my first Raspberry Pi 2 with OpenElec and wow, I am so sorry I am late to the party! I’ve been using WD TV Live boxes for streaming all my local content for years but they are starting to fail so I looked into a good replacement and this seemed like the best fit. Overall I couldn’t be happier!

Everything seems to be working very well. I’ve got it setup with a FLIRC USB IR receiver and it’s playing nice with my Logitech Harmony remote. I haven’t used Kodi (XBMC) since the ORIGINAL Xbox days, so while I’m out of touch with it, it’s not totally unfamiliar to me.

I am experiencing one thing that I would like some help with. The video playback from the RPi/Kodi appears darker than it does with my WD TV Live. It’s not drastic, but it is noticeable. I took a few pictures with my phone that give an example. I realize they are not the best but it should give you an idea (picture 1 & 3 are Kodi, 2 & 4 are WD):
Screenshots
The first set of pictures I had my overhead lights on so it’s not as apparent, but the second set I turned them off so it stands out more. As you can see, it’s not earth shattering, but it does make a difference with viewing.

My setup is as follows:
Raspberry Pi 2 with OpenELEC v5.95.5/Kodi v15.1
Connected to an Onkyo TX-NR515 with monitor out to a Samsung UN65F6300AFXZA

I am using the same HDMI cable when I’m testing both units so I do not believe that is the issue.

I’ve been doing some research and things I read that I could change I do not see the options for? I saw this thread but I don’t think I am experiencing the same issue (or at least not as drastic):
http://openelec.tv/forum/124-raspberry-p...mitstart=0

I’m a little nervous to mess with anything on my own as everything is working so well, so I thought I would turn to the community for some advice first.

Thanks for reading through all of this and I appreciate any help you can provide.

Cheers

[popcornmix]

The Pi has been tested with an HDMI capture card and produces less than 1 lsb error (so not visible to the eye). See here.

Some users have issues with displays not respecting the signalling of full/limited range RGB which can lead to incorrect colour reproduction (too dark or too light).
You can run "tvservice -s" to check whether we are outputting full range or limited range. (I'd be interested if you post what you are getting).

In general limited range is correct. It is the standard for most encoded videos (DVDs/BluRays) and is the standard for TV HDMI (CEA) modes.
Computer monitor (DMT) modes are usually full range.

So by default we produce limited RGB output for CEA modes and full range for DMT modes. We signal what we are doing, so displays should handle either correctly.

You may find an HDMI socket labelled "PC" behaves differently from other HDMI sockets on receiver or TV. If you are using that try a different socket.
Also does bypassing the receiver result in a different darkness level?

You can force the Pi to use limited or full range with hdmi_pixel_encoding in config.txt. See here.
In general that should not be required, but may work around a device that doesn't respect the signalling and only supports either limited range or full range.

[gamecrusader]

Hi popcornmix,

I think I follow you (at a much lower level).

Here are the results from the tvservice -s command:

state 0x12000a [HDMI CEA (16) RGB lim 16:9], 1920x1080 @ 60.00Hz, progressive

Does that tell you anything?

[Jdiesel]

I would check any HDMI settings on your AVR and make sure they are set to RGB Limited and not RGB Full. Like popcornmix mentioned you can force the rpi to output limited range by adding " hdmi_pixel_encoding=1" to your config.txt however according to your tvservice -s output it is already outputting RGB limited.

It is possible that the WDTV was not outputting the proper colorspace and you are accustomed to the overly bright video. I know when I first got my colorspace issues sorted out and my TV calibrated properly I found it dark at first but then my eyes/brain adjusted to the proper contrast levels. Try some of the these calibration videos, specifically the brightness and contrast videos, and see if things look right (http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-displa...ation.html).

[popcornmix]

state 0x12000a [HDMI CEA (16) RGB lim 16:9], 1920x1080 @ 60.00Hz, progressive

Does that tell you anything?

Yes, that is the expected result.
A TV (CEA) rather than a monitor (DMT) mode. Using RGB limited range. That's all fine.

You can try forcing full range with "hdmi_pixel_encoding=2" added to config.txt.
I don't expect that is the right solution, but may be interesting what effect that has.

Which HMDI socket are you using on receiver and TV? If they are labelled "PC" they may only support full range.

The other thing to consider is if the Pi is actually too dark, or was the WD TV too light?

[gamecrusader]

@popcornmix,
ah, forgot to answer about the HDMI socket, I'm using the BD/DVD port on the receiver.
I'm not sure the best way to go about editing any of the config files for Kodi? Should I just put the SD card in my PC and edit it there?

@popcornmix & @Jdiesel,
you both could be onto something, maybe the WD player was just always too light!? My eyesight isn't the best so while the WD could be the 'incorrect' one, it's definitely more preferable to my eyes (and my wife's as well). I could always mess with the TV settings, I was just wondering what options I had with Kodi to try and mimic the contrast/brightness of the WD player.

On a side note, I do notice that the image from Kodi looks a little more pixelated (or soft, I'm not sure the correct term) then it does on the WD. I don't know the pictures in the link above really give it justice, but it doesn't seem as clear (again, my wife agreed with me). And again, it's not earth shattering, I'm just wondering what, if any, options Kodi has to sharpen the image?

Thank you both for your replies/time! This is why I was glad to be coming back to XBMC/Kodi, the great community!

[Jdiesel]

Sure you can pop your SD card into your PC and edit the config.txt file on it. Add "hdmi_pixel_encoding=2" without the quotation marks to the bottom the the config.txt file and save. Pop the SD card back into your rpi and see if you notice a difference. You can also run "tvservice -s" again to check the settings. If you don't like the results just delete that line.

As for the rpi appearing more soft, it may be due to the scaling algorithm used in comparison to the WDTV. While playing a video open up the OSD and go to video options, you can adjust the sharpness using the slider. If you find increasing the sharpness improves the video you can save that setting as default for all videos.

[gamecrusader]

Hi all,

I added the hdmi_pixel_encoding=2 to the config.txt file. I can't say I noticed any difference with the brightness; seemed pretty much the same.

Here are the results from the tvservice -s command:
state 0x12000a [HDMI CEA (5) RGB full 16:9], 1920x1080 @ 60.00Hz, interlaced

It's interesting that it forced it interlaced.

I also played around with the slider. I THINK it looked better when I went negative, but I'm going to wait to have my wife look at it with me. In any case, it's good to know that feature is there so I will play around with it. Thanks for the tip!