[spamjunkee]

Hi,
I recently switched to Kodi and I really like it so far. Only one issue I haven't managed to sort out yet: 4k playback!

I have a new 4k UHD capable projector Sony VW520ES - it is fully capable projector with resolutions up to 4096 x 2160/60p. The only limitation of the projector is that at 4096 x 2160/60p it is only capable of 10-bit color signal, but if you want 12-bit signal, the framerate drops to 24/25/30fps. My AVR is Marantz SR7010, which also has HD audio, ATMOS, DTS:X etc. capabilities.

Before switching to Kodi, I could display 4k signal without a problem. With Kodi it only gives me 1080p. I switch between Confluence and Aeon MQ6 skins, but I don't think this is of relevance?

In the set-up I have audio passthrough enabled for Marantz AVR to do audio processing. For video, when I play 4k video source (mkv file), Kodi plays the video at 1080p and also Sony does not switch to 1080p - playback remains at 1080p. When I manually switch in the Settings menu to 4096 x 2160, the screen switches to 2160p (blank!), stays blank at 2160p for a few seconds, then reverts back to 1080p. When I go to Video settings and adjust "display refresh rate" to match video: On start/stop, the screen stays 1080p until I start playing the 4k video. The screen then switches to 2160p blank and "hangs up", so I need to restart the system. When I add also the "Sync playback to display", same thing happens - the system hangs up in 2160p blank screen.

Any idea what am I doing wrong? I would really like to get the combination Kodi + 4k projector to work.

Any help would be much appreciated!


P.S: I use Mac mini late 2014 as my HTPC, which should be capable enough for 4k playback. And as I said before: prior to switching over to Kodi I had no problem with 4k playback.

[fritsch]

The mini is most likely not able to output > 1080p ...

[spamjunkee]

Fritsch, many thanks for such a fast response!

When I has OS X installed, 4k worked without a problem - only limited to 30p.

Mac mini late 2014 release is capable of 4k displays, but limited to 30p. If you want to have 60p, you need to switch back to 1080p resolution. But this would work well with Sony VW520ES...

So, in OS X, I had no problem with 2160p/30 output. Now in OpenELEC-Kodi, I cannot get it to work anymore. In standard settings I cannot "unlock" the 60p refresh rate (to first reduce that to 30p, and then switch to 4k resolution), and if I set-up the display refresh rate under video setting to match video, the system hangs up, like I wrote in the post.

Very confusing, but I'm sure there must be something in the OpenELEC / Kodi set-up that I need to do, in order to get this up and running.

[fritsch]

Can you post a kodi Debug Log and DISPLAY=:0 xrandr -q | pastebinit

[spamjunkee]

Ok, I will do that tonight. Thanks!
...just a noob question: I read instruction for getting a Debug log, and will use pastebin.
But I do not understand the "DISPLAY=:0 xrandr -q" part. Where do I need to type that code?

thanks!

[fritsch]

into a shell.

[spamjunkee]

Hi Fritsch,
I wasn't able to do this yesterday, so I'm a day late responding to this: I reproduced both situations:
1) I tried to play a 4k mkv video with video settings set to adjust "display refresh rate" to match video: On start/stop = the projector switched from 1080p to 4k, but Kodi froze;
2) I restarted the system. Then I went to resolution settings and manually switched from 1080p to 4k. This time the projector switched to 4k, but the screen was blank... several seconds later, the projector switches back to 1080p and Kodi main screen appears back.

I then uploaded this debuging log to pastebin through the Kodi Log Uploader. However I could not see any shell where I could type the xrandr command you requested. I really apologise for this: I am not familiar with computer code...
The pastebin log has been uploaded here: https://xbmclogs.com/phyh7boq0

If this can give you the right information, perfect. If not, if you could give me instruction where to find that "shell" to type in the xrandr code, I will gladly do it.

many thanks!

[fritsch]

It does not seem like a kodi issue, but a display driver issue :-)

[spamjunkee]

It does not seem like a kodi issue, but a display driver issue :-)

Many thanks!!! ....So just to be clear - this means Mac mini hardware issue? (or would you suggest the problem may be in the projector itself?)

...this means then I need to start looking for a better hardware for hosting Kodi.

[AndyFurniss]

FWIW I think that projector will only do 420 > 30 fps so to get that bit to work it may be worth waiting for upcoming chips which may or may not support that.

Also upcoming intel/amd chips will have 10bit HEVC decoders, which is another reason to wait and see.

Strange you can't get 30fps with kodi if it works elsewhere - or is it that you are testing a different os/drivers when it works?

[Krobar]

Depending on the implementation it probably uses the older hdcp and v1.4 to do 4k60 420. The HD fury products or some AVRs may do the hdmi 2.0 444 to 1.4 420 transcode for you. Even UHD BD player support for v1.4 4k60 will likely be patchy.