[PINA]

So can you recommend a Media/Streamer that has Kodi built in than is easy to install and use as I am not to tech savvy on this.. Is this one OK if they fix the kodi Problem? Himedia Q10pro

[noggin]

Have you read the sticky at the top of the forum? : http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

Do you need 3D?
Do you need HD Audio? (If you watch Blu-rays through a modern HDMI amp then yes)
Do you need the new audio formats like Atmos and DTS:x?
Do you need HEVC? (If you aren't watching downloaded content probably not)
Do you watch 10 bit content? (If you are only watching DVDs and Blu-rays you own and haven't re-encoded then you won't be)

Do you want to watch other sources of content outside Kodi ? Netflix? Amazon Prime?

That will help narrow down the choice.

Popular boxes here :
Raspberry Pi 2/3
Wetek Core
nVidia Shield
Chromebox

[tornicade]

So if I get this NAS Box and store all my Blu Rays etc on the hard drives can I then get a Kodi box which will show them as good as the original blu Ray without to much hassle.?

Yes. This is what I, and many others, do. I usually play movies (losslessly ripped - so identical quality to the original disc) from my server (which is in a cupboard away from my main living area). However for some material I won't store long term (and won't add to my library - which is usually stuff I need to watch for work), I plug a USB hard drive into the media player directly.

Just to add my P.C. is upstairs and my home cinema is downstairs would that make a difference? I do have a home plug so i can get broadband downstairs

Home plugs can be marginal for unrecompressed Blu-ray (which can be around 50Mbs, or higher for 3D, and often higher bitrate than many broadband connections), even the so-called 1000Mbs models (Odd how the 500Mbs all seem to come with 100Mbs Ethernet connections...) To a degree it depends on the quality of your home wiring, distance and RF environment you live in. (My central heating boiler always splats my HomePlug when it fires up.)

Most of us here would always recommend a permanent cabled connection. The higher quality and speed HomePlugs should be fine for DVDs and recompressed Blu-rays.

These 10/100 Ethernet specs annoy me to no end. is this a limitation of the board or do manufacturers go cheap on the Ethernet to get a better wifi functionality.also in a previous post I meant to link a 3 tb hard drive and a sata enclosure that could go on the router or the box.

[PINA]

Have you read the sticky at the top of the forum? : http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

Do you need 3D?
Do you need HD Audio? (If you watch Blu-rays through a modern HDMI amp then yes)
Do you need the new audio formats like Atmos and DTS:x?
Do you need HEVC? (If you aren't watching downloaded content probably not)
Do you watch 10 bit content? (If you are only watching DVDs and Blu-rays you own and haven't re-encoded then you won't be)

Do you want to watch other sources of content outside Kodi ? Netflix? Amazon Prime?

That will help narrow down the choice.

Popular boxes here :
Raspberry Pi 2/3
Wetek Core
nVidia Shield
Chromebox

Yes to the first one
Yes to the second
Not sure on the 3rd one I would say not at the moment
No4 also i am not to sure about that all i do is copy my Blu rays using Make MKV to do the copying one to one with no lose of Q
No5 My TV is capable of 10bit so not to sure how to answer that also will be getting 4k as well
On the last one i can get Neflex and Amazon on my TV at the moment already I would like a bit more stuff on the media player if it does not cause to many problems I will also be loading over 300 blu Rays plus 3D and 4K so it needs to take big external hard drives OK

[noggin]

So if I get this NAS Box and store all my Blu Rays etc on the hard drives can I then get a Kodi box which will show them as good as the original blu Ray without to much hassle.?

Yes. This is what I, and many others, do. I usually play movies (losslessly ripped - so identical quality to the original disc) from my server (which is in a cupboard away from my main living area). However for some material I won't store long term (and won't add to my library - which is usually stuff I need to watch for work), I plug a USB hard drive into the media player directly.

Just to add my P.C. is upstairs and my home cinema is downstairs would that make a difference? I do have a home plug so i can get broadband downstairs

Home plugs can be marginal for unrecompressed Blu-ray (which can be around 50Mbs, or higher for 3D, and often higher bitrate than many broadband connections), even the so-called 1000Mbs models (Odd how the 500Mbs all seem to come with 100Mbs Ethernet connections...) To a degree it depends on the quality of your home wiring, distance and RF environment you live in. (My central heating boiler always splats my HomePlug when it fires up.)

Most of us here would always recommend a permanent cabled connection. The higher quality and speed HomePlugs should be fine for DVDs and recompressed Blu-rays.

These 10/100 Ethernet specs annoy me to no end. is this a limitation of the board or do manufacturers go cheap on the Ethernet to get a better wifi functionality.also in a previous post I meant to link a 3 tb hard drive and a sata enclosure that could go on the router or the box.

Not sure your point. For most media players 100Mbs is fine - as no content in widespread circulation exceeds 60Mbs currently (that's the peak of a 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-rays will peak at 50Mbs). My point was that Powerline converters sold with '500Mbs' functionality come with 100Mbs connections, because the real world speed of Powerline connectivity (like WiFi) is usually a lot lower than the spec or marketing-speak. The only stuff I've seen with GigE connections has been the 1200Mbs stuff.

[noggin]

Have you read the sticky at the top of the forum? : http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

Do you need 3D?
Do you need HD Audio? (If you watch Blu-rays through a modern HDMI amp then yes)
Do you need the new audio formats like Atmos and DTS:x?
Do you need HEVC? (If you aren't watching downloaded content probably not)
Do you watch 10 bit content? (If you are only watching DVDs and Blu-rays you own and haven't re-encoded then you won't be)

Do you want to watch other sources of content outside Kodi ? Netflix? Amazon Prime?

That will help narrow down the choice.

Popular boxes here :
Raspberry Pi 2/3
Wetek Core
nVidia Shield
Chromebox

Yes to the first one

If you want full resolution 3D (rather than half-resolution HSBS or HTAB which to media players is the same as 2D) then you will need to concentrate on the Raspberry Pi 2/3 or a 3D-friendly Intel solution running Windows, unless you venture into slightly less well-supported territory. The Wetek Core has some 3D support - but only outputs at HSBS or HTAB (even when decoding full HD 3D MVC from Blu-ray rips) The nVidia Shield has no 3D MVC support so no Blu-ray support without re-encoding to half resolution HSBS or HTAB.

Yes to the second

If you chose the right Intel solution you will get HD Audio bitstreamed over HDMI. If you go with a Pi 2/3 you won't get bitstreamed HD audio but you WILL get lossless decoded DTS HD MA and Dolby True HD output as 5.1/7.1PCM (all that has happened is that the Pi has decoded the audio rather than the AVR). This works for all but the very rare 192kHz 5.1/7.1 releases (fewer than 10 titles I think...) You won't get Atmos or DTS:x with the Pi though.

Not sure on the 3rd one I would say not at the moment

So no problem with a Pi really.

No4 also i am not to sure about that all i do is copy my Blu rays using Make MKV to do the copying one to one with no lose of Q

That will leave the Blu-ray video and audio untouched so the video will be 8-bit H264/AVC, VC-1 or MPEG2 (rare for Blu-ray, universal for DVD)

No5 My TV is capable of 10bit so not to sure how to answer that also will be getting 4k as well

It's more a case of will you watch content that is mastered in 10 bit (i.e need a Kodi box that can handle 10 bit content). Until UHD TV broadcasts or Blu-rays appear the only real sources of this stuff are re-encodes distributed illegally, or done yourself.

The Pi won't do 4K. Intel boxes will if you buy the right ones. The nVidia Shield will, as will the Wetek Core in some situations.

My advice would be ignore 10 bit and 4K/UHD at the moment if you are buying a low cost Kodi player. The usual advice is not to spend over the odds to future proof. When the future comes it is often cheaper than the 'future proof' solution...

On the last one i can get Neflex and Amazon on my TV at the moment already I would like a bit more stuff on the media player if it does not cause to many problems I will also be loading over 300 blu Rays plus 3D and 4K so it needs to take big external hard drives OK

Intel boxes running Windows should get you most online streaming services, though integrating the interface with Kodi isn't always possible (or straightforward) and remotely controlling browsers or apps with a remote keyboard and trackpad can be annoying. Often the Smart TV interfaces are better.

If 3D weren't an issue then the nVidia Shield would hit pretty much all your other requirements, as would the Wetek Core. (Though Netflix on the Core is 2.0 stereo only currently)

300 movies on Blu-ray is likely to be in the high single-digit Terabyte range (25GB per Blu-ray would be 7.5TB, 50GB per Blu-ray would be 15TB) Given the time taken to rip 300 discs, I'd ensure you don't just put them on a couple of external 4TB drives, as if one fails you've got 150+ discs to re-rip... I'd seriously suggest using a server with some redundancy, and using a higher number of smaller drives. (Easier to rebuild the array if a drive dies, and if multiple drives die you haven't lost everything if you used the right array format - like unRAID)

I've had an unRAID server since 2008. I have migrated the array to new drives and new hardware, with no major issues. Most of my Blu-rays, all of my DVDs and CDs are all ripped losslessly on it. (currently at around 14TB)

[tornicade]

Yes. This is what I, and many others, do. I usually play movies (losslessly ripped - so identical quality to the original disc) from my server (which is in a cupboard away from my main living area). However for some material I won't store long term (and won't add to my library - which is usually stuff I need to watch for work), I plug a USB hard drive into the media player directly.


Home plugs can be marginal for unrecompressed Blu-ray (which can be around 50Mbs, or higher for 3D, and often higher bitrate than many broadband connections), even the so-called 1000Mbs models (Odd how the 500Mbs all seem to come with 100Mbs Ethernet connections...) To a degree it depends on the quality of your home wiring, distance and RF environment you live in. (My central heating boiler always splats my HomePlug when it fires up.)

Most of us here would always recommend a permanent cabled connection. The higher quality and speed HomePlugs should be fine for DVDs and recompressed Blu-rays.

These 10/100 Ethernet specs annoy me to no end. is this a limitation of the board or do manufacturers go cheap on the Ethernet to get a better wifi functionality.also in a previous post I meant to link a 3 tb hard drive and a sata enclosure that could go on the router or the box.

Not sure your point. For most media players 100Mbs is fine - as no content in widespread circulation exceeds 60Mbs currently (that's the peak of a 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-rays will peak at 50Mbs). My point was that Powerline converters sold with '500Mbs' functionality come with 100Mbs connections, because the real world speed of Powerline connectivity (like WiFi) is usually a lot lower than the spec or marketing-speak. The only stuff I've seen with GigE connections has been the 1200Mbs stuff.

My point is that most Ethernet connections for the pc are 10/100/1000 as are the routers

A WD digital 3 TB usb drive is running transfer speeds up to 480MBs second USB 3.0 will run at 5 gb per second.

so the 10/100 Ethernet port would be slower than a usb 3.0 port.

more buff less chop
look at this box
UyeSee T1H specifications:
•SoC – Mstar MSO9180 quad core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with a quad-core ARM Mali-450 MP2 GPU @ 500MHz.
•System Memory – 1GB to 2GB DDR3 @ 1866MHz?
•Storage – 8 , 16 or 32 GB eMMC flash + microSD card slot
•Video I/O – HDMI 1.4 out up to 4K30, HDMI in, AV (CVBS)
•Audio I/O – HDMI in/out, optical S/PDIF, AV port
•Video Playback ◦MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4, DivX, H.264, H.265/HVC, VC-1, H.263, Real Media, MVC…
◦Up to 4K, 60Mbps (H.264)
◦3D H.264 MVC Decoder/H.264 Encoder (720P)

•Audio Formats and Codecs – MPEG, WMA, WAV, APE, OGG, FLAC, ACC, MPEG1,MPEG2(Layer I/II), MP3, AC-3, E-AC-3, AAC-LC, WMA, HE-AAC
•Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, single or (optional) dual band Wi-Fi 802 b/g/n with external antenna
•USB – 1x USB2.0 host ports, 1x USB 3.0 port
•Misc – IR receiver
•Power Supply – 12V/2A
•Dimensions – 190 x 127 x 27 mm
•Weight – 600 grams (package?)
Read more: http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/08/18/u...z44lRlsPcE

and then look at this box
Hisilicon Hi3798M Quad Core Android TV Box with USB 3.0, and 4K / HEVC Support Sells for $53
•SoC – HiSilicon Hi3798M V100 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz + quad core ARM Mali-450MP GPU.
•System Memory – 1 GB DDR3
•Storage – 8GB NAND Flash
•Video Out – HDMI 1.4a with HDCP 1.2, and composite RCA output
•Audio Output – HDMI, and L/R stereo output (RCA)
•Video Codecs – MPEG1/2/4, H.264/AVC, H.265, VC-1, REALVIDEO 8/9/10, XviD, DviX, VP6 ,etc.. up to 2160p
•Audio Support – MP3, WMA, AAC, APE, FLAC, WAV, MKA, DTS, DTS HD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD,
•Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna
•USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 2.0 host port
•Misc – Power switch (On/Off)
•Power Supply – N/A
•Dimensions – N/A
Read more: http://www.cnx-software.com/2014/12/08/h...z44lST3ygM

limiting the Ethernet to 10/100 is just nonsense.

[noggin]

These 10/100 Ethernet specs annoy me to no end. is this a limitation of the board or do manufacturers go cheap on the Ethernet to get a better wifi functionality.also in a previous post I meant to link a 3 tb hard drive and a sata enclosure that could go on the router or the box.

Not sure your point. For most media players 100Mbs is fine - as no content in widespread circulation exceeds 60Mbs currently (that's the peak of a 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-rays will peak at 50Mbs). My point was that Powerline converters sold with '500Mbs' functionality come with 100Mbs connections, because the real world speed of Powerline connectivity (like WiFi) is usually a lot lower than the spec or marketing-speak. The only stuff I've seen with GigE connections has been the 1200Mbs stuff.

My point is that most Ethernet connections for the pc are 10/100/1000 as are the routers

A WD digital 3 TB usb drive is running transfer speeds up to 480MBs second USB 3.0 will run at 5 gb per second.

so the 10/100 Ethernet port would be slower than a usb 3.0 port.

<snip>

limiting the Ethernet to 10/100 is just nonsense.

It's only nonsense if you need to transfer files quicker than you need to for replay. If you are using Kodi purely for media replay, then unless you are playing very high bitrate content (self mastered stuff or test content), all the content you will need to play will be <60Mbs (in reality most stuff will be <50Mbs and sometimes a lot lower) Thats well within the 100Mbs spec. If you are making a player purely for playing content - then the GigE connection will be pointless. It will never need to go higher.

Of course if you are using the same box for other duties (file serving, file transfer over a network to a server, running other network stuff concurrently, running multiple TV Tuners and serving HD streams to significant numbers of clients etc.) then GigE has a place. And of course I would want my general PCs, internet routers and switches to have GigE (though your internet router doesn't need GigE unless your internet connection is faster than 100Mbs does it, unless you also use it as a switch?)

However I run a set-up with un-recompressed Blu-rays and a number of 100Mbs Kodi clients without GigE and it has never caused me a playback issue. My server has GigE of course, my TV Headend set-up has GigE (though I suspect I seldom serve more than 4 or 5 streams concurrently so probably doesn't need it, but I also plan to use Sat>IP tuners which will double the network bandwidth potentially) However my Kodi players do just that - play.

There's a lot of "I have to have USB 3.0" "I have to have GigE" statements made about Kodi hardware. The reality is that you don't need USB 3.0 or GigE purely for media playback duties. USB 2.0 and 100Mbs have enough headroom for a single Blu-ray stream, and for most people that will be the highest bitrate content they routinely play, and most people only play one thing at a time in Kodi... For example, the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 can playback unrecompressed 3D Blu-ray ISOs - they are the highest bitrate HD consumer sources currently available for Kodi playback. It only has 100Mbs Ethernet and USB 2.0 connectivity (in fact they all share the same USB 2.0 bus) - but is one of the only Kodi platforms that can play this content - which is at the upper limits of consumer source bitrates.

[PINA]

Thanks Guys for all the help you have given me and I was hoping all I had to was buy a media unit buy a external HD box that holds about 8TB to store my blu Ray and that was it. But looks like I have to go though a load of other stuff to make to play my blu rays and top quality sound as well though my system . I only want to show blu Ray & 3D and hopefully 4k plus some music and photos. I do not need it serve the rest of the house. I only want it in one room and that is where my TV/Projector is. When I first looked to all this I managed to download Kodi to my PC copied some of my blu rays using Make MKV which I done OK then put them onto Kodi including artwork which I thought was a fairly easy step and I was quite proud of what I had done. But looking at the above and seeing what i have to do to get what I want it is way beyond what I know & what I can do. So I think I will not bother with it now. P.S. if was in my mid 20s or lower there would be no problem but I am 66 now and my little grey cells are starting to disappear. so the Mehin Sahib will have to put up with my blu Rays. by the way My Tv/Projector are HDMI 2.2. One again Thank you guys for all the help

[noggin]

Thanks Guys for all the help you have given me and I was hoping all I had to was buy a media unit buy a external HD box that holds about 8TB to store my blu Ray and that was it. But looks like I have to go though a load of other stuff to make to play my blu rays and top quality sound as well though my system .

Well a Raspberry Pi 3 with an 8TB hard drive will pretty much do what you want - apart from the 4K stuff. (Your amp won't show the HD Audio indicators - but you will get HD Audio quality) However most of us recommend against storing all your content on a single drive - particularly if you have to invest a LONG time ripping your discs and probably won't want to repeat it if the drive fails. It's the 'all eggs in one basket' thing.

I only want to show blu Ray & 3D and hopefully 4k plus some music and photos. I do not need it serve the rest of the house. I only want it in one room and that is where my TV/Projector is. When I first looked to all this I managed to download Kodi to my PC copied some of my blu rays using Make MKV which I done OK then put them onto Kodi including artwork which I thought was a fairly easy step and I was quite proud of what I had done.

Absolutely - and you can carry on doing what you're doing. Certainly my comments weren't meant to be 'this is the only way to do it', or 'do it this way'. I was just providing a degree of warning that personally, I wouldn't take that approach. My life is way too short to have to rip my collection again, and I've had numerous hard drive failures over the years - so never entrust anything to a single drive.

But looking at the above and seeing what i have to do to get what I want it is way beyond what I know & what I can do. So I think I will not bother with it now. P.S. if was in my mid 20s or lower there would be no problem but I am 66 now and my little grey cells are starting to disappear. so the Mehin Sahib will have to put up with my blu Rays. by the way My Tv/Projector are HDMI 2.2. One again Thank you guys for all the help

Don't give up - there are lots of people here to help. My dad is 77 and is coping OK with some of this stuff. Age isn't a barrier. (I'm closer to my 60s than my 20s...)

However the thing about Kodi is that you have to approach it as a learning experience, and be prepared for things to not be perfect and absolutely dead simple straight away. Sometimes you luck out and they are. But when you hit issues - the guys and gals here are great at supporting you.

[PINA]

I might have another rethink to be honest I did not think it would be this hard just have blu Rays on my screen so i could play them from the screen in Blu Ray quality & top quality sound.I have looked at most of the mida boxs and was informed to go for one with Kodi built in. I saw one that seemed to be good had Kodi built in but it does not come out until the end of April but then it is not working right and you have to muck about with the software and add a thing called a Kodi Wrapper.then there are still have problems Now i do not have a clue what that is and no idea how to instal it so the machine can play my films right with no glitches in picture or sound. The other one which makes graphic cards has a box but that does not play 3d!! (by the way my graphic card i have installed in my pc is 3D!!! by the same company ) which is over £200. All I wanted was a media box that plays my blu Ray in films Blu Ray quality and as i have spent over £4,000 on my AV amp i want top quality sound. plus photo & some music and maybe a few add ons. What I do not want is Games of any sort or the media box to go around the house it is for one room and one room alone so why can I not have it simple where I want to do is put my stuff on a hard drive unit and pick from the screen instead of bending my back looking for the bloody thing along the bookcase. this was the what I was going to get for my hard drives in http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CYFM520/re...8JRS&psc=1 I

[noggin]

Well - I'm watching a 1080p Blu-ray un-recompressed with HD Audio (decoded to PCM Lossless) on my Pi 3 and it works incredibly well. You can spend huge amounts more and not get the same sound and vision quality.

[wrxtasy]

Best advice is get something popular here on the Kodi forums. Those devices listed or mentioned in my "Pick the right Kodi Box" thread are the most popular devices that also happen to have good Kodi support.

Buying very new device from some unknown company from Amazon or EBay etc usually gets users into trouble when they come looking for Kodi support. Buying a hyped up box based on tech specs alone, often accompanied by useless false reviews traps the unsuspecting Newbie buyer a lot of the time. It's a very common problem.

[PINA]

would this be any good for me I do not need the Media/Player/ Streamer to run any apps what so ever as my TV takes care of all my apps Would this player make it any easier "Dune HD Base Diskless" plus I also own a Samsung windows 7 note book would that be any help? I do own a Samsung notebook running on Windows 7 if that could helping me achieve what I want