Wich Android box for fluent streams from Vu+Duo2
#1
Hello,
Hopefully someone can give me the "golden" tip for my setup...

I own a Vu+ Duo2 satellitereceiver standing in the living room. Works smoothly and perfectly, all my recordings are done on his harddisk.

In my bathroom and bedroom I use a Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 with LiberElec and Kodi 16.1 for watching live streams and recordings coming from the Vu+, using the Vu+ addon in Kodi. Works well and fluently in Full HD.

The problem is my office. In my office I own a 50" Pioneer plasma screen. Connected directly to the Vu+ it gives an incredibly sharp image, but connected to a Raspberry Pi you can see the disadvantages of a large screen connected to a Raspberry.
So I bought a HiMedia Q5 mediaplayer with a powerfull processor. Problem not solved :-(. Kodi 16.1 with the Vu+ app gives a sharp picture, but intermittently stuttering (frame dropping). Also when you connect a USB stick with the TS2 files of the VU+, it randomly stutters. Tried several things: the upgrade to Android 7 (makes the box very slow and unstable), I tried Kodi 17 Beta 6, but instead of stuttering it constantly has to rebuffer, so not watchable. (Gigabit home network OK)

I spent several hours to solve this, have written on several forums and no one seems to have the solution. I'm fed up with that box and I will buy another one.

My question: regarding my setup as discribed above, what Android box should I buy to watch the Full HD streams and recordings coming from my Duo2 receiver. No stuttering and no rebuffering allowed ;-) and a better picture quality as a Raspberry Pi. And when the combination is possible, I would be a great advantage when the box has HDMI-CEC. Very practical for daily use: 1 remote on the desk...

Thanks a lot!
Gert
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#2
I spent a lot of time trying to do something similar to you, in the end I just found kodi too flaky with enigma 2.

I now use the dream player app on my android boxes - it works very well, but just lacks a full EPG:

http://androidtv.news/2016/02/dream-play...ambox/amp/
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#3
It works better as Kodi 17 does, but not as fluent as Kodi 16.1 sometimes does.
In this case, a Raspberry Pi gives a better picture.

Does someone has experiencies with the boxes of MiniX? I've heart on a Dutch Facebook group, the boxes of MiniX works well with the enigma addons in Kodi...
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#4
Do you use the OMX or the MMAL player on your raspberry for hardware acceleration?
What format have your recordings?

Hardware decoding with licenses (http://www.raspberrypi.com/license-keys/) has a superior quality in most cases compared to software decoding. The raspberry has also a real good and optimized upscaler, so the picture quality is by far better than the picture of my old MiniX (RockChip, not Amlogic CPU) and only slightly worse compared to my Intel setup.
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#5
(2016-12-07, 12:17)zehner Wrote: Do you use the OMX or the MMAL player on your raspberry for hardware acceleration?
What format have your recordings?

Hardware decoding with licenses (http://www.raspberrypi.com/license-keys/) has a superior quality in most cases compared to software decoding. The raspberry has also a real good and optimized upscaler, so the picture quality is by far better than the picture of my old MiniX (RockChip, not Amlogic CPU) and only slightly worse compared to my Intel setup.

Problem with this forum: it doesn't send me mail, altough I'm subcribed with email notification. Sorry for the late answer...

I don't know which player it uses. It's a very basic LiberElec setup with Kodi 16.1 (maybe that gives you a clue?). At this moment the Rasp isn't connected anymore, so I can't check it now.
My recordings have TS2 format.
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#6
Kodi defaults to MMAL on the pi. If you haven't changed the hardware acceleration you use MMAL most propably.
TS2 could be MPEG2 or MPEG4 (you can use the program MediaInfo for a definitive answer), at least MPEG2 with licenses and OMX could be decoded in hardware

I would give the pi a second chance and try OMX. I've heard people complaining about a few menu-lags with the raspberry, but the picture quality of this small little box is great (with correct frame rate and interlace settings)
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#7
Thanks for the tip. I will try it asap, but it will be something for 2017. Busy days at the moment...

Hopefully I get a better picture with OMX.

Oh yes, the TS2 should be MPEG2, if I can believe Kodi 17...
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#8
Best wishes for 2017 and here we continue with searching for the best mediaplayer...

On the end of 2016 I changed my TV to a Loewe Individual 40 Selection (50" plasma was too big). No matter what kind of (good) source I connect, this TV seems to have the very big advantage to give always a sharp fluently moving picture. Something like "Motionflow" with Sony should do and "Perfect Natural Motion" with Philips.

I connected the Raspberry Pi 3 with Liberelec 7.0.3 and Kodi 16.1 on the Loewe set and tried your suggestions.

1. Playing back a recorded movie of my VU+ receiver using the Rasp, gives a sharp picture, but with moving picture little stutters. It's the same stuttering as you will expire with a Philips tv when Perfect Natural Motion is switched off. No matter if I use MMAL or OMX, or when I highlight both. Switching on and off deinterlace gives sharper and less sharp picture, but does nothing with the little stutters. (the picture is viewable, not that kind of framedropping like the Android box I use).

2. Watching livestreams lets the Raspberry constantly rebuffer. Not watchable. This is the same issue like the android box with Kodi 17.

A very, very advantage of the Raspberry on that Loewe tv: once the HDMI input of the Raspberry is choosen, the whole remote of the tv changes in a remote for the Raspberry.

So how could I get rid of the stuttering and rebuffering, or with which mediaplayer?

(This is all a kind of hobby, so the target is to have a perfect working mediaplayer)


edit: stuttering and rebuffering is solved. When I choose OMX it constantly rebuffers and stutters. Choosing MMAL stops it, but back on old problem: the picture is not as sharp as directly connected to the Vu+. Also the android box is sharper, but because of the stutterings not viewable.

My question remains: does there exist a mediaplayer with kodi, which gives a razor sharp picture whit no stutters??
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