[Robertjan88]

Hi all,

As I am considering buying a Shield TV, I was wondering if a HTPC wouldn't be a better/more future proof option.

My budget is max 500 EUR.

As I already have a copy of Windows 10, I was wondering what would be the most optimum setup I could build allowing me to seamlessly play 4k HDR x265 HEVC 10bit?

In additionk would you guys recommend Kodi or PowerDVD 17 for the most optimum experience?

Many thanks in advance!

[Usafle]

I believe the Radeon RX480 and NVIDIA GTX 1080 both support HEVC (10 Bit) if you wanted an add-on GPU. If you want to just use onboard CPU to decode then you are going to need a Kaby Lake CPU for that.

Not sure how 'computer savvy' you are as far as building and maintaining your own HTPC though?

[feathers]

Kaby or Apollo lake CPUs should have the hardware decoders you require.

Check out their respective threads within this subforum to see the issues with each..

You don't need a video card just for video playback. Either suggested above would be way overkill if not gaming.

[wrxtasy]

Seamlessly playing any HDR content = actually having properly encoded HDR content to be begin with otherwise you are wasting your time and kidding yourself with nothing more than "HDR" Marketing techno babble.

- Kodi does not even support HDR10 Metadata output. Plus there is stuff all properly encoded 4K HDR content out there anyway. The only decently encode HDR10 stuff is locked behind Netflix and Amazon Video servers or on uncrackable UHD Blurays.
How many 4K HDR many test clips can a person watch ?

Personally I would not even bother investing in expensive HDR10 capable equiptment until both Kodi Software support and available HDR video content is bedded down and widely available.

As I already have a copy of Windows 10, I was wondering what would be the most optimum setup I could build allowing me to seamlessly play 4k HDR x265 HEVC 10bit?

In addition would you guys recommend Kodi or PowerDVD 17 for the most optimum experience?

None of them, have your read this this Post

The nVIDIA Shield gives you access to HDR Netflix and HDR Amazon at least.

But even then the nVIDIA Shield will not allow you to seamlessly play 4K HDR10 content and then regular 1080p 8bit content with Kodi because it lacks 1080p<<-->>2160p(4K) Auto Resolution Apps switching. This is important when upscaling 720/1080p >> 4K video content on a large screen TV.

There have been numerous complaints of 'Soft Picture" video output on the Shield and other 4K Android media players when the media player Hardware upscales 720/1080p content to 2160p (4K) instead of the 4K TV. (The FireTV2 has this Resolution switching working)

I agree with @feathers. HTPC's are complete overkill if all you are doing is streaming video with Kodi.

At the moment a $50 AMLogic S905X box running LibreELEC Kodi Krypton would outperform a Intel Kaby Lake NUC for near seamless Audio and Video playback. As seen HERE
A S905X that actually has a proper HDMI 2.0 port instead of the Bastardized DVI > HDMI 2.0 port of Apollo Lake or Kaby Lake hardware that is causing grief. It Auto Resolution switches properly too.

By the time the Future arrives, the next big thing will be something like DolbyVision that everyone wants. But again where will the properly encoded Video content be found ? It will be locked behind Amazon or Netflix Video servers or on uncrackable UHD Blurays.

[noggin]

At the moment a $50 AMLogic S905X box running LibreELEC Kodi Krypton would outperform a Intel Kaby Lake NUC for near seamless Audio and Video playback. As seen HERE
A S905X that actually has a proper HDMI 2.0 port instead of the Bastardized DVI > HDMI 2.0 port of Apollo Lake or Kaby Lake hardware that is causing grief. It Auto Resolution switches properly too.

Though 3D is an issue on the AMLogic isn't it?

And I think you're confusing two things about Apollo Lake/Kaby Lake boards.

The HDMI 2.0 outputs on them are implemented via Displayport to HDMI 2.0 converter chips (not DVI > HDMI 2.0 - DVI and HDMI are close relatives, unlike DP and HDMI), converting the native DisplayPort output that the Intel chips have 'on-chip'. This DP 1.2->HDMI 2.0 route is still being debugged - and whilst it is the only route to 2160/60p UHD output, various issues around 3D Frame Packed output and HD Audio have been found.

Some boards also have an HDMI 1.4 output OR a DVI-D output. Both of these are implemented by the HDMI 1.x output functionality that the Intel CPUs have 'on-chip' and provide problem free output of HD Audio, 3D Frame Packed output etc. They don't deliver 2160/60p though. Even if the port is physically implemented as DVI - the hardware driving it is HDMI - so it supports HDMI-like stuff (Audio, 3D Frame Packing, YCbCr, Limited range etc.)

There is no DVI->HDMI conversion AFAIK

There are going to be big hoops to jump through for any platform that supports HDR playback of UHD Blu-rays - which are the high quality source of HDR. It appears you need very specific functionality to pass the Cyberlink test (including a CPU with built-in protection for content at the chip-level, to avoid memory copy techniques being used?) This will need to be on Windows and outside Kodi's playback ecosystem.

The other main source of HDR currently are Netflix and Amazon Prime. They also have specific requirements - but I'm not sure they are the same as UHD Blu-ray's.

[wrxtasy]

Yes, memory was a bit fuzzy this morning. Display Port >> HDMI was what I did actually mean.

3D will be "future proofed" when Display manufacturers actually start releasing new models again with 3D support

[wrxtasy]

There have been some interesting results this weekend over in AMLogic S905(x ) / S912 LibreELEC land.

Support has been added to development testing LibreELEC Kodi Krypton images for 10bit and HDR output in the form of updates from the AMLogic Linux Nougat Kernel.
These are producing encouraging results.
I'm even seeing better video outputs on my 10bit non-HDR 4K TV, using a very experimental AML S912 - LE 9.x Kodi agile v18.

[TESTING][S905(X)] 10bit/HDR/Dithering Test Builds & Discussion

[dukester]

i believe the gforce gt 1030 is all you'd need for hdr output and 10 bit decoding, can be added to many htpc for 80$

[nsnhd]

i believe the gforce gt 1030 is all you'd need for hdr output and 10 bit decoding, can be added to many htpc for 80$

Have you tried this card? Because the 2GB Vram may be not enough for 4K displays when using apps such as madVR.

[Usafle]

I went and purchased this card for all my 10bit HDR/4K etc..etc.. decoding. Works flawlessly. Best part is that it comes in a "mini" (I can't recall the correct technical term!) package for small HTPC cases and is powered by the PCI-E, so no need for a separate PSU plug!

[nsnhd]

Yeah, gtx 1050ti is the card that meets all current requirements such as 4GB Vram, YouTube 4K@60fps VP9.2, 4K 10-bit HDR...Just it costs $170 in my location.

[Dorfus]

Hello. I new here and I created this account just to inform you all that I have an HTPC with an Athlon 5350 and a GT 1030, and this card can decode 10bit HEVC flawlessly (1080p). Also, I tested some 4k h.264 videos (the objective was to check if my wireless connection to my NAS was fast enough to stream 4k content) and 4k videos also worked flawlessly. I just like to point that wasn't 4k h.265. I'll check it soon.

I tested using SMPlayer, just remember to activate hardware decoding setting the option in the performance tab in the settings as "auto". But even without so, the tiny Athlon 5350 is fast enough to do software decoding. Also, 10bit HVEC (1080p) worked without a hitch on Kodi too on the same htpc.

[Dorfus]

4k h.265 tested! All videos worked perfectly. I tested videos with 8 bit dept and 10bit dept (from 24 to 60fps). So, I can assure that a gt 1030 is enough to a perfect 4k HEVC playback.

[wrxtasy]

What you neglected to mention was which Operating System was used for all this testing ?

Because there are people that simple do not want to go anywhere near Windows just to achieve 10bit HEVC playback.

[Dorfus]

What you neglected to mention was which Operating System was used for all this testing ?

Because there are people that simple do not want to go anywhere near Windows just to achieve 10bit HEVC playback.

Oh sorry. I use Windows 10, completely up to date. I would like to mention that I've recently bought a MiBox 3 (Android TV). And using Kodi it also handles 1080p 10bit HEVC perfectly, but I still need to test with 4k HEVC.