[gamecrusader]

I think I already know the answer to this question, but I want to ask for validation.

I have an Apple TV 4K with MrMC (Kodi Fork) and a Fire TV 4K with Kodi (17.6). The Apple TV can play back my x264 10-bit files just fine, but the Fire TV cannot (stutters/skipping). I suspect this is due to the Fire TV hardware?

[mo123]

10-bit H264 playback with Mediacodec is disabled by Kodi for all Android devices so it won't work.

See https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/8f6277...#L480-L483

[fritsch]

Cause most android devices besides one or two rockchip cannot decode h264 10 bit in hw at all (same in x86 land) - as well as the apple tv does not do in hardware but has a lot faster CPU ... edit: and to complete: the firetv has no capability to decode h264 10 bit in hw at all, so the linked code part won't help you at all.

        case FF_PROFILE_H264_HIGH_10:
        case FF_PROFILE_H264_HIGH_10_INTRA:
          // No known h/w decoder supporting Hi10P
          goto FAIL;

[davilla]

FF_PROFILE_H264_HIGH_10 does indeed work via videotoolbox, MrMC supports it as well as VLC.

[fritsch]

Cool!

Can you post the log with the FireTV? If that's the case we reenable it right away. Here is a sample: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p6z4ov3fttulq3...o.mkv?dl=0

Edit: Nevermind ... my brain played tricks on me - thought there was "on videotoolbox and on the firetv".

[gamecrusader]

Wait, I'm confused (this happens often and easily, so don't be alarmed).

So would a NVIDIA Shield TV with Kodi be powerful enough to run 10-bit? But then even if it was it sounds like it's disabled in Kodi by default (for Android)?

And then MrMC can play 10-bit on a Fire TV?

[fritsch]

1) Shield has better CPU
2) No - it only works on AppleTV

And in general: Your issue is NOT 10 bit in general. The FireTV can play hevc 10 bit just fine. There are some "scene releases" of anime that are infact H264 (predecessor of hevc / h265) with 10 bit.

[mo123]

If I build my own Kodi 18 can you or @fritsch perhaps help what code I need to change in Kodi to support 10-bit H264 playback with Mediacodec if even possible?
What would be needed for MediaCodec(AMC) to work like videotoolbox that support 10-bit h264?

Just removing the check posted previously results in Hi10 videos playing with Mediacodec(AMC) instead of ffmpeg but the videos' color has banding and it looks like they play in 8-bit color but it's definitely hardware accelerated as it uses very little CPU compared to ffmpeg with 90%+ CPU usage.

MXPlayer plays 10-bit h264 <= L5.0 now after Rockchip devices were whitelisted.
"It's because the decoder in the system doesn't expose its capability of decoding Hi10 profile.
Anyway, We will also whitelist RK3399 on the next update."

So somewhere Android is not exposing it's Hi10 capability correctly.
If anyone knows where to look for this and what to change, it would be interesting, maybe Kodi will then be able to pick it up after removing the Hi10 check?
Here is a Nougat SDK - https://github.com/rock64-android

LibreELEC on my Rockchip RK3328 also plays 10-bit H264 <= L5.0 perfectly.
Android and LibreELEC both use the same MPP(Media Process Platform code)
http://opensource.rock-chips.com/wiki_Mpp
So I was a bit surprised 10-bit H264 played correctly in LibreELEC.

Rockchip RK3229, RK3328, RK3399 all support 10-bit h264.

Anyone perhaps also know how you can make Hi10 videos play with an external player?
I can setup an external player to play all h264 with it, but I don't know how to set it up only for 10-bit h264 and for normal 8-bit h264 to still play with MediaCodec through Kodi.

[fritsch]

We discussed that internally. It plays them, make a screenshot please with sw decoder and compare it to the hw decoder. Do you see the difference?

[gamecrusader]

Hi all, just a quick update.

NVIDIA Shield TV + Kodi + x264 10-bit = works like a charm!

So in short, either Apple TV 4K or NVIDIA Shield TV are the way to go for 10-bit content.

I hope this helps someone else.

Cheers.