2019-02-14, 12:24
I updated my Sony BRAVIA KD-65XF9005 to latest Android TV Oreo firmware (V6.6520). Here are some things that changed with respect to Kodi...
(1) Passthrough
Sony's Oreo firmware now pretends to support DTS formats:
DTS finally works properly.
The DTS-HD API however seems broken. My connected sound system only supports DTS (via S/PDIF and HDMI-ARC). The API however is able to extract and forward the DTS Core for DTS-HD MA and HRA. Stream however stops after several seconds of playback. Just disable Passthrough for DTS-HD inside Kodi's audio settings (don't forget to enable Expert view). Kodi will then extract and forward DTS Core by itself which works perfectly fine.
(2) HDR mode handling
A major problem with Sony's HDR integration is that non-video-planes are not properly tone-mapped in HDR mode. So there is always a distinct color- and luminance-shift in the UI/OSD elements. Sony's Oreo firmware seems to mitigate the problem by switching back to SDR mode as soon as a fullscreen UI (e.g. Kodi home) is overlaid, resulting in correct colors for the UI. This approach however does not fix the gray letterbox bar issue which Kodi devs already found another workaround for though.
(3) CPU usage monitoring
CPU usage monitoring via Kodi does not work anymore - always 0% for all cores.
(1) Passthrough
Sony's Oreo firmware now pretends to support DTS formats:
Code:
--- Found device: BRAVIA 4K GB ATV3
id: 12, type: HDMI_ARC, isSink: true, isSource: false
channel counts: 1 / 2 / 6 / 8
encodings: PCM_16BIT / AAC_LC / AAC_HE_V1 / AAC_HE_2 / AC3 / E_AC3 / DTS / DTS_HD
sample rates: 8000 / 11025 / 16000 / 22050 / 24000 / 32000 / 44100 / 48000
DTS finally works properly.
The DTS-HD API however seems broken. My connected sound system only supports DTS (via S/PDIF and HDMI-ARC). The API however is able to extract and forward the DTS Core for DTS-HD MA and HRA. Stream however stops after several seconds of playback. Just disable Passthrough for DTS-HD inside Kodi's audio settings (don't forget to enable Expert view). Kodi will then extract and forward DTS Core by itself which works perfectly fine.
(2) HDR mode handling
A major problem with Sony's HDR integration is that non-video-planes are not properly tone-mapped in HDR mode. So there is always a distinct color- and luminance-shift in the UI/OSD elements. Sony's Oreo firmware seems to mitigate the problem by switching back to SDR mode as soon as a fullscreen UI (e.g. Kodi home) is overlaid, resulting in correct colors for the UI. This approach however does not fix the gray letterbox bar issue which Kodi devs already found another workaround for though.
(3) CPU usage monitoring
CPU usage monitoring via Kodi does not work anymore - always 0% for all cores.
