[Atak_all]

Can you try making the following change:
Settings - > Audio -> Passthrough Output Device (under the "Audio Passthrough" heading -> Select AudioTrack (RAW), Android IEC Packer

This change resolved the issue for me (but is imperfect - see below).  Alas, this still suggests a bug in Omega or changes that were made to the default AudioTrack (IEC) packer.

The default device (& "Recommended" choice) has always been "AudioTrack (IEC), Kodi IEC Packer" and switching this output driver device does not seem to be without other consequences.   It appears that AudioTrack (RAW) does not pass through DTS so this is really just a stop-gap solution until what is happening with AudioTrack (IEC) is further investigated.

[Hitcher]

Meanwhile if someone finds a fix or suggestions feel free.

So what happens if you unselect Dolby Vision in the Allowed HDR metadata formats?

[jogal]

Alas, this still suggests a bug in Omega or changes that were made to the default AudioTrack (IEC) packer.

Or it suggests that users don't read the forum 

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=376161

[DriverSS]

OK, it occurred to me to turn off Dolby Vision as a Display option within the new menu option in Kodi Settings -> Player -> Videos -> Processing>Allowed HDR dynamic metadata formats> to see if I can get some stability/use back and it WORKED. 

So I went a little deeper into it...

Dolby Vision compatibility mode doesn't matter what that setting is set to.  Allowed HDR metadata formats I have Dolby Vision and HDR10+ as selected options. Remove Dolby Vision as a capability and it's like Kodi v20 is back on. Files revert to SDR or HDR and play smoothly.  So put Dolby Vision back in and started examining some titles more in depth. Testing several Dolby Vision files I have found several old titles off hand that play fine. They trigger full Dolby Vision mode on the Sony, play smoothly with no judder or buffer issues. Newer files seem to be the issue. With the help of MediaInfo I looked into codec differences. Seems that Profile 5 is OK, which was common a few years ago. The mainstay these days is "Dolby Vision Profile 8.1 HDR10 compatible" files. Those are the original issue. Buffering, Judders, just glitchy as hell. And.... Profile 8.1 stuff is what everything is done in these days it seems, so that's not good.

Plays fine:

Format Profile: HEVC, Main 10@L5@High
HDR Format: Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, Profile 5

Fails:

Format Profile: HEVC, Main 10@L5@High
HDR Format: Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, Profile 8.1

File size is not an issue. I tried files in Profile 5 that were larger (28GB) than Profile 8.1 (19GB) Profile 5, regardless of file size is OK.

The issue seems to be Profile compatibility. Now is that an Android Issue v9 vs v10, the 3 yr old chipset in my Sony A8F or in Kodi itself?  Could someone with a Sony like the current A90J or A80L OLED chime in? It's a newer chipset in those as well as newer Android (v10). I have a buddy that has one but his won't update as the limited 4GB of ram in his is limiting future updates, unless he does a complete clean install as well.

[DriverSS]

and it seems 'Hitcher' suggested what only occurred to me this afternoon, yesterday...

[MrMagic]

@DriverSS As @jogal already suggested, did you check CPU usage when playing these 8.1 profile files?

CPU usage is visible in the overlay on screen if you enable debug mode in Kodi.

[jjd-uk]

I'm not an expert on Dolby Vision, but my understanding is people are misusing Profile 8 to produce hybrid movie files containing a HDR10 base layer with a DV RPU.

For disk formats being ripped unmodified from disk they will be Profile 5.
Internet streams from the likes of Netflix are Profile 7.

So there is no consumer media service that legimately uses Profile 8 as far as I'm aware, as it was meant for use with cameras from what I've read. So when it comes to movies, what people are doing is taking the RPU from Profile 5 disks and adding it to a HDR10 version to produce a bastardised Profile 8.1 file, however as the RPU was not made with the HDR10 base layer in mind there's no guarantee that colours will be correct.

So perhaps you're unlucky and your TV does not like these bastardised Profile 8.1 files.

[quietvoid]

For disk formats being ripped unmodified from disk they will be Profile 5.
Internet streams from the likes of Netflix are Profile 7.

You're very much off.

Streaming is mostly profile 5 with some services doing profile 8.
Blu-ray discs are always profile 7.

It's a known fact that profile 8 came after 5, and some old devices don't support it very well.
Not much that can be done about it outside using newer external devices for playback.

[jjd-uk]

Must have swapped Profiles 5 & 7 around in my mind then.

[DriverSS]

I ran the CPU usage. I don't think it's very accurate, it thinks there are 2CPU's "CPU: N/A (CPU-KODI:xxx%)" N/A I assume is the TV's chip, and the other is simply how hard Kodi is working. I see that with Profile 5 stuff it starts anywhere from 160-230% and settles down to around 60-120% depending on what content's displaying on the screen. With Profile 8/8.1 and mixed in HDR it's pushing 300% to start (give or take) and never settles down below 250%. Maybe I just don't have enough HP. Maybe the decoder in Kodi needs to function better decoding the stream properly and it's "hunting" too much.  It'll be interesting to eventually test on one of the current latest greatest Sony sets with Android 10 but it'll have to wait until my buddys set gets the update pushed to it for me to see.

[fritsch]

I ran the CPU usage. I don't think it's very accurate, it thinks there are 2CPU's "CPU: N/A (CPU-KODI:xxx%)" N/A I assume is the TV's chip, and the other is simply how hard Kodi is working. I see that with Profile 5 stuff it starts anywhere from 160-230% and settles down to around 60-120% depending on what content's displaying on the screen. With Profile 8/8.1 and mixed in HDR it's pushing 300% to start (give or take) and never settles down below 250%. Maybe I just don't have enough HP. Maybe the decoder in Kodi needs to function better decoding the stream properly and it's "hunting" too much.  It'll be interesting to eventually test on one of the current latest greatest Sony sets with Android 10 but it'll have to wait until my buddys set gets the update pushed to it for me to see.

That is both far too much load. Sounds like Mediacodec Surface is plain disabled. Please check this. It won't work with SW Decoding only.

How about posting your Debug Log - so many pages speculating ...