Kodi Community Forum

UPDATE: I have really spent a lot of time trying to figure out the little quirks of this box. During the process, I upgraded to Kodi 15.1. This solved a couple problems and created a new one. Here is my experience:

FIXED: With Kodi 15.1, I am now able to play all TS files that would not play before including using the external player via the wrapper. Why is still a mystery but I'll take it. In the meantime, I have half my library converted to MKV now anyway but I like the flexibility.

FIXED: I can now play both the 100Mbps and 120Mbps jellyfish demo files. The playback is not very smooth but I assume this is just the limitation of the processor and it is normal.

NEW: Now, every time I play a video using the external player through the wrapper, I get the following pop-up message: External player active - Click "OK" when playback has ended

Anyone know a fix for that new problem?

Found out that the one MKV that wouldn't play before was due to a question mark in the path. The HiMedia external player doesn't like question marks in the path or filename and will refuse the play anything that has a question mark in the path. The Kodi DVD player plays these files fine so I consider this a bug although it is pretty easy to work around.

Also, discovered a bug in the interaction between the 1080p24Hz setting and 4K. To reproduce, set the 1080p24Hz setting to on and the output resolution of the box to either 2160p 24Hz or 2160p 30Hz. Now, if you play ANY 23.976fps video (480i, 1080p, 4K), the resolution of the box will automatically drop to 720p 50Hz. This is a pretty bad bug for people who want to use this box for 4K. Until it is resolved, I have to leave the 1080p24Hz setting off which is a real shame.

Another strange issue with 4K. If the output resolution is set to either 2160p 24Hz or 2160p 30Hz and you power off the box, intermittently when you power the box up it hangs at the second HiMedia logo. It will sit there forever unless you force the unit off with the switch on the box and then bring it back up. After one of these problems, it always seems to boot up the second time. This only seems to happen in one of the 4K output modes. The Q5 may also be switching back to 720p in this scenario but I need to do more testing to confirm.

Intermittently, when playing back H.265 encoded 1080p even at low bitrates (~16Mbps), the entire box will freeze and will require a power cycle. This seems to happen once every 2-3 hours or so of watching H.265. The files were encoded using x265 via Handbrake.

I also get intermittent unexplained audio dropouts on almost all file types. This causes the audio to get out of sync. Sometimes it seems like I don't hear the dropout at all yet the audio seems to get further and further out of sync the longer the video plays. This has happened with 480i H.264 and 1080p H.265. It seems to happen less often since I upgraded to Kodi 15.1 but that may just be a coincidence. The audio sync issues are by far the most annoying problem I have with the box right now. If anyone has some ideas for fixing that, it would be greatly appreciated. Hardware acceleration is enabled in Kodi by the way.

Quote:...pop-up message: External player active - Click "OK" when playback has ended

This is intentional by HiMedia in order to mark a title as 'watched' in Kodi. No way to disable.

Quote:...intermittent unexplained audio dropouts on almost all file types.

Known issue. Audio drop-outs is the most nagging issue right now. Apparently an issue w/the current HiSilicon SDK, and HiMedia is expected to use a new SDK with the next firmware update.

(2015-09-02, 18:46)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:...pop-up message: External player active - Click "OK" when playback has ended

This is intentional by HiMedia in order to mark a title as 'watched' in Kodi. No way to disable.

That is a shame because I don't even care about the watched flag. This is a messy hack that doesn't even work correctly. For instance, if you watch several TV episodes, the only one that gets flagged as watched is the first one you played. This hack is just an extra step that is awkward and a pain. This also didn't happen in Kodi 14.2 which explains why my watch flag never got updated. Something must have changed in 15.1 that enabled this.

(2015-09-02, 18:46)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:...intermittent unexplained audio dropouts on almost all file types.

Known issue. Audio drop-outs is the most nagging issue right now. Apparently an issue w/the current HiSilicon SDK, and HiMedia is expected to use a new SDK with the next firmware update.

Thanks. This gives me hope that they may actually get it fixed. I guess we don't know when the next firmware update is anticipated to be released?

The contact looun & I've been in touch with at HiMedia told us two weeks ago that their engineering team told him they will try to release the new himediavideoplayer in 2 or 3 weeks. Not sure if this means to us beta testing or out publicly as part of their next firmware.

Thanks for the info. Nice to know.

New firmware for Q5/Q10

For m3 its new on mondag

http://www.futeko.com/newforum/index.php?topic=254.0

New Hisilicon Soc
http://www.hisilicon.com/news/news/20150907.htm

HiSilicon® Hi3798C V200 :
- The HiVXETM2.0 : 2160p60 HEVC and VP9
- Dolby Vision HDR technology
- Android TV/AOSP ?

So hdmkv, what do you think about new firmware?

Audio drops solved on Q5?

Tried it yesterday, but only for about 20 minutes. No audio dropouts or stutters while I tested. The updated UI is a little slicker, but don't care for the longer boot time (almost 45 secs now). Ghosting issue seems to be resolved, but not sure about stutters or audio dropouts w/o watching a full movie. I trust looun and he says they're fixed, but I do see some complaints of stutter and audio sync in the Futeko forum.

I've actually moved to using RPi2 a lot more now, and debating if I should still keep both sets of my 3D rips (MVC MKV's and 3D ISO's) on my NAS. Sold one of my Q5's already to movie78 here for a discount, and may eBay off the other Q5 I have. Just love the quick boot up of RPi2 directly into Kodi, and playing 3D from within Kodi, all a very seamless experience. If one doesn't care for ATMOS or DTS:X, this is really the best all-in-one 3D media player option; IMHO of course.

(2015-09-14, 13:52)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]Tried it yesterday, but only for about 20 minutes. No audio dropouts or stutters while I tested. The updated UI is a little slicker, but don't care for the longer boot time (almost 45 secs now). Ghosting issue seems to be resolved, but not sure about stutters or audio dropouts w/o watching a full movie. I trust looun and he says they're fixed, but I do see some complaints of stutter and audio sync in the Futeko forum.

I've actually moved to using RPi2 a lot more now, and debating if I should still keep both sets of my 3D rips (MVC MKV's and 3D ISO's) on my NAS. Sold one of my Q5's already to movie78 here for a discount, and may eBay off the other Q5 I have. Just love the quick boot up of RPi2 directly into Kodi, and playing 3D from within Kodi, all a very seamless experience. If one doesn't care for ATMOS or DTS:X, this is really the best all-in-one 3D media player option; IMHO of course.

I also use three RPi2 at my home. They are great, but I also have soem NUC's with Win10 and so I prefer to have ISO's for 3D. Due to this MVC's are not a real option and I also prefer to bitstream DTS-HD to my AV amplifier directly. RPi2 can output DTS-HD as well, but as multichannel PCM only.

(2015-09-14, 15:18)Caramba69 Wrote: [ -> ]... and I also prefer to bitstream DTS-HD to my AV amplifier directly. RPi2 can output DTS-HD as well, but as multichannel PCM only.

Isn't multich PCM the same as bitstreaming DTS-HD in terms of the final result?!?

It is. You only lose the embedded metadata to get ATMOS and DTS:X. So, if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up and don't plan to upgrade to a 5.1.x, 7.1.x or 9.1.2 (like me ), you're fine with RPi2 doing the HD audio decoding to multichannel PCM.

(2015-09-14, 15:18)Caramba69 Wrote: [ -> ]

(2015-09-14, 13:52)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]Tried it yesterday, but only for about 20 minutes. No audio dropouts or stutters while I tested. The updated UI is a little slicker, but don't care for the longer boot time (almost 45 secs now). Ghosting issue seems to be resolved, but not sure about stutters or audio dropouts w/o watching a full movie. I trust looun and he says they're fixed, but I do see some complaints of stutter and audio sync in the Futeko forum.

I've actually moved to using RPi2 a lot more now, and debating if I should still keep both sets of my 3D rips (MVC MKV's and 3D ISO's) on my NAS. Sold one of my Q5's already to movie78 here for a discount, and may eBay off the other Q5 I have. Just love the quick boot up of RPi2 directly into Kodi, and playing 3D from within Kodi, all a very seamless experience. If one doesn't care for ATMOS or DTS:X, this is really the best all-in-one 3D media player option; IMHO of course.

I also use three RPi2 at my home. They are great, but I also have soem NUC's with Win10 and so I prefer to have ISO's for 3D. Due to this MVC's are not a real option and I also prefer to bitstream DTS-HD to my AV amplifier directly. RPi2 can output DTS-HD as well, but as multichannel PCM only.

+1

(2015-09-14, 15:48)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]It is. You only lose the embedded metadata to get ATMOS and DTS:X. So, if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up and don't plan to upgrade to a 5.1.x, 7.1.x or 9.1.2 (like me ), you're fine with RPi2 doing the HD audio decoding to multichannel PCM.

currently running Multich PCM on Raspberry Pi 1 Model B !!! The latest OSMC has the option to let DTS:MA convert to Multich PCM just like it has on Raspberry Pi 2 !!!!

(2015-09-14, 15:48)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]It is. You only lose the embedded metadata to get ATMOS and DTS:X. So, if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up and don't plan to upgrade to a 5.1.x, 7.1.x or 9.1.2 (like me ), you're fine with RPi2 doing the HD audio decoding to multichannel PCM.

That's true, but I still prefer to see on my AV receiver exactly what kind of audio stream is played.