I'm thinking of the following setup.
A NAS with lots of storage and a little box with Kodi near my TV.
I'm wondering what the most future proof and cheap combination is.
Option #1
The NAS just stores files; so a low end CPU is fine because the Kodi-box does the transcoding if needed.
In my mind transcoding means more powerful hardware, high cost and potentially more noise.
Option #2
A more powerful NAS will do all transcoding and the Kodi-box just runs the Kodi program and passes the stream to my TV.
Option #3
I make sure everything on my NAS is in a format that doesn't need any transcoding.
That would require low-end NAS and low-end Kodi-box hardware.
Option #4
Suggestion by people more knowledgeble that me. That's most of mankind :-)
Right now I just run Windows MediaCenter XP on a rather big Compaq Evo PC. Works fine but it's severely outdated and can't handle .mp4 and .mkv without severe stuttering. So I convert everything to a format it can handle.
I want to replace that with a Kodi-box. Perhaps even 2 or 3.
I wonder how 2 or 3 streams change the ideal setup (see above options)
My current PC has a card to watch and record cable TV.
I'm wondering how I can watch TV on a Kodi-box because obviously a PCI card doesn't fit in those tiny boxes.
My Sony Bravia TVs all are DNLA capeble. But I simply hate the interface. If not I just needed a good NAS with a transcoder. But then I wouldn't be posting on this forum.
Still to me it looks ideal if Kodi could run on the NAS itself and stream over my gigabit LAN to my TV (or TVs).
That obviously requires something else than a IR remote I don't like using a tablet.
You only need to transcode if your player device can't support the video content you are playing natively, or your network link isn't capable of carrying the bandwidth (if streaming).
If you run something like a Pi / Pi 2 you don't need to transcode. The Pi / Pi 2 will decode most formats (apart from HEVC) without needing a transcode en route.
This means you can run a low power NAS optimised purely for streaming the content as touched, and a low power platform running Kodi, like a Pi / Pi 2, ODroid C1 (or if you have a little bit more money a Celeron x86 box) which is also a lightweight lower power client, but one that can play most video without needing the transcode process. The C1 will even do HEVC (though has some limitations when it comes to audio)
My Pi 2 handles native Blu-ray rips with no recompression or transcoding just fine. As does my Chromebox. I run an unRAID Server based on a low power Sempron (now a few years old)
These days the only formats that could be a major issue are :
HEVC (and some devices only support 8 bit not 10 bit)
Hi10 AVC/H264
Interlaced VC-1 (particularly on Intel)
Standard H264, MPEG2 and progressive VC-1 should be fine on most platforms recommended for Kodi round here.
I don't have to re-encode any of my mainstream content for playback on a Pi 2. I do have to re-wrap 3D Blu-ray into an MKV - but that's the only real processing I do.
The Minix handles most formats with hardware decoding. But not 10-bit HEVC as you warned about.
https://www.avforums.com/review/minix-ne...view.11345
The Intel NUCs cost double but would they be able to handle everything? If not with the GPU on the CPU then with software decoding?
Am I right in concluding that cheap stuff will do all except 4K/H.265?
Maybe it's wise to just buy something cheap because 4k content isn't widely avaible right now. Not to mention I have a 1080i TV. Replacing the box(es) at a later date may be a cheaper/wiser option because no doubt prices of 4K devices will drop if it becomes more mainstream. And the technology will mature a bit.
Thanks for your answer!
The very cheap stuff will top out at H264 1080p (8 bit)
The more expensive Celeron stuff (Chromebox etc.) will top out at H264 2160/30p (aka 4K - but H264/AVC not H265/HEVC) as the HDMI outputs are limited to 2160/30p.
If you don't have a 4K display, I'd go for something low cost as an interim.
Don't know much about the Minix - think some are very similar to the ODroid C1 and use AMLogic CPUs. I'd go for OpenElec over Android every time.
The AMlogic S812 MINIX NEO X8-H Plus does 8-bit 4K HEVC, but it is running Android. All be it the most mature and stable Android for Kodi you can buy.
There are some OpenELEC images floating around for it as well, I'm not sure how well they run.
http://www.minix.com.hk/Products/NEO-X8-...id-TV.html
@
MediaGuy, just buy cheap Hardware that will do the job right here right now and be aware of any limitations it may have. Thats my philosophy due to the fact tech moves so fast that it will be obsolete in a year or two and you will then not loose much money upgrading.
Yeah, buying cheap sound like a good plan. But I have some fears about cheap stuff.
It breaks easily, needs a reset everyday, etc. Not saying that's true but it's my general experience with other things.
Or things like "Kodi runs fine. But it's not powerful enough for that add-on."
Another thing is that it's often not clear to me what format the device plays in hardware. There are so many different formats. First there are the many container files. Those containers can be filled with any combination of audio and video streams. And those streams can have many bitrates and resolutions.
I clearly remember buying .avi player software 20+ years ago. It was big in the advertizing that it played the fantistic .avi format. It did. But only a limited set of audio/video streams in that container.
(2015-09-07, 13:54)noggin Wrote: [ -> ]You only need to transcode if your player device can't support the video content you are playing natively, or your network link isn't capable of carrying the bandwidth (if streaming).
But external subtitles often need transcoding?
(2015-09-08, 18:29)MediaGuy Wrote: [ -> ] (2015-09-07, 13:54)noggin Wrote: [ -> ]You only need to transcode if your player device can't support the video content you are playing natively, or your network link isn't capable of carrying the bandwidth (if streaming).
But external subtitles often need transcoding?
Not if you are playing files with Kodi - whether from local storage or over a network share. If you are using a non-Kodi player, that doesn't support streaming video and files separately, then you may need to transcode to burn in the subs (effectively turning soft subs into hard subs)
I've never had issues with subtitles on my Kodi set-ups playing files over a network from an unRAID server via SMB. I watch a LOT of subtitled content.
Most future proofed as always has been the latest Intel NUC gear, if it cannot Hardware decode something you just throw raw CPU cycles at the problem and let ffmpeg software decoding handle it. Kodi handles this well.
An example is 10-bit 1080p HEVC decoding. Even my 4 year old Intel i5 Sandy Bridge (4 core) can decoding that easily from within Kodi itself.
Most cost effective device with a bit of future proofing is the ASRock Beebox (Braswell) for up to 24p 4K 8-bit HEVC hardware decoding and use an OpenELEC development image on it.
You really need to wait for devices with HDMI 2.0 to provide 4K video output refresh rates over 30Hz. Currently only the NVIDIA Shield does 4K at up to 60fps, but that has other issues and missing features at the moment.
Please read this article if you have not already done so.
Home>HTPC Future-proofing HTPCs for the 4K Era: HDMI, HDCP and HEVC
1080p Main10 HEVC plays with no issue on my i-5 Haswell, now i have to test on 4K@30 or 60Hz. Does anyone have Main10 HEVC 4K clip sources ?
1080p HEVC main10 sample
Please re-read and understand, that without HDMI 2.0 you will not get 4K @ 60Hz video output.
Your i5 Haswell does not have a HDMI 2.0 connector.
(2015-09-09, 06:20)wrxtasy Wrote: [ -> ]1080p HEVC main10 sample
Please re-read and understand, that without HDMI 2.0 you will not get 4K @ 60Hz video output.
Your i5 Haswell does not have a HDMI 2.0 connector.
But it has DP 1.2 connector and I want to see if it can decode 4K main10 HEVC smoothly by hardware, software or hybrid.
(2015-09-09, 07:09)nsnhd Wrote: [ -> ]But it has DP 1.2 connector and I want to see if it can decode 4K main10 HEVC smoothly by hardware, software or hybrid.
Haswell can only do 2160p60 output via DisplayPort using MST (multi-stream transport) - which requires OS, driver and display support (ie, Windows only), since it's basically outputting two separate signals and having the display stitch them back together. You're unlikely to see a DP-HDMI 2.0 adapter that uses MST, so 2160p60 for Haswell is basically not doable.
(2015-09-09, 08:54)Matt Devo Wrote: [ -> ] (2015-09-09, 07:09)nsnhd Wrote: [ -> ]But it has DP 1.2 connector and I want to see if it can decode 4K main10 HEVC smoothly by hardware, software or hybrid.
Haswell can only do 2160p60 output via DisplayPort using MST (multi-stream transport) - which requires OS, driver and display support (ie, Windows only), since it's basically outputting two separate signals and having the display stitch them back together. You're unlikely to see a DP-HDMI 2.0 adapter that uses MST, so 2160p60 for Haswell is basically not doable.
I'm confused now when I've read answers from Intel, did I misunderstand something:
"The HD4600 in the system you have should be able to drive 4k@60Hz over DP1.2 for either SST or MST monitors. We have tested this in house with a number of 4K displays and confirmed 4k@60 was achieved with both SST and MST monitors."
https://communities.intel.com/thread/514...5&tstart=0
But put displaying aside, I also want to see ability to decode main10 HEVC 4K 30/60Hz clips
Ok, a low power Kodi box is likely enough for watching all sorts of streams and local files (I have).
I likely won't use many add-ons but still my question: Do some add-ons require lots of CPU power?
Secondly, how do I watch cable/satellite TV on a Kodi box? All external boxes? I would like to get rid of all that clutter and a dozen of remotes. Just one box and one simple remote (no phone/tablet). Are there such Kodi setups? (including a card slot for subscription cards)