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(2020-10-03, 02:51)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]Google TV launcher on Shield TV done. Think I'm passing on this for now.

I've written up an easier Mini Tutorial for installing and faster Flip/Flopping between the Android TV Launcher and the new Google TV Launcher on all existing Android TV devices:

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3j0nk7l3?p=142

I find Content Discovery much easier and quicker to add to your personal "Watchlist".
There is a bunch of stuff I would have never seen if going through each individual video App.

The Rotten Tomatoes Ratings are a fantastic addition.
(2020-10-03, 06:24)wrxtasy Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-10-03, 02:51)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]Google TV launcher on Shield TV done. Think I'm passing on this for now.

I've written up an easier Mini Tutorial for installing and faster Flip/Flopping between the Android TV Launcher and the new Google TV Launcher on all existing Android TV devices:

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3j0nk7l3?p=142

I find Content Discovery much easier and quicker to add to your personal "Watchlist".
There is a bunch of stuff I would have never seen if going through each individual video App.

The Rotten Tomatoes Ratings are a fantastic addition.

@hdmkv  why are you saying you will pass the google tv on shield?
The video seems pretty easy to get it, and all is working.. why not then?

@wrxtasy  what do you think about the google tv and what about the new chromecast? you still prefer shield with this google tv then?

Pity the library on google tv doesnt populate with stuff from plex/emby/kodi
Thats truly a shame

I still wonder why we still need kodi then...
Kodi does actually the same but more advanced... i know

but still
(2020-10-03, 13:05)Skank Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-10-03, 06:24)wrxtasy Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-10-03, 02:51)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]Google TV launcher on Shield TV done. Think I'm passing on this for now.

I've written up an easier Mini Tutorial for installing and faster Flip/Flopping between the Android TV Launcher and the new Google TV Launcher on all existing Android TV devices:

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3j0nk7l3?p=142

I find Content Discovery much easier and quicker to add to your personal "Watchlist".
There is a bunch of stuff I would have never seen if going through each individual video App.

The Rotten Tomatoes Ratings are a fantastic addition.
Pity the library on google tv doesnt populate with stuff from plex/emby/kodi
Thats truly a shame

I still wonder why we still need kodi then...
Kodi does actually the same but more advanced... i know

but still
Well you sort of answered your own question. Google don't care about your local media, they just want to sell you their content. So if you're exclusively using Google TV content or Amazon Prime content, then this will probably work for you. If you want to use your own content, then this launcher is pointless because the only thing you will be using it for is opening Kodi Smile So if you're interested in more than just renting video content from Google or Amazon then Kodi is still very much relevant.
Thats not entirely true
if using google tv, i can add netflix (no need for netflix under kodi then) and vtm go app, so it will fill, only not for local movies under library, but under movies it will from kodi i think.

I dont know which kodi skin comes the closest to this google tv so we get the same but inside kodi
(2020-10-03, 14:33)Skank Wrote: [ -> ]Thats not entirely true
if using google tv, i can add netflix (no need for netflix under kodi then) and vtm go app, so it will fill, only not for local movies under library, but under movies it will from kodi i think.

I dont know which kodi skin comes the closest to this google tv so we get the same but inside kodi
Yes ok, you can add Netflix & various apps, but my point still stands that you can't have local content accessed unless there is an option I'm unaware of. And as said it's missing basic features such as refresh rate switching etc which is a deal breaker as far as I'm concerned.

With regards skins, Arctic Horizon has a similar layout to Google TV & many features to view all your content from the Home Screen. You should give it a try:

Image
thx will look into the skin , comes close indeed when seeing that pic.
I'm now using embruary skin, which is close too..

Edit: i do miss recommendations then and the google assistant support, to show me genres i think etc like on google tv
Even the watchlist and the voting stuff, i miss then...
(2020-10-02, 20:44)fritsch Wrote: [ -> ]Please don't forget the kodi.log preferrably with kodi v19. Curious which formats they support and I log that better there. Thanks much.
Downloaded v19 Alpha 1 32-bit. Or, should I use a different version/build?
(2020-10-03, 17:37)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-10-02, 20:44)fritsch Wrote: [ -> ]Please don't forget the kodi.log preferrably with kodi v19. Curious which formats they support and I log that better there. Thanks much.
Downloaded v19 Alpha 1 32-bit. Or, should I use a different version/build?
Yes, exactly. Thanks very much. Then turn on debug logging, quit kodi, and start it again. Curious what we will find.
Okay, here's the debug log. Please LMK if you need me to do anything else & grab another log.
Opened Kodi, enabled debug logging, quit Kodi, re-opened and set refresh rate switching to start/stop & for audio selected IEC, 7.1 channels & enabled all HD audio options (nice to see they're there even if they may not work at this point)...

Image

Image

Now, on to A/V tests, and I'll also try the Refresh Rate switcher app.
I couldn't get SMB to work; kept getting this error...
Image

NFS did work, but was only able drill into some (not all) of my Synology & QNAP shares and add folders.

Audio Test Results:
- Standard DD & DTS 5.1 all play fine
- Dolby TrueHD & ATMOS both play in PCM 2.0
- DD+ 5.1 & 7.1 both play perfectly
- DTS-HD MA 5.1, 7.1 & DTS:X all play in DTS 5.1
- PCM 5.1 & 7.1 play in PCM 2.0

Video Test Results:
- As we already know, no refresh rate switching nor resolution switching
- 1080p/23.976 plays at 59.94 (and in my case in 2160p as that's what my Google TV dongle is set to)
- VC-1 1080p/23.976 & 29.97 play in slo-mo, stuttery (w/latter faring worse)
- All my UHD 23.976 rips play at 59.94 (same rez Google TV dongle is set to), but HDR works; however only at 8-bit depth (vs. 10-bit as it's w/my nVidia Shield TV, Zidoo Z9S & Vero 4K+)
- Sony Camp 2160p/59.94 plays properly & in HDR, but again at 8-bit depth

As has been mentioned already, the Refresh Rate app doesn't work. Even when I tried to assign a specific button from a secondary remote. BTW, my Fire TV voice remote paired & worked perfectly with the Google TV Chromecast.

This device is promising, even w/the A/V shortcoming at this point, because:
- The performance is quite snappy. Not Shield TV level, but fairly close, which is impressive given it's 1/4 the price
- Browsing my Kodi library (of 3,000+ thousand movies/shows) was quite fast
- Wi-fi performance is excellent. Haven't done an iperf3 test yet, but my BD/UHD rips played fine for 10-15 minutes of testing (I have Netgear Mesh wi-fi). Still, I've ordered this USB-C ethernet hub (hopefully it'll work) to compare wired vs. wi-fi

Overall, I both like and dislike the Google TV UI. It's clearly targeted for premium app users, for purposes of aggregating & curating content across services. The Apps section is really secondary. The UI is slick and fairly intuitive, but less useful for us local media fans and customizers. The remote is quite nice, very responsive, easy to use, but no info/context type button. I really missed the Android TV UI after a while, especially the channel rows populated with my Kodi playlists, and being able to get to favorited apps and full settings easily.

Going to hold on to this for a while and see what improvements Google pushes out in the coming weeks/months and what magic other devs might be able to make happen.
(2020-10-04, 01:08)hdmkv Wrote: [ -> ]- All my UHD 23.976 rips play at 59.94 (same rez Google TV dongle is set to), but HDR works; however only at 8-bit depth (vs. 10-bit as it's w/my nVidia Shield TV, Zidoo Z9S & Vero 4K+)


I assume this was connected through an avr? Would you mind playing said uhd rips straight to the tv. Does the video get borked?
Thanks much:
Quote:2020-10-03 17:33:32.591 T:21350    INFO <general>: Float is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.591 T:21350    INFO <general>: Multi channel Float is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.593 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 32000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.594 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 44100 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.595 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 48000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.596 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 88200 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.596 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 96000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.597 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 176400 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.598 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 192000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.626 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 12 encoding: 13 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.626 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTrack: Using IEC PT mode: 13
2020-10-03 17:33:32.626 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AC3 and DTS via IEC61937 is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.662 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 192000 mask: 12 encoding: 13 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.662 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: E-AC3 and DTSHD-HR via IEC61937 is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.672 T:21350    INFO <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - AudioTrack creation (channelMask 0x000018fc): java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: ENCODING_IEC61937 must be configured as CHANNEL_OUT_STEREO
2020-10-03 17:33:32.673 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 192000 mask: 6396 encoding: 13 success: false
2020-10-03 17:33:32.685 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 12 encoding: 4 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.696 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 6396 encoding: 4 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.696 T:21350    INFO <general>: Float is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.697 T:21350    INFO <general>: Multi channel Float is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.697 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 32000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.698 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 44100 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.699 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 48000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.700 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 88200 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.701 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 96000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.702 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 176400 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.703 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - 192000 supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.736 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 12 encoding: 5 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.736 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: Firmware implements AC3 RAW
2020-10-03 17:33:32.776 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 12 encoding: 6 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.776 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: Firmware implements EAC3 RAW
2020-10-03 17:33:32.805 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 12 encoding: 7 success: true
2020-10-03 17:33:32.806 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: Firmware implements DTS RAW
2020-10-03 17:33:32.815 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 6396 encoding: 8 success: false
2020-10-03 17:33:32.818 T:21350   DEBUG <general>: VerifySinkConfiguration samplerate: 48000 mask: 6396 encoding: 14 success: false

Yeah, as the reviews suggested: DTS, AC3, EAC3 is supported. And the good side multi-channel float is supported as well, means you can losslessly decode DTS-HD, TrueHD and output it as 7.1 LPCM without reducing the quality.

I am in contact with google for a long time concerning:
Quote:2020-10-03 17:33:32.672 T:21350    INFO <general>: AESinkAUDIOTRACK - AudioTrack creation (channelMask 0x000018fc): java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: ENCODING_IEC61937 must be configured as CHANNEL_OUT_STEREO

They wanted to fix that for Version 10 already, we even proposed the new text for the audio documentation. Reason: from the API they only allow opening the sink in STEREO for IEC passthrough, but here the bandwidth is not enough for DTS-HD, TrueHD. I just wrote them again the day before yesterday when I heard that their new device also cannot cope with HD audio in PT mode.

I could create you a version that tries to open 4*192 khz == 768 khz samplerate, but chances are very, very unlikely that this will work.
One addition concerning DTS-HD, that you see. With v19 I implemented distinguishing between DTS-HD-HR and DTS-HD-MA, that means if you device can open IEC with 192 khz, it is enough bandwidth for DTS-HD-HR and therefore you see DTS-HD in your settings. From DTS-HD-MA only the DTS Core will be played, while DTS-HD-HR will output as is. There are not many with with DTS-HD-HR, one is Tron Legacy, which was my test file.

I am more concerned now about your HDR 8 vs. 10 bit results. Did they at least do Tone-Mapping? Or let me state it that way: What do you mean by HDR works, but only 8 bit? <- technically that makes limited sense without further explanation.
(2020-10-04, 09:25)fritsch Wrote: [ -> ]I am more concerned now about your HDR 8 vs. 10 bit results. Did they at least do Tone-Mapping? Or let me state it that way: What do you mean by HDR works, but only 8 bit? <- technically that makes limited sense without further explanation.

My guess is that it is like other platforms that output 8-bit HDR (like Intel Gemini Lake HDR?) - it's an 8-bit HDMI output video signal in RGB or YCbCr in Rec 2020 gamut and with a PQ EOTF flagged, so no tone mapping required. That's a perfectly valid output format and will look 'OK', triggering TVs into HDR10 mode, but the end result will potentially have a lot more banding in some areas (as the two LSBs in the 10 bit video being replayed are truncated) though it could be dithering to mask this?

I've ordered one - when it arrives I'll run it through my HDFury Vertex to get as much information as I can.

@fritsch - although people are reporting PCM output in 2.0 only, you mention 5.1/7.1 PCM should be possible?
(2020-10-04, 13:53)noggin Wrote: [ -> ]
(2020-10-04, 09:25)fritsch Wrote: [ -> ]I am more concerned now about your HDR 8 vs. 10 bit results. Did they at least do Tone-Mapping? Or let me state it that way: What do you mean by HDR works, but only 8 bit? <- technically that makes limited sense without further explanation.

My guess is that it is like other platforms that output 8-bit HDR (like Intel Gemini Lake HDR?) - it's an 8-bit HDMI output video signal in RGB or YCbCr in Rec 2020 gamut and with a PQ EOTF flagged, so no tone mapping required. That's a perfectly valid output format and will look 'OK', triggering TVs into HDR10 mode, but the end result will potentially have a lot more banding in some areas (as the two LSBs in the 10 bit video being replayed are truncated) though it could be dithering to mask this?

I've ordered one - when it arrives I'll run it through my HDFury Vertex to get as much information as I can.

@fritsch - although people are reporting PCM output in 2.0 only, you mention 5.1/7.1 PCM should be possible?

See: 
Quote:2020-10-03 17:33:32.591 T:21350    INFO <general>: Float is supported
2020-10-03 17:33:32.697 T:21350    INFO <general>: Multi channel Float is supported

via: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/blob/master....cpp#L1082

It at least opens 7.1 channel layout with float format. What I can't say obviously is, what you hear - but it opens.


Edit: Thanks for your 8 bit explanation, that makes sense. Yeah I did not think how intel does it for a moment. Curious if I see that with my eyes, from mathematical computation it's sadly a lot.
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