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+--- Thread: Recommended new hardware? (/showthread.php?tid=367597)
Recommended new hardware? - ExTechOp - 2022-03-25
I've been using an older Minix Neo U1, with LibreELEC on an extra card. Unfortunately LibreELEC support for Kodi 19 has not materialized for this hardware, and even Kodi 18 support for 4k seems a bit flaky.
What is your recommendation for new Kodi 4k hardware for a setup with minimal problems? Raspberry Pi 4, NVIDIA Shield (which version?), something else?
RE: Recommended new hardware? - Klojum - 2022-03-25
(2022-03-25, 11:30)ExTechOp Wrote: Unfortunately LibreELEC support for Kodi 19 has not materialized for this hardwareThat thing runs Android Lollipop 5.1.1 OS by default, thus not exactly a recent OS and ditto hardware. Perhaps you have better luck with a CoreELEC release.
(2022-03-25, 11:30)ExTechOp Wrote: What is your recommendation for new Kodi 4k hardware for a setup with minimal problems?Every hardware has its own challenges as nothing is perfect. But the Odroid N2+ seems a pretty stable box.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - DarrenHill - 2022-03-25
Thread moved to the hardware section
RE: Recommended new hardware? - noggin - 2022-03-26
Odroid N2+ running CoreElec is pretty well regarded. Beware Hardkernel, who make the Odroid boards, have a terrible warranty and returns policy. If you live in the EU or UK, make sure you buy locally, so you benefit from improved consumer protection. I'd avoid buying direct from Hardkernel personally. There have been some reports of hardware failures of these boards (USB ports ceasing to work for example)
nVidia Shield TV offers support for DRM services as well as Kodi (Netflix and Prime in 4K HDR, and the latest Shield TV also supports Dolby Vision) - but isn't without issues (AIUI the latest OS upgrade has caused some problems). Don't go near the Cylindrical/Tubular Shield TV - it's significantly compromised for Kodi use compared to the older and newer wedge-shaped models.
Raspberry Pi 4B supports 4K HDR for HEVC/h.265 content (but h.264 hardware decode is limited to HD, and VC-1 and MPEG2 are software decoded) and HD Audio passthrough now, and deinterlacing has returned (which is great for Live TV and some DVDs and Blu-rays). It's relatively early days - but the team has done a great job of supporting the new Linux mainline video playback framework on the Pi 4B - so it doesn't require vendor-specific kernel stuff like the CoreElec Odroid stuff? Raspberry Pi's are quite difficult to get a sensible price at the moment though (at least in the UK) I think they've been hit - like so many others - by the IC supply chain issues caused by Covid.
If you are happy with some limitations in audio output terms, the Amazon Fire TV sticks can also be a cost effective solution (and again support DRM services). (Amazon's Fire OS is a fork of Android)
For a lot of people - the Odroid N2/N2+ (or the slightly slower C4 - which supports the same hardware acceleration but is less powerful in CPU terms so UI response can be a little less responsive if you have big databases of media) running CoreElec delivers a great Kodi experience.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - JamesX - 2022-03-27
Quote:If you are happy with some limitations in audio output terms, the Amazon Fire TV sticks can also be a cost effective solution (and again support DRM services). (Amazon's Fire OS is a fork of Android)aaaI would`t recommend any of the Amazon sticks for Kodi as they are all too weak to run Kodi. The 2019 Amazon Fire Cube TV has the same SoC as the ODroid N2 so Android Kodi runs way better and is also a very good streaming box.
If low price is the main concern, there´s the ultra cheap chinese boxes that run Coreelec. The whole point of Coreelec is to extract basic media performance of otherwise unimpressive and obsolete-right-before-purchase media boxes.
Worth mentioning is the option just giving up those underpowered boxes and going with an AMD APU box or an recent Intel NUC. My main Kodi box is a Ryzen 5 box. It`s has a bit steeper price, but it`s way better and can be put to other uses besides media playing.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - noggin - 2022-03-27
(2022-03-27, 01:32)JamesX Wrote: Worth mentioning is the option just giving up those underpowered boxes and going with an AMD APU box or an recent Intel NUC. My main Kodi box is a Ryzen 5 box. It`s has a bit steeper price, but it`s way better and can be put to other uses besides media playing.
How do those platforms work with HDR10 metadata pass-through, HDR10+, and HLG HDR? HDR seems to be still a WIP on Intel/AMD platforms.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - Majide - 2022-03-27
Khadas VIM4 is looking good too.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - JamesX - 2022-03-27
I can´t say about format support specifics, but HDR just works. I mean, every file I tested worked... minus the Dolby Vision ones. From my experience, the Windows build has better support than the Linux one.
Of course non-official builds are needed, but this is hardly a reason to dismiss the alternative.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - JamesX - 2022-03-27
(2022-03-27, 13:03)Majide Wrote: Khadas VIM4 is looking good too.Yeah, I just wish Amlogic aimed a bit higher with this SoC. The Amlogic A311D2 seems to be just a A311D with 2 efficient cores strapped on (hey, that explains the name?)
Well, at least it has AV1 and HDMI 2.1, which is certainly nice.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - crawfish - 2022-03-27
(2022-03-27, 01:32)JamesX Wrote: I would`t recommend any of the Amazon sticks for Kodi as they are all too weak to run Kodi.That's not even a little true. The 4K sticks are fine, though I'd research the current audio limitations noggin alluded to before jumping in. They don't matter for the one I have in use for local content at a location lacking regular Internet.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - Sholander - 2022-03-27
+1, absolutely best buy for streaming applications, in my opinion of course.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - noggin - 2022-03-27
(2022-03-27, 13:07)JamesX Wrote: I can´t say about format support specifics, but HDR just works. I mean, every file I tested worked... minus the Dolby Vision ones. From my experience, the Windows build has better support than the Linux one.
If you mean playing HDR10 triggers your TV into a PQ display mode - that's half the battle one. However if you have a TV that optimises its output and tone maps based on the HDR10 MaxFALL and MaxCLL metadata that things like UHD Blu-rays and streaming services HDR uses to tell your TV what to expect, if you don't pass that metadata on, and instead replace it with generic metadata (or none), then you are effectively in PQ10 not HDR10 territory (To be fair - some UHD HDR TVs run PQ10 anyway and ignore the HDR10 metadata, or generate their own dynamic metadata based on 'on-the-fly' picture analysis frame-by-frame - though this isn't always a great idea).
HDR10+ requires full dynamic metadata paths to deliver something a bit closer to Dolby Vision's fully dynamic metadata (but DV does a lot more)
In other words - getting the PQ EOTF when you play HDR10 content is half the battle, but preserving the source metadata is the other half.
Plus I don't know what Windows does with HLG HDR content - as not all HDR is PQ.
Quote:Of course non-official builds are needed, but this is hardly a reason to dismiss the alternative.
No - but knowing what is, and what isn't, supported is also useful.
For HDR support you'd ideally know :
HDR10 content - PQ EOTF triggered and Static (content-specific) HDR Metadata passed-through. (Without metadata pass-through you're running in PQ10 not HDR10)
HDR10+ content - PQ EOTF triggered and Dynamic (shot- or scene-specific) HDR Metadata passed-through
HLG content - HLG EOTF triggered, or HLG->HDR10 transcoding and PQ EOTF triggered (along with basic 1000nit static metadata usually). AMLogic devices support both approaches (allowing HLG content to be played on HDR10-only displays, or played HLG native in HLG displays)
DV content - all the stuff that DV requires (BPU processing - ICtCp support for streaming, YCbCr Base Layer + Enhancement layer support for dual layer stuff) (DV support is rare...)
RE: Recommended new hardware? - abudabi - 2022-03-27
(2022-03-27, 01:32)JamesX Wrote: I would`t recommend any of the Amazon sticks for Kodi as they are all too weak to run Kodi.
Huh? I run the old firestick 4k and it handles everything I've thrown at it. My only gripe is the audio pass-through limitation but that has nothing to do with processing power.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - JamesX - 2022-03-28
(2022-03-27, 21:15)abudabi Wrote: Huh? I run the old firestick 4k and it handles everything I've thrown at it. My only gripe is the audio pass-through limitation but that has nothing to do with processing power.I´m talking about system responsiveness, network shares browsing speed, overall interface lag, capability to run better skins (acceptably) and handling of big MKVs and compressed files. Of course, for light use it won´t matter much.
To rectify then: For light Kodi use, by all means go to the Amazon sticks, any of them. They are great... just not for what I expect from a Kodi box.
As for HDR support on PC, I get it why it would be nice to have (and know if it has) support for all HDR formats under the sun, but ultimately it comes to what you find on the Net and sincerely I don´t see the most exotic ones very frequently.
RE: Recommended new hardware? - abudabi - 2022-03-28
Interesting. I don't experience that. I'm running amber skin (not very taxing to be fair) and have played 50gb mkv files. Ui is pretty responsive for me. I don't have anything else in terms of add-ons though.. So maybe that's it. Each to his own I suppose.