[Pillendreher]

Just wanted to order the Core, but I don't want to unless I have clarity on this issue: You guys mentioned the lacking remote support of some Android apps. Does this apply to streaming apps like Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now or CBS All Acess? I want to use those and I need my remote to work with those apps.

No that is not what we said. What we are saying is these apps are not as remote control friendly to use as the ones designed specifically for remote control use on the Android TV OS Hardware such as the Shield and Fire TV.
They are still fully usable, it is just for some functions that do not get used that often you need to use the Air Mouse, and some users find that hard as they do not setup the Speed and Sensitivity control options of the Air Mouse properly first.

I get that but I want to use my harmony remote that has no mouse functuality whatsoever. Is there no way around the airmouse besides hoping the app developer improves remote support?

[actpower]

Hi All. i´m new to this community. I have waiting for the Core a lot of months and now is a reality...but a lot of pain in the head, too.

After some hangs and tweakings, OTAs and so on, the Core appears to works "nicely".

For me is a cheap device, it feels cheap. The remote is tiny and there isn't any multimedia buttons (play/stop, etc), that is VITAL in this type of device. I don't want to remap Kodi to stop with the back button, is a nonsense.

But well, I can live with it, buying another remote mode complete compatible with Android, there is a lot of them!.

The really BIG problem is the 23.976FPS playback.

I have a OLED TV and a JVC D-ILA Projector. I´m sure that both two can play 23.972FPS files because I have a Bluray player, a WD Live Streaming, and I have seen a LOT of movies and no notice any jump at all. Also the Media Share App in the LG TV, which play nicely the 23.976FPS files that I feed.

But this Core can make a JUMP every 40 secs with 23.976FPS files. Sure.

To check this, I made a rolling title MP4 file to check it. And other people can see the JUMP every 40 secs or so. Is here, if you want to test it:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4Nc5b...XRlZGxZZlk

I don´t know why some other people don´t see that jumps, but I´m not alone, some other people can see clearly the jumps every 40 secs.

Even Christian Troy in September says:

Regarding 23.976 it's not real 23.976, in fact you can clearly see 1 single frame stuttering every 90/120 seconds. We queried Amlogic about that and they're not to going to do anything for it as it works as intended for them, and will required them to re-work pretty much everything video related in their code (according to what they said).

http://wetekforums.com/vb5/forum/wetek-c...news/page3

So...what is the true in this?. I read that post too late, if I read it before, sure I don´t have purchased this device, as I cannot accept a "24 FPS silky play", when is not true at all.

People, check the video that I put and check if you see the jumps every 40secs. They are here.

Thanks!

[wrxtasy]

I tested this device extensively, and am not seeing frame jumps every 90/120 seconds, I'm very sensitive to that sort of thing. What you are quoting would have been a development Core test device with a development Kernel where that behavior was observed.

Something screwy is going on with your individual system actpower, there is some sort of incompatibility or error somewhere. Frustrating I know, but this can occur with any media player device and we don't live in a perfect world.

It is not normal observed video playback behavior on the Core or any AMLogic device for that matter with a modified Frame Rate Automation Kernel. There is something strange going on with the HDMI EDID checksums on your Core, leading to 24Hz video output only, as we have detailed over on the WeTek forums.

As always, ask for your money back if dissatisfied. I'm sure WeTek would have no problems with that.

[wrxtasy]

Just wanted to order the Core, but I don't want to unless I have clarity on this issue: You guys mentioned the lacking remote support of some Android apps. Does this apply to streaming apps like Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now or CBS All Acess? I want to use those and I need my remote to work with those apps.

No that is not what we said. What we are saying is these apps are not as remote control friendly to use as the ones designed specifically for remote control use on the Android TV OS Hardware such as the Shield and Fire TV.
They are still fully usable, it is just for some functions that do not get used that often you need to use the Air Mouse, and some users find that hard as they do not setup the Speed and Sensitivity control options of the Air Mouse properly first.

I get that but I want to use my harmony remote that has no mouse functuality whatsoever. Is there no way around the airmouse besides hoping the app developer improves remote support?

The only way you are going to be able to use a Harmony remote at the present time with the Core is by purchasing a FLIRC IR receiver as well. The inbuilt IR receiver is only used for turning the Core ON/OFF and standby.

WeTek cannot modify other Companies Apps, especially DRM ones to do with video streaming. Everything is locked down very tight.
I've just tested the Core with FLIRC and my Harmony and yes you can navigate about in Netflix, Select stuff, Play and Exit to stop playback, but you cannot select Pause or the Subtitles or Individual TV series episodes without using the Air Mouse. That is the only way to get 100% functionality.

[actpower]

I´m not saying 90/120 secs, I´m saying 40 secs, and I´m not the ONLY ONE that have these problems!. At least I know three people that have the SAME jumps. They have the same problems with the HDMI EDID checksums?.

[actpower]

[*]23.976 videos play in 23.976; my Epson 5025UB shows 23.97 and I noticed no microstutters... terrific!

Can you please test my 23.976 video to see if there is any jump every 40 secs, aprox?:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Nc5b_...sp=sharing

You need to watch it carefully, not always can catch the jump, but there is.

I have tested it even with the HDMI cable provided by Wetek directly over HDMI and still have jumps.

[ChristianTroy]

About the Android TV build... this weekend I think I will post it (I'm still fighting with the flu these days).

BTW, spoofing doesn't help Netflix (I think they check the name of the Widevine key) because the Android TV build is spoofed as a Nexus Player or, when the gapps automatically update they will replace themselves to the regular ones!!! (if it detects it doesn't run on a "certified" Android TV device it does this downgrade but the problem is that months ago google did a modification to the regular store where you can't install apps using that store on an Android TV device, took me some days to realize what was happening, was really a move I was not expecting)

[fredfred]

Just like wrxtasy I use a Flirc, I also have a Harmony 900 remote.
I always leave my device on, I have a soft button programmed that sends ALT+F4 to bring up the reboot interface if needed.
The arrows and ok button work nice to start apps with, and sometimes inside an app I must use Wetek Air Mouse to navigate, I guess a way around that would be a simple Bluetooth mouse to get rid of the Wetek remote all together.

[Pillendreher]

No that is not what we said. What we are saying is these apps are not as remote control friendly to use as the ones designed specifically for remote control use on the Android TV OS Hardware such as the Shield and Fire TV.
They are still fully usable, it is just for some functions that do not get used that often you need to use the Air Mouse, and some users find that hard as they do not setup the Speed and Sensitivity control options of the Air Mouse properly first.

I get that but I want to use my harmony remote that has no mouse functuality whatsoever. Is there no way around the airmouse besides hoping the app developer improves remote support?

The only way you are going to be able to use a Harmony remote at the present time with the Core is by purchasing a FLIRC IR receiver as well. The inbuilt IR receiver is only used for turning the Core ON/OFF and standby.

WeTek cannot modify other Companies Apps, especially DRM ones to do with video streaming. Everything is locked down very tight.
I've just tested the Core with FLIRC and my Harmony and yes you can navigate about in Netflix, Select stuff, Play and Exit to stop playback, but you cannot select Pause or the Subtitles or Individual TV series episodes without using the Air Mouse. That is the only way to get 100% functionality.

That's really too bad. I don't want to use an airmouse and that makes the Core unbuyable for me. Damn.

[wrxtasy]

No mouse in your House Mr. P

[hdmkv]

In reference to questions about my initial review posted earlier:

@BORIStheBLADE and @wesk05, I've done all tests only on Android OS so far. Re: HD audio, in included Kodi 15.2, I have passthrough enabled, with DD and DTS enabled below it. There are no DTS-HD and TrueHD options, which is why I was surprised to get multichannel PCM. I played TrueHD, DTS-MA and LPCM 7.1 clips/movie segments, and same results with all. Works, but rear and side channels are swapped, there's no center at all (so, you can't hear dialogue) and there's no sub. Basically, when playing the 7.1 HD audio channel check clips, could clearly tell, but those channels that did work, AQ was excellent. The LPCM swapped/missing channels issue should be fixable by WeTek, or if AML gets HD audio passthrough licensing for S8xx, then bitstreamed.

@wesk05, re: the Jellyfish test clips, I realize they're H.264, but if Core can handle those really high bitrates (it didn't break a sweat with 137Mbps+), I'm guessing it'll be able to handle close to that with H.265/HEVC encoded videos. The Core is easily the best AML S812 box I've tested. I've never owned Minix X8-series, but did have S812 samples like Probox2 EX, UBOX and MXIII. All underwhelming.

@actpower, I have plenty of true 23.976 videos, and will test a movie for at least 30-45mins and report back. I do notice microstutters on boxes that only have 24.000 or some weird variant of 23.976. I believe Core, like other AML boxes, does close to 23.976, but maybe not to the thousandth or ten-thousandth decimal? That may be splitting hairs. Anyway, will check with actual playback.

@ChristianTroy, would it possible to have Netflix pre-installed similar to Kodi? Netflix HD is obviously a key selling point of the Core.

Re: the Harmony remote talk, I'd encourage WeTek to at least support Harmony One Ultimate/Smart via Bluetooth, and ideally by extending the functionality of the in-built IR via firmware for full functionality (so, Harmony 650, 700, etc. can also be used).

[BORIStheBLADE]

In reference to questions about my initial review posted earlier:

@BORIStheBLADE and @wesk05, I've done all tests only on Android OS so far. Re: HD audio, in included Kodi 15.2, I have passthrough enabled, with DD and DTS enabled below it. There are no DTS-HD and TrueHD options, which is why I was surprised to get multichannel PCM. I played TrueHD, DTS-MA and LPCM 7.1 clips/movie segments, and same results with all. Works, but rear and side channels are swapped, there's no center at all (so, you can't hear dialogue) and there's no sub. Basically, when playing the 7.1 HD audio channel check clips, could clearly tell, but those channels that did work, AQ was excellent. The LPCM swapped/missing channels issue should be fixable by WeTek, or if AML gets HD audio passthrough licensing for S8xx, then bitstreamed.

@wesk05, re: the Jellyfish test clips, I realize they're H.264, but if Core can handle those really high bitrates (it didn't break a sweat with 137Mbps+), I'm guessing it'll be able to handle close to that with H.265/HEVC encoded videos. The Core is easily the best AML S812 box I've tested. I've never owned Minix X8-series, but did have S812 samples like Probox2 EX, UBOX and MXIII. All underwhelming.

@actpower, I have plenty of true 23.976 videos, and will test a movie for at least 30-45mins and report back. I do notice microstutters on boxes that only have 24.000 or some weird variant of 23.976. I believe Core, like other AML boxes, does close to 23.976, but maybe not to the thousandth or ten-thousandth decimal? That may be splitting hairs. Anyway, will check with actual playback.

@ChristianTroy, would it possible to have Netflix pre-installed similar to Kodi? Netflix HD is obviously a key selling point of the Core.

Re: the Harmony remote talk, I'd encourage WeTek to at least support Harmony One Ultimate/Smart via Bluetooth, and ideally by extending the functionality of the in-built IR via firmware for full functionality (so, Harmony 650, 700, etc. can also be used).

Thanks for the info and for your time testing.

[actpower]

@actpower, I have plenty of true 23.976 videos, and will test a movie for at least 30-45mins and report back. I do notice microstutters on boxes that only have 24.000 or some weird variant of 23.976. I believe Core, like other AML boxes, does close to 23.976, but maybe not to the thousandth or ten-thousandth decimal? That may be splitting hairs. Anyway, will check with actual playback.

So, you don´t have tested more that seconds?. Please try the video that I uploaded, is easy to know from there if you have these issues. Not only me but at least three more guys have these issues. So is not my displays only. And have changed HDMI cables, connecting to another HDMI input...all the same problem of the jumps.

[hdmkv]

I was pretty up-front that I just started testing and I'm nowhere close to done. Will try your video.

[wrxtasy]

[*]23.976 videos play in 23.976; my Epson 5025UB shows 23.97 and I noticed no microstutters... terrific!

Can you please test my 23.976 video to see if there is any jump every 40 secs, aprox?:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Nc5b_...sp=sharing

You need to watch it carefully, not always can catch the jump, but there is.

I have tested it even with the HDMI cable provided by Wetek directly over HDMI and still have jumps.

I've gotten a hold of a proper Retail Core Today, freshly out of the wrapper, and I have not updated anything. Using the Installed Kodi 15.2 final.
Looked at that file and its a standard 23.976fps H264 codec at 7.1Mb/s in a .mp4 container.

Played the whole video test file, and Kodi switched my 13 your old Sony TV into its 24p Cinema Mode.

I did not see one frame drop, hiccup, or anything in the entire playback length of 4 minutes. Silky smooth.

This stutters problem is very likely due to a EDID HDMI Checksum failure issue and without a Kernel log to tell if Frame Rate Automation is actually occurring to produce 23.976fps video output. Its impossible to diagnose from here.
But if the 41 second video Frame glitch is present then 23.976fps video is definitely being fed out of the Core to a display running at 24Hz.

This is a troubleshoot for tech support on the WeTek Forums. Its not a Kodi issue I can see. Nor is it a widespread Core problem.