2016-01-25, 03:10
Updated January 28, 2016
Verdict: A- Based on build #0128
Overview:
I've been using Raspberry Pi2 as a secondary 3D box in my home theater as of March 2015, via Milhouse 16 & now 17 OpenELEC builds. Pi2 is fairly cheap (about $70 for a complete kit w/o a USB remote dongle or a keyboard/mouse combo; add another $20 or so for that). Thanks to terrific work by Kodi devs like popcornmix and others, it supports full 3D (decode & render), whether 3D MVC MKV's or 3D Blu-ray ISO's, and lossless HD audio via decoding & passing to your A/V receiver as multichannel PCM, natively via Kodi. It also supports proper framerates, namely 23.976 as found in most movie/TV content.
This is a mini-review of RPi2, the evolving kind as there have been nightly builds that fix, and sometimes, break, certain functionality. Figured I should review RPi2 at some point & now seemed like a good time as any other. I'll keep this post & thread updated.
Performance:
A/V Tests:
Annoyances to the Home Theater Purist:
Picture Quality: A (pure, unadulterated picture quality)
Support: The best there is on the planet, thanks to Kodi devs (Milhouse, popcornmix, et al)!
Wrap Up:
I love Raspberry Pi2, but it isn't perfect as a home theater box, not a dedicated one! For me, HiMedia Q5/Q10 remain the ultimate dedicated 3D & HD audio-capable boxes, even if they're also imperfect, including the less-than-ideal external player solution. See HiMedia Q5 vs. RPi2 pros/cons here, along w/recommended set-up for Pi2. But, RPi2 has always been a close second Kodi home theater box, especially as it's just such a seamless, integrated 3D & 2D Kodi solution. But, so far has left me wanting a bit more that it just can't deliver upon to be that primary, dedicated box. The ideal do-it-all box would be something like nVidia Shield with full MVC decode/render support, but alas, no such box exists, yet. Your thoughts?
Verdict: A- Based on build #0128
Overview:
I've been using Raspberry Pi2 as a secondary 3D box in my home theater as of March 2015, via Milhouse 16 & now 17 OpenELEC builds. Pi2 is fairly cheap (about $70 for a complete kit w/o a USB remote dongle or a keyboard/mouse combo; add another $20 or so for that). Thanks to terrific work by Kodi devs like popcornmix and others, it supports full 3D (decode & render), whether 3D MVC MKV's or 3D Blu-ray ISO's, and lossless HD audio via decoding & passing to your A/V receiver as multichannel PCM, natively via Kodi. It also supports proper framerates, namely 23.976 as found in most movie/TV content.
This is a mini-review of RPi2, the evolving kind as there have been nightly builds that fix, and sometimes, break, certain functionality. Figured I should review RPi2 at some point & now seemed like a good time as any other. I'll keep this post & thread updated.
watch gallery
Performance:
- Having used RPi2 for almost a year, other than what it can do now, I wish it was faster, supported HD audio bitstreaming (passthrough), and did 4K fully. It's a tall order, especially 4K, but I'd be willing to pay up to $300 for such an amped-up RPi-like powerhouse box! I bet many other home theater enthusiasts would as well!
- Without overclocking, RPi2 performs a little slower than Fire TV. Overclocked, it's almost as fast, but not as Chromebox- or nVidia Shield TV-fast as many of us would like. Anyway, overclocking is fairly safe, so do just it!
- MPEG2 & VC-1 hardware decode licenses, while optional for many, are really required for us picky home theater enthusiasts. It's well worth the approx. $5-6! Just do it if you need/use MPEG2 and/or VC-1!
A/V Tests:
- Bitrate clips (Birds/Jellyfish): Up to 70Mbps smoothly; too many skips/drops w/any higher
- AAC 5.1 = passed fine as multichannel 5.1
- DD+ 5.1 = passed fine as multichannel 5.1
- DD+ 7.1 = passed as 5.1; no rears (audio from sides instead)
- Dolby TrueHD 5.1/7.1 = passed fine as multichannel 5.1/7.1
- Dolby ATMOS = no, but 7.1 multichannel out of it passed fine
- DTS-HD MA 5.1/7.1 = passed fine as multichannel 5.1/7.1
- DTS:X = no, but 7.1 multichannel out of it passed fine
- LPCM 5.1/7.1 = passed fine as multichannel 5.1/7.1
- MPEG2 720p & 1080i (23.976 & 60fps) = fairly decent with s/w decode, but noticeably better w/MPEG h/w license
- VC-1 (23.976 & 29.970) = bad with just s/w decode (slo-mo effect, audio cuts off); tested w/'3:10 to Yuma', 'Constantine' & 'Eagles Farewell Melbourne' concert BD rips in MKV
- Night-and-day better w/VC-1 h/w license; 23.976 plays fine. But,
- Audio synch issues w/29.970; see 'Eagles Melbourne' concert sample I posted to wiki, but, may need a full disc rip of 'The Eagles: Farewell I Live From Melbourne' HD-DVD and/or 'David Gilmour: Remember That Night' BD rip to appreciate. nVidia Shield TV plays these perfectly!
- 3D MVC MKV's (1:1 rips via MakeMKV) play great w/chapter support, and 23.976 (my projector reports "23.97")
- 3D BD-ISO's play great (1:1 movie-only rips via AnyDVDHD & tsMuxeR), but w/o chapter support, and at "23.94" as my projector reports (vs. "23.97"). What's also great is that overall 3D ISO performance has significantly improved as of the most recent Milhouse OpenELEC builds
- Forced subtitles are supported
Annoyances to the Home Theater Purist:
- No HD audio passthrough, no ATMOS, no DTS:X
- Limited 4K H.264 & HEVC support (and the 70Mbps max headroom doesn't help for most 4K videos); so, basically unsuitable for 4K
- Not as fast, as snappy enough as we'd like (like Chromebox or nVidia Shield TV)
Picture Quality: A (pure, unadulterated picture quality)
Support: The best there is on the planet, thanks to Kodi devs (Milhouse, popcornmix, et al)!
Wrap Up:
I love Raspberry Pi2, but it isn't perfect as a home theater box, not a dedicated one! For me, HiMedia Q5/Q10 remain the ultimate dedicated 3D & HD audio-capable boxes, even if they're also imperfect, including the less-than-ideal external player solution. See HiMedia Q5 vs. RPi2 pros/cons here, along w/recommended set-up for Pi2. But, RPi2 has always been a close second Kodi home theater box, especially as it's just such a seamless, integrated 3D & 2D Kodi solution. But, so far has left me wanting a bit more that it just can't deliver upon to be that primary, dedicated box. The ideal do-it-all box would be something like nVidia Shield with full MVC decode/render support, but alas, no such box exists, yet. Your thoughts?
