[sidneysides]

Hope this in the right forum as most boxes appear to be Android...
Currently I access Kodi on a number of Raspberry Pi devices around the house.  All works well and streaming of 1080p content works without stutter.
I am about to invest in a 4K TV and obviously want to make the most out of it and the Pi doesn't support 4K.
What I need:
Ability to use Kodi (obviously!)
**Important** ability to switch frame rate successfully.  I really don't want to watch 25fps content at 60hz
Ability to play 4K MKV and other similar codecs
Netflix 4K support
Amazon 4K support

It seems the bad boy Nvidia Shield will do all of this but I'm not into gaming and £189 is a lot to pay.  Are there any cheaper alternatives?

[thesuffering]

Hope this in the right forum as most boxes appear to be Android...
Currently I access Kodi on a number of Raspberry Pi devices around the house.  All works well and streaming of 1080p content works without stutter.
I am about to invest in a 4K TV and obviously want to make the most out of it and the Pi doesn't support 4K.
What I need:
Ability to use Kodi (obviously!)
**Important** ability to switch frame rate successfully.  I really don't want to watch 25fps content at 60hz
Ability to play 4K MKV and other similar codecs
Netflix 4K support
Amazon 4K support

It seems the bad boy Nvidia Shield will do all of this but I'm not into gaming and £189 is a lot to pay.  Are there any cheaper alternatives?

For 4K Netflix and Amazon support, the Shield is about your only choice.  If you can get by without Amazon (or deal with 1080p with annoying band aid fixes) the Mi Box is an option, but I don't think youll get the frame rate switching.  It will have 4K Netflix and will play 4K video in Kodi (USB3 to Gigabit Ethernet adapter highly suggested).  I don't know if its the same in your part of the world, but in the US you can get the Shield for $180 without the game remote.  Not a huge reduction but its something if you are never going to use it to play any games.

[sidneysides]

Thanks for the reply...So the Mi Box doesn't do frame rate switching?  Seems that outside of the US frame rates are a big problem!

[wrxtasy]

@sidneysides,

I'm assuming 4K = 4K HDR10 if you were shopping for a new 4K TV in 2017 ?

4K HDR10 Netflix and 4K HDR10 Amazon Video can be streamed with the 2017 Amazon FireTV Gen3
Unsure of its Kodi auto refresh switching status. I would not use it 4K Kodi or Android Krypton deinterlacing - definitely not.

NVIDIA Shield will also give you those 4K HDR10 Apps and 4K HDR10 Kodi BUT it's auto colorspace switching is broken if you need to watch mixed mode 1080p SDR / HDR10 content. You need to get real used to digging into Android settings for optimal SDR / HDR10 picture outputs all the time. Not good for any sort of reliable Android Kodi PVR Addons deinterlacing either.

A 4K HDR10 Smart - Android TV will very likely give you what you want for 4K (HDR10) Apps use, but no Kodi auto refresh switching I believe or demanding 4K HDR10 Kodi or any sort of reliable Android Kodi PVR Addon deinterlacing.

Gigabit LAN - AMLogic S912 devices running LibreELEC Kodi Krypton is currently the working choice for hands of auto everything 1080p SDR / 4K HDR10 Kodi video playback. Plus it also does HDR10 > SDR video output. BUT no 4K Netflix or 4K Amazon video on those boxes.

Work out what is most important. 4K HDR10 Kodi or 4K streaming Apps. You may find 4K Netflix and 4K Amazon Video is perfectly fine on a 4K Smart TV already. Then just get a cheap AML S905X or S912 LibreELEC Kodi Krypton 4K HDR10 box.

There is currently no all in one mixed mode 4K HDR10 streaming Apps, 1080p SDR / 4K HDR10 Kodi box that has auto everything working properly.

The most promising all in one auto everything box coming down the pipe is FW11.2 on the Apple TV 4K, using Infuse or the MrMC (Kodi Jarvis fork) Apps. However it still needs an Amazon Video App yet.

[sidneysides]

@sidneysides,

I'm assuming 4K = 4K HDR10 if you were shopping for a new 4K TV in 2017 ?

4K HDR10 Netflix and 4K HDR10 Amazon Video can be streamed with the 2017 Amazon FireTV Gen3
Unsure of its Kodi auto refresh switching status. I would not use it 4K Kodi or Android Krypton deinterlacing - definitely not.

NVIDIA Shield will also give you those 4K HDR10 Apps and 4K HDR10 Kodi BUT it's auto colorspace switching is broken if you need to watch mixed mode 1080p SDR / HDR10 content. You need to get real used to digging into Android settings for optimal SDR / HDR10 picture outputs all the time. Not good for any sort of reliable Android Kodi PVR Addons deinterlacing either.

A 4K HDR10 Smart - Android TV will very likely give you what you want for 4K (HDR10) Apps use, but no Kodi auto refresh switching I believe or demanding 4K HDR10 Kodi or any sort of reliable Android Kodi PVR Addon deinterlacing.

Gigabit LAN - AMLogic S912 devices running LibreELEC Kodi Krypton is currently the working choice for hands of auto everything 1080p SDR / 4K HDR10 Kodi video playback. Plus it also does HDR10 > SDR video output. BUT no 4K Netflix or 4K Amazon video on those boxes.

Work out what is most important. 4K HDR10 Kodi or 4K streaming Apps. You may find 4K Netflix and 4K Amazon Video is perfectly fine on a 4K Smart TV already. Then just get a cheap AML S905X or S912 LibreELEC Kodi Krypton 4K HDR10 box.

There is currently no all in one mixed mode 4K HDR10 streaming Apps, 1080p SDR / 4K HDR10 Kodi box that has auto everything working properly.

The most promising all in one auto everything box coming down the pipe is FW11.2 on the Apple TV 4K, using Infuse or the MrMC (Kodi Jarvis fork) Apps. However it still needs an Amazon Video App yet.

Thanks for a great reply.  Yes, I assume that the TV I get (probably Samsung) will have HDR10 and Netflix/Amazon.  Many of the AML S905X boxes on eBay are about £40 - will this meet what I need?  As long as it outputs 4K?
Thanks again, really helped me!

[wrxtasy]

Gigabit LAN (1000M) in an AMLogic S912 that is 4K HDR10 capable, buy the following box:

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid2654483

S912's are noticeable quicker than S905X

Then use either a Xiaomi Mi Box 3 $14 aftermarket Bluetooth remote control with it or a Plug n Play MINIX A2 lite wireless remote.
Wireless remotes make a hell of a difference to Kodi responsiveness.

That will give you a future proofed, Kick Ass 4K HDR10 LibreELEC Kodi Krypton setup.

[sidneysides]

Gigabit LAN (1000M) in an AMLogic S912 that is 4K HDR10 capable, buy the following box:

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid2654483

S912's are noticeable quicker than S905X

Then use either a Xiaomi Mi Box 3 $14 aftermarket Bluetooth remote control with it or a Plug n Play MINIX A2 lite wireless remote.
Wireless remotes make a hell of a difference to Kodi responsiveness.

That will give you a future proofed, Kick Ass 4K HDR10 LibreELEC Kodi Krypton setup.

Thanks so much for your help.  There were 2 boxes discussed there, is this the one I should be looking at?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KM8-Pro-Smart...SwEWJZ0hH5

[sidneysides]

Or this one?
https://uk.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_619405.html

[wrxtasy]

The First one:

Due to Gigabit LAN = LAN Ethernet 10/100M/1000M

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KM8-Pro-Smart...SwEWJZ0hH5

Although this description also has 1000M LAN:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-M8S-PRO-...0010.m2109

I would still go the KM8 Pro simply because we know that works properly with LibreELEC Kodi Krypton.

[sidneysides]

First one is running Android 6.0 - does that matter?

[wrxtasy]

If you are running LibreELEC Kodi Krypton only - which you will need to do for 4K HDR - No Android version will not matter.

For dirt cheap AMLogic Android 7.1.1 is better than Android 6.0

[sidneysides]

Aah Ok - Last question - can you dual boot these (Kodi Krypton LE and Android)?