[lionne]

Okay, just started testing some audio and image files with my new x9s.

- Images (jpg. png) display with horrible banding. I have my output set to YCbCr 4:2:2 limited, deep color off. I've tried a number of different combinations, all have the same banding on my LG UHD LED set. Can anything be done about the banding?

- Music playback is broken in countless ways in the internal player. Cue file support is totally broken for split flac/ape files (doesn't even know what to do with the cue file), and partially broken for single files (navigation is screwy). No gapless audio support (even with cue files and a single audio file, there are gaps inserted when switching tracks). Audio navigation is broken in many ways (fast-forward/rewind is broken/screwy, navigation bar is broken for audio files).  DVD-audio ISO files have issues. Some audio ISO files wouldn't even play. There's a 1-second delay where there's no audio when each track starts playing, so you always miss the first second of each track if the track starts right away without a couple seconds of silence. My other media players don't have that issue. Just a miserable experience all-around testing my audio test files.

- I cannot find ZDMC anywhere on the player. Doesn't this ship with ZDMC installed? It's not on the main menu, not listed under apps - nowhere. Where do I find ZDMC? I wanted to see how ZDMC would handle my test image and audio files, but I can't find it.

[laola]

have a look in the Zidoo forum - there you will find everything related specific to the Zidoo devices...

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/...-x10.5589/

[wesk05]

 Hi all,
Could anyone check if there is banding with the ISO / BDMV UHD HDR
  It would be kind of you   

I can confirm horrible banding with 12-bit YCbCr 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 modes. I didn't really expect it to be this bad. There is no banding with 10-bit 4:4:4/4:2:2 output. I will post some screen capture shots soon.

It is also interesting that YCbCr 4:4:4 mode refresh rate is 24Hz instead of 23.976Hz. It switches to 24Hz both in Auto Color space mode and when 4:4:4 is selected manually. Wonder why no one is complaining about stutter.

[wesk05]

Okay, just started testing some audio and image files with my new x9s.

- Images (jpg. png) display with horrible banding. I have my output set to YCbCr 4:2:2 limited, deep color off. I've tried a number of different combinations, all have the same banding on my LG UHD LED set. Can anything be done about the banding?

For picture viewing ideal setting would be RGB Full.

[OlivierQC]

Hello wesk05,

How are you,

Thanks for your tests 

               
 it's really strange, I'm the opposite,

and i'm not surprise about the 4.2.2, with all the boxes I got the 4.2.2 has always had banding, as if it was just 8Bit as indicated by my receiver, but hdmkv uses 4.2.2 and does not talk about a banding problem...

we have different results according to our equipment

Without banding (en AUTO) (someone who has a Sony A9 use the same parameters and he has no banding either)
https://image.ibb.co/eoOyPG/DSC05696.jpg

With banding (10Bit)
https://image.ibb.co/ivi4yb/DSC05697.jpg


For information:
My parameters with the Zidoo X10 FW 2.0.5:
http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/...post-27401
Equipement :
Sony 65X930C/10bit panel (HDMI enhanced)
Onkyo 656 (4k/hdcp 2.2/HDR)
Cable Monster Ultra HD Platinum

Anyway since the FW 1.4.12 with their new option ''hdmi range mode'', there are problems, I sent several message to zidoo but no answer.

and since that people who have banding problems choose to stay in FW 1.4.6.



about the mode refresh rate is 24Hz instead of 23.976Hz

when I have a video HD or UHD 23.976, the zidoo indicates on the screen 23.976 unless it is a video in 24p in this case it indicates 24hz as with the demos life of pi and exodus.

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/...post-34480

with FW 1.5.0/zidoo X10
(I use trailers for my videos)


so you want to say that the information shown on the screen about the refresh rate is not good ?

I read that some people with zidoo X9s had problems with this options on Zidoo forum.

See you

and thank you again for answering my previous question, you are an expert for me  

[wesk05]

 it's really strange, I'm the opposite,
and i'm not surprise about the 4.2.2, with all the boxes I got the 4.2.2 has always had banding, as if it was just 8Bit as indicated by my receiver, but hdmkv uses 4.2.2 and does not talk about a banding problem...

I read your post on home-cinema forum. I think there is some misunderstanding. I see banding with 12-bit modes, whether it is set automatically in "Deep Color" Auto mode or specifically selected. I saw no banding with the 10-bit modes.

To rule out a display processing problem, I did compare this with the Shield which also outputs 12-bit YCbCr 4:2:2 at 4K 23.076Hz. I saw no banding with the Shield. To rule out display completely, I will do some HDMI captures and check the output for banding.

As for the refresh rate problem, the box only shows what refresh rate it is switching to, the actual output could be something different which is what is happening with YCbCr 4:4:4 modes. 23.976 framerate content is being played at 24Hz.

[OlivierQC]

Hello wesk05,

sorry, I correct my mistake right away thanks

thanks for your help

[lionne]

 Hi all,
Could anyone check if there is banding with the ISO / BDMV UHD HDR
  It would be kind of you   

I can confirm horrible banding with 12-bit YCbCr 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 modes. I didn't really expect it to be this bad. There is no banding with 10-bit 4:4:4/4:2:2 output. I will post some screen capture shots soon.

It is also interesting that YCbCr 4:4:4 mode refresh rate is 24Hz instead of 23.976Hz. It switches to 24Hz both in Auto Color space mode and when 4:4:4 is selected manually. Wonder why no one is complaining about stutter.   

 Are you saying that if you select YCbCr 4:4:4, the 23.976 material is output as 24.000? If so, this player will be going back promptly, as that is unacceptable and I could not live with the stutter.

[lionne]

have a look in the Zidoo forum - there you will find everything related specific to the Zidoo devices...

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/...-x10.5589/

 Except support there is weak, which is why I am in here asking questions. I have no idea how to access ZDMC as it doesn't seem to be installed on my X9s.

[Skank]

It the Zidoo X9S the right player for me?

Currently, I have a Dune Base 3.0 (which has a SMB server, so I can transfer movies to it over LAN), along with 2 Mediasonic 4-bay enclosures (http://www.mediasonic.ca/product.php?id=1357290977) (I have 6 drives currently, all in NTFS), and both of them are connected to a USB Hub

And I am using the Logitech Harmony One to control it.

Will the X9S be able to replicate everything I'm doing now? (SMB server to transfer files, connecting multi-bay enclosures with a USB hub, write to NTFS drives over LAN, HD Audio Bistreaming), and control it with the Logitech Harmony One?

According to your setup, I recommend you to stick with Dune Base. X9S is still unreliable. Next firmware upgrade might break something. I use it just for watching movies. Couple of subtitle lines are missing every 5 mins or so.

Hello wesk05,

sorry, I correct my mistake right away thanks

thanks for your help

What should we set to then? Limited and ycbcr ? But which one?

[wesk05]

Are you saying that if you select YCbCr 4:4:4, the 23.976 material is output as 24.000? If so, this player will be going back promptly, as that is unacceptable and I could not live with the stutter. 

Yes it is output as 24Hz. I think this is something new to firmware 1.5. I don't think I have seen it in earlier firmware. It is also possible that this has been fixed in the latest 2.0 firmware. I haven't installed the 2.0.

What should we set to then? Limited and ycbcr ? But which one? 

HDMI Range should be set to limited for video. As for what to select for Deep Color and Color Space. It depends. I am seeing banding with 12-bit YCbCr 4:4:4 or 4:2:2, but not with 10-bit modes. @OlivierQC is having the opposite experience. You may have to try all 4 options (10/12 bit YCbCr 4:4:4/4:2:2) and see what works best in your setup. If you leave Deep Color and Color Space in "Auto", it will switch to 12-bit YCbCr 4:4:4 for 4K24p (probably for 1080p24 also).

[OlivierQC]

thanks Wesk05,

it's more complicated since they added the HDMI range mode option with the 1.4.12 if I do not make a mistake.

tonight I'll do some tests with my X9S FW 2.0.5 with Demo UHD HDR 24p

site 4Kmedia.org 

http://4kmedia.org/ultra-hd-hdr-samsung ... onderland/

http://4kmedia.org/samsung-dubai-uhd-4k-demo/

we will see if there is banding on my TV with the same settings of my X10 and I will try those of wesk05.

@Shank
in my case i use Deep Color ''AUTO'' (12bit) and I do not notice any banding wiht my Zidoo X10

see you

see you

[wesk05]

I checked for banding only on those specific scenes from the The Martian and The Revenant that have been mentioned in other posts. 

Given below are two frame exports from the original bitstream. What I will be doing is compare these specific frames in the HDMI capture from Zidoo X9S. The frames below should be considered as reference. If you see banding in them, then that is the way it is in the original bitstream.

https://i.imgur.com/adxZiZL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/n4TuZ4t.jpg

Imgur has changed the uploads to JPG for some reason.

[lionne]

Are you saying that if you select YCbCr 4:4:4, the 23.976 material is output as 24.000? If so, this player will be going back promptly, as that is unacceptable and I could not live with the stutter. 

Yes it is output as 24Hz. I think this is something new to firmware 1.5. I don't think I have seen it in earlier firmware. It is also possible that this has been fixed in the latest 2.0 firmware. I haven't installed the 2.0.

What should we set to then? Limited and ycbcr ? But which one? 

HDMI Range should be set to limited for video. As for what to select for Deep Color and Color Space. It depends. I am seeing banding with 12-bit YCbCr 4:4:4 or 4:2:2, but not with 10-bit modes. @OlivierQC is having the opposite experience. You may have to try all 4 options (10/12 bit YCbCr 4:4:4/4:2:2) and see what works best in your setup. If you leave Deep Color and Color Space in "Auto", it will switch to 12-bit YCbCr 4:4:4 for 4K24p (probably for 1080p24 also).    

I have v1.4.12 installed. According to the x9s - it says it is up-to-date when I check for updates, even though there is a 1.5.0 and a 2.0.5 on their site for download. Why isn't it seeing those? Are they flagged as beta so the player won't install them?

Anyways, I have been checking motion bars this afternoon, and on 1.4.12, I don't see the 42-second stutter associated with playing 23.976 files at 24.000 when I enable YCbCr 4:4:4. The bars seem to play smoothly without that framerate stutter you're referring to. So maybe they did introduce that bug in v1.5.0? Is there any way to get Ziddo to confirm if that is an issue that they introduced in 1.5.0, and have they fixed it in 2.0.5? Or if they haven't fixed it, are they even aware of it and are they working on it?

Support on the Zidoo forum is lacking to say the least. It's pretty bad that there are 2 newer firmwares out there and I'm afraid to try either one out of fear of breaking more stuff. Of course that means I can't take advantage of the fixes they do put into the newer firmwares. As I said earlier, I shouldn't have to worry about updating out of fear of breaking basic playback functionality.

Is blu-ray menu playback working on 2.0.5? It works for me on 1.4.12 but I heard it broke on 1.5.0. There's nothing in the 2.0.5 update notes to suggest framerate issues in 4:4:4 or blu-ray menu playback issues were fixed.

- By any chance, do you have the option "Enable 4k 23.976Hz" disabled under Playback settings? It says "When this switch is turned off and the frame rate is 23.976, only 24Hz output will be switched. It will have better device compatibility". I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean exactly. I'm just wondering if that has anything to do with the stutter you're seeing in 4:4:4 mode? That should only affect you if you are outputting 4k though, right? Some of these settings are very confusing and there's no help files available anywhere.

[lionne]

Okay, just started testing some audio and image files with my new x9s.

- Images (jpg. png) display with horrible banding. I have my output set to YCbCr 4:2:2 limited, deep color off. I've tried a number of different combinations, all have the same banding on my LG UHD LED set. Can anything be done about the banding?

For picture viewing ideal setting would be RGB Full.  

When I switch to RGB 4::4:4 the image gets lighter and more washed out. Is that because I had limited still selected? If I set to the x9s to RGB 4:4:4 full, will I need to set my TV to high for black level to match (it's on low for limited right now)? I wouldn't normally do that except when viewing images, but I tried every possible combination I could think of and I still get awful banding on my images. I made sure to set my TV to PC and confirmed it is displaying proper 4:4:4 using a 4:4:4 test image.

Are there any high-res test images out there that are specifically suited to test for banding? I'm not sure if maybe some of the images I'm viewing have some banding baked in due to conversion to jpeg from the raw files. There's some noticeable banding even when viewing them directly from my TV's built-in media player, though not nearly as bad as when using the X9s to view them. It's really bad when using the X9s - much worse than the TV's player or my other media players (WDTV and Mede8er).

I have no idea where to find ZDMC on my Zidoo so I can only test using the x9s's native player.