[tormentoman]

Hi everyone, my first post here :-)

Well, it looks like I am also experiencing this frame dropping / video stuttering, both with v18 and v18.1.

I am running Kodi on a Philips OLED-TV 65OLED873/12 (Android 7), reading the files via SMB. I´m positive this is not a buffering issue between the PC <-> TV.

I been trying to adjust / modify some of the player parameters, as the refresh rate, and activating / disabling MediaCodec and MediaCodec (Surface) options.

Depending of the different combinations and the played files (from SD to 4K), outcome is different, from a very unpleasant playback, up to a some decent, smooth playback, but getting those small frame drops / stuttering time to time.

I been reading all your replies, and looking into the support forum, but it looks like the issue has not been identified yet, am I right?

Any ideas, or tips?

[starkman]

It seems that some users have the same / similar issues on Windows, too.
Here is another reference, by someone who has upgraded from 16.7 to 18: 

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=340162

In my case, my Windows Kodi 18 has no issues with stuttering videos, menus, etc. My set up is not shinny and new. It's a Windows 10 64-bit PC, with an Intel i5 4th generation CPU, 12 GB RAM (DDR3), an SSD as the main HDD and a quite old GPU (GeForce GT 630 2GB). 

Now, back to the Android issues:
I've just tried what @stevieland58 suggested. I have an air-mouse, so I can use it easily as a remote and then whenever I want I can convert it to a mouse. I navigated (using it as a mouse) through menus, submenus, addons, highlighting tabs, etc for quite a few minutes and I did not see any issues, but if some users have this issue (and didn't have it with 17.6), then I guess there is an issue there, too.

Is your android device using a s905x board with MM operating system? Because as ive said before, all works fine on others devices before and after that I have tested. 

 Yes. 

My TV Box is a Mini M8S II 2G/16G - S905X with Android 6 and a custom ROM (by Xannytech) and it has never produced such issues in the past, with Kodi 16.x and Kodi 17.x

[starkman]

The Mini M8S II doesn't support auto frame-rate switching, that's why everyone is getting stuttering playback.
The manufacturer has to fix it in their firmware and release at least Android Oreo firmware to make it better.
Marshmallow doesn't support the Android Display API used in Kodi 18.

If people look in their Kodi logs when debugging is enabled, you will see it only picks up 1920x1080p@60hz, no other resolution or frame-rate.
The whitelist resolutions in Kodi System - Display isn't even set and only 1920x1080p@60hz will show because you have broken firmware on a 'ship and forget' device.
All your Android resolutions have to show here and be selected for Kodi to have smooth video playback.

And there you have it, the kod ui has moved to 4k in 18 and thats why s905x devices cannot handle it. Playback or not.
Kodi can fix this by giving the option to select a max output but highly doubt they will.   

 Kodi already has settings to change the UI resolution to 720p/1080p/4K and a separate setting for UI resolution while a video is playing
under Kodi - System - Display  

In both my Krypton and Leia Kodi setups, these options are greyed out as @stevieland58 has mentioned.

Resolution 1920x1080
Refresh Rate: 60.00

The only option that we can alter is "Set GUI resolution limit".

[stevieland58]

It seems that some users have the same / similar issues on Windows, too.
Here is another reference, by someone who has upgraded from 16.7 to 18: 

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=340162

In my case, my Windows Kodi 18 has no issues with stuttering videos, menus, etc. My set up is not shinny and new. It's a Windows 10 64-bit PC, with an Intel i5 4th generation CPU, 12 GB RAM (DDR3), an SSD as the main HDD and a quite old GPU (GeForce GT 630 2GB). 

Now, back to the Android issues:
I've just tried what @stevieland58 suggested. I have an air-mouse, so I can use it easily as a remote and then whenever I want I can convert it to a mouse. I navigated (using it as a mouse) through menus, submenus, addons, highlighting tabs, etc for quite a few minutes and I did not see any issues, but if some users have this issue (and didn't have it with 17.6), then I guess there is an issue there, too.

Is your android device using a s905x board with MM operating system? Because as ive said before, all works fine on others devices before and after that I have tested. 

 Yes. 

My TV Box is a Mini M8S II 2G/16G - S905X with Android 6 and a custom ROM (by Xannytech) and it has never produced such issues in the past, with Kodi 16.x and Kodi 17.x

This is the only device I’ve tested thats had no issues with what I’m describing.
I’ve tried it with firmware rv109 and rv112 "megabox" and has been fine. Tried 18 on another later version of the m8s II with different firmware and had the exact issues im having with most other s905x with same specs.

The m8s II with the firmware I mentioned first the playback and ui was always smooth.

[stevieland58]

It seems that some users have the same / similar issues on Windows, too.
Here is another reference, by someone who has upgraded from 16.7 to 18: 

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=340162

In my case, my Windows Kodi 18 has no issues with stuttering videos, menus, etc. My set up is not shinny and new. It's a Windows 10 64-bit PC, with an Intel i5 4th generation CPU, 12 GB RAM (DDR3), an SSD as the main HDD and a quite old GPU (GeForce GT 630 2GB). 

Now, back to the Android issues:
I've just tried what @stevieland58 suggested. I have an air-mouse, so I can use it easily as a remote and then whenever I want I can convert it to a mouse. I navigated (using it as a mouse) through menus, submenus, addons, highlighting tabs, etc for quite a few minutes and I did not see any issues, but if some users have this issue (and didn't have it with 17.6), then I guess there is an issue there, too.

Is your android device using a s905x board with MM operating system? Because as ive said before, all works fine on others devices before and after that I have tested. 

 Yes. 

My TV Box is a Mini M8S II 2G/16G - S905X with Android 6 and a custom ROM (by Xannytech) and it has never produced such issues in the past, with Kodi 16.x and Kodi 17.x

I have an idea for you seeing as i have no issues with that same device (except shit wifi)

Go to google play and install a free beta app named amlogic tv box tool.
After install in display related tick everything except hdmi rgb.
Also on the main screen click autostart then exit.

Then in the android settings
Click display the turn off hdr.
Then try 1080p 60hz instead of auto.
Then turn playback settings to on.

Do you know how to tweak the cpu governers? If so select performance or interactive.

Try that.

[fede01_8]

I'm watching A Star Is Born 2160p and the stuttering is fucking ruining the movie for me!

I have a MiBox

And where is the movie stored? What source or add-on are you using?

A little information goes a long way, as our crystal balls are still away being upgraded for Leia.

Portable HDD. No addons

[starkman]

Is your android device using a s905x board with MM operating system? Because as ive said before, all works fine on others devices before and after that I have tested. 

 Yes. 

My TV Box is a Mini M8S II 2G/16G - S905X with Android 6 and a custom ROM (by Xannytech) and it has never produced such issues in the past, with Kodi 16.x and Kodi 17.x

This is the only device I’ve tested thats had no issues with what I’m describing.
I’ve tried it with firmware rv109 and rv112 "megabox" and has been fine. Tried 18 on another later version of the m8s II with different firmware and had the exact issues im having with most other s905x with same specs.

The m8s II with the firmware I mentioned first the playback and ui was always smooth.   

I remember that the first two versions of Mini M8S II (with the P212 Motherboard) were the best ones. Only difference was the wireless antenna. The 1st one (that I had bought for my sister) had the AP6212 chip, while the 2nd one (the one I have) has the AP6212a chip which is really shitty. Some other P212 versions of the same box were released with various other wireless chips and after a while a new version of Mini M8S II was released, but I've read that it's pretty much a very different TV box, that has different motherboard and needs completely different firmwares, etc.
The irony is that I still have saved version of the "original" firmware (I actually have on my HDD: rv109 from androidtvbox.eu, rv109 from that Russian forum 4pda.ru/forum,  rv110, 111 and 112 which is the "megabox" you mention).
But I remember that these firmwares were bloated and had issues with brightness and other stuff, so I opted to flash it with Xannytech's custom rom, and it seemed to work fine till now.
I'm really hesitant to flash the box with those "original" firmwares. Do you think it's worth it ?

[starkman]

Is your android device using a s905x board with MM operating system? Because as ive said before, all works fine on others devices before and after that I have tested. 

 Yes. 

My TV Box is a Mini M8S II 2G/16G - S905X with Android 6 and a custom ROM (by Xannytech) and it has never produced such issues in the past, with Kodi 16.x and Kodi 17.x

I have an idea for you seeing as i have no issues with that same device (except shit wifi)

Go to google play and install a free beta app named amlogic tv box tool.
After install in display related tick everything except hdmi rgb.
Also on the main screen click autostart then exit.

Then in the android settings
Click display the turn off hdr.
Then try 1080p 60hz instead of auto.
Then turn playback settings to on.

Do you know how to tweak the cpu governers? If so select performance or interactive.

Try that.  

I have no idea how to tweak the cpu governers.
Should I try the other things you suggested without tweaking the cpu governers?

EDIT:
Ok so I did what you suggested (except that cpu governers tweaking).
Let me mention that Playback Settings was already to ON, 1080x60hz was already selected (with "Auto switch to best resolution" to ON)

I did not see any improvement with these settings.
I've also tried 1080x60hz with "Auto switch to best resolution" to OFF.
No change.

[stevieland58]

 Yes. 

I have an idea for you seeing as i have no issues with that same device (except shit wifi)

Go to google play and install a free beta app named amlogic tv box tool.
After install in display related tick everything except hdmi rgb.
Also on the main screen click autostart then exit.

Then in the android settings
Click display the turn off hdr.
Then try 1080p 60hz instead of auto.
Then turn playback settings to on.

Do you know how to tweak the cpu governers? If so select performance or interactive.

Try that.  

I have no idea how to tweak the cpu governers.
Should I try the other things you suggested without tweaking the cpu governers?

EDIT:
Ok so I did what you suggested (except that cpu governers tweaking).
Let me mention that Playback Settings was already to ON, 1080x60hz was already selected (with "Auto switch to best resolution" to ON)

I did not see any improvement with these settings.
I've also tried 1080x60hz with "Auto switch to best resolution" to OFF.
No change.

Did you try them with the Amlogic Tool? That’s the point as it turns on things that are disabled in the firmware.

The stock firmware v109 or v112 is perfect as its rooted you can delete or disable all bloated firmware you don’t through root manager.
Also you can change boot sequence in the build.prop to elable a video instead and that triggers the mp4 codec from the beginning which then eliminates the darknesses issue.

Where are you located?

[starkman]

I have an idea for you seeing as i have no issues with that same device (except shit wifi)

Go to google play and install a free beta app named amlogic tv box tool.
After install in display related tick everything except hdmi rgb.
Also on the main screen click autostart then exit.

Then in the android settings
Click display the turn off hdr.
Then try 1080p 60hz instead of auto.
Then turn playback settings to on.

Do you know how to tweak the cpu governers? If so select performance or interactive.

Try that.  

I have no idea how to tweak the cpu governers.
Should I try the other things you suggested without tweaking the cpu governers?

EDIT:
Ok so I did what you suggested (except that cpu governers tweaking).
Let me mention that Playback Settings was already to ON, 1080x60hz was already selected (with "Auto switch to best resolution" to ON)

I did not see any improvement with these settings.
I've also tried 1080x60hz with "Auto switch to best resolution" to OFF.
No change.  

Did you try them with the Amlogic Tool? That’s the point as it turns on things that are disabled in the firmware.

The stock firmware v109 or v112 is perfect as its rooted you can delete or disable all bloated firmware you don’t through root manager.
Also you can change boot sequence in the build.prop to elable a video instead and that triggers the mp4 codec from the beginning which then eliminates the darknesses issue.

Where are you located?  

 Yeah, I set up the Amlogic Tool as you suggested, but with no result.
I'm located in Athens, Greece.
I will try once more with AmLogic Tool and the other settings you mentioned. If I don't see any result, again, I will keep a twrp recovery backup of my current ROM on a microSD card and I will try the Megabox rv112 Rom.
The one I have, I had downloaded it from here, a while back, before I ended up flashing Xannytech's rom: https://bit.ly/2GwBx2S
I will come back with feedback. 
Thank you for your help. Appreciated.

p.s. Any root manager you could suggest for disabling / uninstalling the bloated apps ? This is something I have never tried.

[stevieland58]

I have no idea how to tweak the cpu governers.
Should I try the other things you suggested without tweaking the cpu governers?

EDIT:
Ok so I did what you suggested (except that cpu governers tweaking).
Let me mention that Playback Settings was already to ON, 1080x60hz was already selected (with "Auto switch to best resolution" to ON)

I did not see any improvement with these settings.
I've also tried 1080x60hz with "Auto switch to best resolution" to OFF.
No change.  

Did you try them with the Amlogic Tool? That’s the point as it turns on things that are disabled in the firmware.

The stock firmware v109 or v112 is perfect as its rooted you can delete or disable all bloated firmware you don’t through root manager.
Also you can change boot sequence in the build.prop to elable a video instead and that triggers the mp4 codec from the beginning which then eliminates the darknesses issue.

Where are you located?  

 Yeah, I set up the Amlogic Tool as you suggested, but with no result.
I'm located in Athens, Greece.
I will try once more with AmLogic Tool and the other settings you mentioned. If I don't see any result, again, I will keep a twrp recovery backup of my current ROM on a microSD card and I will try the Megabox rv112 Rom.
The one I have, I had downloaded it from here, a while back, before I ended up flashing Xannytech's rom: https://bit.ly/2GwBx2S
I will come back with feedback. 
Thank you for your help. Appreciated.

p.s. Any root manager you could suggest for disabling / uninstalling the bloated apps ? This is something I have never tried.

You can adjust the darkness frim the amlogic tool manager.

Send me a private message, I’ll send you a link to the apk's to use.

[starkman]

Did you try them with the Amlogic Tool? That’s the point as it turns on things that are disabled in the firmware.

The stock firmware v109 or v112 is perfect as its rooted you can delete or disable all bloated firmware you don’t through root manager.
Also you can change boot sequence in the build.prop to elable a video instead and that triggers the mp4 codec from the beginning which then eliminates the darknesses issue.

Where are you located?  

 Yeah, I set up the Amlogic Tool as you suggested, but with no result.
I'm located in Athens, Greece.
I will try once more with AmLogic Tool and the other settings you mentioned. If I don't see any result, again, I will keep a twrp recovery backup of my current ROM on a microSD card and I will try the Megabox rv112 Rom.
The one I have, I had downloaded it from here, a while back, before I ended up flashing Xannytech's rom: https://bit.ly/2GwBx2S
I will come back with feedback. 
Thank you for your help. Appreciated.

p.s. Any root manager you could suggest for disabling / uninstalling the bloated apps ? This is something I have never tried. 

You can adjust the darkness frim the amlogic tool manager.

Send me a private message, I’ll send you a link to the apk's to use. 

 Ok, done. Thanks.

[rainman74]

I've been working with a nice bloke @chrisyu testing out various ARM Android Kodi Leia tweaks that I've added and plugged in Software and Hardware decoding Kodi user selectable settings same as LibreELEC and CoreELEC AMLogic users get.

Found in Settings > Player > Videos >

For problematic mpeg2 DVD or issues with mpeg4 select:

Accelerate mpeg2 > HD and up
Accelerate mpeg4 > HD and up

This will then Software decode SD mpeg2 and mpeg4 content automatically.

Also when DVD are playing select the On Screen Settings > Video settings > and you can play around with the Deinterlace Method.

I can now SW decode 576i Live TV and get YADIF2x (the highest quality) software deinterlacing on a Mi Box.
This package will not interfere with already installed Kodi Leia - it uses a different signature:

kodi-armv7a-swhw-20190215-379f5f9.apk (click)

This should also help those users in this thread....

Solved - XVID/MPEG-4/MPEG-2 files in SD quality play in slow motion (click)

W.

 Can you please change the package name to org.xbmc.amc or somthing similar, because the current one (com.amazon.aiv.eu) cannot be installed on European Sony TVs.

[chrisyu]

 Can you please change the package name to org.xbmc.amc or somthing similar, because the current one (com.amazon.aiv.eu) cannot be installed on European Sony TVs. 

  
OK, I will build a new apk with package name "org.xbmc.amc" .
The current one with package name "com.amazon.aiv.eu" stays same.

Chris

Update: kodi-org.xbmc.amc-20190219-5e82ff9.apk is uploaded to https://app.box.com/v/kodi4sonytv .
kodi-org.xbmc.amc-* are same to kodi-armv7a-* , only package name differ.

The mpeg software/hardware patch is included starting from 20190206 .

[rainman74]

 Can you please change the package name to org.xbmc.amc or somthing similar, because the current one (com.amazon.aiv.eu) cannot be installed on European Sony TVs. 

  
OK, I will build a new apk with package name "org.xbmc.amc" .
The current one with package name "com.amazon.aiv.eu" stays same.

Chris

Update: kodi-org.xbmc.amc-20190219-5e82ff9.apk is uploaded to https://app.box.com/v/kodi4sonytv .
kodi-org.xbmc.amc-* are same to kodi-armv7a-* , only package name differ.

The mpeg software/hardware patch is included starting from 20190206 . 

I can't access the Kodi Repo with that build. Is there any access protection if you have changed the package name?