[putuco]

Hello there!
today i'm using an old NUC i3 with ubuntu supporting only full HD and struggling with passthrough sound.

Finally what is the best choice in 2021 for:
- KODI latest version
- all video formats 4k, HDR10, ...
- all latest audio format atmos, TrueHD, ...
- purely and solely dedicated to play local HD/4K videos from NAS server & streaming services: AMAZON, NETFLIX & DISNEY
- connected to latest EMOTIVA XMC2 pre-amplifier able to support all audio/video formats

based on the first page, I've shortlisted the ODROID N2  and the NVIDIA SHIELD 2019 PRO.
Am I right? which one to choose?
Is there any other one to look at? should I wait few weeks for a potential new shield/Odroid/? very promising?

Go for the Shield. I just got one and I am very happy. Atmos work with Prime, Netflix and Disney+, and audio passthrough works flawlessly in all the apps I have tested (Kodi, Plex and VLC)

[jayce996]

yes, i just did buy one! thanks you all for your inputs, Shield is one of a kind !!!

[RKCRLR]

Hello there!
today i'm using an old NUC i3 with ubuntu supporting only full HD and struggling with passthrough sound.

Finally what is the best choice in 2021 for:
- KODI latest version
- all video formats 4k, HDR10, ...
- all latest audio format atmos, TrueHD, ...
- purely and solely dedicated to play local HD/4K videos from NAS server & streaming services: AMAZON, NETFLIX & DISNEY
- connected to latest EMOTIVA XMC2 pre-amplifier able to support all audio/video formats

based on the first page, I've shortlisted the ODROID N2  and the NVIDIA SHIELD 2019 PRO.
Am I right? which one to choose?
Is there any other one to look at? should I wait few weeks for a potential new shield/Odroid/? very promising?

Go for the Shield. I just got one and I am very happy. Atmos work with Prime, Netflix and Disney+, and audio passthrough works flawlessly in all the apps I have tested (Kodi, Plex and VLC)

The main thing missing in the Shield TV is YouTube HDR support.  But it works great for everything else.

[Churada]

Thinking of upgrading to the Odroid N+ with Linux and emmc primarily as I'd like a browser and other stuff on there as well as Kodi.
Any reason why a Android install might be better? Thinking the apps on android might be nice but like to fiddle a bit under the hood too!
From a purely Kodi perspective any reason to go for Android over Linux or vice versa?
The frame rate switching concerns me as it bugged the heck out of me when it didn't work on other devices in the past - the first post says "all devices listed above running OSMC / LibreELEC / CoreELEC / Windows - Kodi can do auto refresh & resolution switching" what about when running Linux (on the N+) and Kodi installed on that? Thanks for any advice!

[Sholander]

The easiest way is to get one spare eMMC and install several Android versions that exist for N2+ for experimenting and decide for yourself if it's better/worse.

[meccs]

I am really impressed by the Chromecast with Google TV as a Kodi device. Yes, there is no resolution switching but the streaming itself feels really robust, even with just Wifi. I tried to increase the Kodi buffer quite a bit and it seems to even offload it's own UI to make more room. You notice this when you back out of Kodi after streaming something and it takes a few seconds to load the UI, just like when you restart the device. Fire TV 4k Stick and Cubes had issues here and there for me, not so the CCwGTV. I have a 120 Hz TV with 5:5 pulldown so the refresh rate thing isn't an issue for me personally.

[noggin]

I am really impressed by the Chromecast with Google TV as a Kodi device. Yes, there is no resolution switching but the streaming itself feels really robust, even with just Wifi. I tried to increase the Kodi buffer quite a bit and it seems to even offload it's own UI to make more room. You notice this when you back out of Kodi after streaming something and it takes a few seconds to load the UI, just like when you restart the device. Fire TV 4k Stick and Cubes had issues here and there for me, not so the CCwGTV. I have a 120 Hz TV with 5:5 pulldown so the refresh rate thing isn't an issue for me personally.

Ah - so your TV does a 3:2 removal of the permanent 59.94p output with 3:2 23.976p content, and then displays it with 5:5 at 120p.

That's great - but it doesn't solve the problem with 25fps content (like all the European Netflix and Prime Video series - such as The Crown, Series 2 onwards of The Grand Tour etc., or for Prime Video's live sport like Premiere League football, Tennis etc.) where you really need refresh rate switching to output 25/50fps content at 50fps.

25fps content at 59.94Hz is not great, but 50fps content at 59.94Hz is horrible - with 10Hz judder on any motion (due to every 5th frame being repeated, so 10 frame repeats each second)

[meccs]

Yes of course but I rarely watch 25/50 fps content and switch manually to it. Not ideal I agree. I don’t want to buy multiple Shields so the CCwGTV is a good and cheap alternative since I didn’t have the best experience with Fire TV‘s etc

[noggin]

Yes of course but I rarely watch 25/50 fps content and switch manually to it. Not ideal I agree. I don’t want to buy multiple Shields so the CCwGTV is a good and cheap alternative since I didn’t have the best experience with Fire TV‘s etc

Yes - to each their own.  I watch a lot of 25/50 content - but also want to watch 23.976fps content easily.  The US-centricity of Google is so annoying...

[putuco]

Hello there!
today i'm using an old NUC i3 with ubuntu supporting only full HD and struggling with passthrough sound.

Finally what is the best choice in 2021 for:
- KODI latest version
- all video formats 4k, HDR10, ...
- all latest audio format atmos, TrueHD, ...
- purely and solely dedicated to play local HD/4K videos from NAS server & streaming services: AMAZON, NETFLIX & DISNEY
- connected to latest EMOTIVA XMC2 pre-amplifier able to support all audio/video formats

based on the first page, I've shortlisted the ODROID N2  and the NVIDIA SHIELD 2019 PRO.
Am I right? which one to choose?
Is there any other one to look at? should I wait few weeks for a potential new shield/Odroid/? very promising?

Go for the Shield. I just got one and I am very happy. Atmos work with Prime, Netflix and Disney+, and audio passthrough works flawlessly in all the apps I have tested (Kodi, Plex and VLC)

The main thing missing in the Shield TV is YouTube HDR support.  But it works great for everything else.

Yes but I barely look Youtube HDR content. The only device I know with HDR support at Youtube is the Firestick. My Android TV also does not support HDR at Youtube. However, for all the rest is perfect. Maybe the other thing which bothers me is that Shield has no automatic frame rate switching...

[noggin]

Maybe the other thing which bothers me is that Shield has no automatic frame rate switching...

I think it's important to be clear on this. The Shield TV has automatic frame-rate switching in Kodi (which is what a lot of people come here for information on).

Like pretty much every device on the market it doesn't have automatic frame-rate switching for DRM streaming apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney + etc. - though unlike most players it does offer a 'press a button when video is playing to set the right frame rate option'

The only media player that seems to get frame rate switching right for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+ etc. are the current HD and 4K Apple TV models - but they can only run MrMC's fork of Kodi (without most add ons other than PVR). The Fire TV models offer frame rate switching for Prime Video (and in Kodi) - but not for most other streaming services.

[wrxtasy]

(*) There are issues with 24.000 vs 23.976 content (the ATV outputs at 23.976) - but most content is 23.976 so is fine.

That integer Frame Rate issue will finally be fixed when Apple TV tvOS v14.5 drops to the public real soon.

See HERE(click)

[WeldSpark]

Odroid c2. Seems like coreelec is dropping support for Odroid C2, s905 devices. Is there any other alternatives to coreelec or do I need to buy a newer device?

[ozkhan1]

Does LibreELEC on intel support HDR yet or is that still a no go?

[noggin]

Does LibreELEC on intel support HDR yet or is that still a no go?

There are some experimental builds that work on Gemini Lake devices with native HDMI 2.0 support - but they are, or were, still 8-bit (with an HDR EOTF) rather than 10-bit output (so you get HDR but may also get banding), though Rec 2020 gamut stuff is correctly handled ISTR.  There appears to be no support for 4:2:2 YCbCr output - and no support for 2160p50 and above.  There are all sorts of issues with most SoCs that use DisplayPort output with off-board DP->HDMI conversion using an LSPCon chip on the motherboard...  

More in the LibreElec thread here https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/13738-.../?pageNo=1 (Special builds required because LibreElec nightlies and new release due are still using the older legacy X11 etc. stuff I believe, but as a result nVidia is still supported)

I'd say still a no go other than for experimenters (not hugely dissimilar to the LibreElec Raspberry Pi 4B HDR situation - though the Pi 4B doesn't have proper Rec 2020 support implemented yet either)

Pi 4B HDR stuff here in case people are interested https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/23442-.../?pageNo=1 (NB now in the nightlies - no special builds required AIUI)