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epoxe · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-23, 05:01 by epoxe.)

Greetings! I got XBMC sideloaded to the new Amazon FireTV Stick.... I've tried the current gotham build, the nightly helix build, and SPMC. All 3 of these builds have TERRIBLE video quality.... the image is super pixelated and looks like its operating at a lower resoultion and changing the hardware acceleration mode (libfright/mediacodec/in any combination) has no effect that I can see. I've verified my source video's on my 1080p computer monitor look GREAT. Anyone have any idea on anything else to try? I've done some research but can't seem to find anything relevant.Cheers.

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2014-11-23, 10:57

debug log (wiki)?

Meyeone · 2014-11-23, 12:49

Hi try to go to setting on your fire stick and go to screen resolution and change it to 1080p @ 50 Hertz

epoxe · 2014-11-23, 16:35

My fire stick wont let me change it to 50hz it claims its an unsupported frequency. debug log incoming.

hdmkv · 2014-11-23, 16:53

I think Koying mentioned there's an issue with SPMC 13.3.3 that will be resolved with 13.3.4.

epoxe · 2014-11-23, 17:09

Yeah. honestly the hardware's so new I really shouldn't be wasting anyone's time. I'm just going to pull my request. Cheers!

ku2000 · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-24, 17:11 by ku2000.)

I bought fire tv stick yesterday too. I installed XBMC gotham the newest version. The resolution somehow seems to be downgraded when running it on any movies. I installed the previous version 12.2 xbmc and it ran the video with great resolution. However, on the version 12.2, it is stuttering and gets very slowed. I have tried 3 different previous versions and they were all very slow when running 720P movies.

I think just figuring out how to make it work it in previous version will be the best at this point.

epoxe · (This post was last modified: 2014-11-24, 19:45 by epoxe.)

(2014-11-24, 17:02)ku2000 Wrote: I bought fire tv stick yesterday too. I installed XBMC gotham the newest version. The resolution somehow seems to be downgraded when running it on any movies. I installed the previous version 12.2 xbmc and it ran the video with great resolution. However, on the version 12.2, it is stuttering and gets very slowed. I have tried 3 different previous versions and they were all very slow when running 720P movies.

I think just figuring out how to make it work it in previous version will be the best at this point.

Hey, I think the problem here is having hardware acceleration that works appropriately for this device on older software. I'm not sure how to get the firetvstick to playback video at 1080p (or whatever is going on). I've given up on having XBMC look good on this device for the time being as I'm sure some people more knowledgeable than myself will figure this out, and will keep it for future use in my kid's room, but in the meantime ordered a regular (not-stick) FireTV as I have friends that have used it to good effect.

Keep me posted if you figure something out. Cheers.

ku2000 · 2014-11-24, 22:05

Hey I actually kind of figured something out.

I am currently using Synology NAS as my dedicated media server.

I am not using XBMC but I figured out how to run movies with good quality.

I sideloaded ES file browser and also MX player with ARM neon 7 codec.

I just go to the file and open the file with MX player. Videos play great without any problem. On the fire tv stick.

epoxe · 2014-11-24, 22:10

Well its good to know the hardware is capable but for me to get my wife to use it, its gotta be simple.... es file would be too much hassle. I'm sure some of the smart fellas around here will get a grip on why it looks bad. (Although from what I'm gathering either not everyone has this problem, or just doesn't notice the crappy image quality).

Chimera2345 · 2014-11-24, 22:33

What type of files are we talking? What video, audio, bitrate etc? I haven't noticed any problems with my 2 sticks.

ku2000 · 2014-11-24, 23:10

I have to say a lot of people are not really noticing it simply because they don't care.
And I am sure somebody will figure it out soon enough. In the meantime this method is not at all complicated.

Chimera2345 · 2014-11-24, 23:17

(2014-11-24, 23:10)ku2000 Wrote: I have to say a lot of people are not really noticing it simply because they don't care.

Yeah, because XBMC users are notoriously easy-going about their video quality. Confused

If a lot of people are not really noticing it, it's because they're not really seeing it.

BrandonH · 2014-11-24, 23:42

There is definitely something off on 720P content upscaled to 1080p. 1080p native content looks nice but 720P content definitely has PQ issues and its a little hard to describe. I've tried the latest TVMC and Kodi beta and they both behave the same.

John1234 · 2014-11-25, 06:03

I am having the same issues with 720p using Gotham 13.2. I've tweaked every setting I can find on the Fire TV and in XBMC. What I've found is that anytime "libstagefright" is enabled in Hardware Acceleration, the video quality is terrible. Turning it off gives very good video quality but then causes the video playback to stutter. No other settings had any impact.

Perhaps something wrong or incompatible in libstagefright?