[bubblegum57]

Hi all,
I'm using kodi on tv, a videoprojector and a tablet.
All of them sharing the same database.
My tablet is an old galaxy note 10.1 and I would like to change it.
I couldn't find any advice for a tablet, do you have anything in your mind?

will you use the tablet for playback?  at home? or remote?

I'm asking, but don't really have much of an idea.

I did have an apple ipad, which I used to play movies over plex when I was in hospital. But they are very expensive.

Yes it's for using at home so direct connection with the nas.
I use it when working on the treadmill.

If your tablet is working fine now, & just want something newer, I would just get the same make but within your budget. 

Hopefully someone else can help your more.

[biau]

will you use the tablet for playback?  at home? or remote?

I'm asking, but don't really have much of an idea.

I did have an apple ipad, which I used to play movies over plex when I was in hospital. But they are very expensive.

Yes it's for using at home so direct connection with the nas.
I use it when working on the treadmill.

If your tablet is working fine now, & just want something newer, I would just get the same make but within your budget. 

Hopefully someone else can help your more.

No that's the issue, I can't read x265 content or high bitrate files.
I was just asking if there was something to avoid and / or a best buy tablet for Kodi.

[putuco]

Fantastic, by adjusting the inputstream setting it now plays ok. Did have to tweak the audio delay. 

In Kodi netflix plays ok, I have 4k tv, left inputstream at max.

Thanks for this, I thought I was coming on helping someone, & end up being helped myself.

On my setup I've not had to adjust the audio for Netflix. my satellite was a little out on audio, so for that I had to bring it in a little. I think that's always a bit variable by hardware and source.

If you watch one of the Netflix shows that can be streamed in 4K does actaully show it's rendering it in 4k. Does it look 4K? It's not just upscaling a 1080p Netflix stream?

I think pressing 'o' (for Output) on kodi, shows an overlay on the screen showing info about the source. If I play an esp of season 6 of house of cards for example (which the plugin say is a 4k show) the overlay say 1280x720 which would be right on my PI as that is what i've set the max to. I'm just curious to know it's actually rendering full 4K from the plugin on the shield. Maybe it's totally obvious for you to see on the TV. I don't have a 4k tv yet, so I don't know.

And glad i could help! lol this forums often work both ways. Often found stuff I didn't even know that I didn't know here!

That's good to know, it appears to run full 4K DRM content from within the Kodi plugin. So, I think it's probably fair to assume that it will work in a similar way on the other 4K Widevine L1 devices which are Netflix 4k certified. I have about 5 clients currently on PI's which I'll be looking to upgrade. So Shields for all is going to be a pricey solution! In my case, I am only intending using them as Kodi clients, they will have no backend stuff as all that lives on my main Server, so I don't want to pay for more than is needed just to achieve 4k DRM.

The UK price for a;
Standard (non pro) 2019 Shield is about £150
Xiaome Mi Box S, about £55
Amazon Fire Stick 4K, about £40
Google Chomecast Ultra, £50

I don't think there are any other significant options that at Netflix 4K certified.

If just using this as a 4K Kodi client, it does feel the Shield is over priced since it is over specified and featured for those needs. I have a feeling it will be a much better device that the others, but only worth it if using it to it's full potential, which I will not be, as to me it's just a route to 4K DRM content. So it would appear for me, it's between the other 3.

Of those, the lack of USB ports make me pulled towards the Mi Box S. Main reason being, remote/keyboard. After much searching and trying different things I have found the best remote/keyboard to be the Wechip, it has a nice normal remote on once side, keyboard on back, and an IR power for turning other TV on/off, so all in all is good fit and it currently on all my PI clients. So could continue using those if I went the Mi Box way.

Does anyone have any comment regarding the pros/cons of the last 3 or any I may have missed?

I am basing this on installing a launcher app, and having them all boot to Kodi. I assume all support this?

Comments guys?



So, I'm guessing (assuming) each of that could be set to autoboot into Kodi?

Be aware that Mi Box S, nor the Firestick, have no HD Audio passthrough, so if you need HD audio passed to your receiver, they are not options

[moamoa]

On my setup I've not had to adjust the audio for Netflix. my satellite was a little out on audio, so for that I had to bring it in a little. I think that's always a bit variable by hardware and source.

If you watch one of the Netflix shows that can be streamed in 4K does actaully show it's rendering it in 4k. Does it look 4K? It's not just upscaling a 1080p Netflix stream?

I think pressing 'o' (for Output) on kodi, shows an overlay on the screen showing info about the source. If I play an esp of season 6 of house of cards for example (which the plugin say is a 4k show) the overlay say 1280x720 which would be right on my PI as that is what i've set the max to. I'm just curious to know it's actually rendering full 4K from the plugin on the shield. Maybe it's totally obvious for you to see on the TV. I don't have a 4k tv yet, so I don't know.

And glad i could help! lol this forums often work both ways. Often found stuff I didn't even know that I didn't know here!

That's good to know, it appears to run full 4K DRM content from within the Kodi plugin. So, I think it's probably fair to assume that it will work in a similar way on the other 4K Widevine L1 devices which are Netflix 4k certified. I have about 5 clients currently on PI's which I'll be looking to upgrade. So Shields for all is going to be a pricey solution! In my case, I am only intending using them as Kodi clients, they will have no backend stuff as all that lives on my main Server, so I don't want to pay for more than is needed just to achieve 4k DRM.

The UK price for a;
Standard (non pro) 2019 Shield is about £150
Xiaome Mi Box S, about £55
Amazon Fire Stick 4K, about £40
Google Chomecast Ultra, £50

I don't think there are any other significant options that at Netflix 4K certified.

If just using this as a 4K Kodi client, it does feel the Shield is over priced since it is over specified and featured for those needs. I have a feeling it will be a much better device that the others, but only worth it if using it to it's full potential, which I will not be, as to me it's just a route to 4K DRM content. So it would appear for me, it's between the other 3.

Of those, the lack of USB ports make me pulled towards the Mi Box S. Main reason being, remote/keyboard. After much searching and trying different things I have found the best remote/keyboard to be the Wechip, it has a nice normal remote on once side, keyboard on back, and an IR power for turning other TV on/off, so all in all is good fit and it currently on all my PI clients. So could continue using those if I went the Mi Box way.

Does anyone have any comment regarding the pros/cons of the last 3 or any I may have missed?

I am basing this on installing a launcher app, and having them all boot to Kodi. I assume all support this?

Comments guys?



So, I'm guessing (assuming) each of that could be set to autoboot into Kodi?

Be aware that Mi Box S, nor the Firestick, have no HD Audio passthrough, so if you need HD audio passed to your receiver, they are not options

That's exactly what i want on a couple. So if I have HDMI from MI to amp, then HDMI from amp to TV. I'll get 4k on TV, but I will not be able to extract the 5.1 Dolby/DTS out the amp?? :/ 

What is "DOLBY, DTS" listed for in the specs on the MI box for then?

[putuco]

That's good to know, it appears to run full 4K DRM content from within the Kodi plugin. So, I think it's probably fair to assume that it will work in a similar way on the other 4K Widevine L1 devices which are Netflix 4k certified. I have about 5 clients currently on PI's which I'll be looking to upgrade. So Shields for all is going to be a pricey solution! In my case, I am only intending using them as Kodi clients, they will have no backend stuff as all that lives on my main Server, so I don't want to pay for more than is needed just to achieve 4k DRM.

The UK price for a;
Standard (non pro) 2019 Shield is about £150
Xiaome Mi Box S, about £55
Amazon Fire Stick 4K, about £40
Google Chomecast Ultra, £50

I don't think there are any other significant options that at Netflix 4K certified.

If just using this as a 4K Kodi client, it does feel the Shield is over priced since it is over specified and featured for those needs. I have a feeling it will be a much better device that the others, but only worth it if using it to it's full potential, which I will not be, as to me it's just a route to 4K DRM content. So it would appear for me, it's between the other 3.

Of those, the lack of USB ports make me pulled towards the Mi Box S. Main reason being, remote/keyboard. After much searching and trying different things I have found the best remote/keyboard to be the Wechip, it has a nice normal remote on once side, keyboard on back, and an IR power for turning other TV on/off, so all in all is good fit and it currently on all my PI clients. So could continue using those if I went the Mi Box way.

Does anyone have any comment regarding the pros/cons of the last 3 or any I may have missed?

I am basing this on installing a launcher app, and having them all boot to Kodi. I assume all support this?

Comments guys?



So, I'm guessing (assuming) each of that could be set to autoboot into Kodi?

Be aware that Mi Box S, nor the Firestick, have no HD Audio passthrough, so if you need HD audio passed to your receiver, they are not options

That's exactly what i want on a couple. So if I have HDMI from MI to amp, then HDMI from amp to TV. I'll get 4k on TV, but I will not be able to extract the 5.1 Dolby/DTS out the amp?? :/ 

What is "DOLBY, DTS" listed for in the specs on the MI box for then?

Haha good point. At Android 8.0 passthrough worked fine, but with 8.1 update it got broken. Mi Box S right now is at 9.0, and there is no chance for downgrade. Go for the Nvidia Shield

[noggin]

The UK price for a;
Standard (non pro) 2019 Shield is about £150
Xiaome Mi Box S, about £55
Amazon Fire Stick 4K, about £40
Google Chomecast Ultra, £50

I don't think there are any other significant options that at Netflix 4K certified.

Apple TV 4K is an option too, if you don't need Python Add-ons. You can run MrMC on the ATV 4K which is a fork of Kodi - it has PVR add-ons but not many others.

It's by a country mile the best platform for HDR UHD/4K streaming with Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ - as it's the only platform that appears to do proper frame-rate and dynamic range switching (*) for all the major DRM platforms automatically.  (The Fire TVs only do it with a few sources like Prime Video, and don't for Netflix, and the Shield TV has to use a kludgey 'press a button once you've started playing to sample and re-sync' method)

I stopped using any other platform for DRM streaming ages ago (I use a mix of MrMC on the ATV 4K and CoreElec running on AMLogic devices mainly at the moment). I have a Sony Smart TV so the DRM services on that are junk as everything is replayed at 59.94/60Hz with no frame rate switching at all... (I never use MotionFlow etc. so the motion artefacts are really obvious)

The ATV4K won't bitstream HD Audio codecs, but will decode them losslessly to PCM 5.1 (for 48KHz tracks at least). It also supports Atmos output for streaming services (but not True HD + Atmos for BD rips)

(*) 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.

[quacked]

and the Shield TV has to use a kludgey 'press a button once you've started playing to sample and re-sync' method)

Is this correct? Here it says this is not needed in Kodi and Plex: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/...%282019%29

[noggin]

and the Shield TV has to use a kludgey 'press a button once you've started playing to sample and re-sync' method)

Is this correct? Here it says this is not needed in Kodi and Plex: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/...%282019%29

My post was about DRM sources - and I should have specified DRM sources within their own apps.

Kodi and Plex are separate cases on the Shield TV - and you get frame rate switching within them. (The same is true of the Amazon Fire TV devices - you get frame rate switching in Kodi - and Prime Video - but not many other apps support it)

[moamoa]

and the Shield TV has to use a kludgey 'press a button once you've started playing to sample and re-sync' method)

Is this correct? Here it says this is not needed in Kodi and Plex: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/...%282019%29

My post was about DRM sources - and I should have specified DRM sources within their own apps.

Kodi and Plex are separate cases on the Shield TV - and you get frame rate switching within them. (The same is true of the Amazon Fire TV devices - you get frame rate switching in Kodi - and Prime Video - but not many other apps support it)

That's interesting. I didn't know that. So just to be clear the frame rate switching works within Kodi, so does that include the Kodi plugins for DRM content (Netflix, Amazon  addons), just not on prime video native app?

I always thought framerate switching was simply not possible on Android based devices. period. and that was trade off if you wanted to go that way over Linux based ones like LibreElec that support it great. For me, 4K and framerate switching were the 2 bigies that seemed mutually excusive until I read that.

So, the shield is the only android based 4k that can do this?

[noggin]

Is this correct? Here it says this is not needed in Kodi and Plex: https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/...%282019%29

My post was about DRM sources - and I should have specified DRM sources within their own apps.

Kodi and Plex are separate cases on the Shield TV - and you get frame rate switching within them. (The same is true of the Amazon Fire TV devices - you get frame rate switching in Kodi - and Prime Video - but not many other apps support it)

That's interesting. I didn't know that. So just to be clear the frame rate switching works within Kodi, so does that include the Kodi plugins for DRM content (Netflix, Amazon  addons), just not on prime video native app?

I always thought framerate switching was simply not possible on Android based devices. period. and that was trade off if you wanted to go that way over Linux based ones like LibreElec that support it great. For me, 4K and framerate switching were the 2 bigies that seemed mutually excusive until I read that.

So, the shield is the only android based 4k that can do this?

I've not tried the DRM plugins in Kodi - so can't say whether they also have frame rate switching, but the Shield TV has frame rate switching with regular content within Kodi, as well as HD Audio bitstreaming support.

There aren't many other mainstream Android or Android TV platforms that do that (The Shield TV is Android TV-based, not Android)

[Jalau]

Am I getting this right: The only device that can play back DV mkvs is the Shield and the shield has issues displaying DV colour correctly though? So there is no device that can actually correctly playback DV mkvs in Kodi?
Is there any player that can actually correctly display DV content and passthrough HD Audio like Atmos TrueHD?

[jayce996]

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?

[RKCRLR]

My understanding is the N2 won't be able to stream Amazon, Netflix, & Disney in 4K and Atmos outside of Kodi due to it not being certified device.  And it isn't clear to me whether or not Kodi addons enable Amazon, Netflix, & Disney to be played on a non-certified device.

[buzzqw]

My understanding is the N2 won't be able to stream Amazon, Netflix, & Disney in 4K and Atmos outside of Kodi due to it not being certified device.  And it isn't clear to me whether or not Kodi addons enable Amazon, Netflix, & Disney to be played on a non-certified device.

will be able to play till fullhd using software decoder. no 4k (because of not being certificated, and not enough power)

BHH

[noggin]

My understanding is the N2 won't be able to stream Amazon, Netflix, & Disney in 4K and Atmos outside of Kodi due to it not being certified device.  And it isn't clear to me whether or not Kodi addons enable Amazon, Netflix, & Disney to be played on a non-certified device.

The only route to 4K Netflix is a box with Netflix certification (separate to any Widevine stuff). Some unauthorised boxes from China clone authorised boxes Netflix certificates - but I don't think they work for long...

Other 4K platforms may be easier - but because of the route that non-Android Kodi implementations use to decode DRM sources requires software decode rather than hardware accelerated decode, 720p is the most a lot of boxes can do, with some also handling 1080p.  Software decode of 2160p/4K/UHD h.265 requires a significant amount of CPU power - more than most mainstream ARM platforms in media players support.