[wrxtasy]

My requirements are a pc or android box
Which can playback all formats including h.265 10bit
Dts hd 7.1 passthrough
Without stutters like the himedia q10
It doesnt have to support 3d
Main thing is picture quality and codec support and kodi support

have a intel 2955u and so far been great until
Now x265 videos dont playback properly stuttering video problems

I have various mkv movie i ripped in different
Framerates and formats x264 x265 10bit

Should i buy a newer pc i3 or i5
Or a kodi box?
After reading these forums it seems to point towards
An intel nuc i3+ or nvidia shield or wetek hub but they all seem
To report problems with different formats.


I do not have a 4k tv
But like to be able to playback 10bit h.265
Is this possible with better hardware i dont care if
Its not displayed as 4k

Hi, I bet the 2955u you have has been using has been a great Kodi box, till this point

x264 and x265 are not a video Codec's. What you mean are referred to as H264, H265 (aka HEVC).

An Intel i3 or i5 will usually be be complete overkill if all you want to do is stream H264 or 10bit HEVC video using Kodi.
However you can Software decode 10bit HEVC content with an i3 or i5.
No idea what the Software decode 10bit Bitrate limitation you would encounter will be (if any). Ultimately it depends how much you want to spend and if you want the reassurance of proper 10bit HEVC Hardware decoding support.

Hardware decoding of 1080/2160p 10bit HEVC + DD / DTS HD Audio Passthrough are now available on these devices:
- nVIDIA Shield (ask in the Shield thread about HDR and 10bit video output)
- WeTek Hub
- MINIX U1

LibreELEC Kodi devices (much preferred for Kodi use only - instead of using Android)
- WeTek Hub
- ODROID C2 (the fastest of the bunch when using eMMC Flash memory + various IR remotes pretty much work out of the box)
- Various cheap AMLogic S905 devices running LibreELEC only from this thread:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=255686

After reading these forums it seems to point towards
An intel nuc i3+ or nvidia shield or wetek hub but they all seem
To report problems with different formats.

What specifically are you referring to, examples ?
What exact video decoding do you need that you think will cause issues ?

[Jmasters37]

Hi wrxtasy
thanks for the reply.

Yes the Intel 2955u has been amazing until now with the new h265 thanks for educating me thats its not a codec. Still learning.

I read on these forums cant remember exactly where but done researching on those models nvidia shield and wetek hub and saw that nothing was perfect.

Sorry don't remember the links. I should'nt of posted that until I had my facts.

The probally are fine players.

I Just need to ugprade my 2955u with something that will play everything my pc does but with the added h265 support.

If you were choosing one what would you go for nvidia shield. wetek hub or minix ui? not sure how i would setup a ODROID C2 and house it.

My Video files are on usb 3.0 hard drives. Have them plugged into intel 2955u computer and play back through kodi 16.1

[wrxtasy]

If you want a whole bunch of remote friendly Android Apps to use easily on a big screen TV with a bit of Kodi on the side then grab the Shield. It will outperform all other Android devices.
Be aware Hardware deinterlacing is broken currently since a recent Shield Firmware update. There may be 4K Kodi stuttering problems as well. You should really ask for any known problems in the Shield thread to be bang up to date.

The WeTek Hub has the best Audio support out of all the AMLogic S905 Kodi Jarvis boxes both in Android and LibreELEC. It also runs a slightly upgraded S905 SoC compared to other AMLogic boxes. You get Dual boot here if you must use Android Lollipop. Its a pretty flexible little device. See the comprehensive reviews in the Hub thread for any limitations.

The AML S905 MINIX U1 is not as versatile as the Hub, looks like it is going to be stuck on Android Lollipop and audio support is not as good. You will be stuck with an Android Lollipop OS that is not as big screen remote control friendly compared to the Shield.

Personally I would avoid Android completely for a Kodi only media player and just use LibreELEC Kodi as an always on Appliance like device in a fanless, low power consumption box. Kodi is more stable with less bugs when using LibreELEC.

For ultimate speed, get an SSD equipped Intel i3 - and run LibreELEC Kodi and Software decode 10bit HEVC. You may even prefer Windows10 for more versatility.
In reality a well sorted LibreELEC Kodi running on the S905 Hub will satisfy most (non 3D) users for Kodi 10bit HEVC decoding.

Be aware all ARM devices like RPi's or AML boxes really should be using externally powered HDD's or a powered USB Hub for HDD power supply reliability.
You may be able to get away with a directly connected, modern power efficient USB3 HDD, without power issues.

I unsure what color output the Shield uses for 10bit content. For the AMLogic devices it is dithered down to 8bit color and output, Intel is the same I believe.
All that is not important if you only have a 8bit HDMI connected display.

[noggin]

For the AMLogic devices it is dithered down to 8bit color and output, Intel is the same I believe.
All that is not important if you only have a 8bit HDMI connected display.

Is it definitely dithered and not just truncated?

[Jmasters37]

Intel i3 nuc machine running libreElec sounds like the best way
To go then with win 10 be similar to what i have now but with h265 support.
Is it possible to get my 2955u intel to software decode 10bit?
Thanks for advice.

[wrxtasy]

For the AMLogic devices it is dithered down to 8bit color and output, Intel is the same I believe.
All that is not important if you only have a 8bit HDMI connected display.

Is it definitely dithered and not just truncated?

Unsure Noggin, I'm only guessing.
An AML Kernel video driver Guru would know the answer. Likely crashoverride or Longchair from the HK forums would have the knowledge.
These guys are doing some very interesting Zero Copy video rendering work on Mali, which I believe will be the basis for AML video going forwards..

[noggin]

For the AMLogic devices it is dithered down to 8bit color and output, Intel is the same I believe.
All that is not important if you only have a 8bit HDMI connected display.

Is it definitely dithered and not just truncated?

Unsure Noggin, I'm only guessing.

Ah - there's quite a big difference. Thought you were stating it as a fact rather than a supposition.

[wesk05]

According to S905 technical specifications, it is dithered.

[winterfell44]

Been a few months since I bought an MXQ Pro. What I posted earlier still stands, for pure basic offline playback for H.264 and HEVC its perfect. Dug out some old VIDEO_TS rips which will not play which is odd, but ripping those down to x264 takes a few minutes on a hexa core. I ended paying $60 for less than 48hrs delivered, sold off my WD media player for $55 (which I used for just over three years), so as a direct upgrade can't complain. I'll also agree with some of the earlier posts on the previous page - 4K here is irrelevant. Don't know anyone interested in 4K beyond having it as a checkbox. Myself, I rip to SD or maybe 720p as the connection speed is rubbish and anything higher isn't worth it.

[wrxtasy]

- VIDEO_TS Rips will not work as normal version of Kodi are not up to speed on AMLogic for DVDRips, on the better supported AML platforms running LibreELEC DVDRips work properly.

- 4K HEVC is directly relevant for those wanting to break out of an Apple ECOSystem and have a all in one Kodi player that can play their 4K video shot on their shiny new Apple iPhone 6S. Then you have the GOPRO HERO 4 Black and also users over on the C2 forum recording (legal) 4K HEVC Satellite streams. Far from irrelevant if you have have a 4K display and are interested in quality video. You don't even need a fast internet connection in these cases.

[KoopaTroopa]

- 4K HEVC is directly relevant for those wanting to break out of an Apple ECOSystem and have a all in one Kodi player that can play their 4K video shot on their shiny new Apple iPhone 6S.

I read this statement as contradictory, can you clarify what you mean by this?

How does shooting 4K video on a shiny new iPhone 6s correlate to wanting to break out of Apple Ecosystem?

[winterfell44]

- VIDEO_TS Rips will not work as normal version of Kodi are not up to speed on AMLogic for DVDRips, on the better supported AML platforms running LibreELEC DVDRips work properly.

- 4K HEVC is directly relevant for those wanting to break out of an Apple ECOSystem and have a all in one Kodi player that can play their 4K video shot on their shiny new Apple iPhone 6S. Then you have the GOPRO HERO 4 Black and also users over on the C2 forum recording (legal) 4K HEVC Satellite streams. Far from irrelevant if you have have a 4K display and are interested in quality video. You don't even need a fast internet connection in these cases.

You'd be using a shiny new S7 or another Android flagship if you were leaving Apple and even then I still don't see the big deal. You might have a $1K phone but do you have a desktop or laptop to playback/edit those files?

[Ned Scott]

- 4K HEVC is directly relevant for those wanting to break out of an Apple ECOSystem and have a all in one Kodi player that can play their 4K video shot on their shiny new Apple iPhone 6S.

I read this statement as contradictory, can you clarify what you mean by this?

How does shooting 4K video on a shiny new iPhone 6s correlate to wanting to break out of Apple Ecosystem?

I think he's just saying that an iPhone 6s is a source of 4K, and maybe a reference about how the ATV4 can't do 4K.

[sandogo1]

what is the better Buy Pi3 or ODROID-C2 ?

[wrxtasy]

Repost...

The RPi3 has no 8/10bit HEVC hardware decoding, no HDMI 2.0, no 2160p support, no HD Audio passthrough, weak 2.4GHz only WiFi, no IR receiver, no GigaE Ethernet, no heat sink, no fast eMMC storage and mpeg2 and VC1 licences have to be purchased separately. The SoC GHz clock rate is relatively slow as well compared to other hardware platforms.

I would still use the RPi3 for cheap multichannel FLAC 5.1 24bit 192kHz Audio, 5.1/7.1 Multichannel PCM Audio, 1080p 3D, 29.97fps VC1 Bluray playback and to attach all manner of external hardware and dongles - which will come with excellent Kernel driver support.

Added to that is the RPi3 has built in Bluetooth. That can be added (CSR 4.0) for ~$4 to the C2.

Some will say you don't need 10bit HEVC hardware decoding in a 2016 Kodi media layer. That may be fine for Joe public and the masses, but this is a Kodi forum where we expect better performance from Kodi hardware.

In the end it depends what A/V media you will think you will need to hardware decode and what externally connected additional hardware will need driver support.