[wrxtasy]

MOD Edit for readability

I am new here, just made my account, I hope I am posting in the correct section. Actually I am planning to upgrade my TV to 4K HDR10 Dolby Vision

So I am looking for a hassle free solution to play Bluray Rips.
I have a 4k video pass-through capable and Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD MA decode capable AVR (Denon X1400H). So, I want to bit stream Blu Ray rips.
I will be connecting Portable HDD to Kodi Box and Kodi box to AVR and AVR to TV.

Hiya and welcome...

I'm assuming 4K HDR Bluray Rips as well or just SDR 1080p ?

4K HDR & Audio options listed above:

- Gigabit ethernet - 4K HDR capable AMLogic S9xx LibreELEC Kodi boxes or the - Vero 4K+ OSMC Kodi only media player.
- NVIDIA Shield (includes 4K HDR Apps - not 4K HDR YouTube)
- Apple TV 4K (better than Android for 4K HDR Apps support) BUT you need a SAMBA / SMB / NFS capable networked file server like a home router or similar. It has no USB port.

Nearly 4K HDR / 1080p SDR Hassle free, Plug n Play with really good ongoing support = Vero 4K+

Have a good read of the following Post for the good and bad points of various devices:

4K HDR10 - State of Play thread - important media player limitations (click)

So please suggest a solution which can fulfill my requirement. Added capability to play 4K HDR content from Youtube, Netflix or similar services is a bonus but nor mandatory.

- Suggestion buy a 4K HDR TV with known working 4K HDR YouTube.
The NVIDIA Shield for example is not even able to hardware decode 4K HDR YouTube.
No 4K HDR YouTube support on the ATV 4K either. Or Sony 4K HDR TV's.
I think - the cheap dual boot LibreELEC / Android TV - AMLogic S9xx - MECOOL devices that can also do SDR 1080p Netflix, can do 4K HDR YouTube.

Also one more question: Is there any video or quality difference when playing bluray rips from BD player or Kodi box?

If BD's are .ISO or REMUX's packaged properly, then the main Movie Video file should be audio and video bit identical to the BD disk. Problems can arise when it comes to 4K HDR and then SDR video playback however due to color output issues. The Shield has such problems.
Normal SDR - 1080p BD Rips will be all good.

If requirements are 1080p BD rips only with the above audio support then there are some pretty cheap DIY devices available ?

[zacmessi08]

MOD Edit for readability

I am new here, just made my account, I hope I am posting in the correct section. Actually I am planning to upgrade my TV to 4K HDR10 Dolby Vision

So I am looking for a hassle free solution to play Bluray Rips.
I have a 4k video pass-through capable and Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD MA decode capable AVR (Denon X1400H). So, I want to bit stream Blu Ray rips.
I will be connecting Portable HDD to Kodi Box and Kodi box to AVR and AVR to TV.

Hiya and welcome...

I'm assuming 4K HDR Bluray Rips as well or just SDR 1080p ?

4K HDR & Audio options listed above:

- Gigabit ethernet - 4K HDR capable AMLogic S9xx LibreELEC Kodi boxes or the - Vero 4K+ OSMC Kodi only media player.
- NVIDIA Shield (includes 4K HDR Apps - not 4K HDR YouTube)
- Apple TV 4K (better than Android for 4K HDR Apps support) BUT you need a SAMBA / SMB / NFS capable networked file server like a home router or similar. It has no USB port.

Nearly 4K HDR / 1080p SDR Hassle free, Plug n Play with really good ongoing support = Vero 4K+

Have a good read of the following Post for the good and bad points of various devices:

4K HDR10 - State of Play thread - important media player limitations (click)

So please suggest a solution which can fulfill my requirement. Added capability to play 4K HDR content from Youtube, Netflix or similar services is a bonus but nor mandatory.

- Suggestion buy a 4K HDR TV with known working 4K HDR YouTube.
The NVIDIA Shield for example is not even able to hardware decode 4K HDR YouTube.
No 4K HDR YouTube support on the ATV 4K either. Or Sony 4K HDR TV's.
I think - the cheap dual boot LibreELEC / Android TV - AMLogic S9xx - MECOOL devices that can also do SDR 1080p Netflix, can do 4K HDR YouTube.

Also one more question: Is there any video or quality difference when playing bluray rips from BD player or Kodi box?

If BD's are .ISO or REMUX's packaged properly, then the main Movie Video file should be audio and video bit identical to the BD disk. Problems can arise when it comes to 4K HDR and then SDR video playback however due to color output issues. The Shield has such problems.
Normal SDR - 1080p BD Rips will be all good.

If requirements are 1080p BD rips only with the above audio support then there are some pretty cheap DIY devices available ? 

Hello,

Yes, usage is for 4K HDR DV BD Rips mainly, 1080p rips only when 4K rips are not available for that particular content.

Yes the TV I am looking for has native app support for Youtube and Netflix HDR.

Does Vero 4K+ supports transmitting DV video to AVR/TV?

Also which other kodi box will you recommenced apart from Vero 4k+? Their are so many choices with each having its own pros and cons, I am really confused. My current budget is around USD100 mark.

[wrxtasy]

There are NO external media players that can playback dual layer DolbyVision BD rips. There is no external media player software that can handle that proprietary Dolby data. Some DV capable TV's might be able to via USB.

Even the Apple TV 4K, that is DolbyVision streaming capable cannot do it. DV Netflix or iTunes streaming uses a very specific single layer DV profile which is different from that on DV Blurays.

---

Cheaper 4K HDR devices are the Gigabit equipped S912 chipset AMLogic boxes running DIY LibreELEC Kodi or CoreELEC Leia, such as the Tanix TX92, Vorke Z6, Tanix TX9 and Beelink GT1. None of those will give you 1080p Netflix, but they should do 4K HDR YouTube.

A Wireless remote like the MINIX A2 lite is highly recommended, one with a mini USB dongle. The A2's mini keyboard comes in real handy for Kodi shortcuts.
In fact the Gigabit S912 MINIX U9 sometimes comes with the A2 lite - it's the package I use for 4K HDR LibreELEC Kodi Krypton.

Even cheaper is the S905X 4K HDR AMLogic chipset devices. They come with Fast Ethernet only but are still fully HDR Kodi capable.

It pretty easy getting LibreELEC or CoreELEC Kodi running on those AMLogic devices these days. There is lots of online help.

You could use Optical out to an AVR, from a Smart TV to provide 5.1 Dolby Digital audio from the TV's Apps such as 4K HDR Netflix, Prime Video etc. anyway.
Just use the above DIY devices for SDR & 4K HDR Kodi with HD audio, they are great at that.

Or buy a Plug n Play Vero 4K. I even have mine dual booting from CoreELEC Kodi Leia (running from a microSDHC card) into internally stored OSMC Kodi Krypton - to play around with.
The Vero 4K+ will give you the best online support going around, it's what you pay a bit extra for. You get to have direct contact with the developers. Some people want that.

These devices running Linux based Kodi software like LibreELEC, CoreELEC & OSMC provide you with great flexibility when it comes to using 4K HDR Kodi. They are "set and forget" SDR & 4K HDR Kodi players, once initial device setup is done.

[noggin]

There are NO external media players that can playback dual layer DolbyVision BD rips. There is no external media player software that can handle that proprietary Dolby data. Some DV capable TV's might be able to via USB.

Probably important to say that it isn't a case that you can't play DV UHD BD rips, it's that you can't play them with the full DV experience.

DV UHD Blu-rays include an HDR10 core stream for backwards compatibility, that will play on players that can handle regular HDR (aka HDR10) UHD Blu-ray rips. What you don't get is playback of the additional, second DV enhancement layer stream, that combined with the HDR10 steam allows the player to create a DV output stream that dynamic metadata and all the other Dolby 'special sauce' which optimises picture quality on DV displays.

So DV rips will play AIUI - you just won't get the full DV experience, but you WILL get the same results as you'd get if you played the disc in a non-DV UHD Blu-ray player.

I think that's fair to say isn't it?

[rylsiem]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread or place, but I'm going to try it anyway. I've read by now a lot of posts regarding the new media players from Zidoo (Z9S), Dune (4K pro), Vero 4K+, Zappiti and the NUCs and came to the conclusion that if I want to

- Run Kodi (and Plex) with HD audio pass-through (Dolby Atmos, DTS-X etc.)

- Play Netflix (DRM) in 4K and HDR10 (nice to also have options with Amazon Video and Itunes) and HD audio pass-through

- Play potentially Youtube in 4K

- Play 3D files in MVC format

I have the best chance to do this successfully with a NUC with a Windows 10 OS. At the moment I have a Nvidia Shield TV connected to a Denon X4400 receiver and a JVC RS520 projector. My focus is on playing movies primarily over the LAN from my NAS server.

I'm considering buying a NUC7i3BNK or NUC7i5BNK with Windows 10 but I still have the following questions though for which I couldn't find an answer.

1. It is not clear what the overall picture quality of the NUC is in comparison to a Shield or some of the newer media players like the Vero 4K+ when playing on Kodi.

2. Can this player with an Intel HD Graphics 620 play at 23.976 fps? Some of these Dune, Zidoo and Zappity players claim that they support this natively. Does that mean their videocard support this frame rate natively or that their media player can detect this frame rate and just play at this rate by artificially making this happen by adding frames or something if their card only support 60fps?

3. One of the issues that were mentioned for the Shield was the color space issues. Does the NUC have these issues too? What about limited and full RGB related issues?

4. How does Kodi on Windows compare with Kodi on Linux/Android? Are there more/less issues reported?

5. Are there any other issues that I have to be aware of?

Especially the first point is important to me as this device is almost 3.5 times more expensive than my current Shield. Also I prefer a device that is already pre-made without me having to scramble all the computer components individually. Hence the NUC.

Thanks in advance.

[ozkhan1]

Stick to the Shield.. you dont want the windows butt hurt..

[hdmkv]

Just no 3D with Shield. There isn’t a one box solution to all those wants, not conveniently anyway. I rely on Zidoo almost exclusively for 3D, and Shield for everything else.

[wrxtasy]

I'm considering buying a NUC7i3BNK or NUC7i5BNK with Windows 10 but I still have the following questions though for which I couldn't find an answer.

1. It is not clear what the overall picture quality of the NUC is in comparison to a Shield or some of the newer media players like the Vero 4K+ when playing on Kodi.

Unless a media player can do either high quality CPU Software - picture upscaling (ie modern Intel / AMD) itself or have a decent inbuilt Hardware upscaler (ie Apple TV 4K) then devices running - LibreELEC / CoreELEC / OSMC (Vero4K) Krypton implement auto 1080p <<-->>4K resolution switching to allow 4K TV's to use their superior picture upscaling hardware for all non 4K video content.

I have some LE Krypton releases that can also do 720p<<-->>1080p<<-->>4K auto resolution switching.

Kodi Leia introduced a refresh rate / resolution - Whitelist and can now also auto 1080p <<-->> 4K resolution switching on compatible devices. However the Shield will still have color output issues (click) switching between 4K HDR and 1080p SDR.

3. One of the issues that were mentioned for the Shield was the color space issues. Does the NUC have these issues too? What about limited and full RGB related issues?

4. How does Kodi on Windows compare with Kodi on Linux/Android? Are there more/less issues reported?

You need to start reading and follow the links in the following thread regarding Windows and SDR / HDR or ask questions in the Windows Sub forum:

4K HDR10 - State of Play thread - important media player limitations (click)

As @hdmkv said there is no "Box that can do everything" - pick what are the most important features and choose matching hardware or put up with annoyances and compromises. I do not need 1080p 3D so use AMLogic S9xx hardware running - LE / CE or OSMC (Vero 4K) for 1080p SDR / 4K HDR Kodi and the Apple TV 4K for everything else.

[hdmkv]

Hey @wrxtasy and/or @clarkss12, what are a couple of recommended budget S912 boxes these days for LE, namely using @wrxtasy's build here? I tried it on my Tanix TX92, and although it's fairly smooth going initially, LE/Kodi freezes & locks-up after I've added my library from my NAS. I'm not recommending Tanix TX92. Also, does a box w/3GB of RAM make any difference for LE off a mSD card?

[clarkss12]

Hey @wrxtasy and/or @clarkss12, what are a couple of recommended budget S912 boxes these days for LE, namely using @wrxtasy's build here? I tried it on my Tanix TX92, and although it's fairly smooth going initially, LE/Kodi freezes & locks-up after I've added my library from my NAS. I'm not recommending Tanix TX92. Also, does a box w/3GB of RAM make any difference for LE off a mSD card?

 I have several different flavors of Android boxes running both LibreELEC AND CoreELEC, and have NEVER had an issue with any of them.  I am going to guess that you are using a microSD card for your OS, if so, try a different microSD card.  Your box should work without any issues at all.  

Also, see if your box locks up running Kodi under Android.  It could also be your power supply.  Do you have any external devices connected to your box??

[wrxtasy]

It's very likely overheating. First thing I would do is re-enable Kodi's dirty regions and make sure GPU overclocking is disabled.

https://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Modify_dirty_regions

Dirty regions is switched Off with LE S912's to fix the Subtitle stuttering problem. However it does make the GPU working harder at all times.

Honestly I'm not going to recommend any of the cheap devices, due to really poor, cheap pathetic Chipset passive cooling implementations.
2GB RAM vs 3GB makes no difference when running LE or CE.

The MINIX U9 that has proper entire Chipset motherboard passive cooling, runs substantially cooler vs anything I've seen, the S905W devices are the second coolest due to a lower CPU clock rate. The S912's run substantially hotter vs anything else, due to all the Core's in the SoC.

Do some DIY with a matchstick sized blob of Silver Paste under the cheap Heatsink on the SoC to stabilize Temps, would be my recommendation:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Appl...+Paste/744

[hdmkv]

Thanks guys, have been using this mSD, but can try a different one.

Also, see if your box locks up running Kodi under Android.  It could also be your power supply.  Do you have any external devices connected to your box?? 

No, doesn't lock up under Android. I actually flashed it w/this Android TV mod.

[wrxtasy]

Depending on the size of you LE library and the storage requirements needed, this noticeably speeds up LE:

[HOWTO] Boot from SD card, use internal memory for data (click)

[Jeffers24]

Do some DIY with a matchstick sized blob of Silver Paste under the cheap Heatsink on the SoC to stabilize Temps, would be my recommendation:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Appl...+Paste/744

Of the two, which would you recommend or does it not make any difference?

Arctic MX-4 or Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound?

[clarkss12]

Thanks guys, have been using this mSD, but can try a different one.

Also, see if your box locks up running Kodi under Android.  It could also be your power supply.  Do you have any external devices connected to your box?? 

No, doesn't lock up under Android. I actually flashed it w/this Android TV mod. 

 Then it appears to be an issue with the microSD card.  I agree with Wrxtasy, that heat is a big issue with the S912 SoC's, but I personally have not had any issues running LibreELEC or CoreELEC on my S912 boxes.  I have one Mecool M8S Pro (Amlogic S912 with DDR4 ram), that runs CoreELEC (used to run LibreELEC), 24/7 and is running my Tvheadend DVR server.  I have another Mecool M8S Pro L (S912) with a Rpi fan installed, that dual boots.  I have another Mecool M8S Pro L that is unmodified that runs Android 24/7, but rarely used.  Since these devices only draw a max of 10 watts, I just leave them powered up.