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Looking to replace a popcorn hour with a NUC and Kodi 18 leia.. Which bare minimum NUC will work for my needs?
Please specify model nr. ram and mhz if applicable. It can also be an older model,as long as it fits the needs i have..
ONLY max 1080p full bluray with menu (kodi 18 leia on win7 and java)
auto framerate switching
bitstream Atmos/DTS:X to AVR
Need Bluetooth/usb for remote
I read many posts but the more i read the more confused i get as there seem to be SO many configurations.
Thank you for your help
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Windows Kodi HDR10 as I understand it is custom only. And then it's likely limited to Krypton or earlier.
Ask over in the Windows Kodi section of the forum for current Win. Leia HDR support status.
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djnice
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The cheaper RK3328 with LibreELEC playing fine Hi10p with hw decoding too.
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Great thread and there are a lot of new options out there it appears! I am looking at replacing a Mac Mini (Late 2009) 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo/8GB RAM/Nvida 9400M graphics running Kodi on top of OS X 10.11.6. This is a pretty old system, but a full x86 platform. Would an upgrade to something along the lines of the recommended Vero 4+/ODROID C2/MINIX U9/etc boxes be an "upgrade" with the new tech even though they are not full x86 systems? My main requirements are that I can connect to a MySQL database and can use a FLIRC for keyboard inputs for a custom remote. I have an Amazon Fire TV that seems to do very well but ideally would want something I could boot right into Kodi/LibreElec/CoreElec/etc for Kodi-Only usage. No 4k needed yet, but just want something with some horsepower for future use. Previously considered a Chromebox or Shield or even up to a Brix/NUC, but if I am reading right, those higher end options are no longer favored. Appreciate your input!
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2019-02-10, 20:07
(This post was last modified: 2019-02-11, 11:03 by wrxtasy.)
A speedy Kodi device needs really these things:
- a decent GPU, to draw the user interface
- fast RAM and storage
- a decent CPU package, especially Single Core performance to run those Single threaded Python2 coded Addons.
- an optimised minimal OS.
Most x86_64 Intel and AMD based Kodi devices have most if not all of these requirements already and it's why Kodi still remains snappy on them to this day, even on older Hardware.
Where they become a bit obsolete is when new video compression standards are introduced like 10bit HEVC and 4K VP9 and there is no GPU hardware decoding support and the older CPU package struggles to software decode. Either upgrade the GPU or buy an Intel Apollo Lake onwards or AMD Ryzen Mini PC or try something else...
This is where the great bang for the buck mobile based ARM chipsets come in like the Tegra X1 in the Shield or the A10X Fusion in the Apple TV 4K.
The GPU's in them are both fast and support modern video compression standards with the NUC like, powerful ATV 4K leading the pack.
At the cheap end of the market the ARM Mali Midgard 4th gen. GPU's like the Mali T8xx make for a snappy media players too for the price paid.
You find those in the AMLogic S912 and the Rockchip RK3399. They have 6 or more CPU Cores.
I'm really impressed with the RK3399 lately, it's already showing it's snappy potential.
Further down the pecking order is the Rockchip RK3288, with a ARM Mali T760 GPU and then the AMLogic S905's with a ARM Utgard Mali-450
Those are still pretty quick with eMMC storage running a minimal Linux OS for Kodi such as OSMC or LibreELEC / CoreELEC.
Edit: I missed out the 2012 Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU found in the RPi's that gets impressively thrashed to within an inch of its life these days trying to keep up.
So it basically comes down to which OS you want to use, how stable is it.
What price you pay and can you do DIY or simply want Plug n Play with after sales support ?
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I am all for DIY and don't need any commercial support. In fact by DIY I will get a more pure Kodi experience which I am after. You mention the ATV 4K as an option, but MrMC isn't quite the look I am used to.
How much would I pay? Ideally somewhere in the $100-200 range? Not afraid of going the NUC/Brix route or heck even a new Mac Mini.
Not sure I am to the point of wanting to shell out big bucks yet for a Mac Mini as we've only noticed a few momentary slowdowns in playback that honestly could be network related. Finding this thread got me intrigued by new options though either for our main room or use with other TVs.
I don't have a preference on OS. Booting right into Kodi with LibreElec/OpenElec sounds nice. If it is Mac/Win/Ubuntu and launches Kodi automatically that is fine as that is what I have now.
I do not want to deal with a laggy UI. I do want it to be VERY stable. Hopefully that helps. I know there are a lot of options here!
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ontap
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wrxtasy, I just want to thank you for all the advice listed in this thread, I have used numerous boxes to stream both with and without kodi over the years , but took a punt on Apple tv 4k after reading here and its completely on a different level to all those "cheap" chinese boxes I have used and thrown away, best box I have ever bought , cheers.