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START HERE - Pick the Right Kodi Box (updated Dec 2020)
Hi guys
If i want a player that can support and play from External HDD of 4TB+, which Kodi box would be suitable for me?
Android, Windows or one of the Linux based boxes running Kodi ?

DIY or Plug and Play

Price Range ?

Extra include auto Frame Rate Matching for silky smooth video playback, and auto resolution switching to optimised output picture quality when used on a 4K TV.

Android
Plug n Play 

My minimum criteria is that it has to play media files from an External Hard Drive of 4TB plus.
Wrxtasy, what are the minimum specs to have for a mini pc to run kodi via LE?  I used to run (still am on my old 32" tv) LE  via a mini pc.
I came across a posting giving the minimum specs, but am unable to locate it again.

I recently got a bigger tv and now  i get stutter. 
So i assume i have to get better pc.?

Are those little mini pc suitable? thinking of  the beelink as an example.
For Intel you want something these days that can hardware decode 10bit HEVC/h.265 and I think the entry level for that is Intel Apollo Lake microarchitecture onwards.

The older Cherry Trail stuff if I remember correctly is 8bit HEVC hardware decode only capable.

(2019-03-18, 07:06)wrxtasy Wrote: For Intel you want something these days that can hardware decode 10bit HEVC/h.265 and I think the entry level for that is Intel Apollo Lake microarchitecture onwards.

The older Cherry Trail stuff if I remember correctly is 8bit HEVC hardware decode only capable.
 Geez that was quick. Thank you.   Im  very undecided  on what to do, i must admit.
I have currently a  minix h8plus, which thanks to Datrch, is now mostly working again.. 
no x265 etc.             I was tempted with a s912 minix box but with the 8plus working again pressure is off.    
I might  just  hold off and see how ongoing support  for the s912 pans out after leia
Hi,

I am searching now already a couple of days for an improvement for my home solution:

My current Setup looks the following:

Server:
UnRaid Server with Emby

Client:
Sony Bravia 55XD8505 (Android TV with Amazon and Netflix App - Supports HDR10 over HDMI but no Dolby Vision)
Yamaha RX-V681 with 5.1 Speaker setup + 2x Height Speaker (Setup is prepared for Atmos/DTS:X)
Odroid C2 with Kodi and Emby Plugin
Harmony Remote

What I do not like on the current setup is the follwoing:
1) Android TV on the Sony. Buggy and slow
2) Bigger Upgrades on Odroid Kodi. After last update (Kodi 8 to 9) I had a long downtime until I got Emby Plugin again working

I would spend up 200 Euro (Price Range of Apple TV or Shield) if it would be a stable and long lasting solution.

First I thought that Apple TV 4K could be the solution. from other Forums/Posts I saw that it has one of the best Video Quality including HDR, but there are big limitations with Atmos/DTS:X, although I am not able to understand what exactly are the limitations. Only for MrMC App or also Amazon/Netflix?

Then I thought it might be the Nvidia Shield, no issues with Atmos/DTS:X as it is supporting Bitstream. But here I read something that it is not performing that well with HDR and also Framerate Switching.

My questions are now:
1) Will the limitations of the above solutions maybe adressed in future?
2) Maybe the limitations are not real limitations and I only do not understand it correctly?
3) Is there another solution on the horizon?

My "Plan B" would be to stay with the Odroid and live with the 4k/HDR limitations for the time beeing.

Br,
Johannes
(2019-03-20, 10:46)ebnerjoh Wrote: First I thought that Apple TV 4K could be the solution. from other Forums/Posts I saw that it has one of the best Video Quality including HDR, but there are big limitations with Atmos/DTS:X, although I am not able to understand what exactly are the limitations. Only for MrMC App or also Amazon/Netflix?

Just remember this for the ATV 4K. ....
It cannot passthrough lossless Dolby True HD with Atmos extensions ie. Atmos audio found on Bluray rips. (the height audio component)
The lossless Dolby TrueHD audio track in such instances is decoded into lossless LPCM.

Excluding DTS:X because I've never seen it - All other audio when used with something like MrMC can be lossless decoded to LPCM for NO loss in audio quality.

It can also remix ALL audio into 2.0 / 5.1 Dolby Digital for wide compatibility with all sort of audio receivers, handy for older audio equiptment that cannot passthrough 4K HDR.

Lossy Atmos works with Netflix, iTunes, Prime Video & now MrMC.

No idea if limitations or issue will be fixed on various platforms you mentioned.

With the Linux Kodi platforms that are running OSMC, LibreELEC or CoreELEC Kodi - the developers can bug bust everything to make it highly compatible with Kodi, that being the Linux Kernel, drivers and Kodi itself. This has long term advantages.

Hy,
i bougth a Intel Nuc NUC8i3BEK and have hard issus with the LAN adapter, LibreElec with Kodi 18.1 stocks with internet and LAN access and i could not use the Kodi well enough to watch a movie, caused by the bad LAN connection.

I tried to install Win10 and here it works very well.

Has anyone a tip for me?

Thanks
i figured it out. The problem was the NVME M.2
with a normal M.2 SSD it work very well.
(2019-03-20, 13:49)wrxtasy Wrote:
(2019-03-20, 10:46)ebnerjoh Wrote:  
Just remember this for the ATV 4K. ....
It cannot passthrough lossless Dolby True HD with Atmos extensions ie. Atmos audio found on Bluray rips. (the height audio component)
The lossless Dolby TrueHD audio track in such instances is decoded into lossless LPCM.

Excluding DTS:X because I've never seen it - All other audio when used with something like MrMC can be lossless decoded to LPCM for NO loss in audio quality.

It can also remix ALL audio into 2.0 / 5.1 Dolby Digital for wide compatibility with all sort of audio receivers, handy for older audio equiptment that cannot passthrough 4K HDR.

Lossy Atmos works with Netflix, iTunes, Prime Video & now MrMC.

No idea if limitations or issue will be fixed on various platforms you mentioned.

With the Linux Kodi platforms that are running OSMC, LibreELEC or CoreELEC Kodi - the developers can bug bust everything to make it highly compatible with Kodi, that being the Linux Kernel, drivers and Kodi itself. This has long term advantages. 
 Ok, allthough I am technician, this is very hard to understand.

Please excuse me the maybe stupid questions, but somehow I am missing the big picture.

Again to my Setup:
1) Sony TV with HDR Support (no Dolby Vision)
2) Yamaha RX-V681 with Atmos and 4K Support and 5.1.2 system (currently the height speaker are used as Front Presence via the DSP)

If I would use now an Apple TV behind the AV-Receiver:
1) Can I get HDR from Netflix / Prime? I guess yes
2) Can I get HDR from iTunes? I guess not, because Apple uses Dolby Vision and I guess HDR and Dolby Vision are not compatible?
3) What does "Lossy Atmos" exact mean, when streaming via the AV-Receiver? Is it still fully object based and only compressed (like FLAC/MP3)?

Br,
Johannes
(2019-03-21, 08:52)ebnerjoh Wrote: If I would use now an Apple TV behind the AV-Receiver:
1) Can I get HDR from Netflix / Prime? I guess yes
Yes - Netflix and Prime Video HDR content supports HDR10 - with some titles optionally also offering Dolby Vision support alongside HDR10.
Quote:2) Can I get HDR from iTunes? I guess not, because Apple uses Dolby Vision and I guess HDR and Dolby Vision are not compatible?
Yes - my understanding is that Apple also provide HDR10 versions of their content, not just Dolby Vision, as there are so many non-DV HDR TVs in use. If they only supported DV they would have a very small market to sell to.  Apple have committed to providing the bulk of their content in Dolby Vision, but that doesn't mean they only support Dolby Vision. (HDR10 is the de facto HDR standard and anyone who offers HDR will include HDR10 versions of their content)
Quote:3) What does "Lossy Atmos" exact mean, when streaming via the AV-Receiver? Is it still fully object based and only compressed (like FLAC/MP3)?

There are two versions of Atmos.

1. Dolby Digital Plus with Atmos - which is a lossy compressed audio format used by streaming services, TV companies (UHD sport in the UK has Atmos), and for secondary audio on some Blu-rays. This is not lossless but includes height extensions.
2. Dolby True HD with Atmos - which is a lossless audio format (just data compression, no audio components are removed) used on HD and UHD Blu-rays (often just for the main audio stream)

The Apple TV supports version 1. but not 2. of Atmos (so you get Dolby Atmos on streaming services, but don't get it from HD and UHD Blu-ray rips)

On an Apple TV Dolby True HD with or without Atmos is output in regular PCM 5.1/7.1 with lossless decoding of the regular 5.1/7.1 but no output of the Atmos height component stuff.  (Also I believe it only supports 48kHz audio - so if you have any of the relatively rare 96 or 192kHz stuff it will be downsampled)
Ok, then at the end the shield should be the overall better option if not Apple is announcing this weekend a unique streaming platform. So I will stay at the moment with my Odroid Kodi.
(2019-03-21, 12:48)ebnerjoh Wrote: Ok, then at the end the shield should be the overall better option if not Apple is announcing this weekend a unique streaming platform. So I will stay at the moment with my Odroid Kodi.
 For Netflix and Prime Video the ATV 4K is a much better choice - the automatic frame rate switching alone for those makes life so much easier than having to manually select 24/25/30Hz output based on the shows you are watching. (Which is what you have to do with the Shield TV if you want judder-free video)

For Kodi/MrMC alone - it's a trickier question. You get automatic frame rate switching in Kodi with both, but the Shield TV does HD Audio Bitstreaming.
(2019-03-21, 12:48)ebnerjoh Wrote: Ok, then at the end the shield should be the overall better option if not Apple is announcing this weekend a unique streaming platform. So I will stay at the moment with my Odroid Kodi.

And we have not even started talking about picture output quality yet when used with a 4K TV.

The Shield works around it's below average hardware picture upscaling (720/1080p > 4K) by using Kodi auto resolution switching, BUT all other Apps that use non 4K content have to use it's below average picture upscaling hardware which results in dull soft looking picture outputs.
It's mainscreen Graphic user interface and icons are not 4K resolution coded either so suffer the same fate.

The Apple TV has no auto resolution switching but has great hardware picture upscaling so does not need it. It's graphic user interface and icons are already coded for a 4K resolution and look clean and sharp.

There are positives and negatives with ALL media players, it really depends on how demanding you and which features are most important.

For 4K HDR you really need to follow the latest links and issues reported in this thread:

4K HDR10 - State of Play thread - important media player limitations.

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