[quicksilv3r]

ok i've been searching and trying to figure this out, but I need some help.

I've been an XBMC/Kodi user for about 4yrs now, and I'm finally getting ready in the next few months to make the jump into 4k.

I'm just in the infancy stage buying a tv, receiver.... so I'm trying to do my homework.

My current setup is a Dell computer as my HTCP that I use as my living room media center connected to my receiver and 1080p tv.

Once I go into buying everything, one thing came to mind last week... And that is, my HTPC, and will it handle 4K movies as ripped MKV files. I have about 200 Blurays that I own and have ripped them all to MKV format so I can watch them effortlessly.

My first question is, do I need to upgrade my HTPC or at least my video card to be HDMI 2.0a compatible to output to my receiver and to my tv for any 4K movies I buy and rip and want to watch? If I do, is it worth while trying to upgrade the entire system, or is maybe an android box the way to go or Nvidia Shield.?

Second question, can Kodi natively play 4K MKV's?

Sorry for the newb questions, my wife is asking me, and I don't know the answers, because she is making the financial decisions lol

[honcho]

Well you can't rip 4k movies... soooooo

[Klojum]

Well, now we know who is wearing the pants in your household. ;-)

My current setup is a Dell computer as my HTCP

That's... not a lot of details ascertaining its capabilities. 4K usually means h.265/hevc video format. And it's very likely that a 4-year old htpc does not have hevc video hw acceleration features.

My first question is, do I need to upgrade my HTPC or at least my video card to be HDMI 2.0a compatible

The future of Intel PC boxes as a HTPC is a bit blurry at the moment, and it's mostly about Linux support of (video) drivers.
Nvidia now has a good capable discrete GT1030 card, but video drivers for Linux only support upto 8bit coloring (in Windows, 10bit is supported). Nvidia is also stopping support for the current VDPAU hw video processing in Linux, and whatever comes after that is not yet known.
Intel has slimmed down its Linux support department. A couple of cracks in there current drivers make NUCs and the like not really ideal solutions at the moment.
AMD has new video cards out, but since there are so few available, it's hard to get hold of them in order to improve drivers for them.

Right now, the better solutions are the very small boxes like the Odroid C2 and the Wetek Hub. Those have been tested thoroughly over the last 12 months, and most ripples have been ironed out.

Second question, can Kodi natively play 4K MKV's?

Kodi has no problems with 4K mkv h.264 videos. That was already possible 2 years ago on a simple (4 year old) Intel Celeron 1037 box:



But these days, there is also stuff like HDR, Atmos... The advice is to keep your HTPC investments to 150-200 dollar/euro. Don't invest for something that must last 5-8 years, because technology changes too fast. Yet, an Nvidia Shield does have a lot of features, and is still actively supported and upgraded.

Perhaps this is a good thread to start your 4K hardware seach with: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

[quicksilv3r]

my current HTCP is an Intel i5 3.5, 8GB of ram, nvidia GT450 running Windows 10 premium.

So maybe since it doesn't look like I can rip 4K movies, I need to find something outside of the HTPC or stick with my current HTPC setup and use Kodi for my bluray rips and when I go to a 4K setup, just watch 4K movies via disc or Netflix or another streaming service that offers 4K movies in Canada.

I guess the biggest thing is no movies can be ripped to 4K, so that kinda negates the concerns I have.

Thanks

[wrxtasy]

Serious suggestion for decent 4K content - get a 4K HDR TV and use the Android Apps on that to watch 4K HDR Netflix, 4K Amazon Video content etc - it will be far far less of a headache than stuffing about with HTPC's.

Netflix has even announced they are starting Video streaming with Atmos Audio, so if you buy the right TV all sorts of possibilities become available.

[honcho]

Serious suggestion for decent 4K content - get a 4K HDR TV and use the Android Apps on that to watch 4K HDR Netflix, 4K Amazon Video content etc - it will be far far less of a headache than stuffing about with HTPC's.

Netflix has even announced they are starting Video streaming with Atmos Audio, so if you buy the right TV all sorts of possibilities become available.

I agree, many 4ktv's have built in apps that will stream netflix in HDR.

Until they come out with a good solution to rip UHD blu-rays, i don't think there will be huge effort in HDR playback

[quicksilv3r]

Thanks wrxtasy I guess with my current setup, its a lot of need to upgrade to 4K, and my media was a concern. But I guess I'll keep the HTPC rocking on one of the HDMI ports and not worry too much about UHD mkv's for now. At least I'll have my mkv collection and the 4k collection for the time being will have to be physical media or Netflix or Youtube or whatever from the TV or UHD player

[wrxtasy]

Anymore Piracy links and discussion and I'm locking the thread....

[quicksilv3r]

Thanks Wrxtasy. The old me with no money was a pirate, but now I'm older and making money and my wife is in law enforcement has kept me in check. I'm just getting into the whole 4K world now as we are doing major house renos and trying to automate/simplfy as much as possible hence the question about HTPC and the 4K capabilities. I did not know that the new HDCP standards won't allow copying movies as of now, and that's what I needed to know. At least for the time being, it will be physical media for 4k/UHD movies.

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