2018-03-30, 06:59
Apple TV 4K with MrMC (highly modded Kodi Jarvis) advantages:
- The Apple TV 4K's - A10X Fusion SoC is a bit of a beast, it's a really impressive ARM based chipset. This results in one slick 4K HDR10 media player. Great picture quality.
- MrMC has a cool FFWD / RWD video scrubbing feature, tvOS Netflix style that shows a little video preview Picture box whilst swiping the remote's touchpad - left and right.
- Near instantaneous OTA TV channel switching with TvHeadend.
- I can even add some Picture post processing to SD TV streams.
- 7.1 HD audio is decoded to 24bit 48kHz lossless 7.1 LPCM for no loss in audio quality from Bluray sources.
- Audio can also be downmixed and output as 5.1 Dolby Digital due to the onboard Dolby Audio licence.
- The touchpad remote has an IR blaster learning function, so it can learn TV or audio receiver Infra Red volume signals. You really only need a single remote in hand then.
- The ATV 4K can also easily learn any multi buttoned Infra Red remote control you have lying around using it's easy tvOS IR learning functionality.
- Inbuilt support for Emby, TrakTV, mySQL and Plex databases.
- Recent MrMC releases include the Plex Skin as well - works better than the actual Plex App from user reports:
https://mrmc.tv/2018/03/28/mrmc-and-mrmc...th-python/
- In the future I can see MrMC branching further from Kodi with additional features you will not even get in mainstream Kodi. There is now a lot of ex-Kodi developer experience in the MrMC team.
- great App & Firmware support from the MrMC team & Apple.
Disadvantages:
- No USB port, so all video has to come from Networked file servers like a NAS, PC or HDD USB connected to a home router.
- No additional Kodi Addons or Skins can be installed to those already pre-packaged. This is already improving going forward.
- No audio passthrough, so no Atmos or DTS:X - 3D spacial audio.
- Multichannel 24bit 192kHz FLAC will be resampled and output as multichannel 24bit, 48kHz LPCM.
- No auto resolution switching to let a 4K TV upscale 1080p > 4K video content and then auto switch to a 4K resolution when watching actual 4K content. You have to do it manually in tvOS settings.
However the ATV 4K's picture upscaling is above average vs the competition so in reality it is not really needed unless you are a ultra demanding video enthusiast. There is an interesting ATV 4K picture upscaling / post processing discussion HERE (click)
- I do miss the clean, uncluttered look of Kodi Krypton's standard - Estuary Skin & the Oz Weather Addon.
- MrMC - Kodi Jarvis does not have the smart auto searching Kodi PVR Addon recording features that Kodi Krypton now has.
- The ATV 4K touchpad remote still causes me occasional issues. It's a bit small for guys with Gorilla sized hands, even with a great Fintie silicon remote cover that adds some bulk and much needed grip.
Touchpad controls are never as easy to use as physical remote buttons. The Xiaomi Mi Box's remote by comparison I consider near perfect for a minimal remote, but that does not have the cool - ATV 4K Video Thumbnail FFWD / RWD scrubbing or IR blaster functionality.
LibreELEC 8.2.4 -Kodi Krypton (my recent personal release) for S912's like the MINIX U9:
Advantages:
- boots straight into Kodi Krypton, once setup. Even faster if you copy the LE data partition to internal eMMC storage.
- a full blown Kodi Krypton with all the Skins, Addon bells and whistles you normally expect from Kodi.
- Auto resolution switching 1080p <<-->> 4K
- HD audio passthrough including Atmos and DTS:X
- LibreELEC, a Linux based OS is a lot more open to DIY so you can use the inbuilt SAMBA server and Plug in compatible TV Tuners for use as a TvHeadend server for example.
- VP9 (profile 2) hardware decoding if you come across any of that Youtube ripped content.
Disadvantages & bugs:
- it's DIY, not exactly Plug N Play. But it's easy to install LE these days, especially on MINIX S9xx devices utilising the power button for initial LE install.
- Multichannel 24bit 192kHz FLAC will be output as multichannel 16bit 192kHz LPCM
- Chroma 4:2:2 subsampling results in green video outputs (4:2:2 only big screen Projector owners beware).
- 4:4:4 10bit which you use for 24p 4K HDR is fine, both for auto refresh and auto resolution switching.
- Very subtle, occasional, rare, video frame upsets when subtitles are displayed onscreen during long camera panning scenes. I had to look really really hard to even notice this. It really does not bother me too much personally and I never see it all the time. Fixed - see HERE (click)
- Not enough CPU ponies to software decode 1080p 11Mbps Hi10P Anime. - Looks to be fixed as well !
- Slightly slower OTA TV channel switching.
Apart from that I cannot notice any differences in WiFi, LAN, or visual picture quality between the two devices. Both are fast devices and play virtually any video content you throw at them. OTA TV deinterlacing picture quality is excellent on both.
The ATV 4K's settings, has a real easy to use IR learning function to use with any IR remote.
Click HERE for Harmony remote support for use with LE on the U9.
I use the ATV 4K for beautifully smooth video playback of 24p video in Apps like Netflix and Amazon Video as well as local 25fps IPTV catchup Apps. It's really is nice to have Apps support for Frame Rate and Dynamic range matching that the Apple TV 4K tvOS Firmware provides. Features and Apps support Android TV is sorely lacking.
MrMC also gets use for OTA TV and viewing local home 1080p / 4K server content.
It's a solid dependable App but needs some more Kodi Bling IMHO packaging cleaner looking modern Kodi Skins.
EDIT: The upcoming Ariana Skin (click) shows great promise, especially with the ATV's auto "Dark Mode"
LE on the MINIX U9 is speedy, auto switches everything and has better Kodi Krypton PVR Addon support. I also like to experiment and install minimal, clean, sensible Kodi Skins (from Jurialmunkey) now and again. I prefer the MINIX A2 lite remote with it's mini keyboard because I can use Kodi keyboard shortcuts and easily custom map it with the Keymap Editor Addon.
In the end pick what features are most important to you personally.
- The Apple TV 4K's - A10X Fusion SoC is a bit of a beast, it's a really impressive ARM based chipset. This results in one slick 4K HDR10 media player. Great picture quality.
- MrMC has a cool FFWD / RWD video scrubbing feature, tvOS Netflix style that shows a little video preview Picture box whilst swiping the remote's touchpad - left and right.
- Near instantaneous OTA TV channel switching with TvHeadend.
- I can even add some Picture post processing to SD TV streams.
- 7.1 HD audio is decoded to 24bit 48kHz lossless 7.1 LPCM for no loss in audio quality from Bluray sources.
- Audio can also be downmixed and output as 5.1 Dolby Digital due to the onboard Dolby Audio licence.
- The touchpad remote has an IR blaster learning function, so it can learn TV or audio receiver Infra Red volume signals. You really only need a single remote in hand then.
- The ATV 4K can also easily learn any multi buttoned Infra Red remote control you have lying around using it's easy tvOS IR learning functionality.
- Inbuilt support for Emby, TrakTV, mySQL and Plex databases.
- Recent MrMC releases include the Plex Skin as well - works better than the actual Plex App from user reports:
https://mrmc.tv/2018/03/28/mrmc-and-mrmc...th-python/
- In the future I can see MrMC branching further from Kodi with additional features you will not even get in mainstream Kodi. There is now a lot of ex-Kodi developer experience in the MrMC team.
- great App & Firmware support from the MrMC team & Apple.
Disadvantages:
- No USB port, so all video has to come from Networked file servers like a NAS, PC or HDD USB connected to a home router.
- No additional Kodi Addons or Skins can be installed to those already pre-packaged. This is already improving going forward.
- No audio passthrough, so no Atmos or DTS:X - 3D spacial audio.
- Multichannel 24bit 192kHz FLAC will be resampled and output as multichannel 24bit, 48kHz LPCM.
- No auto resolution switching to let a 4K TV upscale 1080p > 4K video content and then auto switch to a 4K resolution when watching actual 4K content. You have to do it manually in tvOS settings.
However the ATV 4K's picture upscaling is above average vs the competition so in reality it is not really needed unless you are a ultra demanding video enthusiast. There is an interesting ATV 4K picture upscaling / post processing discussion HERE (click)
- I do miss the clean, uncluttered look of Kodi Krypton's standard - Estuary Skin & the Oz Weather Addon.
- MrMC - Kodi Jarvis does not have the smart auto searching Kodi PVR Addon recording features that Kodi Krypton now has.
- The ATV 4K touchpad remote still causes me occasional issues. It's a bit small for guys with Gorilla sized hands, even with a great Fintie silicon remote cover that adds some bulk and much needed grip.
Touchpad controls are never as easy to use as physical remote buttons. The Xiaomi Mi Box's remote by comparison I consider near perfect for a minimal remote, but that does not have the cool - ATV 4K Video Thumbnail FFWD / RWD scrubbing or IR blaster functionality.
LibreELEC 8.2.4 -Kodi Krypton (my recent personal release) for S912's like the MINIX U9:
Advantages:
- boots straight into Kodi Krypton, once setup. Even faster if you copy the LE data partition to internal eMMC storage.
- a full blown Kodi Krypton with all the Skins, Addon bells and whistles you normally expect from Kodi.
- Auto resolution switching 1080p <<-->> 4K
- HD audio passthrough including Atmos and DTS:X
- LibreELEC, a Linux based OS is a lot more open to DIY so you can use the inbuilt SAMBA server and Plug in compatible TV Tuners for use as a TvHeadend server for example.
- VP9 (profile 2) hardware decoding if you come across any of that Youtube ripped content.
Disadvantages & bugs:
- it's DIY, not exactly Plug N Play. But it's easy to install LE these days, especially on MINIX S9xx devices utilising the power button for initial LE install.
- Multichannel 24bit 192kHz FLAC will be output as multichannel 16bit 192kHz LPCM
- Chroma 4:2:2 subsampling results in green video outputs (4:2:2 only big screen Projector owners beware).
- 4:4:4 10bit which you use for 24p 4K HDR is fine, both for auto refresh and auto resolution switching.
- Very subtle, occasional, rare, video frame upsets when subtitles are displayed onscreen during long camera panning scenes. I had to look really really hard to even notice this. It really does not bother me too much personally and I never see it all the time. Fixed - see HERE (click)
- Not enough CPU ponies to software decode 1080p 11Mbps Hi10P Anime. - Looks to be fixed as well !
- Slightly slower OTA TV channel switching.
Apart from that I cannot notice any differences in WiFi, LAN, or visual picture quality between the two devices. Both are fast devices and play virtually any video content you throw at them. OTA TV deinterlacing picture quality is excellent on both.
The ATV 4K's settings, has a real easy to use IR learning function to use with any IR remote.
Click HERE for Harmony remote support for use with LE on the U9.
I use the ATV 4K for beautifully smooth video playback of 24p video in Apps like Netflix and Amazon Video as well as local 25fps IPTV catchup Apps. It's really is nice to have Apps support for Frame Rate and Dynamic range matching that the Apple TV 4K tvOS Firmware provides. Features and Apps support Android TV is sorely lacking.
MrMC also gets use for OTA TV and viewing local home 1080p / 4K server content.
It's a solid dependable App but needs some more Kodi Bling IMHO packaging cleaner looking modern Kodi Skins.
EDIT: The upcoming Ariana Skin (click) shows great promise, especially with the ATV's auto "Dark Mode"
LE on the MINIX U9 is speedy, auto switches everything and has better Kodi Krypton PVR Addon support. I also like to experiment and install minimal, clean, sensible Kodi Skins (from Jurialmunkey) now and again. I prefer the MINIX A2 lite remote with it's mini keyboard because I can use Kodi keyboard shortcuts and easily custom map it with the Keymap Editor Addon.
In the end pick what features are most important to you personally.
