Update December 2020
Specifically LG OLED owners need to be made aware (click) ...
However....
** Lossy (not Bluray Rips) EAC3/Atmos audio support added to MrMC v3.8.0 (click)
IMPORTANT NOTE - the Kodi forums are NOT to be used for McMC App support.
Yes you can discuss the ATV 4K and how it all works but all MrMC App support should be conducted over on the actual MrMC forums (click)
Lets start by talking about Kodi forks (modified versions), what are they and why do they even exist ?
Usually they spring into existence when there is either a difference of opinion about the direction mainstream Kodi is heading, or developers simply want to optimise Kodi for specific Hardware.
Then there are restrictive App approval policies that various App stores enforce for their various hardware platforms, also known in various circles as the "Walled Garden". Others call it being security conscious.
In this ATV 4K situation we are talking about the Apple Developer Program License Agreement , which forbids any App from downloading and executing additional code that does not already come pre-packaged with the original App itself.
This is a Apple tvOS security enforcement policy. Click HERE for details.
That means no official Kodi App because it has the ability to install additional Skins, and a whole smorgasbord of extra Kodi Addons.
So why have I even bothered writing this review if MrMC is going to be a bit restricted and users have to pay for the full blown App ?
Well because like all Open Sourced Kodi Forks there are good ideas that Popup outside of mainstream Kodi that sometimes get fed back into Kodi itself.
SPMC's - Auto 1080p <<-->> 4K Resolution switching idea is one that recently springs to mind....
...And well simply because the ATV 4K and MrMC combo is a damn good SDR / 4K HDR - HD audio platform, with a beast of a Chipset under the hood.
Lots of detailed Info and links about the ATV 4K over on the AVSForum (click)
ATV 4K Tech Specs (click)
The Good:
(tested with tvOS 12.0)
The Bad:
Important Limitations maybe Ugly for some:
What has landed with tvOS 12.0:
MrMC Cool stuff:
(using MrMC v3.7.0 (click))
MrMC Not so cool stuff:
Be aware MrMC is a cheap Paid for App - with Lifetime support.
Summing up...
The whole reason I bought the ATV 4K in the first place was for ultra smooth 24p Netflix Viewing and 25i / 50fps MrMC PVR support all in the one box so I do not get mismatched video frame rates and output refresh rates. This is pretty important for those of us outside the USA that have to deal with 25/50fps content as well.
I've followed MrMC's v3.7.0 progress for about 10 months now and it's morphing into a great media player built on the open source community's Kodi Jarvis foundations, even with some Kodi limitations.
Previously the visually jarring problem for myself and other people was the old dated Kodi Jarvis Skins MrMC used vs the new clean modern Estuary Skin used in Kodi Krypton.
The ex Kodi devs in the MrMC crew have a lot of Kodi miles and experience under their collective belts.
And now with the addition of @pecinko's new clean Apple like Ariana Skin it's time to shine !
Highly recommended.
W.
Specifically LG OLED owners need to be made aware (click) ...
Quote:The Apple TV 4K is the worst choice for LG OLED's, because the ATV sends fake HDR metadata (4000 nit MaxCLL, 1000 nit MaxFALL) for all movies. LG uses these values for accurate tone mapping.
However....
Quote:That maybe changed recently with the latest firmware update. I didn't verify on plex but iTunes now send the original HDR10 stream with proper metadata instead of converting DV to HDR10 with fixed metadata(4000/1000) as it used to do.
** Lossy (not Bluray Rips) EAC3/Atmos audio support added to MrMC v3.8.0 (click)
IMPORTANT NOTE - the Kodi forums are NOT to be used for McMC App support.
Yes you can discuss the ATV 4K and how it all works but all MrMC App support should be conducted over on the actual MrMC forums (click)
Lets start by talking about Kodi forks (modified versions), what are they and why do they even exist ?
Usually they spring into existence when there is either a difference of opinion about the direction mainstream Kodi is heading, or developers simply want to optimise Kodi for specific Hardware.
Then there are restrictive App approval policies that various App stores enforce for their various hardware platforms, also known in various circles as the "Walled Garden". Others call it being security conscious.
In this ATV 4K situation we are talking about the Apple Developer Program License Agreement , which forbids any App from downloading and executing additional code that does not already come pre-packaged with the original App itself.
This is a Apple tvOS security enforcement policy. Click HERE for details.
That means no official Kodi App because it has the ability to install additional Skins, and a whole smorgasbord of extra Kodi Addons.
So why have I even bothered writing this review if MrMC is going to be a bit restricted and users have to pay for the full blown App ?
Well because like all Open Sourced Kodi Forks there are good ideas that Popup outside of mainstream Kodi that sometimes get fed back into Kodi itself.
SPMC's - Auto 1080p <<-->> 4K Resolution switching idea is one that recently springs to mind....
...And well simply because the ATV 4K and MrMC combo is a damn good SDR / 4K HDR - HD audio platform, with a beast of a Chipset under the hood.
Lots of detailed Info and links about the ATV 4K over on the AVSForum (click)
ATV 4K Tech Specs (click)
- 64 bit Apple ARM A10X Fusion SoC
- 2.38 GHz 6 Core CPU
- 12 Core Apple customised Imagination PowerVR GPU
- 3GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
- 802.11ac Wi‑Fi with MIMO; simultaneous dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Infra Red Receiver
- HDMI 2.0a
- Bluetooth - Siri rechargeable voice remote with dual Microphones, trackpad and accelerometer
- Country specific power cable with No power brick.
The Good:
(tested with tvOS 12.0)
- It's fast, slick and polished platform. Exactly what you expect of a Premium media player.
- The most powerful media player on the market.
- Tight integration and good availability of local Apps, particularly outside the USA. (I'm in Australia)
- The Apple "TV" App for easy search and discovery of content across various video streaming Apps.
- tvOS Frame Rate & Dynamic Range matching (click) that Apps like MrMC, Netflix, Prime Video, Plex, Infuse, Emby and more utilise which results in....
- Ultra smooth video playback with the correct SDR / HDR color outputs no matter what content you throw at the platform.
- Frame Rate matching is really important for non USA territories around the world that have to deal with 24p & 25 / 50fps video content.
- The only external media player that can do Netflix App - auto Frame Rate Matching.
- One of the rare media player platforms that can do Atmos - Netflix App audio, the other being the XBOX.
- Great hardware picture upscaling for viewing non 4K content on a 4K TV. In general picture outputs from the ATV 4K are really good.
- 4K HDR > SDR dynamic range conversion possible for SDR only TV's.
- A Dolby Audio Licence so all audio can be downmixed and output as 5.1 DD for DD only audio equiptment support.
- DolbyVison capable for use with Netflix, iTunes, VUDU and Prime Apps. (Not MrMC). iTunes DV and Atmos content listed HERE
- No Bluetooth remote RF interference issues.
- Excellent, easy to use Infra Red remote control learning of any IR remote using built in tvOS functionality.
- Easy Harmony Remote integration, this POST has details.
- Quick Siri Voice searching and control, you can even Voice install Apps and FFWD and RWD using voice alone.
- The BT remote has an IR blaster, works great for TV or AVR volume control.
- tvOS - quick Apps Switcher and Killer (two taps of the TV remote button, and swipe)
- Excellent thermal engineering and heat control.
- A "set and forget setup", no need to continually fiddle with tvOS settings for mixed SDR / HDR and DolbyVision usage.
- Ongoing, regular tvOS Firmware & MrMC updates, that fix bugs and add new features.
The Bad:
- Difficulties holding the small slippery trackpad remote. Drop it on a hard surface and expect to break the glass trackpad, which is why....
- I had to buy a Fintie silicon cover for the remote to add much needed grip, bulk and drop protection, plus it's coloured so I do not lose it easily.
- No HDMI 2.0a cable supplied by Apple, the Amazon Basics 18Gbps ones work fine.
Important Limitations maybe Ugly for some:
- Not so much ugly, but no MrMC - Passthrough (bitstreaming) audio works at all. (Apple tvOS limitation)
- AC3, DTS, Dolby TrueHD & DTS-MA or HRA audio is decoded to multichannel 24bit 48kHz LPCM, for no loss in audio quality.
- No passthrough means No Bluray Rip quality Dolby Atmos or DTS:x
->> the Dolby True HD or DTS-MA HD audio tracks will be losslessly decoded instead.
- LPCM vs. Bitstream does it matter (click) ?
- 192kHz FLAC audio will be resampled and output as 48kHz
- Apple does not support the Google VP9 codec, consequentially all YouTube is 1080p SDR only.
- No USB port, so all user content has to come from Home Networked file servers such as a NAS, PC / Mac or SMB capable routers with USB ports.
- Some users are going to find Apple's restrictive App store install only policies and the inability to add extra Skins and Addons to MrMC a real limitation.
- If that is the case then the ATV 4K - MrMC combo is not for you.
What has landed with tvOS 12.0:
- Lossy Dolby Atmos audio support for use with iTunes, Netflix, VUDU & possibly Prime only streaming Apps at this stage.
MrMC Cool stuff:
(using MrMC v3.7.0 (click))
- The clean modern fresh looking Apple like Ariana Skin
- Video thumbnail scrubbing FWD and RWD thru video that is slick, accurate and fast using the remote's trackpad.
- mySQL, Emby, Plex and TrakTV database integration, accessible from within MrMC. A Plex Skin as well.
- LightEffects and Hue clients added to MrMC
- Excellent YADIF2x full motion deinterlacing for OTA TV viewing. SD TV channels can also be "post processed" with MrMC video settings
- The integration of tvOS dynamic Light and Dark mode for daytime and nightime usage.
- Excellent integration of the MrMC App with the ATV's 4K remote using Apple's Human Interface Guidelines (click)
- The heavily modded, MrMC is based on Kodi Jarvis so all the usual Kodi audio and video Scrapers, OTA TV - PVR's etc are still included.
- Triple tapping the remote Trackpad, quick activates Subtitles, very handy !
- Literally plays anything you throw at it.
watch gallery
MrMC Not so cool stuff:
- As previously mentioned no additional Skins or Addons can be downloaded, you get only these extra Skins...
- Skins - Amber, Ariana (default Skin), Black Glass Nova, MrMC, Opacity & PM3.HD4MrMC
- Extra Addons included are - OpenSubtitles, Advanced Wake on LAN, Keymap Editor & Library Auto updater (works well)
- BUG - Smart playlists work, but you cannot back out again to the main menu.
- Global Search is missing ! - unfortunately I only ran across this one the other day.
Be aware MrMC is a cheap Paid for App - with Lifetime support.
Summing up...
The whole reason I bought the ATV 4K in the first place was for ultra smooth 24p Netflix Viewing and 25i / 50fps MrMC PVR support all in the one box so I do not get mismatched video frame rates and output refresh rates. This is pretty important for those of us outside the USA that have to deal with 25/50fps content as well.
I've followed MrMC's v3.7.0 progress for about 10 months now and it's morphing into a great media player built on the open source community's Kodi Jarvis foundations, even with some Kodi limitations.
Previously the visually jarring problem for myself and other people was the old dated Kodi Jarvis Skins MrMC used vs the new clean modern Estuary Skin used in Kodi Krypton.
The ex Kodi devs in the MrMC crew have a lot of Kodi miles and experience under their collective belts.
And now with the addition of @pecinko's new clean Apple like Ariana Skin it's time to shine !
Highly recommended.
W.
