• 1
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33(current)
  • 34
  • 35
  • 119
2018 - Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
(2019-02-02, 12:27)farhanito Wrote: So excited that I can get Atmos with kodi 18 and this Netflix addon.

Any chance Amazon will add lossless HD audio passthrough capability to this thing?
 If I were a betting man I wouldn't put money on it. 

The only real sources of HD Audio (DTS HD MA/Dolby True HD) are Blu-ray rips, and Amazon won't have any business need to support playback of that content.  Their streaming service, and the content they own and provide as part of it, isn't in HD Audio so they have no reason to develop their FireTV OS to support it.

In Amazon business terms - the Fire TV devices are purely there to get you to subscribe to OTT services (ideally Prime Video). No OTT service currently wants to allocate 4Mbs+ to audio streams...

I expect the same rationale is behind the Apple TV 4K, Google Chromecast and Roku devices not supporting HD Audio passthrough/bitstreaming either.
Reply
(2019-02-02, 12:27)farhanito Wrote: So excited that I can get Atmos with kodi 18 and this Netflix addon.

Any chance Amazon will add lossless HD audio passthrough capability to this thing?
 I highly doubt it. You're prob best going for the vero 4k+.
Reply
Has anyone tried to play HDR10 +? Does it work well with Kodi? There are already 4/5 movies and documentaries that have HDR10 +.
 
Thanks!
Reply
Audio sync fix for Live TV

Problem: The combination of Firestick 4K, Kodi 18.0 and NextPVR causes Live TV to lose audio sync. It gets worst over time; by the time it's run for half an hour, it's hilariously out of sync. Therefore, applying an audio offset wouldn't work. Watching videos doesn't have sync problems, only Live TV.

Solution: try changing the resolution of your Firestick (Firestick settings/Display and Sound) from automatic to another setting (like 720p if you have 1080p).

Long answer: I have Kodi on a variety of devices, all watching Live TV (ATSC 1080i/DD5.1) with a NextPVR backend and only the Firestick 4K has a sync problem. Therefore, I'm posting my solution in case it helps someone else.

I have tried various solutions online, but none of them worked. Some I tried:
- Setting Firestick surround sound to "stereo" (i.e. turn off Dolby Digital/Plus)
- Turning off time-shifting on NextPVR add-on
- Using Ethernet adapter in case it was Wifi-related
- Turning off hardware acceleration (gets audio in sync, but video starts getting slightly jerky and Kodi status shows CPU hitting 85-90%+ utilization)

At some point, I decided to change the Firestick resolution setting to 720p instead of "automatic" (which changes it to 1080p). The TV is a small one in the kitchen, so 720p is fine. This changes Kodi to 720p 59.94 (only option in the whitelist), and for some reason it fixed my sync problem! Anyone have any idea why? There's no transcoding going on; NextPVR is still sending 1080i to the Firestick AFAIK.
Reply
(2019-02-05, 03:33)jm2jm2 Wrote: Audio sync fix for Live TV

Out of interest is it possible to test this @fritsch tweaked GLES rendering Leia RC5 test .apk ?

It definitely made a difference on other ARM platforms I tested it on for broadcast TV, decoding and rendering.
Also disable all Kodi Hardware acceleration and see how you go.

http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/andro...bi-v7a.apk

Reply
(2019-02-05, 04:01)wrxtasy Wrote:
(2019-02-05, 03:33)jm2jm2 Wrote: Audio sync fix for Live TV

Out of interest is it possible to test this @fritsch tweaked GLES rendering Leia RC5 test .apk ?

It definitely made a difference on other ARM platforms I tested it on for broadcast TV, decoding and rendering.
Also disable all Kodi Hardware acceleration and see how you go.

http://mirrors.kodi.tv/test-builds/andro...bi-v7a.apk 
Just tried it. Worked the same as the final build. @ 1080p with HW accel on, TV goes out of sync (after 10 minutes, it's 5 sec off and increasing). Turning off HW accel and it's in sync but jerky as it drops frames and system Info with TV playing in background shows all cores working between 85-90%. Changing Firestick to 720p and it's perfect with HW accel on (still jerky with HW accel off).

I'm game to try other things to help others narrow it down, but will otherwise "stick" with the final build @ 720p.
Reply
Once Dolby Vision is supported we should be able to play back Dolby Vision content through the Netflix inputstream add-on, which supports it. Right now all I get is a green screen when I enable Dolby Vision output. HDR10 outputs just fine from the add-on.

This would be a great addition- it would be the only platform that outputs Netflix w/DV with native refresh rate/resolution. Next we'd have to try to get Atmos working for the full deal.
Reply
does kodi now trigger 4k and hdr on the new fire tv stick 4k? I have fire tv 2 which support 4k but kodi doesn't trigger it, it stays 1080p even if I play a 4k video file. I'm thinking of upgrading to the new 4k stick but not really worth it without 4k on kodi. thanks
Reply
Yes, that's correct!
My Fire TV Stick 4K plays HDR 4K content without problems (I use Kodi UI in 4K + 60p)
I have upgraded from a Fire TV Gen 2 and I'm more than happy.
Reply
(2019-02-13, 09:42)cconstantin1979 Wrote: Yes, that's correct!
My Fire TV Stick 4K plays HDR 4K content without problems (I use Kodi UI in 4K + 60p)
I have upgraded from a Fire TV Gen 2 and I'm more than happy.
 oh that's great thanks. I think it's weird how kodi doesn't support 4k on the fire tv gen 2 but does on the new 4k stick, but I'm sure there's a technical reason behind it.
Reply
This is a cracking little device for the money, only slight gripe is the h264 1080i problem, but I very rarely watch live TV in the bedroom anyway so i can live with that.
Reply
You said you updated your firestick firmware.

What version are you on?

I haven't had an update in the UK since I got the stick in December.

Thank you
Reply
Now with 4K Netflix (with resolution switching) is working, I'm even more impressed with this device...it's coming very close 2nd to my vero4k, which costs twice as much, and will likely never have 4K Netflix support.
Reply
(2019-02-14, 14:39)gb160 Wrote: Now with 4K Netflix (with resolution switching) is working, I'm even more impressed with this device...it's coming very close 2nd to my vero4k, which costs twice as much, and will likely never have 4K Netflix support.
 These certainly are impressive little devices, but for pure Kodi use they don't hold a candle to a Vero 4K/+.
The Vero 4K+ plays high bitrate UHD Bluray remuxes out of the box across a network with HDR and all audio formats supported, likewise the original 4K with a little ssh work.
Both Vero's deinterlace TV signals correctly whether they be HD or SD.
Luckily for me I had an OTG cable and a GB USB ethernet adapter sitting unused in my "tech drawer" otherwise I'd have had to spend an extra £20 or so to get the high bitrate UHD stuff working on the Firestick, but even then I have to contend with some audio formats not working as well as sound synch issues, because here in the UK we haven't had a firmware update.
It seems even with the latest firmware deinterlacing hasn't been solved, you could bypass Kodi and pay for the Channels app for interlaced TV content on the 4K Firestick (everything I've read says Channels has a great bespoke software deinterlacer).
The Firestick shines over the Vero's for official apps with having Prime, Netflix and others available to use to their full potential but for Kodi use comparing the two is akin to comparing apples to oranges!

For Kodi I will choose a Vero every day of the week, For non Kodi I would choose a 4K firestick, I appreciate not everyone can afford both but buying both would be my recommendation.
























!
Reply
(2019-02-15, 19:29)stammie Wrote: The Firestick shines over the Vero's for official apps with having Prime, Netflix and others available to use to their full potential
 Well Netflix on the Firestick doesn't do Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.   Or was it DV is played back at 60fps - something along those lines.

So still not Netflix to its full potential, but Amazon Prime works pretty well.
Reply
  • 1
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33(current)
  • 34
  • 35
  • 119

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
2018 - Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K3