[ldzhjn]

I installed Kodi directly on a Sony Android TV.
My main usage for Kodi is to stream downloaded content using SMB stored on NAS.
I read in the forum that Kodi 17.6 and 18 doesn't support 4K HDR content playback.

But I did a little test the result is that I can open 4K HDR content from Kodi 17.6 installed on my TV.
My observation is when Kodi 17.6 opens 4K HDR content, the TV's brightness increases a lot.

So can I get a confirmation if Kodi 17.6 or 18.0 support 4k HDR content playback?

[noggin]

I installed Kodi directly on a Sony Android TV and streams downloaded content using SMB from my NAS.
I read in the forum that Kodi 17.6 and 18 doesn't support 4K HDR content playback.
But I can open 4K HDR content from Kodi.
My observation is when Kodi opens 4K HDR content, the TV's brightness increases a lot.

So can I get a confirmation if Kodi 17.6 or 18.0 support 4k HDR content playback?

 Kodi Leia (18) definitely supports HDR playback in HDR on a number of platforms - including some Android TV devices (nVidia Shield TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K etc.)

[ldzhjn]

I installed Kodi directly on a Sony Android TV and streams downloaded content using SMB from my NAS.
I read in the forum that Kodi 17.6 and 18 doesn't support 4K HDR content playback.
But I can open 4K HDR content from Kodi.
My observation is when Kodi opens 4K HDR content, the TV's brightness increases a lot.

So can I get a confirmation if Kodi 17.6 or 18.0 support 4k HDR content playback?

 Kodi Leia (18) definitely supports HDR playback in HDR on a number of platforms - including some Android TV devices (nVidia Shield TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K etc.) 

Thanks for the information.
Is there a list of which device Kodi Leia supoorts HDR playback?

[Klojum]

Is there a list of which device Kodi Leia supoorts HDR playback?

Nope, but there are information threads such as this one: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916 and this one: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180

[ldzhjn]

Is there a list of which device Kodi Leia supoorts HDR playback?

Nope, but there are information threads such as this one: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916 and this one: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180   

 Thanks for the link.

I have another question here.

So the TV's build-in player supports 4K HDR playback, it looks like it's using the Mali T860 GPU to decode.
But when I try to open the same content using Kodi, the CPU usage is very high.
Does this mean Kodi is not using GPU to decode? 

So here comes the dilemma, TV's build-in player doesn't support SMB streaming.
While Kodi sometimes stutters when playing 4K HDR content (looks like it's caused by high CPU usage I mentioned before because I'm using 5G wireless network between TV ans NAS and I've tested the speed using iperf3).

What's the best solution for streaming 4K HDR content through SMB now?

[wrxtasy]

Duplicate post..

[wrxtasy]

So here comes the dilemma, TV's build-in player doesn't support SMB streaming.

TV manufacturers are cheap skates, then pack only just good enough Chipsets in 4K Smart TV's to be able to use them for low bitrate 4K HDR streaming from Apps like Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube etc.

High Bitrate 4K HDR rips over SMB, forget about it.

All Smart TV only have 100Mbit Ethernet which will simply not provide enough data transfer bandwidth.
WiFi will very likely be too unreliable as well at such bitrates.
You need Gigabit Ethernet or a directly connected USB Hard Drive if you want to even attempt playback reliability.

Buy a Gigabit Ethernet equipped external media player.
See the START HERE thread over in the hardware Subforum, follow the top two orange links.

[ldzhjn]

So here comes the dilemma, TV's build-in player doesn't support SMB streaming.

TV manufacturers are cheap skates, then pack only just good enough Chipsets in 4K Smart TV's to be able to use them for low bitrate 4K HDR streaming from Apps like Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube etc.

High Bitrate 4K HDR rips over SMB, forget about it.

All Smart TV only have 100Mbit Ethernet which will simply not provide enough data transfer bandwidth.
WiFi will very likely be too unreliable as well at such bitrates.
You need Gigabit Ethernet or a directly connected USB Hard Drive if you want to even attempt playback reliability.

Buy a Gigabit Ethernet equipped external media player.
See the START HERE thread over in the hardware Subforum, follow the top two orange links. 

 Thanks for the information.

But from the tech specs my TV has Mali T860 GPU, while some other external media players like HiMedia Q5 and Zidoo X9S only have T820 GPU but they both claim they can support 4K HDR.

I conducted a test by copying a 66GB 4K HDR movie "Harry.Potter.and.the.Prisoner.of.Azkaban.2004.2160p.UHD.BluRay.REMUX.HDR.HEVC.DTS-X" with overall bitrate 64.2 Mb/s to a flash drive then play it with TV's build-in player and Kodi.
Both player have no problem playing the movie, built-in player has no problem at all but Kodi sometimes sutters and the CPU usage is very high for Kodi.

So I just want to ask is the hardware acceleration not working for 4K HDR content right now for 17.6?

[noggin]

Is there a list of which device Kodi Leia supoorts HDR playback?

Nope, but there are information threads such as this one: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916 and this one: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=332180    

 Thanks for the link.

I have another question here.

So the TV's build-in player supports 4K HDR playback, it looks like it's using the Mali T860 GPU to decode.
But when I try to open the same content using Kodi, the CPU usage is very high.
Does this mean Kodi is not using GPU to decode? 

Beware - you're falling into the trap of thinking ARM SoCs are like PCs. The GPU on ARM SoCs doesn't do hardware accelerated video decoding, that's carried out by a separate bit of the SoC, usually called the VPU.

What you are actually asking is whether Kodi running on your TV's Android TV build is using the VPU in your TV's ARM SoC ? Have you tried all combinations of the hardware acceleration settings in the Kodi Player system settings page?

So here comes the dilemma, TV's build-in player doesn't support SMB streaming.

No - but most TVs support UPnP streaming - including Sony - so it may be worth looking at that. UI is usually horrible though.

While Kodi sometimes stutters when playing 4K HDR content (looks like it's caused by high CPU usage I mentioned before because I'm using 5G wireless network between TV ans NAS and I've tested the speed using iperf3).

What's the best solution for streaming 4K HDR content through SMB now? 

  
Have a look at the threads in the hardware section referred to above?

[wrxtasy]

Both player have no problem playing the movie, built-in player has no problem at all but Kodi sometimes stutters and the CPU usage is very high for Kodi.

I bet Sony are using some private Application Programming Interface (API's) if that is their very own coded & optimised built in video player.
Android Kodi uses the standard Mediacodec API for Android video playback, how Sony have implemented that is anyone's guess.

Sony are well known for NOT implementing standard Android API's very well in Firmware, they have a habit of doing a bunch of custom work with their included Apps.
It's why they should be avoided for demanding Kodi usage.

Remember the Android TV OS is virtually free, apart from the certification and testing required. It's really only slapped on TV's like Sony so they can try and compete with the likes of WebOS on the market leading LG 4K HDR Smart TV's. An OS developed in house by LG themselves.

[Higherbeing51]

I run all my HDR 4k Atmos from my Nas networked through router using Kodi 18.1 on a Sony OLED or through my Nvidia shield
I use NFS to stream everything and Kodi never stutters at all.
Don't use SMB that's probably where the fault lies

[chriskan22]

also streaming hdr files via PLEX server to my xf9005 TV with plex addon in KODI 18.6  everything is fine-no stutters at all and full HDR support