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jonomite · 2019-02-19, 01:08

(2019-02-18, 16:08)tormentoman Wrote: Hi there, aame problmens here.
I'm running Kodi on a Philips 65OLED873/12 (Android 7 | ARM Chip). I have tested both v.18 (from the Play store), and 18.1 RC from the repository, with identical results.

I been trying to adjust / modify some of the player parameters activating / disabling one or both of the "MediaCodec" and "MediaCodec (Surface)" options.

Depending of the different combinations and the played files (from SD to 4K), outcome is different: from a very unpleasant playback, up to a some decent, smooth playback, but getting those small frame drops / stuttering time to time, but with a constant: as bigger the file, as smoother the playback. Smaller SD, 720p are really hard to watch, while 4K files rarely drops / stutter any frame.

Any ideas about what could be the issue / solution?

If you read through the previous posts in this support thread, you'll see that the issue has to do with hardware decoding implementation in Kodi 18. In earlier versions, Kodi defaulted to software decoding for the files you're having problems with, but the developers flipped the switch to hardware decoding in Kodi 18. The problem is how mediacodec is implemented across different hardware solutions, and there is not a one-size-fits-all to ensure that it is implemented properly. At this point, there doesn't seem to be any solution - some developers seem willing to go back to Kodi 17 behavior, while others may be more in favor of blacklisting certain codecs for hardware decoding. Some users have suggested that Kodi detect certain hardware and adjust hardware / software decoding settings accordingly, but that's still simmering, I think. I for one think it makes sense to go back to Kodi 17 behavior, though some have pointed out that software decoding is pretty terrible for modern television upscaling, but I'm willing to stomach that if it means playback doesn't stutter.

There's also a thread at GitHub that discusses this issue and background: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues/15405

tormentoman · 2019-02-19, 10:23

Thank you so much for so accurate and clear-speaking explanation!

jonomite · 2019-02-20, 18:15

(2019-02-19, 10:23)tormentoman Wrote: Thank you so much for so accurate and clear-speaking explanation!

FYI, there is a recent build posted at the GitHub link above that may be worth giving a shot.

don.camillo · 2020-07-27, 11:35

Hi,

I just wanted to ask, if there is some progress with this issue.
It is quite sad to see, that there exist several different solutions for this issue but none of them was implemented for Kodi on Android Sad

For example this issue is fixed in Kodi running on CoreELEC - there's a possibility to configure Kodi to use HW codecs only for HD content. With this option applied, this issue is not a problem anymore.

Is there a chance that such option would be available also for Kodi running on Android?

**Klojum** · 2020-07-27, 11:40

(2020-07-27, 11:35)don.camillo Wrote: Is there a chance that such option would be available also for Kodi running on Android?

Anything is possible. If CoreELEC has that piece of code available, then it could be a possibility for sure.
Helas, CoreELEC hasn't been that happy in sharing code ever since it started. But perhaps that might change since 'recent events' at CE.