S912 off-topic

Mr.Brown · December 23, 2017 at 4:27 PM

well for one- thanks kszaq for your build.

I installed it on Minix U9-H on an SD card.

My main problem with this build is, that when "Hardware Acceleration" is disabled, there are no options to use software upscaling like Lanczos3 optimized, Spline 36 optimized etc.

I have some 720p content that I watch and the upscaling quality of the AML SoC is pretty trash, like 99% of all other ARM SoCs out there.

On Nvidia Shield with SPMC, I could disable Hardware Acceleration and use software Decoding instead with "Lanczos 3 optimized" software Upscaling.

This doesnt seem to work with Libre Elec build for Minix U9-H. Thats pretty much the biggest bummer on an otherwise pretty solid media player.

Fck its so pathetic with these garbage ARM socs.. It seems like another wait incoming untill Kodi team figures out how to implement 4K HDR with Intel CPUs/GPUs, because it seems to be the only device that works properly and has enough power to do software decoding with stuff that has no native hardaware support..

Tim_Taylor · December 23, 2017 at 4:49 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

My main problem with this build is, that when "Hardware Acceleration" is disabled, there are no options to use software upscaling like Lanczos3 optimized, Spline 36 optimized etc.

Amlogic SoC has not enough power

Mr.Brown · December 23, 2017 at 5:56 PM

Quote from Tim_Taylor

Amlogic SoC has not enough power

Are you sure? It has something like 2400 geek bench score in multi core. Shouldnt that be enough for software decoding + software upscaling at the same time of 720p content?

Wow that would really suck.. KODI team really needs to figure out to implement 4K HDR with Intel NUC Boxes, cause apparently all other ARM socs are garbage except maybe Apple soc and Nvidia Shield soc..

Tim_Taylor · December 23, 2017 at 7:29 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

Are you sure? It has something like 2400 geek bench score in multi core. Shouldnt that be enough for software decoding + software upscaling at the same time of 720p content?

If You don´t believe, ask the developers please

Pelican · December 24, 2017 at 7:43 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

Are you sure? It has something like 2400 geek bench score in multi core. Shouldnt that be enough for software decoding + software upscaling at the same time of 720p content?

Wow that would really suck.. KODI team really needs to figure out to implement 4K HDR with Intel NUC Boxes, cause apparently all other ARM socs are garbage except maybe Apple soc and Nvidia Shield soc..

Why it is so important? Who want to watch 720p content on a 4k HDR tv?

s25003 · December 26, 2017 at 10:10 AM

Hi all

I am new to this forum.

I bought myself a Minix u9-h for Christmas. I needed an additional Kodi device to complete my old HTPC which is not powerful enough to

play 4k movies. Instead of upgrading my HTPC for about $1000 to handle 4k HEVC/H.265 in a .mkv container properly I bought this device

for the job.

I am running the device with LibreELEC 8.2.2.1a. I am using my old HTPC as mediaserver through Kodi UPnP and it plays 4K UHD movies with

HD Audio passtrought to my reciever perfect with no audio sync problems. Subtitles is also working perfect through Opensubtitles.

I want to thank kszaq for all great work with the builds to make our devices work as they were built for. I also want to recommend the Minix u9-h device for people reading this forum planning to buy a Kodi device.

Mr.Brown · December 26, 2017 at 6:06 PM

Unfortunately Minix u9-h has a broken HDR-SDR conversion. The image of HEVC HDR content appears too dark, when its beeing converted to SDR, for example on some 4K TVs that dont support HDR (only SDR).

Thats the main issue Im having with this player, aside the fact that its SoC is too weak to use software Upscaling like Lanczos 3 for SD content. (i. e. DVDs and so on.). Also it cant do software deinterlacing like Yadif x2 for neither HD content nor SD content. Looks like the SoC is too weak for those tasks. Which makes this player a rather mediocre media player.

Once Kodi devs figure out how to implement HDR on x86 hardware (Intel NUC etc.) and also figure out proper HDR->SDR converion, there will be no need for any of those trash Android media players.

Right now its the only thing, that devices like Intel NUC cant do compared to Android based media players. Once Intel NUC hardware and other x86 based hardware gets support for it, you can throw any Android devices into garbage where they belong.

ChimeyJimmey · December 26, 2017 at 6:17 PM

Right.

Now,

let's compare the price of Intel NUCs and "those trash Android media players"...

Tim_Taylor · December 26, 2017 at 6:42 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

Once Intel NUC hardware and other x86 based hardware gets support for it, you can throw any Android devices into garbage where they belong.

Once upon in the time ....

Why did You buy this "trash Android media player" ?

You want a Porsche, but You paid Fiat 500

Good luck with Your NUC and have a nice day

astep · December 26, 2017 at 7:10 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

Once Kodi devs figure out how to implement HDR on x86 hardware (Intel NUC etc.) and also figure out proper HDR->SDR converion, there will be no needOnce Intel NUC hardware and other x86 based hardware gets support for it, you can throw any Android devices into garbage where they belong.

Price difference is too big for comparison. Nvidia Shield is a nice alternative. I am considering to try it myself.

Pelican · December 26, 2017 at 7:22 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

Thats the main issue Im having with this player, aside the fact that its SoC is too weak to use software Upscaling like Lanczos 3 for SD content. (i. e. DVDs and so on.). Also it cant do software deinterlacing like Yadif x2 for neither HD content nor SD content. Looks like the SoC is too weak for those tasks. Which makes this player a rather mediocre media player.

You are complaining about quality and want to watch SD content and DVD...

ChimeyJimmey · December 26, 2017 at 7:41 PM

Good one!

Mr.Brown · December 27, 2017 at 12:31 AM

Quote from astep

Price difference is too big for comparison. Nvidia Shield is a nice alternative. I am considering to try it myself.

I have the shield TV here and NUC. Dont expect too much from Shield. It has a ton of its own problems. It has trash upscaling quality as well in the SoC itself, even worse than Minix U9h. The good thing though is that the CPU is strong enough, so you can enable software Upscaling (Lanczos3) up to like 720p resolution. The bad thing is- right now its only possible if you disable hardware acceleration completely. Like there is no setting as of yet to use software acceleration for content below 1080p, maybe Kodi team will add it in the future.

Shield TV also doesnt have very good deinterlacing quality for 1080i content (TV content like sports etc.). It cant do Yadif x2 with 1080i. Well the option is there, but the CPU is too weak for that task. It stutters when you enable Yadif x2 with 1080i content.

It has a bunch of other issues like not beeing able to convert HDR-> SDR. Not supporting some HD passthrough audio like TrueHD/DTS HD/Atmos... Ie had many issues with it.

Theres just one guy kinda "optimizing" Kodi for that Android TV plattform, which is Koying I think is his nick. Needless to say he cant cover all Android TV devices and optimize them properly. Especially since every SoC manufacturer uses their own proprietary sheet and most of the time doesnt provide the required drivers and so on.

Shield TV also doesnt support auto framerate switching for Apps like Netfilx, Amazon etc. The only ARM device that does it atm is Apple 4K TV I think.

One thing that is good about Minix U9H I will say is- it did passthrough every HD audio properly as far as I can tell. The upscaling quality is slightly better than Shield TV, but its still nowhere near Lanczos3 quality. Its not as fluid and fast as Shield when navigating both in Kodi and Android OS compared to Shield.

Optimally, when Kodi team adds HDR support for NUC devices, the best device combo would be Apple 4K TV + Intel Kaby Lake NUC (or newer). Apple 4K for native 4K Netflix, Amazon + Youtube support with auto framerate switching and auto HDR-> SDR conversion and NUC for everything else (Kodi with addons etc.).

**wrxtasy** · December 27, 2017 at 4:08 AM

Quote from Mr.Brown

Shield TV also doesnt have very good deinterlacing quality for 1080i content (TV content like sports etc.). It cant do Yadif x2 with 1080i. Well the option is there, but the CPU is too weak for that task. It stutters when you enable Yadif x2 with 1080i content.

Very interesting. That is the exact reason why I never bought a Shield, because it really cannot handle every needed Kodi feature. Even the new Apple TV 4K can do excellent Yadifx2 1080i with MrMC. The ATV4K has a beast of a SoC with the new 6 core 2.38GHz A10X Fusion

I've been running in addition to the ATV 4K - an ODROID C2 for everything non HDR, non Apps related.

Been experimenting with auto Kodi resolution switching downwards from 1080p <-->720p for SD content so my 4K TV then handles the SD > 4K upscaling. Currently Kodi can only res. switch upwards.

Mr.Brown · December 27, 2017 at 11:28 AM

Well the A10X in the Apple 4K TV has around 2.5x single core performance and above 2x Multi Core performance compared to the Tegra X1 in the Shield TV (going by geekbench scores).

The Tegra X1 will be 3 years old soon. I mean it was a beast of a soc in the last 2.5 years, but its not the top dog any more compared to ATV 4K.

Only reason I got the Shield TV was the native 4K support for some Aps like Netflix, Youtube, Amazon etc.

Its not a great device for Kodi use, there are too many bugs, issues and limitations. It clearly wasnt meant to be a Video device but rather a Streaming console/casual android console. Its Video capabilities that are built into the SoC are very basic and nothing for Video enthusiasts. In particular the upscaling quality sucks and the deinterlacing quality is average at best.

The moment I buy a new 4K HDR TV, probably a higher end Sony, that has all these Apps onboard, I will have no need/use for the Shield any more.

Right now the best combo to cover almost all scenarios and needs would probably be ATV 4K and a Kaby Lake NUC.

To get back on topic though- Im using the Minix U9H with LE build from this thread on one of the older 1080p TVs. I thought it can convert HDR to SDR correctly, according to your thread in Kodi forum wrxtasy.

When I play a 4K Hevc HDR file on the U9-H connected to the 1080p TV, the colors appear to be correct (not washed out), however the image is too dark. The gamma level/contrast level is wrong. It results in black crush, the image is darkened too much.

Now I read in a change log from Minix that they fixed this issue with a Firmware update a while ago. I have the latest FW on the U9-H and still have this problem when using on an old 1080p tv.

I wonder if its a LE bug or a Bug in Minix FW still..

dikkiedirk · December 27, 2017 at 11:35 AM

Quote from s25003

Hi all

I am new to this forum.

I bought myself a Minix u9-h for Christmas. I needed an additional Kodi device to complete my old HTPC which is not powerful enough to

play 4k movies. Instead of upgrading my HTPC for about $1000 to handle 4k HEVC/H.265 in a .mkv container properly I bought this device

for the job.

I am running the device with LibreELEC 8.2.2.1a. I am using my old HTPC as mediaserver through Kodi UPnP and it plays 4K UHD movies with

HD Audio passtrought to my reciever perfect with no audio sync problems. Subtitles is also working perfect through Opensubtitles.

I want to thank kszaq for all great work with the builds to make our devices work as they were built for. I also want to recommend the Minix u9-h device for people reading this forum planning to buy a Kodi device.

Display More

Quote from Mr.Brown

I have the shield TV here and NUC. Dont expect too much from Shield. It has a ton of its own problems. It has trash upscaling quality as well in the SoC itself, even worse than Minix U9h. The good thing though is that the CPU is strong enough, so you can enable software Upscaling (Lanczos3) up to like 720p resolution. The bad thing is- right now its only possible if you disable hardware acceleration completely. Like there is no setting as of yet to use software acceleration for content below 1080p, maybe Kodi team will add it in the future.

Shield TV also doesnt have very good deinterlacing quality for 1080i content (TV content like sports etc.). It cant do Yadif x2 with 1080i. Well the option is there, but the CPU is too weak for that task. It stutters when you enable Yadif x2 with 1080i content.

It has a bunch of other issues like not beeing able to convert HDR-> SDR. Not supporting some HD passthrough audio like TrueHD/DTS HD/Atmos... Ie had many issues with it.

Theres just one guy kinda "optimizing" Kodi for that Android TV plattform, which is Koying I think is his nick. Needless to say he cant cover all Android TV devices and optimize them properly. Especially since every SoC manufacturer uses their own proprietary sheet and most of the time doesnt provide the required drivers and so on.

Shield TV also doesnt support auto framerate switching for Apps like Netfilx, Amazon etc. The only ARM device that does it atm is Apple 4K TV I think.

One thing that is good about Minix U9H I will say is- it did passthrough every HD audio properly as far as I can tell. The upscaling quality is slightly better than Shield TV, but its still nowhere near Lanczos3 quality. Its not as fluid and fast as Shield when navigating both in Kodi and Android OS compared to Shield.

Optimally, when Kodi team adds HDR support for NUC devices, the best device combo would be Apple 4K TV + Intel Kaby Lake NUC (or newer). Apple 4K for native 4K Netflix, Amazon + Youtube support with auto framerate switching and auto HDR-> SDR conversion and NUC for everything else (Kodi with addons etc.).

Display More

You can compare the Nvidia Shield to Dune Solo Lite or Dune Solo 4K too. These Dune series work pretty well with anything I threw at it.

Mr.Brown · December 27, 2017 at 11:52 AM

The Dune HD only supports 4K @ 30 due to hardware limitation, not 4K@60 or 4K@50 which means its not future proof at all.

Now, why is that important? Well sooner or later the TV channels will switch to 4K50/60, even if it will be interlaced(4K 25i/30i), there will be effectively 50 or 60 fps. For ppl who watch TV content like Sports etc. it will be important to have native 4K50/60 support, which the current Dune HD players dont have.

In terms of Upscaling, Dune players have prolly the best quality out of any media player, since Sigma did buy some company that had top notch upscaling tech, which Sigma then implemented into their own soc. However it looks like Sigma left the market of Multimedia Chips. The next Dune player apparently will have a Realtek Chip, which is probably comparable to the AML 912. Id rather use a Nuc, where you can do alot with Software, if the Hardware accelerated quality isnt good enough, than buy a device with a Realtek chip, which are also known to have some issues.

pepeq · December 27, 2017 at 3:08 PM

Quote from Mr.Brown

...

When I play a 4K Hevc HDR file on the U9-H connected to the 1080p TV, the colors appear to be correct (not washed out), however the image is too dark. The gamma level/contrast level is wrong. It results in black crush, the image is darkened too much.

Now I read in a change log from Minix that they fixed this issue with a Firmware update a while ago. I have the latest FW on the U9-H and still have this problem when using on an old 1080p tv.

I wonder if its a LE bug or a Bug in Minix FW still..

I have the same effect on my

Beelink Mini MXIII II (S905X/2 GB) (HDR colors ok, but image to dark and contrast to high, gamma not suitable) with 8.2.2.1 (Kodi17.6) and also with 8.90.0 (Kodi 18.x) from GDPR-2