Mini ITX boards with HDMI 2.0

1st Official Post

    I have a mini pc running libreelec and I want to upgrade it to support 4k as my TV is 4k.

    I came across a few mini-itx boards that may do the work and I would like to know if anyone already has one of them so I can be sure there aren't any incompatibilities...

    If anyone uses any of these please give me feedback...

    - MSI H87I / MSI Z87I
    - Zotac H87ITX-A-E 
    - ASRock Z87E-ITX
    - ASUS Z87I-PRO

    Or if anyone has a better reliable idea for 4K playback I'd like to know.

    Android boxes 905 are out of the question as I already had one and didn't work...

    Thank you in advance

    Kostas

    Edited once, last by costasx (January 30, 2018 at 6:08 PM).

    • Official Post

    If it's for LibreELEC only, I'd go for this one

    ASRock > J4105-ITX

    It's the very latest of onboard Intel Gemini Lake cpu/gpu. The only thing it lacks is HDR support, but who knows what Intel will come up with. You'll need a HDR capable TV to notice it.

    Admittingly, none of us have any experience with it yet since this motherboard is so new, but the previous series (J4205/J3455) has proven to be a stable setup.

    For the rest, don't mention banned/illegal Kodi add-ons like Covenant again, or you will be directed to the forum exit quite rapidly.

    Thank you very much.

    It looks like a very good M/B but for me there are two problems.

    On my current setup I have a i3 4th GEN (1150) which I wouldn't mind using instead of replacing and I'd rather get a board which needs external 12 or 19 volt power as the case I use is very small and there is no room for internal PSU.

    Thanks again!!!

    Post corrected....;)

    Edited once, last by costasx (January 30, 2018 at 6:53 PM).

    Intel also offers the J5005 Gemini Lake Chip that has a Intel® UHD Graphics 605 compared to the 600 in the J4105 chips. Does anyone know (maybe from the former chip series) if this just relates to the 3D performance, or can we also expect enhanced video features (like better H.265 decoding, HDR support etc.)?
    I am currently looking for a (kind of future-proof) platform delivering 4K, HDR10, HLG and best DolbyVision and HDR10+, and since I did not have the very best experience with my Raspi2 (regarding e.g. audio format switching on my connected Onkyo receiver, DTS WAV playback) compared to my Celeron N3150 LibreElec setup, I am not really convinced if I should go the AMLogic/Rockchip etc. way...

    However, I still could not find out if HDMI 2.1 or 2.2 are really (technically) a must for getting DV and HDR10+ - it doesn´t seem to me because at least DV is also possible with the FireTVs, AppleTVs etc. which cannot be HDMI 2.1 since the testing suite and certification has just been released. Or is this a kind-of proprietary vendor-specific solution?

    Thank you in advance!

    • Official Post

    Just heard and read that the ASRock > J4105-ITX currently costs approx 128 EURO (in Germany), so that's a hefty 40-50 EURO more than its predecessor the J3455. Plus the fact that memory DIMM costs also shot through the roof (2x4GB DDR4 SODIMM = some 80 EURO atm), building your Intel HTPC is becoming an truly expensive hobby.

    I'm sitting on the fence here. Asrock have only announced a couple of their Gemini Lake boards so far (J4005 and j5005 still to come). Gigabyte likewise, and nothing yet from Asus, for example. It's early days. Intel have had a lot on their plate just lately and the chips are a bit delayed. I am looking for a good platform for 4k, ideally with dual HDMI ports, hopefully to be able to split audio and video (I don't want to update the AV receiver just yet). As an alternative to ITX, Elite Systems (ECS) have announed their Liva Z2 ultra-compact PC, but that's not yet available either.

    I would not miss HDR as long as Kodi/Libreelec makes a color conversion HDR -> SDR. At the moment I need to watch HDR releases with S912 device. At least I have no color errors with that. With LE on Apollo Lake I have color errors.