Rpi 4b, Odroid N2+ or other

    Hi

    I have an Odroid C2 that I have been using a media center with LibreElec and later CoreElec, but it is old and the HDMI is giving up. It gets overheated and the signal randomly gets lost until I give it a break. So I want to buy a new device that will act only as media center with LibreElec. What I need:

    - 4k HDR support (it will be connected to a Samsung Q80R).

    - Gigabit ethernet, no storage will be attached (source is a local Jellyfin server plus Youtube and other streaming, but no Netflix or any other DRM streming service).

    - No need for DRM, no Netflix or similar (as mentioned above)

    - Interested in lowest power consumption, specially when idle.

    For what I have read in the forums the two main candidates are the rPi 4b and the Odroid N2+. This is only my conclussion from reading this forum so I am open to other suggestions. For what I've read, the rPi 4b got 4k HDR support recently with HEVC but there are still a few minor quirks left to solve (although since it is such a popular platform they should be solved timely). The Odroid N2+ is a bit older but also fits all the requirements, apparently has great audio out (which I will use in the future) and is avaiable to buy while it might take a few months for the rPi 4b to be back in stock.

    I would like to know:

    1. Is there any other device that fits my needs and I have missed?

    2. Are there any other advatages/disadvantages the rPi 4b or the N2+ have on each other for my use case?

    3. I would be interested on a comparisson of power consumption of each device, specially when idle as that is how it spends most of the time.

    Thanks

    RPi4 has no real to-do items remaining unless you care about 3D support - it's my daily driver and very reliable. The only negative might be the lack of native VP9 support for 4K YouTube .. but 1080p streams run fine for me with software decode so it's not an issue for me. N2+ is less supported by LE images at the current time; Amlogic upstream code is a bit experimental in places and 10-bit VP9/HEVC cause issues. CE will be a better choice for an N2 than LE right now.

    If you decide to go with a RPi4, I recommend the 8GB board. Linux, in general (to include LE), runs faster with more memory. So software decodes work better. Also, give due consideration to the cooling of the RPi4 as it will get very warm without adequate cooling.

    Quote from tkocou

    If you decide to go with a RPi4, I recommend the 8GB board. Linux, in general (to include LE), runs faster with more memory. So software decodes work better.

    Pretty sure 8GB is overkill for LibreELEC, 2GB should be absolutely fine. Decoding video really doesn't use much memory, and the JeOS itself is very light on resources.

    Quote from powerarmour

    Pretty sure 8GB is overkill for LibreELEC, 2GB should be absolutely fine. Decoding video really doesn't use much memory, and the JeOS itself is very light on resources.

    It is only a recommendation, not a mandatory thing. True that 8GB might be considered overkill, until one finds an addon which dies in the 2GB RPI due to lack of memory. The other consideration is this: has anyone successfully upgraded a 2GB RPI to a 4GB (or 8GB) RPI without replacing the unit? It is better to have more memory and not need all of it than to need more memory and not have it available.

    2GB is the minimum for normal LE use. The 4GB or 8GB boards are only really needed if you want to start fiddling with docker containers and other things that consume RAM in the background. You shouldn't need to fiddle with GPU memory defaults; they are set correctly by default.

    At this point buy what you can find & want to spend money on, as long as it's 2GB or more and fits your intended usage. :) I can confirm 2GB is totally fine if your interests are basic media center usage, yet to find any add-on that doesn't work, but it depends on your workload. Some people like to use the RPi for everything under the sun plus a media center, but I just use it for the media center and have PVRs and storage on AMD-based servers.

    By the way, the basic media center usage with a 512MB video buffer cache doesn't use more than ~750MB of RAM in total, I also don't run Samba or Cron services as I don't need it. YMMV.

    Just keep in mind there might be in future a Kodi that includes a browser, at that moment a 2GB RPi is really borderline if you use that feature.

    4gb is there enough with a good margin.

    Thank you all for the input.

    Rpi 4 not handeling vp9, specially when Goolag and others favor it, seems like a bit let down. It seems I better look into the Amlogic chipsets since this device will be only a media center and video decoding is its main function.

    As for the RAM debate, even if 2Gb seems to be ok, experience has shown me that being generous with RAM is usually wise. So I tend to agree with the ones recommending at least 4Gb, plus the price difference is small.

    Quote from libreelekuer

    It seems I better look into the Amlogic chipsets since this device will be only a media center and video decoding is its main function.

    You should plan on buying an SBC and not an Android TV box, and you should definitely research which SBC you buy and how well they are supported. I have heard complaints that some SBCs are all great until it breaks (the warranty/support is sometimes non-existant, they likely suspect it is a user fault, and it probably is most of the time). Since most Amlogic devices with working video decoding are running a 4.9 kernel or older you should expect problems with device compatibility. So really make sure what you buy is 99% self contained (on-board the SBC), and any devices you intend to plug in are fully supported by the OS your planning on running. Good luck.

    Rockchip might me something worth looking at, not super familiar with those boards, but I believe a lot of it is mainline supported. Just know my experience with Amlogic is not great, RPi is great for me.

    Quote from frakkin64

    Rockchip might me something worth looking at, not super familiar with those boards, but I believe a lot of it is mainline supported.

    I can confirm that Rockchip (community, including LE) does amazing work with upstreaming/mainlining support for its devices and is one of the main reasons I'm interested in them.

    I have a Rock64 and I'm quite impressed with what LE manages to make it do, including 4k HDR x264/x265 support (and possibly also vp9). It does have a heating/thermal issue though, but after buying the aluminum case, that issue was resolved.

    I would recommend to take a serious look at Pine64's Quartz64 Model-B (See Quartz64 section at https://www.pine64.org/2022/03/15/mar…he-quartzpro64/) as it has better hardware and runs much cooler due to 22nm build process. It seems like LE doesn't have an image for it yet, though. Keeping an eye on https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Quartz64_Development should be helpful.

    Feel the pain in here, I jumped on the Pi4 as soon as it came out thinking 4k wont be far, well over a year and its semi working now - awesome job from everyone involved

    I considered the N2 and the Pine64's the other week and was ready to go for the N2 as it ticked more boxes overall due to the X265 and HVEC handling.

    Only reason i noticed the difference was the Emby app on LG WEBOS was the only way to watch any 4K on my TV as previous LE build wouldnt install but even with latest update it just doesnt do it as well, so gutted as the thought of having a pi and not running LE on it is giving me the chills

    Think ill use Emby for now and keep testing the LE updates as they come out as no doubt it will work 1 day but failing that ill be going for the 4GB N2+ in hope some of the coreelec builds make their way into LE and it becomes very supported

    also have to agree that the Pi4 8gb is overkill - even with half a dozen docker images running

    Quote from Veedub

    failing that ill be going for the 4GB N2+ in hope some of the coreelec builds make their way into LE and it becomes very supported

    LE has absolutely zero interest in resuming Amlogic vendor-kernel images, so that is 100% not going to happen. I'm reasonably sure that CE will continue to maintain their fork though.

    Last year I picked up a Khadas VIM3L,

    I do boot straight into CoreELEC but it handles all the 4K content I can throw at it with ease. Comes with 2GB RAM & built in 16GB eMMC. I also looked at the Odroid N2+ but it is too expensive here in Canada. The VIM3L came in a kit with a case & remote control although the remote of my Sony 65 X90J controls it perfectly

    I have problems with RPI4 and 2160p videos.

    I have the same problem with RPI400 and Raspberry OS, so not a LibreELEC problem.

    I search more powerful hardware to watch 2160p HEVC vids.

    The source System for LibreELEC is also a RPI4 with Jellyfin installed. Both are ethernet cable connected.

    Thank you