Apple TV 4K that has really nice tvOS Firmware Apps support features for auto frame rate and auto dynamic range matching for smooth video playback with the correct SDR and 4K HDR colorspace outputs. Such Firmware Apps support is better than anything Android is offering. Impressive powerful hardware too.
Apple TV4K is really nice but one should mention that it lacks of bitstream audio passthrough
Anybody here have a nvidia shield tv? Or can tell me if it can do the following;
Auto switch frame rate,resolution and colourspace when switching from playing 4k hdr files to 1080p and vice versa
The Google Nougat OS on the Shield has No support whatsoever for auto colorspace switching/conversion. You have to do it manually if you want correct color outputs when switching from SDR to HDR viewing. And that manual colorspace manipulation is buried deep in Android settings. Basically it's a long term PITA.
No auto resolution switching either when using Android Kodi Krypton, plus 1080p > 4K picture upscaling quality is below average on the Shield and do not forget Android Krypton deinterlacing is broken for OTA TV viewing.
The Shield does do Android Kodi Krypton HD audio passthrough inc. Atmos and DTS:X and it can read files from a directly connected HDD.
The ATV 4K has to stream 4K HDR content over a local home network like a NAS, file server or a HDD directly USB connected to a modern home router, which is pretty easy to do these days.
You can read all about such auto switching features in the following Kodi thread, follow the Shield links too:
Auto frame rate switching & dynamic range matching - 4K (HDR10) capable Hardware
If you want Plug n Play Kodi Krypton only with excellent after sales support buy a 4K SDR / HDR, HD audio inc. Atmos and DTS:X capable - AMLogic S905X - Vero 4K.
DIY SDR / 4K HDR you use LE Kodi Krypton on a Gigabit ethernet equipped S905X / S912 / S905D. Gigabit Ethernet S912's include such boxes as the U9 and Tanix TX92. All of them can accept direct connect USB HDD's.
Apple TV4K is really nice but one should mention that it lacks of bitstream audio passthrough
Even though the ATV 4K cannot do HD audio passthrough.
7.1 DTS-HD MA, TrueHD, Atmos and DTS:X are lossless decoded to 5.1/7.1 LPCM, which if you do not have Atmos or DTS:X audio equiptment - results in no loss of audio quality anyway.
So it's not such a big deal for quite a number of users. Audio can also be transcoded and output as 5.1 DD too because the ATV 4K has a Dolby Audio licence to allow for such a thing.
3D spacial Atmos and DTS:X metadata is lost when such lossless decoding to LPCM occurs at the media player source and that is what Atmos & DTS:X audio receiver owners are loudly complaining about.... and it's also where a S9xx AMLogic box running LE (or OSMC) Kodi Krypton fills such a need.
wrxtasy thanks for such a detailed response! So would you recommend the Vero 4k for my needs? If so would it play 4k m2ts and hevc files with 10bit hdr and the correct colourspace without any manual changes and auto switch when viewing sdr 1080p content?
I only use it to play back content on my hdd I do no streaming and no live tv
I pass through audio via hdmi arc to a 5.1 system
Thanks again for your help! You’ve already saved me from buying a shield tv which wouldn’t have done what I needed!
more powerful S912 devices which doesn't have proper GPU driver as i mentioned above and you should avoid it.
How much does it 'actually' actually matter? I have a S912 (MINIX U9) and although I don't have a S905 device to compare with, I don't think you can get any better than that at the moment. With such a big size of a 4K + HD audio movies (for example), you practically/eventually have to store 'em on external storage to stream. Does it really worth having a better video driver and not gigabit? The total experience will be probably even worse?
-San
How much does it 'actually' actually matter? I have a S912 (MINIX U9) and although I don't have a S905 device to compare with, I don't think you can get any better than that at the moment. With such a big size of a 4K + HD audio movies (for example), you practically/eventually have to store 'em on external storage to stream. Does it really worth having a better video driver and not gigabit? The total experience will be probably even worse?
-San
Well if you are happy with your device and it fills your needs that's fine. we all want to have the most powerful hardware but in linux universe having the most powerful hardware does not necessary translate to superior experience. in this case S912 soc is superior in every aspect but it crippled by its driver. there is no official linux driver for this soc and everything's works with hacks will eventually stop working, user reports several issue like subtitle rendering and so on while using s912's devices in LE. nobody knows the feature if V4L2 and 3d driver release for this devices they become perfect. and if the Gigabit Ethernet is your concern s905D has a Gigabit Ethernet and you can add usb2 Gigabit Ethernet to any s905x devices.
S912 provides a slightly better picture quailty in terms of banding, because you have to keep in mind that the S912 has a "real" 10Bit processing path against the 8bit path of the S905X which just gets extrapolated to 10bit at the output end.
This is not only some theoretical advantage for the S912 because I made some side by side comparison between my Vero4K (S905X) and Minix U9 (S912). The Minix U9 shows no banding at all while the S905 shows some slight banding even with the latest debug option from Sam (developer of OSMC used for Vero4K).
This is not only some theoretical advantage for the S912 because I made some side by side comparison between my Vero4K (S905X) and Minix U9 (S912). The Minix U9 shows no banding at all while the S905 shows some slight banding even with the latest debug option from Sam (developer of OSMC used for Vero4K).
Here you go (for at least one thing)........
As I mentioned above, I didn't able to compare, but I tested with a number of very high bit-rate 4K video and the U9-H box that I have gives me absolutely 0 issue (including subtitle, HD audio passthrough etc.), so far. I don't believe S509 can do any better than this that hu-man eyes/ears can pick up - JIMO though.
....if the Gigabit Ethernet is your concern s905D has a Gigabit Ethernet and you can add usb2 Gigabit Ethernet to any s905x devices.
I only run LE as a standalone box. I have a very large number of 4k (and 1080p as well) collection with 24/32-bit audio stored on QNAP and an USB gigabit adapter is not the thing you want for this if you don't have USB3 port. I also heard most of the S90x boxes don't have adequate cooling, which can be an issue for high-bitrate content playing. This is my situation and that's the reason for me getting S912 over S90X.
-S
PS. I had to write hu-man, without the hyphen, we are a 'censored word' 
I have a very large number of 4k (and 1080p as well) collection with 24/32-bit audio stored on QNAP and an USB gigabit adapter is not the thing you want for this if you don't have USB3 port.
It is just wrong.
USB3-Gigabit adapters work fine with S905X boxes. You can get more than 300 Mbps which is more than enough.
It is just wrong.
USB3-Gigabit adapters work fine with S905X boxes. You can get more than 300 Mbps which is more than enough.
I think what I mean is: 'adapters' itself is not the thing you should be using at all if there are other options available - you only use that when there is no other native option available. You can say it's a different work ethic but the that's in principle. but agree with you that 300 Mbps should be enough but most of the USB adapters fall back to fast-ethernet mode if connected to a USB2 port. I think S905 doesn't have USB3 support?
point is, 'adapters' itself is not the thing you should be using at all if there are other options available - you only use that when there is no other native option available. You can say it's a different work ethic but the that's in principle. but agree with you that 300 Mbps should be enough but most of the USB adapters fall back to fast-ethernet mode if connected to a USB2 port. I think S905 doesn't have USB3 support?
That is the case, there is no other option available for S905X (and some S905D has only 100Mbps LAN too). None of the S9xx boxes has USB3.
but most of the USB adapters fall back to fast-ethernet mode if connected to a USB2 port. I think S905 doesn't have USB3 support?
You are wrong
No fall back to fast ethernet @S905X box using USB Gb network adapter
Bandwith round about 300Mbit
You are wrong
No fall back to fast ethernet @S905X box using USB Gb network adapter
Bandwith round about 300Mbit
That's good to know.
My comment was 'in general', not specific to S9xx or anything like that. Thanks for the info. Definitely useful for others.
Will the 8-bit processing path of S905X affect the "thing" about HDR much - i.e. vivid colours and superior contrast compared to SDR? I've been thinking about getting me a Sony XE9005 which has a true 10-bit display panel but I'd rather wait if the output devices are not up to it. S912 is not an option because of the "stuttering video with subtitles" issue.
S912 is not an option because of the "stuttering video with subtitles" issue.
I use S912 (Minix U9-H) with LG OLED55C7 with absolutely 0 issues, so far. What 'stuttering video' issue you talking about? I doubt it's something to do with Sony?
I got an S912 box (Mecool M8S Pro L), which had the video jerk slightly every time a subtitle appeared on the screen (embedded srt subs in an mkv container). The S905X (Sidiwen X11) does not have this issue, it seems to make the jerk the first time a subtitle appears but the next ones do not cause it. The TV doesn't have anything to do with these issues, it's probably some driver issue.
The TV doesn't have anything to do with these issues, it's probably some driver issue.
I don´t believe it.
My OLED TV is working fine - no subtitle stutter
