Choosing a S905 / S905X / S905D / S905W / S912 box guide

    • Official Post

    I am reading the Amlogic site and it says all S912, S905D and S905X support UHD HDR. So what's the difference?


    The difference is how they support it. S905D/X internally convert 10-bit to 8-bit for processing. S912 processes 10-bit. Future devices like S905D2/X2 and S922 process at 10-bit. Most users who obsess over the whole 8-bit/10-bit thing won't be able to tell the difference. More users will just be happy the HDR mode triggered on the TV and they can point at the brighter screen and tell their wives it was in HDR and looks so much better (and thus the purchase of the new UHD HDR TV was justified) :)

  • More users will just be happy the HDR mode triggered on the TV and they can point at the brighter screen and tell their wives it was in HDR and looks so much better (and thus the purchase of the new UHD HDR TV was justified) :)

    So that's the reason you have a S905D box to go with that OLED TV :D

    • Official Post

    So that's the reason you have a S905D box to go with that OLED TV :D

    I'm still using WP2 as the family daily-driver because I have no HDR media except for some test files and the S905D box I've been poking has the same weakness as the S905X; it has 100-BaseT ethernet which chokes on the full-size BR rips that I made. The WP2 might be "inferior" as the SoC has no HDR support but it has GB ethernet that handles the same files with ease, and I can't be arsed to transcode or re-rip all my media just because people design sh1t hardware. The next daily-use upgrade I make will probably be an Amlogic SBC that partners S905D2 with a GB NIC, or an equivalent RK board. The first manufacturer who gets to a mainline kernel and the next-generation video pipeline in Kodi will have my attention!

  • I'm still using WP2 as the family daily-driver because I have no HDR media except for some test files and the S905D box I've been poking has the same weakness as the S905X; it has 100-BaseT ethernet which chokes on the full-size BR rips that I made. The WP2 might be "inferior" as the SoC has no HDR support but it has GB ethernet that handles the same files with ease, and I can't be arsed to transcode or re-rip all my media just because people design sh1t hardware. The next daily-use upgrade I make will probably be an Amlogic SBC that partners S905D2 with a GB NIC, or an equivalent RK board. The first manufacturer who gets to a mainline kernel and the next-generation video pipeline in Kodi will have my attention!

    Are you saying that the mecool ki pro (S905D) does not really have gigabit?

    • Official Post

    Are you saying that the mecool ki pro (S905D) does not really have gigabit?

    S905X has an internal PHY so is always 100-BaseT while S905D has both internal and external and can support 1000-BaseT via the external PHY if manufacturers choose to implement one. The sample boxes I have are aimed at the "streaming" market where fast LAN isn't needed so they save $$ and use the internal PHY only.

    I've no idea about that specific box .. I've never seen one and have no interest in acquiring one.

  • Just got a Mecool M8S Pro L from China. The shipping was quick and was excited to get it up and running. However, the idiots shipped me with a UK power supply even though I ordered a US one. They are available on eBay but in different connector tip sizes - 2.5mm - 5.5mm. It is a standard 5V/2A power supply. Does anyone know what is the connector size of this particular box? I tried to measure it but can't be sure.

  • might be easier to ask the site where you got it, for a replacement.

    You bet but afraid to wait for another two weeks or longer to get a replacement. Really a bad downside of buying cheap Chinese stuff for someone spoiled by Prime.

  • You bet but afraid to wait for another two weeks or longer to get a replacement. Really a bad downside of buying cheap Chinese stuff for someone spoiled by Prime.

    This is the M/N of my Mecool M8S Pro L box PS. YZDZ15-0502000. Should be the same model number as your PS. If so, this link gives you the size of the connector.

    Since you are purchasing a different PS, you may want to go for a 5 volt 3 amp if it has the same connector.

    Replacement for 5V 2A Switching Power Supply YZDZ15-0502000 4 Android TV Box | eBay

  • This is the M/N of my Mecool M8S Pro L box PS. YZDZ15-0502000. Should be the same model number as your PS. If so, this link gives you the size of the connector.

    Since you are purchasing a different PS, you may want to go for a 5 volt 3 amp if it has the same connector.

    Replacement for 5V 2A Switching Power Supply YZDZ15-0502000 4 Android TV Box | eBay

    The one in the link is for the UK, he has one of those, he needs a USA psu

  • The difference is how they support it. S905D/X internally convert 10-bit to 8-bit for processing. S912 processes 10-bit. Future devices like S905D2/X2 and S922 process at 10-bit. Most users who obsess over the whole 8-bit/10-bit thing won't be able to tell the difference. More users will just be happy the HDR mode triggered on the TV and they can point at the brighter screen and tell their wives it was in HDR and looks so much better (and thus the purchase of the new UHD HDR TV was justified) :)

    That begs the question, what's the difference between S905D2/X2 and S922!

  • None of the RPi's are HDMI 2.0, 4K capable.

    4K these days is virtually all compressed HEVC video. (4K Youtube is VP9 encoded)

    RPi's cannot hardware decode HEVC compressed video, but use a hybrid CPU/GPU assisted method of decoding HEVC.

    What that all means is when you start throwing high bitrate HEVC at RPi's they either:

    a) heat up and crash if you have inadequate chipset cooling and power supplies.

    b) simple fall over when the bitrate increases, especially with 10bit HEVC content. 4K HEVC decoding will not work at all.

    If you need 1080p 3D then at the budget end of the market get a RPi 3B+

    In comparative terms the RPi's are using pretty ancient GPU hardware.

    But for full hardware decoding of virtually anything you throw at it - any 4K capable HDMI 2.0 - S9xxx box will be superior.

    Especially ones with integrated Wireless remotes.