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Rockchip RK3288 SoC based Android media players and XBMC experience?
(2014-09-20, 23:56)Willem55 Wrote: where as everyone who is buying a Pi board is what?

Willem, maybe it's time for you to do some research and get a clue on all this hardware you blindly disparage in favour of your beloved Sigma, as you do seem rather blinkered.

Kodi (nee XBMC) has been stable on the Pi since Frodo, plus it's supported and developed *in the open*. People buying a Pi for Kodi usage know exactly what they're getting and can expect it to work very well, playing all kinds of videos you probably think it can't. Nobody is saying it's going to blow away an i7 x86 but it does compare very well considering the price you are paying for it.

For the record, I'm not saying people shouldn't buy a Rockchip product I'm just saying it might not be a very good idea to buy one *right now* or during the next 3-6 months - at least not until the software is stable and GPL is being respected.

In the meantime, for not very much cash, there is other hardware that is known to work (and work better than current Rockchip/Android), and which allows users to get started on Kodi and enjoy their video collection without the frustration of being an Alpha-tester.
Texture Cache Maintenance Utility: Preload your texture cache for optimal UI performance. Remotely manage media libraries. Purge unused artwork to free up space. Find missing media. Configurable QA check to highlight metadata issues. Aid in diagnosis of library and cache related problems.
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So if they don't do the hardware and don't release software also products that claims to be open are like any cheap and unsupported chinese box without the support of chip manufacture

And yes Syabas staff is not well know for good firmware support

also the last a400 has bugs open from almost one year

Fire tv chromebox and nuc works now without any lies or non legit software

if a company lies before the launch of a new product i couldn't imagine once sold to customers

save your money
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(2014-09-21, 00:13)shomari Wrote:
(2014-09-20, 22:38)Bluesmanuk Wrote: Having tested 2 of the modded XBMC's, even though they played 720p Tears of Steel, the 1080p version (http://trailers.divx.com/hevc/TearsOfSte...9_HM11.mkv) would not play without having half of the screen turn green.

The latest Helix Alpha nightly build did play the 1080p version and although not perfect, it was watchable, so it shows how well Kodi is coming along.

It also played all of the test files that I had been using to evaluate the Tronsmart R28 flawlessly, where the modded builds struggled with even some of the more basic files.

What I did notice in Kodi that I had not seen before, although had not really looked, was this

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv283...607c24.png

Whether the allow multi threaded software decoding feature has been there all along I don't know but I do know that this version has become my new player of choice in terms of XBMC use.

Multi-threaded software decoding is a part of official stable for a while now.

The non-compliant xbmc plays 4K HEVC with ease. I posted a video showing it.

1080p, same on QPRO.

The modded one didn't play the 1080p file on my R28 though, where as Kodi did.

Did you get a chance to test the 1080p file?
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(2014-09-21, 01:37)Bluesmanuk Wrote:
(2014-09-21, 00:13)shomari Wrote:
(2014-09-20, 22:38)Bluesmanuk Wrote: Having tested 2 of the modded XBMC's, even though they played 720p Tears of Steel, the 1080p version (http://trailers.divx.com/hevc/TearsOfSte...9_HM11.mkv) would not play without having half of the screen turn green.

The latest Helix Alpha nightly build did play the 1080p version and although not perfect, it was watchable, so it shows how well Kodi is coming along.

It also played all of the test files that I had been using to evaluate the Tronsmart R28 flawlessly, where the modded builds struggled with even some of the more basic files.

What I did notice in Kodi that I had not seen before, although had not really looked, was this

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv283...607c24.png

Whether the allow multi threaded software decoding feature has been there all along I don't know but I do know that this version has become my new player of choice in terms of XBMC use.

Multi-threaded software decoding is a part of official stable for a while now.

The non-compliant xbmc plays 4K HEVC with ease. I posted a video showing it.

1080p, same on QPRO.

The modded one didn't play the 1080p file on my R28 though, where as Kodi did.

Did you get a chance to test the 1080p file?

Yes, I have tested RAW files, 4K (which I'm being ridiculously obvious saying this but it's much more demanding) and a few 1080p files.

I'll put up a video, as always with RK their proprietary bullshit affects things and causes all this murkiness as to what is possible and how. Just as an example, the RK3288 HEVC service is handled differently from firmware to firmware - surprise, surprise... or not. Typical RK, you know?
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(2014-09-21, 01:37)Bluesmanuk Wrote: The modded one didn't play the 1080p file on my R28 though, where as Kodi did.

Did you get a chance to test the 1080p file?

Accelerated HEVC video playback with the linked 1080p file. Let me know if you'd like any additional info/tests.



The experience is not consistent across devices due to firmware differences; shared objects, and even kernel configs. But the most common [or significant] difference I've encountered so far with regards to accelerated HEVC playback in the non-compliant XBMC is firmware related. That's why the file won't play properly on your box, but plays well on mine.
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Hi all,

I'm going to be building an Intel nuc xbmc build soon last time I tried was when xbmc was on version 10 since then I know it has come leaps forward.

Now I also own popcorn a410, modded hdi dune prime 3.

Now for me the popcorn a410 with it sigma8911 chipset and vxp processing produces the best video quality and sound when using ess dac for stereo music, you have side by side mode where you can switch on vxp processing and then watch any video with vxp processing on one side of the screen . I have number of demos I always try on new players. But I dislike the movie wall I use yamj and NMJ one but they are slow to process on the pc etc also lack of some code support h10bit, mvc mkv 3d, h265 mkv.

Recently I tested a xbmc 13.1 on friends setup and the it just ticked a lot of the boxes but I have not tested fully yet.

The tears of steel 1080p, h10bit mkv I have tested on my galaxy note 3 with mx player inc the dts plug in and plays them back perfectly so know the hardware is capable just better codec support.

I also used to own the mede8er 1000x3d which can playback h10bit and mvc mkv 3d files.

Thanks
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(2014-09-20, 23:00)Milhouse Wrote:
(2014-09-20, 22:49)Willem55 Wrote: What I do know is that when that happens these $95 boxes will surpass the Pi as a mediaplayer on all fronts.

I'm sure the Rockchip will be fine at some yet to be determined point in the future, but does everyone who is buying one of these products know that they will be nothing more than Alpha testers?

Exactly.... CloudMedia/Syabas/Willem55(Willem53) need alpha and beta testers as this is their modus operandi. They release excellent hardware and buggy software... It takes *forever* to finally iron out all the bugs. This formulae has worked for them in the past and they see it as a viable option.
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(2014-09-21, 05:15)shomari Wrote:
(2014-09-21, 01:37)Bluesmanuk Wrote: The modded one didn't play the 1080p file on my R28 though, where as Kodi did.

Did you get a chance to test the 1080p file?

Accelerated HEVC video playback with the linked 1080p file. Let me know if you'd like any additional info/tests.



The experience is not consistent across devices due to firmware differences; shared objects, and even kernel configs. But the most common [or significant] difference I've encountered so far with regards to accelerated HEVC playback in the non-compliant XBMC is firmware related. That's why the file won't play properly on your box, but plays well on mine.

Thanks for the vid.

With no consistency across devices, that does answer the question and I guess it might also end up giving rise to the same kind of issues in future, even if in possession of the sources.
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First RK3288 stick is coming. Here is a video of the BETA motherboard running Android 4.4.2 KitKat:



4K UHD ZERO Devices Z5C Thinko stick sized Rofl

XBMC pre-installed
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I just read about these boxes...
Checked in a hurry all pages here.

So i can conclude (is this true?)

No audio passthrough (so no dts-hd?)

A question about 3d

Xbmc doesnt do full 3d bluray (not able to play 3d mvc).
So i can conclude these boxes also dont do 3d mvc right?
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Good but what about heat dissipation and xbmc performance with heavy skin or long list of files
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@4:18 it shows various screen resolutions and refresh/fps rates including auto.... does that mean it will framerate sync to any of the selected resolutions or that you select just one for UI output.
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(2014-09-23, 07:55)Skank Wrote: I just read about these boxes...
Checked in a hurry all pages here.

So i can conclude (is this true?)

No audio passthrough (so no dts-hd?)

A question about 3d

Xbmc doesnt do full 3d bluray (not able to play 3d mvc).
So i can conclude these boxes also dont do 3d mvc right?

As I understand it Android was designed for tablets and mobiles so it will take the multi channel HD Audio and downmix to Stereo as that is the only supported option on those devices.
Android 5 currently in Beta release is supposed to cover this including framerate sync for various types of display refresh rates.

On Linux it's a different ball game but success there depends on the quality of the Rockchip SDK and patched to be developed to unlock the chips AV capabilities.

Or a mediaplayer application like xmbc/Kodi that knows how to unlock the chips AV capabilities independent of the Operating System.... You might have read some post on that hereBlush
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(2014-09-23, 08:17)Willem55 Wrote: Or a mediaplayer application like xmbc/Kodi that knows how to unlock the chips AV capabilities independent of the Operating System.... You might have read some post on that hereBlush

AIUI the official builds of XBMC/Kodi use the standard Android APIs for playback and don't unlock the chips independently of the operating system, as there are so many different SoCs with different VPUs on them (and such poor open source documentation that it would be tricky to find the required information legally without an NDA being required) that the devs decided it would be madness to try to produce SoC specific builds for each new chipset? Don't the official Android builds use Libstagefright or Mediacodec to access hardware acceleration?

There appear to be custom forks being produced by some (many of which don't appear to respect the XBMC/Kodi licensing model) which add specific hardware support (like hardware HEVC?)
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(2014-09-23, 11:20)noggin Wrote:
(2014-09-23, 08:17)Willem55 Wrote: Or a mediaplayer application like xmbc/Kodi that knows how to unlock the chips AV capabilities independent of the Operating System.... You might have read some post on that hereBlush

AIUI the official builds of XBMC/Kodi use the standard Android APIs for playback and don't unlock the chips independently of the operating system, as there are so many different SoCs with different VPUs on them (and such poor open source documentation that it would be tricky to find the required information legally without an NDA being required) that the devs decided it would be madness to try to produce SoC specific builds for each new chipset? Don't the official Android builds use Libstagefright or Mediacodec to access hardware acceleration?

I think it was in reference to the previous line about Linux build. There are several SoCs that are supported in xbmc/kodi directly, some exynos chips for example. AFAIK it applies to linux builds only, Android builds use mediacodec/libstagefright
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