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**patseguin** · 2015-01-02, 23:37

I've had the home built machine in my sig as my main HTPC for years. It performs well and is very quiet. The only issue is that I wasn't very smart in choosing a case and it's quite huge for an HTPC. It sits behind my tv so it's not a huge deal but I've had other options in the back of my mind.

I have a Fire TV and I've read up on how to install Kodi on it. I'm assuming it wouldn't perform as well as my i3 though right? Is there any other reason to use the Fire other than having one less device?

I'm also wondering what the appeal of the Pi is. I know it is extremely tiny but my impression is that it is a very low end performer. Is the main reason to use Pi because of its size?

noggin · (This post was last modified: 2015-01-03, 03:27 by noggin.)

Big issues with Fire TV, and all current Android implementations, is that they are fixed framerate devices. If you are in North America and don't notice 3:2 pulldown this may not be an issue for you. If you live in Europe (where you need 50Hz as well as 60Hz) and/or want 24p at 24p without 3:2 then Android isn't currently a good mix. Also if you want to watch interlaced content (like Live TV), Android solutions like the Fire TV don't de-interlace well, if at all AIUI. I think hardware codec acceleration may also be a bit more limited than other platforms. There are also significant audio limitations on the Android platform that mean you have limited sound output options compared to other platforms.

The Pi is popular because although the CPU has modest capabilities, the VPU/GPU combo is pretty capable, with full hardware decoding of H264, VC-1 and MPEG2 (if you buy the cheap MPEG2 and VC-1 licences) and a half-way decent de-interlacer. The Pi will also happily frame rate switch on the fly between 50, 60 and 24Hz output (and handles 23.976 properly I believe) and can output PCM multichannel, DD/DTS and >48k, >16bit audio over HDMI. The Pi also has built-in CEC support, so can be remotely controlled by many TV remotes (CEC allows the TV to send remote control info to the Pi over HDMI) It's also quite cheap if you have the ancillary bits already. And it has a LOT of support... Never underestimate the power of a supportive community who actually put a lot of work in to developing the platform. There are many ARM solutions that have much more processing power than the Pi, but they have nowhere near the level of support, so fizzle out...

The Chromebox is also a popular solution now - as it has a decent GPU, reasonable processing power, a neat built in 16GB SSD, decent WiFi, Bluetooth (neat for use with a PS3 BD remote), GigE, USB3 and great support from Matt Devo and others to be a brilliant OpenElec box. I love mine.

**patseguin** · 2015-01-03, 03:34

Cool thanks for the info. I take it neither Pi nor Chromebox do HD Audio though? Also nothing currently hardware decodes H265 right?

Matt Devo · 2015-01-03, 03:36

the ChromeBox does HD audio, the pi does not. Neither does h.265 in hardware.

Stereodude · 2015-01-03, 06:52

None of them seem to have IVTC / 3:2 pulldown removal capability for i60 content though under OpenELEC. Strange as this is a common features in the graphics drivers under Windows. MadVR does it one better still.

wrxtasy · (This post was last modified: 2015-01-03, 07:38 by wrxtasy.)

I live in a PAL TV standard country and personally hate the lack of proper refresh rate switching available on Android boxes.
I only put up with it to watch Netflix on a Chromecast, which is another let down with their 3:2 pulldown video playback.

Most hardware these days is so cheap and generic that its only those companies and communities that invest time developing firmware and bug free software that appeal to us PAL video junkies.

Refresh rate switching inc. 24p + H265 full hardware video decoding, in a cheap package will come when Intel release their SKYLAKE microarchitecture sometime in 2015 hopefully.

@patseguin - > this thread will be of interest for H265 video decoding in software on the Fire TV:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=212203

Smile

noggin · 2015-01-03, 12:00

(2015-01-03, 03:34)patseguin Wrote: Cool thanks for the info. I take it neither Pi nor Chromebox do HD Audio though? Also nothing currently hardware decodes H265 right?

Chromebox, like all current Haswell solutions, does HD Audio with no problems. It's a great solution.

Pi doesn't bitstream Dolby True HD or DTS HD HR/MA but unlike most other boxes that don't bitstream DTS HD/Dolby True HD it DOES output 5.1 PCM multichannel and >48kHz and >16 bit audio. If you have HD Audio converted to multichannel FLAC or PCM the Pi will play this I think. (PCM may be better than FLAC as less CPU required?)