Rpi not playing 1080p hvec

[nipunkx]

Hi all,

Is there any rpi replacments that can play 1080p hvec 10bit movie files?
If its as efficient in power savings like rpi much better.

Thanks,
Nipun

 

[sam9s]

^^ Nope, nothing in that price bracket, for a proper HVEC 10 bit playback, you need to shell out some bucks..

 

[nipunkx]

Thanks Sam for the reply (to be honest I had only you in my mind when i posted this question here for an answer).
Can the Rpi 3 be tweaked to play hvec 10bit files?
If No, what is the next best option available which is future proof and less expensive?

Thanks,
Nipun

 

[sam9s]

Thanks Sam for the reply (to be honest I had only you in my mind when i posted this question here for an answer).
Can the Rpi 3 be tweaked to play hvec 10bit files?
If No, what is the next best option available which is future proof and less expensive?

Thanks,
Nipun

Nope Rpi does not have the hardware for HEVC let alone 10 Bit. Also there are truck loads of Android media players out there claiming 4K HEVC but trust me most of them are just gimmick. I have wasted 100 USD in such boxes for my Kid. (ordered from futeko, but were a waste) Eventually settled for PHT on Rpi for him

For you the closest I would suggest that I have some trust and confirmation (mind you SOME is the keyword .. ) works properly with HEVC files 4K is Mii Boxx. It is also the only box after SHIELD TV, to have proper Android TV OS

Mi Box - Android 6.0 TV Box - Mi Global Home

However if it can play 10 Bit HEVC, I will have to dig more, so give me some time and I shall update. But you can google as well for some real time reviews you can manage to get

 

[nipunkx]

Thanks a lot Sammy.
Mi Box does seem promising. I never new of it before. Will research more on the same. Please do let me know if you find any more information on this front.

Thanks very much. :clapping:

 

[yahoo0212]

Amkette EvoTV 2 does the job well. It does not feature Google's Android TV but it plays 4K and HEVC as well. ( H.265 (HEVC) and VP9 formats at 60FPS )
And its available in India too, online for about 6500.
EvoTV 2 - AMKETTE

 

[sam9s]

Amkette EvoTV 2 does the job well. It does not feature Google's Android TV but it plays 4K and HEVC as well. ( H.265 (HEVC) and VP9 formats at 60FPS )
And its available in India too, online for about 6500.
EvoTV 2 - AMKETTE

Have you personally tried it, ??? and what about 10 Bit, I would not believe what the official site says, unless I have someone providing me fist hand experience and update. I have seen this happen, on paper specs all looks good but real time results are different.

 

[sam9s]

Mi Box - Android 6.0 TV Box - Mi Global Home

However if it can play 10 Bit HEVC, I will have to dig more, so give me some time and I shall update. But you can google as well for some real time reviews you can manage to get

Thanks a lot Sammy.
Mi Box does seem promising. I never new of it before. Will research more on the same. Please do let me know if you find any more information on this front.

Thanks very much. :clapping:

Just got a confirmation Mii Box has issues playing HEVC h265 10 Bit files, 8 bit works file via kodi .... few google results also suggest the same.

 

[sam9s]

Thanks a lot Sammy.
Mi Box does seem promising. I never new of it before. Will research more on the same. Please do let me know if you find any more information on this front.

Thanks very much. :clapping:

This video looks promising though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuITdxjK2zo

 

[sam9s]

Also if you can spend 200 USD Nothing can beat SHIELD TV (16 GB version) though... Power House of a performer, BUT yes at a price, which is obvious, you get what you pay for..

 

[yahoo0212]

Have you personally tried it, ??? and what about 10 Bit, I would not believe what the official site says, unless I have someone providing me fist hand experience and update. I have seen this happen, on paper specs all looks good but real time results are different.

No I have not.

 

[nipunkx]

Also if you can spend 200 USD Nothing can beat SHIELD TV (16 GB version) though... Power House of a performer, BUT yes at a price, which is obvious, you get what you pay for..

Thanks Sammy.
Just a doubt that came up in my mind when going through the features and cost of shield tv - Would it be better to invest on a assembled HTPC if I have 200USD to spare rather than the Shield tv?

 

[sam9s]

200 USD is like what 14-15K, with that budget an HTPC that can run 4K HEVC H265 10 Bit files above 140mbps, will require a GPU that is min 10-12K, (1050 comes in to my mind) so figure out, you entire PC will not get assembled at 14-15K. Other very major and imp points to consider.

1.PC will take much more power than Shield TV
2.Much more space than Shield TV (The new Shield TV is even more smaller then the regular one, that I have, hardware is exactly same, mind you)
3.If you will install openELEC (Kodi) alone, you will only be able to run Youtube, no Netflix or APV, unless you opt for windows based kodi (which will make it a PC rather than an HTPC to be precise). In that case as well all would be browser based. Except Netflix in case of windows 10.
4. PLEX server . this single handed should be a reason enough to get shield, IT WORKS flawless and I am able to see my whole movie connection on 4G, on the go.
4. Solid GAMING .. even if you are NOT a gamer, everyone plays small android games, and SHIELD has some very very amazing time pass games.
4. Truck loads of other features in SHIELD TV. HDMI CEC, integration with ALEXA and soon with Google Home, and loads of Android TV apps

Trust me I have an HTPC as well and there is nothing my shield cannot do that my HTPC can do infact much more, and my HTPC cannot play HEVC 4K above 5mbps. Only 1080p H.264 plays flawlessly, but in shield all works...

 

[vakharia]

Thanks Sammy.
Just a doubt that came up in my mind when going through the features and cost of shield tv - Would it be better to invest on a assembled HTPC if I have 200USD to spare rather than the Shield tv?

How about this one?
MINIX NEO U1 Android 5.1.1 TV Box Streaming Media Player+ Airmouse - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

 

[nipunkx]

200 USD is like what 14-15K, with that budget an HTPC that can run 4K HEVC H265 10 Bit files above 140mbps, will require a GPU that is min 10-12K, (1050 comes in to my mind) so figure out, you entire PC will not get assembled at 14-15K. Other very major and imp points to consider.

1.PC will take much more power than Shield TV
2.Much more space than Shield TV (The new Shield TV is even more smaller then the regular one, that I have, hardware is exactly same, mind you)
3.If you will install openELEC (Kodi) alone, you will only be able to run Youtube, no Netflix or APV, unless you opt for windows based kodi (which will make it a PC rather than an HTPC to be precise). In that case as well all would be browser based. Except Netflix in case of windows 10.
4. PLEX server . this single handed should be a reason enough to get shield, IT WORKS flawless and I am able to see my whole movie connection on 4G, on the go.
4. Solid GAMING .. even if you are NOT a gamer, everyone plays small android games, and SHIELD has some very very amazing time pass games.
4. Truck loads of other features in SHIELD TV. HDMI CEC, integration with ALEXA and soon with Google Home, and loads of Android TV apps

Trust me I have an HTPC as well and there is nothing my shield cannot do that my HTPC can do infact much more, and my HTPC cannot play HEVC 4K above 5mbps. Only 1080p H.264 plays flawlessly, but in shield all works...

Thanks a lot Sammy for explaining in detail the advantages of Shield TV over an HTPC. When the detail comes from you, I know it's some solid trustworthy research and real time experience that's talking.
Is shield TV available in India?

 

[sam9s]

Thanks a lot Sammy for explaining in detail the advantages of Shield TV over an HTPC. When the detail comes from you, I know it's some solid trustworthy research and real time experience that's talking.
Is shield TV available in India?

Thanks you and yes , I dont write just to suggest unless I am very sure about what i am saying ......

about the availability in India, that's where the problem comes ... its not, I mean it is but very expensive ..... if you can manage to source it from US then its worth 200 USD every penny. Here its very very expensive. If you cannot in no way source from US then I would say you have to settle with what we have in India OR build an HTPC ...

 

[Brajendu]

200 USD is like what 14-15K, with that budget an HTPC that can run 4K HEVC H265 10 Bit files above 140mbps, will require a GPU that is min 10-12K, (1050 comes in to my mind) so figure out, you entire PC will not get assembled at 14-15K. Other very major and imp points to consider.

1.PC will take much more power than Shield TV
2.Much more space than Shield TV (The new Shield TV is even more smaller then the regular one, that I have, hardware is exactly same, mind you)
3.If you will install openELEC (Kodi) alone, you will only be able to run Youtube, no Netflix or APV, unless you opt for windows based kodi (which will make it a PC rather than an HTPC to be precise). In that case as well all would be browser based. Except Netflix in case of windows 10.
4. PLEX server . this single handed should be a reason enough to get shield, IT WORKS flawless and I am able to see my whole movie connection on 4G, on the go.
4. Solid GAMING .. even if you are NOT a gamer, everyone plays small android games, and SHIELD has some very very amazing time pass games.
4. Truck loads of other features in SHIELD TV. HDMI CEC, integration with ALEXA and soon with Google Home, and loads of Android TV apps

Trust me I have an HTPC as well and there is nothing my shield cannot do that my HTPC can do infact much more, and my HTPC cannot play HEVC 4K above 5mbps. Only 1080p H.264 plays flawlessly, but in shield all works...

Tons of thanks to sam9s for your INVALUABLE research & advise! I have been struggling to decide between a HTPC / Media Player/ Android Box since last few months. Though such head-banging thoughts give us good understanding but its TOUGH to decide, I think. Now its such a relief seeing a person here who has such indepth knowledge! Hats off to you man!

I've narrowed down my selection to the 'Mi Box' and 'NVIDIA SHIELD TV', mostly after watching many YouTube videos, till I recently realized that this forum could be a rich source, and it turned out more valuable.

Now I should settle for a SHIELD TV. There are few questions in my mind though:

1. Remote Control: I hope the Shield includes both the Remote & Controller in the quoted price $199/299? and we don't have to buy separately. Additionally, can we use Bluetooth mouse & Keyboard OR Google Remote App from Android Phone?

2. Do Remote & Controller devices allow voice search for Netflix & YouTube and other Apps? Is there an onscreen Keyboard for typing?

3. Fast forwarding/rewinding: How long it takes to seek the head in a movie using these two remote devices? Will it be as good

as moving the head in VLC using a PC? (I have a 'WD Live media player' in which I find the traversing is time taking, we can either move at 2/4/8/16x speed only) I wish we can move the head to any place as we need, like VLC.

4. Can we play a movie from my Android Phone Local storage? I hope this is done by screen casting through Shield.

5. Standard Version: if we attach a 'Pen drive' or 'External HDD' through USB, can we install games in them from Google Play-store? Will they load as fast as the internal Memory?

6. HD Audio Pass-through: specs say it supports Dolby TrueHD, but what about DTS MA?

7. Amazon.com is shipping to India at an shipping cost of $67, just FYI.

 

[sam9s]

Tons of thanks to sam9s for your INVALUABLE research & advise! I have been struggling to decide between a HTPC / Media Player/ Android Box since last few months. Though such head-banging thoughts give us good understanding but its TOUGH to decide, I think. Now its such a relief seeing a person here who has such indepth knowledge! Hats off to you man!

Thanks Brajendu for the kind words, here is my response for your queries ..


1. Remote Control: I hope the Shield includes both the Remote & Controller in the quoted price $199/299? and we don't have to buy separately. Additionally, can we use Bluetooth mouse & Keyboard OR Google Remote App from Android Phone?

ANS :: Yes the new 2017 shield TV comes with a remote and one game controller which can also be used as remote. 2015 model did not come with the conventional remote. There was an extra 50 USD cost attached to it, but 2017 model comes with conventional remote. But trust me I have been using game controller as the remote (its wifi based) and it works flawlessly and I can do anything with it with ease. And yes you can have additional BT mouse and KB connected, but in my experience I never felt the need to. The on board KB is good enough.

2. Do Remote & Controller devices allow voice search for Netflix & YouTube and other Apps? Is there an onscreen Keyboard for typing?

ANS :::: Yes there is voice search and works very very accurate, BUT there is no Netflix or APV specific search. Global search will search on Youtube or apps or games, it will not search within Netflix as is the case with Roku voice search. You have to go in the netflix or APV app and type search it ...... NOT a deal breaker if you ask me.

3. Fast forwarding/rewinding: How long it takes to seek the head in a movie using these two remote devices? Will it be as good

ANS :::: Yes seek and fw is fast, one of the fastest, also depends on, in which application you are, like kodi fw is much faster than MX player fw, but its nothing to be concerned about, for sure.

4. Can we play a movie from my Android Phone Local storage? I hope this is done by screen casting through Shield.

ANS :::: There are two ways to do this, first is, you play the movie stored on your mobile via an app on your mobile itself and then cast it on SHIELD to see it on TV, (if that app suports G casting) second way is, viz Bubble UPnP, you select the renderer as SHIELD TV in bubble upnp app and then navigate you your video stored locally on the phone and play it .... it will play in your TV via SHIELD

I would prefer the UPnP way.

5. Standard Version: if we attach a 'Pen drive' or 'External HDD' through USB, can we install games in them from Google Play-store? Will they load as fast as the internal Memory?

ANS :::: NO you cannot install games on an external drive, that is the reason I went for 500 GB as I knew I would be gaming, and did not want to run in to space issues with it. You have to use internal memory for games and game saves.

You can however move and install apps on an external drive, BUT not all apps support it, so you need to google and check which app can be installed or moved to external HDD.

6. HD Audio Pass-through: specs say it supports Dolby TrueHD, but what about DTS MA?

ANS :::: Yes SHIELD Tv supports DTS MA passthrough just fine , along with DD THD



Hope I was able to provide satisfactory answers to all your queries ..

 

[alladinkachirag]

Also if you can spend 200 USD Nothing can beat SHIELD TV (16 GB version) though... Power House of a performer, BUT yes at a price, which is obvious, you get what you pay for..

+1 to that. I have using Shield TV 16GB from 2016 and have absolutely no complaints! Smooth video playback, superset functionality due to capable hardware. Amazon video is flawless...Plex...Kodi...and so on. And yes, my son loves games on the box too.

 

[Brajendu]

Thanks Brajendu for the kind words, here is my response for your queries ..


1. Remote Control: I hope the Shield includes both the Remote & Controller in the quoted price $199/299? and we don't have to buy separately. Additionally, can we use Bluetooth mouse & Keyboard OR Google Remote App from Android Phone?

ANS :: Yes the new 2017 shield TV comes with a remote and one game controller which can also be used as remote. 2015 model did not come with the conventional remote. There was an extra 50 USD cost attached to it, but 2017 model comes with conventional remote. But trust me I have been using game controller as the remote (its wifi based) and it works flawlessly and I can do anything with it with ease. And yes you can have additional BT mouse and KB connected, but in my experience I never felt the need to. The on board KB is good enough.

2. Do Remote & Controller devices allow voice search for Netflix & YouTube and other Apps? Is there an onscreen Keyboard for typing?

ANS :::: Yes there is voice search and works very very accurate, BUT there is no Netflix or APV specific search. Global search will search on Youtube or apps or games, it will not search within Netflix as is the case with Roku voice search. You have to go in the netflix or APV app and type search it ...... NOT a deal breaker if you ask me.

3. Fast forwarding/rewinding: How long it takes to seek the head in a movie using these two remote devices? Will it be as good

ANS :::: Yes seek and fw is fast, one of the fastest, also depends on, in which application you are, like kodi fw is much faster than MX player fw, but its nothing to be concerned about, for sure.

4. Can we play a movie from my Android Phone Local storage? I hope this is done by screen casting through Shield.

ANS :::: There are two ways to do this, first is, you play the movie stored on your mobile via an app on your mobile itself and then cast it on SHIELD to see it on TV, (if that app suports G casting) second way is, viz Bubble UPnP, you select the renderer as SHIELD TV in bubble upnp app and then navigate you your video stored locally on the phone and play it .... it will play in your TV via SHIELD

I would prefer the UPnP way.

5. Standard Version: if we attach a 'Pen drive' or 'External HDD' through USB, can we install games in them from Google Play-store? Will they load as fast as the internal Memory?

ANS :::: NO you cannot install games on an external drive, that is the reason I went for 500 GB as I knew I would be gaming, and did not want to run in to space issues with it. You have to use internal memory for games and game saves.

You can however move and install apps on an external drive, BUT not all apps support it, so you need to google and check which app can be installed or moved to external HDD.

6. HD Audio Pass-through: specs say it supports Dolby TrueHD, but what about DTS MA?

ANS :::: Yes SHIELD Tv supports DTS MA passthrough just fine , along with DD THD



Hope I was able to provide satisfactory answers to all your queries ..

Massive thanks Sammy, my apology for continuing this late. Was really held up is some matter for last few days, and though I saw your 'very very' quick response, I couldn't really catch up.

Oh yeah, your answered to the core of my questions and now things are crystal clear for me

though my Q 3. Fast forwarding/rewinding was in my mind as a deal breaker for choosing between a HTPC & Shield, now I think I should settle for the later option. I can use a BT mouse for dragging the play-head in KODI or any other player.

Lots of thanks again Sammy!!!