New Chromecast 4K, better than expected

[revolty]

Hello everyone,

I did a little A-B testing of few contents in Prime video, Netflix and Hotstar yesterday, between Chromecast (CC) & Shield. Dialogues were crisp, sound was more detailed and the volume was little louder in CC; especially in Netflix and Hotstar. E.g. the same scenes in CC were at -42 dB, while in Shield, volume was at -39dB. But, for prime video; there was no change in the volume level.
Maybe, these Streamers do some audio processing. Otherwise, just for pass through; there should not be any difference in the audio quality. Based upon this test; for OTT audio quality purpose, I would prioritize as below:

ATV>CC>Shield

Now, waiting for @ankitbhargava further test results for judging the best streaming gadget.

 

[ankitbhargava]

Hello everyone,

I did a little A-B testing of few contents in Prime video, Netflix and Hotstar yesterday, between Chromecast (CC) & Shield. Dialogues were crisp, sound was more detailed and the volume was little louder in CC; especially in Netflix and Hotstar. E.g. the same scenes in CC were at -42 dB, while in Shield, volume was at -39dB. But, for prime video; there was no change in the volume level.
Maybe, these Streamers do some audio processing. Otherwise, just for pass through; there should not be any difference in the audio quality. Based upon this test; for OTT audio quality purpose, I would prioritize as below:

ATV>CC>Shield

Now, waiting for @ankitbhargava further test results for judging the best streaming gadget.

I am stuck at fixing this "Atmos" to work between my Tonewinner and FS Max. So far no luck.

 

[gopichandpai]

@revolty is Dolby Atmos available in Hotstar on CWGTV?

 

[revolty]

@revolty is Dolby Atmos available in Hotstar on CWGTV?

No. It is same (Dolby 5.1).

 

[ankitbhargava]

Have put FS Max on return, I could not make Atmos work on it. Most probably it's Tonewinner which wasn't able to lock it.

 

[fLUX]

Technically yes, there shouldn't be any difference. Practically I am not sure how it's making difference but I am very certain after doing A/B testing of some scenes which I have watched over and over again... the LFE does sound tighter in Chromecast over Xbox.

Ankit did you upgrade to series X or the observations are against One X ? Chromecast seems interesting..

 

[ankitbhargava]

Ankit did you upgrade to series X or the observations are against One X ? Chromecast seems interesting..

To be honest I have been looking for Series X deal , I am still using Xbox One S.

 

[Dwaipayan]

Have put FS Max on return, I could not make Atmos work on it. Most probably it's Tonewinner which wasn't able to lock it.

The complexity of present day A/V formats (like Dolby Vision/Atmos) and HDMI handshake issues have increased so much nowadays. God knows how these devices get "certified" without testing for proper compatibility. You will never know what really works unless you have tried it out on your own system chain. The so called certifications and logos seem to be a joke and no real standards are actually followed. Anyone can put a logo on their product as long as they shell out enough money for the licence. The real end user experience doesn't matter at all... It's sad.

 

[ankitbhargava]

The complexity of present day A/V formats (like Dolby Vision/Atmos) and HDMI handshake issues have increased so much nowadays. God knows how these devices get "certified" without testing for proper compatibility. You will never know what really works unless you have tried it out on your own system chain. The so called certifications and logos seem to be a joke and no real standards are actually followed. Anyone can put a logo on their product as long as they shell out enough money for the licence. The real end user experience doesn't matter at all... It's sad.

Absolutely, I did have the problem of no sound for first 15 minutes of usage as far as Tonewinner goes, ones it worked, it was just working flawless until I wanted to test this FS Max. Have tried everything which I could to make it work, but this isint working. Have put it on return already.

 

[KNRAMU]

Any one installed Tidal on new Chromecast? I couldn't successful to download apk file on my Chromecast

 

[revolty]

Any one installed Tidal on new Chromecast? I couldn't successful to download apk file on my Chromecast

No Sir. Let's see if anyone else has tried.

 

[murali_reddy219]

Hi everyone,
Today, while surfing through Youtube; stumbled upon the below video.

It shows the settings for youtube 5.1 audio. Please check if this enables 5.1 audio in your Youtube.

Finally this feature is enabled on my Sony Google TV youtube app.

 

[pkhammu2005]

@revolty is Dolby Atmos available in Hotstar on CWGTV?

Hotstar doesn't have any Atmos content as of now,only Dolby vision

 

[Yogesh]

In My C1, I am now getting 5.1 option in YouTube.

 

[KNRAMU]

In My C1, I am now getting 5.1 option in YouTube.

On webos?

 

[Yogesh]

On webos?

Yes.

 

[dvraghavan]

Thanks for sharing your impressions! I'm kind of stuck between Fire TV and Apple TV but never gave this a serious thought.

Now that so you've shared your experience, will definitely add this to my list.

Any negatives that you've noticed so far?

I moved from Fire TV 4k to Apple TV 4k and it has been wonderful. PrimeVideo and Netflix play in 4K and Atmos; To add it supports Apple Music as well. If you are into Apple ecosystem, would definitely recommend ATV4k

 

[Dwaipayan]

@ankitbhargava can you confirm something for me if it is not too much of a hassle?

When playing a local HDR file on CCWGTV on a non-hdr display, does it accurately tone map from HDR to SDR? I tried the same on my new FS4KMax and everything looks washed out. Tried with both Kodi and Jellyfin player and got the same result. Interestingly enough, this used to work perfectly on my old FS4K (non-Max) before.

There are also open tickets on Kodi's GitHub page, but i don't think it is a problem with the software. The issue lies somewhere at the driver/OS level for the stick.

 

[ankitbhargava]

I moved from Fire TV 4k to Apple TV 4k and it has been wonderful. PrimeVideo and Netflix play in 4K and Atmos; To add it supports Apple Music as well. If you are into Apple ecosystem, would definitely recommend ATV4k

ATV 4k playing Atmos on Netflix? Looks like I need to update my device.

@ankitbhargava can you confirm something for me if it is not too much of a hassle?

When playing a local HDR file on CCWGTV on a non-hdr display, does it accurately tone map from HDR to SDR? I tried the same on my new FS4KMax and everything looks washed out. Tried with both Kodi and Jellyfin player and got the same result. Interestingly enough, this used to work perfectly on my old FS4K (non-Max) before.

There are also open tickets on Kodi's GitHub page, but i don't think it is a problem with the software. The issue lies somewhere at the driver/OS level for the stick.

I shall be able to check on that, need a hub to play local HDR file on CCWGTV. I had to order it, shall do it tonight.

 

[Dwaipayan]

I had to order it, shall do it tonight.

Thanks a lot!