Mini M8S II 4K Smart TV Box Amlogic S905X 2/8GB WiFi 10/100 LAN BT

[trebor]

As I am still trying to get my head around all this 4k, HDMI 2, 10 bit, HDR, stuff and then we add all the DTS and all the Audio modes.

One would have to consider that HMDI 2 carries up to 18Gbps and HDMI 1.4 is up to 10Gbps if you believe what is written.
As you are trying to push more data it would require HDMI 2 at both ends, if your TV was only HDMI1.4 I guess you would see problems?

In saying that, does it actually reach this bandwidth to cause these problems or is it more to do with how is the Data/File presented to the player
either via USB 2 or usb3, 10/100 or 2.4g WiFi, if it's not getting out quick enough it will also fail too i guess?

Maybe those in the know about this topic more than I may care to comment/explain more about this playing of HDR, 4k, 10bit files

Cheers

[trebor]

And don't forget that Quality HDMI cable they supply with the media player, not saying you need to spend mega bucks on a cable,
but at least have more than one strand of wire per connection is most likely a good thing
Cheers

[bluesmanuk]

If you look at services such as Netflix who stream 4K down an internet line then it may give some form of answer as to the general bandwidth required.

They say that you need somewhere around 25Mbps for the compressed stream, which is very small.

The 18Gbps (from what I know) is the bandwidth required for full uncompressed 4K, which none of us is very likely to ever have a requirement to use as we will be dealing with the video in it's compressed form.

The HDR element is partly down to how many nits a TV can crank out.

The TV must also be capable of supporting 10 bit colour and sources that use the REC.2020 colour space and be able to and be able to display a large percentage of the DCI-P3 color space.

So for an average 4K HDR panel it must be have a peak brightness level higher than 1,000 nits and a black level less than 0.05 nits (OLED has different figures).

In essence, your TV needs the Ultra HD Premium logo.

With the BBC entering the fray in terms of developing a unifying HDR standard, they are coming up with a way (HLG) to enable HDR to be used at SD levels, which could open up whole new possibilities for lesser specced TV sets and over the air broadcast.

With regards to the physical HDMI port though things do seem to get a little more blurred.

Whilst TV sets with HDMI 2.0 ports are supposed to have an upgrade path to 2.0a (required for HDR) via a firmware update, the official HDMI consortium only say that this depends on how a given manufacturer has implemented HDMI 2.0 in the first place.

This is because the HDMI 2.0 standard has both required and optional elements in order for it to be classified as HDMI 2.0, just to add even more blur to the standard.

HDMi standards have become a real mess and whilst the HDMI organisation no longer permits the specific advertising of an HDMI standard (1.4/2.0 etc) because of manufacturers taking the proverbial, this in turn only makes things even more difficult when the average user is trying to make the right choice of TV.

I hope that all makes some form of sense.

If not then just call me a nit (wit) lol

[bluesmanuk]

And don't forget that Quality HDMI cable they supply with the media player, not saying you need to spend mega bucks on a cable,
but at least have more than one strand of wire per connection is most likely a good thing
Cheers

Yes, as long as the HDMI cable states High Speed then you are good to go with any HDMI port or standard.

It's amazing how many people purchase ridiculously expensive cables from local high street stores and online sites because some vendors try to advertise them as being HDMI 2.0 compatible.

All these new boxes do come with a high speed cable, which in itself shows how cheap they are to manufacture.

[trebor]

Clear as mud ,

I understand what you are saying, and just to be sure others understand and appreciate it's more than just a box to get the end result, all things considered well said.
An article here from wired also explains along the same lines for those interested.
Cheers

[bluesmanuk]

Mud indeed.

I watched a video yesterday where 2 experts in HDR were explaining it in detail over a long session and it made my brain melt.

One of the increasing problems is that I have found rather too many articles from experts contradicting each others assessments of 4K, HDR and HDMI in general.

I guess the safest bet is to simply look for the Ultra HD Premium logo on the TV.

It might be in the interests of the box manufacturers to display the same logo on the box and in ads if the conform to the required standard.

That would then make things easy to know (subject to some fine detail omissions in standards that you just know are going to crop up).

[bluesmanuk]

Just to throw one more element into the mix.

Some TV's can playback HDR though their USB ports, even if not (yet) supported through their HDMI.

[bluesmanuk]

Found this demo video over at the AVS forum, 3 minute 4K HDR demo
Play ok in stock Kodi supplied in Unit
Cheers

Just had a thought.

Do you have an HDR TV Trebor that has enabled this to play?

[trebor]

Played using Kodi on an Acer Monitor CB280HK 4k Oldish, does the Job and the price was right at the time.

[bluesmanuk]

Played using Kodi on an Acer Monitor CB280HK 4k Oldish, does the Job and the price was right at the time.

That is good then because as it doesn't support HDR then it doesn't preclude the box from outputting the video to any standard 4K display device.

[trebor]

That I just found by plugging back to a 1080 Telly it was able to play.
Maybe the file it's not a pure, or lost in conversion.
I recall yesterday it would not play was jittery and jerky, the update today may have altered something but post before mentions no change. Hmm

[bluesmanuk]

Interesting indeed.

I just found out something else too about advertising trickery.

A TV may be advertised as being HDR and to some extent that may be true.

But (and there is always a but) it may well be that if the playback is only through the USB port then will generally mean that whilst 10 bit HDR can be processed, if the TV only has an 8 bit panel then it will never actually be able to display the HDR glory (essentially downgrading it along the way).

This also means that 10 bit/HDR steaming will never work correctly either because of the limitations of the panel, so you would always get a downgraded picture.

This may also help to explain why some 4K TV's have Netflix certification and others not.

The industry needs a good shake up.

[Gazoo]

Gazoo can you try this video on your box and post the results?

The test clip clip does indeed play correctly so it looks like its only certain x265 10bit profiles that are broken. Weird that my older s905 can play them correctly. I'll PM you some sample links to some test videos that are not working correctly.

[bluesmanuk]

The test clip clip does indeed play correctly so it looks like its only certain x265 10bit profiles that are broken. Weird that my older s905 can play them correctly. I'll PM you some sample links to some test videos that are not working correctly.

Thanks for the clarification.

I'll analyse the sample links and see if I can spot a pattern to report back.

[trebor]

USB drive connected page pops up if plugged in or switch unit on with stick already inserted, any options to stop this minor annoyance?