4K Video Playback and HDMI Audio Passthrough in Realtek RTD1295 based Zidoo X9S TV Box (CNXSoft)

[trebor]

AN excellent detailed Audio/Video review from CNXSoft

Zidoo X9S is a high-end 4K TV box and HDMI recorder based on Realtek RTD1295 processor. I’ve already checked its hardware, and run some benchmarks, so after a successful OTA firmware update, I decided to test 4K videos and HDMI audio pass-through capabilities of the device with ZDMC, Zidoo’s fork of Kodi 16.1, and “Media Center” internal player.

Zidoo Media Center – Click for Original Size

Before starting playing 4K videos and testing HDMI audio pass-through, you’ll want to make sure to configure video output to a 4K UHD resolution and framerate such as 3840×2160 @ 60 Hz, as well as change HDMI output audio in Sound & notification settings.

The options are a little different from the other boxes as beside RAW and 2-channel LPCM, Zidoo X9S also supports multi-channel LPCM. In order to test HDMI audio pass-through, it must be set to RAW.

You may also want to check Playback options to switch to 24 Hz or 29.97/59.94Hz for videos shot at that frame rate.


I’ll start testing with ZDMC. Automatic frame rate switching is already enabled, but you’ll have to go to System->Audio output to enable passthrough.



As you can see from the screenshot above Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS, TrueHD, and DTS-HD are all available, and I enabled them all since the codec are supported by Onkyo TX-NR636 A/V receiver, which I’ll use for this review.

4K videos results in ZDMC:

• HD.Club-4K-Chimei-inn-60mbps.mp4 (4K H.264 @ 30 fps, MPEG4-AAC audio) – Not smooth
• Beauty_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_MP4.mp4 (H.265 @ 30 fps – No audio) – OK
• big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_30fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 30 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – Not smooth
• BT.2020.20140602.ts (H.265 Rec.2020 compliant – AAC audio) – Not smooth
• Fifa_WorldCup2014_Uruguay-Colombia_4K-x265.mp4 (H.265 @ 60 fps – AC3) – Not smooth
• MHD_2013_2160p_ShowReel_R_9000f_24fps_RMN_QP23_10b .mkv (10-bit HEVC @ 24 fps – no audio) – OK
• Samsung_UHD_Dubai_10-bit_HEVC_51.4Mbps.ts (10-bit HEVC / MPEG-4 AAC) – OK
• The.Curvature.of.Earth.4K.60FPS-YT-UceRgEyfSsc.VP9.3840×2160.OPUS.160K.webm – Not smooth
• 暗流涌动-4K.mp4 (4K 10-bit H.264 video) – Many artifacts, and slow decoding due to software decode, but fully expected since RTD1295 does not support 10-bit h.264
• Tara-no9-vp9.webm (4K VP9 YouTube video @ 59.97 Hz) – Not smooth, audio delays and artifacts

That’s pretty depressing, as many videos above are playing just fine on most 4K TV boxes. A positive aspect is that automatic frame rate switching is working well.

So I switched to HDMI audio pass-through testing:

• AC3 / Dolby Digital 5.1 – OK
• E-AC-3 / Dolby Digital+ 5.1 – OK
• Dolby Digital+ 7.1 – OK
• TrueHD 5.1 – OK
• TrueHD 7.1 – OK
• Dolby Atmos 7.1 – TrueHD 7.1ch. Onkyo TX-NR636 receiver is supposedly Atmos capable (Since September 2014), and I have the latest firmware, but I’ve never been able to play Atmos content.
• DTS HD Master – OK
• DTS HD High Resolution – OK
• DTS:X – DTS-HD MA 7.1. That’s one is fine since my Onkyo receiver does not support DTS:X

That one is very good with the only question marks being Atmos and DTS:X support.

But maybe the internal player “Media Center” is better at playing videos, and some people even explained how to create a Kodi to Media Center wrapper to play videos. 4K video playback results with “Media Center” app:

• HD.Club-4K-Chimei-inn-60mbps.mp4 (4K H.264 @ 30 fps, MPEG4-AAC audio) – Not smooth
• Beauty_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_MP4.mp4 (H.265 @ 30 fps – No audio) – OK
• big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_30fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 30 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – Watchable but not perfect (some frame drops)
• BT.2020.20140602.ts (H.265 Rec.2020 compliant – AAC audio) – Not smooth and no audio
• Fifa_WorldCup2014_Uruguay-Colombia_4K-x265.mp4 (H.265 @ 60 fps – AC3) – OK
• MHD_2013_2160p_ShowReel_R_9000f_24fps_RMN_QP23_10b .mkv (10-bit HEVC @ 24 fps – no audio) – OK
• Samsung_UHD_Dubai_10-bit_HEVC_51.4Mbps.ts (10-bit HEVC / MPEG-4 AAC) – OK
• The.Curvature.of.Earth.4K.60FPS-YT-UceRgEyfSsc.VP9.3840×2160.OPUS.160K.webm – Watchable but not perfect (not 100% smooth)
• Tara-no9-vp9.webm (4K VP9 YouTube video @ 59.97 Hz) – Not smooth

That’s some improvement but still not perfect, and I was expecting better 4K video support. Hopefully most of the issue will be fixed before I complete the full review.

You can watch 4K videos in ZDMC and Media Center, as well as HDMI audio passthrough testing in ZDMC in the video below.

[bluesmanuk]

The mention of the wrapper made me curious, so looked at the Youtube video on how to use it.

Worth noting that the wrapper is a paid app and does have some useful additional functionality aside from the ability to play videos through an external app that is already a free possibility with the right modified playercorefactory.xml file.

I think that at the moment, with so many forks of Kodi not being able to take advantage of the hardware capabilities, wrappers may be the way to go for better all round playability.

The only thing that the video or app description doesn't say is whether it is useful across a range of devices, or restricted to the RTD1295.