Hello!
So I’m interested in if 1080p videos with Hi10p encoding are playback reliably fine on Boxes with S922, S905X3 and specially on S905X2 SOC’s?
Here are some samples: Samples1 and Samples2
Thank you!
I can confirm that 1080p Hi10p is playing smoothly on S922X/A311D, including the samples you posted.
S905X2 is likely too slow for software decoding Hi10p video, because it’s the same CPU core as the S905X.
S922X is fast enough and work without issues.
I don’t know about S905X3, but it’s probably too slow.
Off topic but i tried 3 of your samples running
CoreELEC Amlogic-ng(4.9 kernel) S905X/S905D/S905W - FunHouse builds.
K1 Pro S905D
Clannad After Story OPA - sample HEVC main10 1080p.mkv Played Perfect.
[Underwater] Another - sample H264 Hi10P 1080p.avi
[1080p][16_REF_L5.1][FLAC_5.1]Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu BD OP.mkv
Both No Hardware acceleration it stuttered video. Audio OK
TheCoolest: Strange, I have asked for the same testing on another Forum and got reported back that on a S905X2 / Beelink GT-mini, with 9.2.1 stable CE all of the linked videos played well, except this one:
[1080p][16_REF_L5.1][FLAC_5.1]Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu BD OP.mkv
Maybe because the FLAC audio track? Is there any know issues with FLAC audio track video playback in CE currently? Or what else could have been the bug?
I’m still a bit unconvinced tho’… So any further testers with particularly the S905X2 SOC are welcome…
Nope, the HW is probably not fast enough to SW decode both 1080p Hi10P video and FLAC audio when video/audio bitrates are above certain levels. I had no issues with the sample you mentioned on S922X/A311D.
So, take the risk and buy a S905X2 device if you don’t want to pay more for a better device, but know that upcoming changes etc. can make the device not able to play files which currently just play fine. Or pay more for a better device and you don’t have to worry about this.
What makes you say this? Is there any real ground or reliable info behind this presumption that the forthcoming CE versions might decipher the playback capabilities of an S905X2 or X3 Box compared as how the currently stand? Sorry, but it sounds like bit more of a misty guesswork to me.
Software decoding needs a lot of cpu power, You have to pay for
I guess you’re scrambling things here a bit. My quoted doubt and question was about (and what I think CI6N0Z also meant), that it could be some drawback in general playback capabilities in further CE’s with X2 and X3 SOC’s and not particularly regarding this Hi10p decoding topic.
What capabilities are you talking about?
Hi10P cannot be hardware decoded on any of the Amlogic SoCs released so far.
This means that it will always have to be software decoded. There’s nothing CE can do to make it decode faster than what the hardware is capable of.
S905X/S905X2 use the low power A53 ARM cores, they’re not fast enough to handle high bitrate 1080p decoding.
S922X has 4 A73 cores (and 2 A53 cores) which are considerably more powerful and can handle it relatively easily.
this is the part that Mount3r picked up on (I guess). Would be interesting for CI6N0Z to elaborate on this. Are we talking just Hi10p files or also other formats, if yes which ones ?
My point is that if S905X2 is capable of software decoding 1080p Hi10p content today with little margins, any changes to Kodi in the future can make 1080p Hi10p content stutter etc. So, if you want to risk buying a S905X2 device that is just capable to software decode todays content, don’t expect that the device will be able to software decode content in the future when the setup of the software side is different.
All of the 11 samples play well on my S905X2 (A95X Max).
Obviously, none will be hardware processed, so software processing will mean higher clock speeds but all played generally below 75% general usage (some lower) except for [1080p][16_REF_L5.1][FLAC_5.1]Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu BD OP, which regularly hit 100% of 2 of the cores.
[1080p][16_REF_L5.1][FLAC_5.1]Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu BD OP and [1080p][16_REF_L5.1][mp3_2.0]Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu BD OP also exhibited jerky panning during the opening 15 seconds but the rest of the playback was perfect.
Yes I thought (as I’ve wrote) that what CI6N0Z warnings were about are also concerning any other format playback capabilities. Now it’s clear he meant only this Hi10p software decoding uncertainty in the future.
Compent: Thanks for testing. It seams now for sure that the FLAC audio has to do something that overburdens the X2 CPU while also working on the video decoding. An other user also reported stuttering with this file, but strangely none with the mp3 variant.
CI6N0Z, Thx for the clarification !