Droidbox T8-S Plus Framerate limitations

[AndyP]

Hi All,

not long had my Droidbox T8-S Plus and generally happy with it's performance.

I always use the OpenElec version of Kodi on the droidbox and found it to work well....apart from now.

Were were attempting to watch Hell's Kitchen US, a popular show that my previous box never had issues with, but the Droidbox T8-S Plus does.

the video is unstable, goes slow motion at times, and the sync is completely out.

I believe I have found a possible issue; these rips of the TV show have a framerate of 59.940 fps (1280x720 ac3 5.1 sound) , whereas all my other shows and movies are more around the 25.

Am I expecting too much out of this box? I've tried several rips of this show and they all seem to be this frame rate. My previous box was a mini-PC (with Intel i3 processor), I bought the Droidbox as I though it was overkill for a mediacentre so I could re-use....now I think I may have got that wrong...

I have tried so many settings to get the video to work at this rate, but so far no go.

If anyone has any "under the hood" suggestions, I'd be interested, I really dont want to have to run some software to create a lower frame rate video file before I view these.....

 

[thereaper123]

Try this, go click system tab (this is in confluence skin by way), video, make sure settings level at bottom says 'expert', go to playback, press right and find 'adjust display refresh rate' and set to always, then go down to acceleration, press right and make sure all 3 acceleration options are ticked, back out to main menu, reboot Kodi, try your media selection again, hope this helps

 

[AndyP]

Try this, go click system tab (this is in confluence skin by way), video, make sure settings level at bottom says 'expert', go to playback, press right and find 'adjust display refresh rate' and set to always, then go down to acceleration, press right and make sure all 3 acceleration options are ticked, back out to main menu, reboot Kodi, try your media selection again, hope this helps

Thanks for this, already have the first setting made, no difference.
I don't have 3 settings under acceleration to enable....
1.Render method:auto detect(greyed out)
2.Enable hq scalers - 0%
3.Allow hardware acceleration - amcodec (selected)
4.Reset above to default

 

[thereaper123]

And your settings level is 'expert'? This is probably an openelec limitation then not having the 3 acceleration options maybe? I don't run it myself as prefer android as is more adaptable and configurable for my needs, plus it bricked an mk808b plus stick I was playing with so openelec is a no no for me! Maybe someone with more experience on that operating system can help you further.

 

[thegazsheard]

Are you using kodi or spmc?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[AndyP]

And your settings level is 'expert'? This is probably an openelec limitation then not having the 3 acceleration options maybe? I don't run it myself as prefer android as is more adaptable and configurable for my needs, plus it bricked an mk808b plus stick I was playing with so openelec is a no no for me! Maybe someone with more experience on that operating system can help you further.

Thanks mate, I used openelec as I need an accessible share on the network.

 

[AndyP]

Are you using kodi or spmc?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I'm using openelec kodi.

 

[thegazsheard]

Make sure settings are set to expert then try:

Settings/System/Video Output

I have the following set:

Resolution-1920x1080p
Refresh Rate-60.00
Blank other display so unchecked
3d mode:-disabled
Vertical blank sync-let driver choose

There hasn't been a file I couldn't play with these settings, even a bluray 5.1, 1080p rip with no issues. True rip aswell, 13gb size...

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Edited to add, in the video settings, the playback list make sure adjust display refresh rate is OFF, sync playback to display disabled.

 

[AndyP]

Make sure settings are set to expert then try:

Settings/System/Video Output

I have the following set:

Resolution-1920x1080p
Refresh Rate-60.00
Blank other display so unchecked
3d mode:-disabled
Vertical blank sync-let driver choose

There hasn't been a file I couldn't play with these settings, even a bluray 5.1, 1080p rip with no issues. True rip aswell, 13gb size...

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Edited to add, in the video settings, the playback list make sure adjust display refresh rate is OFF, sync playback to display disabled.

Thanks for this mate, settings are at expert.

I have to agree, I've thrown full HD at this box and it's great, but the issue here seems to be the 60 frames per second video.
I've tried your settings and it still has the same issues. Perhaps 60fps is just too much for the Openelec build, the odd thing is, it seems to work much better (but not perfect) on the Android version....
But as mentioned above, I need a writable share to send the video files to as thats the way my system is set up, and the Android version doesnt support network reachable shares as far as Im aware.....

I might try to re-encode the Hells Kitchen episode from 60fps to 25fps to see if it plays ok, chances are, it will.

 

[thegazsheard]

When you was running on your HTPC was that OpenElec? Could it be an inconsistency with the versions? As in HTPC to Android box version? (Stable or one of the Betas?) Also on the Android side of Kodi as everything runs smooth is that version Jarvis, Isengard or even Helix?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[AndyP]

thats a good point, I was running Helix, not sure I can downgrade the T8-S plus ?

 

[thegazsheard]

There is ways but even I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot barge pole for risk of voiding the warrenty. All I can suggest from here would be Droidbox support first thing tomorrow either via phone or live chat...

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Mozza]

Hi All,

not long had my Droidbox T8-S Plus and generally happy with it's performance.

I always use the OpenElec version of Kodi on the droidbox and found it to work well....apart from now.

Were were attempting to watch Hell's Kitchen US, a popular show that my previous box never had issues with, but the Droidbox T8-S Plus does.

the video is unstable, goes slow motion at times, and the sync is completely out.

I believe I have found a possible issue; these rips of the TV show have a framerate of 59.940 fps (1280x720 ac3 5.1 sound) , whereas all my other shows and movies are more around the 25.

Am I expecting too much out of this box? I've tried several rips of this show and they all seem to be this frame rate. My previous box was a mini-PC (with Intel i3 processor), I bought the Droidbox as I though it was overkill for a mediacentre so I could re-use....now I think I may have got that wrong...

I have tried so many settings to get the video to work at this rate, but so far no go.

If anyone has any "under the hood" suggestions, I'd be interested, I really dont want to have to run some software to create a lower frame rate video file before I view these.....

I watch the exact same program and i too always stick with Openelec. First few episodes of the season were fine then started having issues from the Andis wedding onwards. It seems to drop out of sync regular, first i skipped forward and back 10secs which fixes it for a min then it drops out of sync again. I have similar issues with files marked as HVEC which i ignore.

I now switch to Android for this program only, ill keep an eye on this thread for a fix so please post if u find one.

Thanks, Mozza

 

[AndyP]

Ah, someone with the same taste

So, I took the plunge and switched to the Android version of Kodi - and wow, it works !
The main reason for wanting to use the OpenElec version was that I thought it would be faster and more reliable, and had that all important Samba share that I push my TV shows to.

Well, I've found SambaDroid, an Android app that gives me the same share on the T8-S plus as I had on OpenElec, so I'm well happy.

I'm hoping OpenElec build gets sorted though, it's been a long time favourite of mine, but for now, Android I'll stay.

I think this issue is almost certainly due to some of the Acceleration options missing in OpenElec and being present in the Android version....time will tell.

thanks all for your involvement and valuable replies on this, I will log a ticket with support to see if this can be fixed.

thanks

Andy.

 

[Nigelar]

Hi andyp. You may not be aware of the openelec community who develop openelec and the interface with Kodi

http://openelec.tv/forum/

You could register over there on their forum and either look to see if your specific questions are being addressed in the next release or ask them for advice. The issue could be an openelec issue rather than a specific droidbox issue.

Good luck.

 

[AndyP]

Hi andyp. You may not be aware of the openelec community who develop openelec and the interface with Kodi

http://openelec.tv/forum/

You could register over there on their forum and either look to see if your specific questions are being addressed in the next release or ask them for advice. The issue could be an openelec issue rather than a specific droidbox issue.

Good luck.

Thanks for this, I'll make my way there now. Great idea!

 

[thereaper123]

Nice one Andy pleased your sorted, if you do notice any slight stuttering or the infamous millisecond glitch (google and you will find infos) on your media now your on android kodi, especially when the camera is panning for instance my suggestions above will work a treat trust me, the 3 acceleration options ticked and the adjust display refresh rate, I've chucked everything at mine since setting it that way and not an issue in sight! Enjoy kodi how its meant to be