Help me choose on TV

I like having a Smart TV, it plays some videos better than our Kodi box and also plays at least one video fornat that the Kodi box won't.

 

That could be down to the audio format in the video file itself. Kodi has changed recently and some DTS formats are not supported in the newer version. VLC will play almost any format as well and I have never found one it wont play. BTW Which video format does not play on Kodi?

Edited August 15, 2017 by apelike

My most recent TV is a smart one, it's convenient being able to access amazon prime directly, no separate box, and it means that the audio gets sent to my surround sound via ARC without me having to do anything.

It can also do iplayer, netflix, channel 4 and 5 and ITV catchup services and a whole bunch of other stuff which I've not found much use for.

Seconding Cyclone.

 

Set top ('Kodi', NowTV, Android,<etc.>) boxes are fine when your TV is not smart (-enough), or "becomes dumb" over time through lack of updates (e.g. legacy TV sets not capable of decoding latest Youtube/iPlayer/etc. codecs, or decoding H265 HEVC files), to add (or maintain) functionality beyond broadcast and playback of input-connected content (DVDs, BluRays, console games, etc.)

 

But if the TV is smart and 'capable' enough to do what you want it to do (particularly anything web-connected: Youtube, Netflix, catch up TV etc.) without adding an extra box, all the better tbh. And in that respect, most modern TVs are plenty smart, even at the economy end of the market (the CPU in El Cid's Hisense option is quad-core, should be plenty capable for the next few years at least).

 

I've found the Amazon Firestick to be a happy medium: the size of a large USB dongle, does all a 'box' does (prime, netflix, NowTV, iPlayer, etc.), is hackable (Kodi-compatible), and is USB socket-powered. It adds tons of 'smarts' to any older TV, without any extra box, wires or an extra wall plug being needed. All for chump change (usually around £25-£30 second hand).

 

Another happy medium would be a Raspberry Pi configured as a media center (e.g. with the OSMC OS), and I can vouch for the cheap-as-chips Zero version to be as capable as the 3 version and the Firestick for Kodi (through WiFi) as we have, and use, all 3 (Pi 3 on kitchen TV, Pi Zero on guest room TV, Firestick on bedroom TV). Exact same advantages as the Firestick: tiny, does it all, USB socket-powered...and if your TV has CEC (again, most modern sets do, even at economy end of market), fully controllable by the TV remote.

Edited August 16, 2017 by L00b

That could be down to the audio format in the video file itself. Kodi has changed recently and some DTS formats are not supported in the newer version. VLC will play almost any format as well and I have never found one it wont play. BTW Which video format does not play on Kodi?

 

I think it was MKV. Has been a long time since I watched a film, any film.

I think it was MKV. Has been a long time since I watched a film, any film.

I'm surprised a Kodi box, even an old one, doesn't play an MKV file, that container has been around for a decade or longer.

 

That said, could it be that the file was a recent-ish H265 encode, rather than the years-old and 'staple' H264 encode?

 

H265 relies a lot more on hardware decoding than H264, so an older/legacy box with insufficient hardware resources (and insufficient CPU/RAM to 'bring up the decoding rear', or software-decode outright) may well struggle.

 

If your box is on Kodi v.13, that would explain 'no working at all', since H265 decoding was only introduced with v.14, and you might wish to consider a version update.

 

Edited August 16, 2017 by L00b

I upgraded my TV to not having one at all. Best decision I ever made.

I wouldn't use Kodi for much longer tbh...

 

https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/fact-to-target-kodi-users-in-its-anti-piracy-plan/

I wouldn't use Kodi for much longer tbh...

 

https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/fact-to-target-kodi-users-in-its-anti-piracy-plan/

 

Having a TV box is not just about having Kodi and illicit streams as that article also points out. Kodi is just an all-in-one media centre and even if those illicit streams disappeared it is still a good option. VLC is another good media player and many others also exist.

 

BTW do you actually use Kodi?

I'm surprised a Kodi box, even an old one, doesn't play an MKV file, that container has been around for a decade or longer.

 

That said, could it be that the file was a recent-ish H265 encode, rather than the years-old and 'staple' H264 encode?

 

H265 relies a lot more on hardware decoding than H264, so an older/legacy box with insufficient hardware resources (and insufficient CPU/RAM to 'bring up the decoding rear', or software-decode outright) may well struggle.

 

If your box is on Kodi v.13, that would explain 'no working at all', since H265 decoding was only introduced with v.14, and you might wish to consider a version update.

 

 

The box has been sat in from of the TV for months gathering dust.

 

I wasn't that bothered about getting one, husband's idea. Our kids just take over the TV with mainly YouTube videos of toy cars and trains.

 

I suspect it is the second format, our laptops went a bit mental (fans on full) when playing the format too. I think our hardware isn't up to scratch.

I wouldn't use Kodi for much longer tbh...

 

https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/damien-cox/fact-to-target-kodi-users-in-its-anti-piracy-plan/

Re. going after end users, that's just the same old rethorical scare tactics from FACT.

 

There's no money -and plenty of bad PR- to be had, with going after end users. Particularly, as apelike rightly pointed out, when Kodi has plenty of perfectly legitimate uses and purposes (just like torrents of old), which end users can raise by way of defence (genuinely or otherwise).

 

That's always been the case, since long before Internet streaming (and the Internet itself for that matter).

I suspect it is the second format, our laptops went a bit mental (fans on full) when playing the format too. I think our hardware isn't up to scratch.

In my experience, that's been the main problem for smart TVs, at least early ones (software support dropped by manufacturer when they phase out the model, within a couple years or earlier...and since most TVs were closed 'black box', no way to hack/tinker to try and maintain software functionality: our flagship LG TV lost its built-in Youtube function entirely after 5 years or so, when Youtube changed its codec in a fundamental way - no upgrade or anything possible to get it back). This is the (real) risk that lends a lot of support to apelike's posts advocating a separate box, which is easier to upgrade over time.

 

Although I understand that more recent smart TVs with an upgradeable OS (like Android, or more proprietary like LG's webOS) are more immune to premature redundancy.

 

There's a similar issue in the wings when digital broadcast (Freeview) will go 4k/HDR, because BBC and others are looking to implement it with the HLG ('Hybrid Log Gamma') technology/variant, but which no early 4k TV set (bar perhaps some ultra-£££ premium ones) and few current 4k TV sets can accommodate. It's an issue unlikely to come up within the next 2 years or more, mind (I doubt 'Freeview 4k' will arrive before then), but when you're looking at spending £££s on a main household TV which you expect to 'just work' and last years...

Edited August 17, 2017 by L00b