Just thought I’d mention, I got one of these gadgets <https://osmc.tv/> (the latest “Vero V” model) delivered to my doorstep today. This is to replace a Western Digital “WDTV” media streamer that I got from Dick Smith over a decade ago, that I have been getting more annoyed with. The OSMC software is built on Kodi, with some extra stuff of their own. You should be able to download it and set up your own installation, I just decided to get one of their boxes preassembled and preinstalled. They’re based in the UK. That WDTV box was always fussy about the kinds of files it would play, and what codecs and what bit rates etc it could cope with. When I tried something like .flv files for example, it would play OK if I didn’t try going fast forward/reverse, otherwise it would get stuck. Certain kinds of files could screw it up so badly, the only way to recover was to turn it off and on again. This new box is built on a much more modern Linux base, so I expect its media support will be correspondingly improved. Already it has started playing a .webm file, which the old box wouldn’t even look at. If anybody is curious to know more, just ask. I see there is even an online “store” of addons I can install, for extra capabilities.
On Tue, Aug 27, 2024 at 11:41:43AM +1200, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
Just thought I’d mention, I got one of these gadgets <https://osmc.tv/> (the latest “Vero V” model) delivered to my doorstep today. This is to
Does it play transport streams recorded from Freeview? I have my own software that I wrote to record channels direct from a DVB card but I discovered at some point when I tried out Kodi it could not play them, despite ffmpeg and mpv having no problem. Can you set it up to play from the major streamers (Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime), e.g., via a browser? Or do they have Apps for that? I have a RockPro64 running Debian as my media centre, but it has some limitations that really annoy me: there are occassional drop outs on the SPDIF and HDMI sound; I can't get AC3 passthrough on the sound working (despite the datasheet for the SoC saying that it supports it on SPDIF and HDMI) and the HDMI output is not compatible with my old surround sound audio pre-amp so I get no sound. I currently feed HDMI direct to the TV and then export sound via SPDIF from the TV back to the audio pre-amp. Overall a bit disappointing. Cheers Michael.
On Tue, 27 Aug 2024 21:12:41 +1200, Michael Cree wrote:
Does it play transport streams recorded from Freeview? I have my own software that I wrote to record channels direct from a DVB card but I discovered at some point when I tried out Kodi it could not play them, despite ffmpeg and mpv having no problem.
I tried part of a random .ts file, not from Freeview (I haven’t tried recording Freeview in a long time), and that played both audio and video no problem. I also had a corrupted (partial) video download lurking around, that the old WDTV would play only a second or two of before getting stuck. The Vero played through the whole thing, gracefully skipping over the gaps (of which there were plenty). If you have any test files you want to try, that can be arranged.
Can you set it up to play from the major streamers (Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime), e.g., via a browser? Or do they have Apps for that?
Hmm, the addons are grouped into categories ... looks like access to streaming services is under “Video Add-ons” ... can’t see any of those names there. I do see some regional names, like france.tv, NHK Live, TV Ontario ... also video sites like LBRY, YouTube and Vimeo. Of course, it could be that other addons are available from, um, “unofficial” sources ...
I have a RockPro64 running Debian as my media centre, but it has some limitations that really annoy me: there are occassional drop outs on the SPDIF and HDMI sound; I can't get AC3 passthrough on the sound working (despite the datasheet for the SoC saying that it supports it on SPDIF and HDMI) and the HDMI output is not compatible with my old surround sound audio pre-amp so I get no sound. I currently feed HDMI direct to the TV and then export sound via SPDIF from the TV back to the audio pre-amp. Overall a bit disappointing.
My ancient Sony TV dates from the time when HDMI was new, and has a plethora of analog inputs which are largely useless nowadays, so I have to share its one HDMI port between Freeview and the streamer via another switcher box. So far I’ve played maybe a couple of hours of video today, without problems. Not sure if any of that had AC3 sound, though. One remaining issue is that my TV doesn’t *not* do overscan. In the beginning, the Vero’s info displays were getting clipped at the edges of the screen. I discovered the Vero’s Video settings panel had “Basic”, “Standard”, “Advanced” and “Expert” modes (defaulting to “Standard”), and on going straight to “Expert”, I found the option to adjust the overscan (and even make fine adjustments to the aspect ratio), and while that works for the info displays, I’m not sure it makes much difference to the actual video playback.
I wrote:
... I found the option to adjust the overscan (and even make fine adjustments to the aspect ratio), and while that works for the info displays, I’m not sure it makes much difference to the actual video playback.
Yes, adjusting the overscan does work. I brought up a short test-pattern clip (with distinctive patterning in the overscan area), paused it, and went into the settings menu to tweak the overscan, and while the info overlay moved, the clip image itself did not ... until I resumed it playing, whereupon it immediately snapped into the new settings. I previously mentioned trick play on the old WDTV box. The Vero doesn’t have trick play as such: no fast or slow playback, whether forward or reverse. All it has is the ability to skip backwards/forwards 10 seconds (using the left-right buttons), and I think a larger interval with the up/down buttons. Also, the output resolution setting maxes out at 720p. This could be a limitation of my old TV, which will handle 1080i but not 1080p; I don’t think the Vero wants to do interlaced output -- quite a reasonable attitude, I think.
participants (2)
-
Lawrence D'Oliveiro -
Michael Cree