How to make frame rate switching work (A7/Kodi18)

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Xyzzy

Member
Hello,

With my previous player (connected to a TV set via an amplituner) frame rate switching worked flawlessly out of the box.

Now I cannot make it work with U9 A7 firmware and Kodi 18 (connected exactly in the same way).

I've tried different U9 settings, but to no avail. In Kodi System>Display>Whitelist there is only 1080p 60 fps available.

How do you have your U9 set?
 
For what it's worth:

In U9 Droid Settings>Display properties all the resolutions/frame rates expected are displayed, but Kodi finds only 1080p/60, as can be seen in its logs.
 
Xyzzy said:
For what it's worth:

In U9 Droid Settings>Display properties all the resolutions/frame rates expected are displayed, but Kodi finds only 1080p/60, as can be seen in its logs.
Click to expand...

As far as that is a Kodi limitation you could check the kodi forum as there are users with the same doubts. However that is a simple interface display situation which doesn't interfere with the video playing resolution. Kodi is a great player in spite.
 
CybeRider said:
As far as that is a Kodi limitation you could check the kodi forum as there are users with the same doubts. However that is a simple interface display situation which doesn't interfere with the video playing resolution. Kodi is a great player in spite.
Click to expand...

I am not sure what you mean, but 24/25 video played at 60 IS shitty with very visible stuttering. And it does interfere with video replay, as TV is not switching to a correct framerate.
 
Xyzzy said:
I am not sure what you mean, but 24/25 video played at 60 IS shitty with very visible stuttering. And it does interfere with video replay, as TV is not switching to a correct framerate.
Click to expand...


That is a Kodi issue, discussed in the official Kodi forum. (And the white list in Kodi Settings Display concerns the interface not the video replay, as it replays 4k apart from the 1080p setting anyhow). Sorry if I am a lousy help, but I saw you answering to yourself and I thought that in your place, and since that is in fact a Kodi issue, I would probably be looking here:

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=219796

or trying a different player or Kodi version.

But maybe someone, in time, will get you a better advice.
 
I've defined on Kodi : Adjust Refresh Display Rate: Always

And on Minix Menu Playback settings: HDMI adaptation level 2.

Works fine.

Sync Playback to display: Should not be touched.
 
Illusion4u said:
Why are you not using the 008 then?
Click to expand...

When I bought U9, A7 fw was already out and 008 was known to be the last for A6. So first thing I did was to flash A7 fw. But I am not excluding flashing back to A6. Let me just talk to support before.
 
Xyzzy said:
Hello,

With my previous player (connected to a TV set via an amplituner) frame rate switching worked flawlessly out of the box.

Now I cannot make it work with U9 A7 firmware and Kodi 18 (connected exactly in the same way).

I've tried different U9 settings, but to no avail. In Kodi System>Display>Whitelist there is only 1080p 60 fps available.

How do you have your U9 set?
Click to expand...

As per your original post. My settings if they're of any use to you :).

I'm using stock Minix 6.0.1 with FW008. Everything has worked flawlessly from day 1 from Kodi 17.6 with FW008. (I also experienced some stability issues with FW007 prior to updating, the update solved them alll.) I'm still testing Kodi 18, other than some minor glitches, so far so good ;).

My U9-H is also connected via an AVR (HDMI only) & my U9-H, AVR & TV work together flawlessly. I can passthrough all audio from Kodi up to & including DTS HD/DTS:X, & Dolby Atmos. I don't suffer from any audio dropouts from any source.

My U9-H is set to level 2 for HDMI Self Adaptation. (I'm not even sure if level 2 is in fact fully supported but it works fine so I'm not going to fix what clearly isn't broken :).)

Otherwise, my U9-H is set to 4K@60 (3840x2160) & YCbCr422 10 bit. HDR is set to auto.

Kodi.....

Whitelist. (My TV fully supports 4K HDR 10 & I have no issues with the display from any media source). However, as with @CybeRider 's observations & comments, my Kodi 18 doesn't just whitelist 1080 @ 60Hz only, it also lists other 1080 options from 1080 @ 23.98Hz with multiple options up through to 1080 @ 60.00Hz. Obviously this may be variable based on your specific hardware.

Settings -> Playback, (personally my setup is).......

Adjust display refresh rate - Off, (has always worked fine since Kodi 17.6 with my TV/AVR so I haven't needed to adjust it). However, I've enabled it & set it to On start/stop, & tested the auto frame rate switching on reading your post & it's working absolutely fine .
Sync playback to display - Disabled

I get no stuttering, tearing, glitching, artifacting, or any of the other visual problems that you mention for that matter. Movies @ 23.976, 24 or 25 also play flawlessly @60 for me too.

The ONLY visual issue I've experienced so far with Kodi 18 is it's not correctly switching into stereoscopic 3D mode for some SBS 3D movies, & on exiting some SBS 3D movies it also isn't disabling the stereoscopic mode correctly either.

Xyzzy said:
In A7 firmware it's only On/Off for HDMI adaptation - I wonder whether this may be the issue.
Click to expand...

Simple, update to FW008 ;). Then try things out & see what difference that makes. It could completely solve all of your problems & you're a happy bunny again ;)!!!

Ultimately, the variables involved with the amount of different TV's/hardware available is endless. Some setup's work flawlessly, some have minor issues, whilst unfortunately some experience more serious problems.

Xyzzy said:
I am not sure what you mean, but 24/25 video played at 60 IS shitty with very visible stuttering. And it does interfere with video replay, as TV is not switching to a correct framerate.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it may be "shitty" for you with your hardware but that doesn't automatically imply it's a global issue that applies to everyone.

Your best option at this stage is to update to FW008 then proceed from there.

Let us know if that solves your problems & auto frame rate switching begins to work correctly for you :).
 
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pusb87 said:
how is that possible ??
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Of that I have absolutely no idea, they just do :). This is why I haven't ever needed to enable the "adjust display refresh rate" setting in Kodi for any file/source. It works fine when enabled but visually I see no difference at all if enabled or disabled.

The only time I need to make an adjustment is to manually drop the U9-H back down to 1080 for 3D sources. That's it!!!

With frame rate switching disabled, regardless of the media file/source my TV info banner simply reports the set resolution/Hz (3840x2160/60Hz) on start. If my TV/AVR are somehow taking over & employing any self adjustment instead, you'd have thought this change would be reflected in the info banner on start/stop?

My TV & AVR are obviously in my sig. If you can find any info on why this is it would be interesting but I haven't been able to find anything in "owners threads" or trawling through other sources.
 
pusb87 said:
how is that possible ??
Click to expand...

ArcticWolf said:
Of that I have absolutely no idea, they just do :). This is why I haven't ever needed to enable the "adjust display refresh rate" setting in Kodi for any file/source. It works fine when enabled but visually I see no difference at all if enabled or disabled.
Click to expand...

The best I found to explain it is this:

"At playback time frames will be repeated as necessary to get from 25 fps to 60 fps. For each second of video, 15 frames are played twice and 10 frames are played 3 times. It amounts to a 2:3:2:3:2 pattern of repetition, though it's actually dynamic and determined automatically by the video subsystem, not the playback software.

For 24 fps content played at 60 fps, it's similar: 12 frames in each second are played 3 times, and 12 are played two times, in a 3:2 repeating pattern. It's called 3:2 pull-down.

When the playback frame rate is much higher than the content frame rate (by a factor of roughly 2.5 or more), our eyes aren't too sensitive to the repetition or its pattern. At smaller ratios, irregularities in the repetition pattern can become noticeable, so the repetition should be kept regular or avoided altogether by blending or interpolating frames. Converting from 50 fps to 60 fps, for example, doesn't look good when it's done by repeating frames. "

It is all based in algorithms to resolve these situations, compatibility has always been an issue to consider ever since the Pal and NTSC TV systems had to coexist and it surely evolved to cause no trouble nowadays. I find it quite strange as some people still believe that to be a major cause of disturbance. It would be very sad if an investment on a 4K TV and high range TV box would be spoiled by flickering movies...

To make sure all goes well it is probably better to avoid beta testing anyway :whistle:
 
Xyzzy said:
Some people just have HUGE tolerance to visual issues.
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LOL, agreed, some do :LOL::ROFLMAO:. To miss the issues you're complaining of they're generally in their 80's (+) & things tend to play out like a 1980's sitcom where an elderly couple are shouting at each other over a TV at maximum volume asking "what just happened dear? I missed that", every 90 seconds, lolol.

However, not a factor in this instance. Both auditory & visual acuity are actually high, (thanks for the concern though :)). I have no problems at all identifying common visual & especially audio issues :).

I'd have cataracts & 20/100 vision to miss typical screen tearing, artifacting, etc. on a 50" screen from 9 feet away. Were my eyesight/tolerances that bad I sure as hell wouldn't have spent a small fortune on my current home cinema setup to then sit & watch screen tearing & other PITA problems ;). I would have simply dug out an old suspect 14" CRT TV (circa 1992) long forgotten from a dark corner of my attic. Then, retrained my dog as a "guide dog" & relied on her to tell me what was happening on the TV PMSL ;).

Based on that explanation, one would also have to assume that you actually have better eyesight than a Golden Eagle & such legendary miniscule tolerances that you're actually capable of counting individual pixels on a 4K display from 20 feet hehe ;).
 
Illusion4u said:
Sorry but if you don't enable "Adjust display refresh rate " there's visible stuttering clearly visible.

Movie slow pans show this right away.
Click to expand...

Probably (and hopefully) all the settings in "Settings/Player Settings" will produce some effect when changed. So far everybody as I can remember recommended for that one "at start/stop" (my option) or "Always".
 
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Illusion4u said:
Sorry but if you don't enable "Adjust display refresh rate " there's visible stuttering clearly visible.

Movie slow pans show this right away.
Click to expand...

Whichever setting works best for your specific equipment at the end of the day :).

Settings like these will always be variable & completely subjective, it's precisely why there are multiple options available as required by the user.

Have you also finally solved your screen flickering problem with your U9-H after multiple attempts at re-flashing the firmware? (Hope that's all sorted too :) .)
 
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