4K HEVC playback in Kodi

by xJavontax

I got a Mi Box a few days ago. So far, it's been great.

However, I'm having trouble playing one of my files that's a 4K HEVC encode.

The video lives on my Plex server, which is hard wired to my modem. I'm playing from my Mi Box, which is connected via WiFi and running Kodi with KodiPlexConnect.

There's a few possible problems I narrowed it down to, but I wanted to see if anyone else had issues playing HEVC 4K video on TT Mi Box too.

As for the problems:

everything is (temporarily) hooked up to a modem/router that uses the Wireless N standard. No 5GHz.
the Mi Box is connected via 802.11N wifi, because my router doesn't do AC.

I'm fairly new to 4K, and just learned about HEVC and .265 formats recently so I'm not sure if it's a bandwidth issue because of my router or if the box just simply can't handle the file.

Would hardwiring the mi Box fix the problem? Or would just upgrading the modem to an AC compatible one work?

Edit: for the record, my 4K H.264 content works without issue, it's just the HEVC stuff that gives me a "source too slow" problem. It's all direct play.

BiggussDikkuss

Too many variables for Plex / Kodi 4K streaming over anything but AC WiFi.

For 4K Kodi over WiFi you really need to add a decent Kodi Video Cache - ie. Example #4

Personally I would use SPMC 16.7.x

High Bitrate 4K really needs hardwired Ethernet for reliability.

And even then you will find ALL Android devices cannot Auto Resolution switch between 1080p/4K to give you optimal upscaling picture quality on your 4K TV.

Demanding 4K Shield owners know all about this:

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/910766/shield-tv/disable-upscaling-in-nvidia-shield-4k-uhd-/1/

Dirt cheap 4K AMLogic devices running a highly optimised LibreELEC Kodi Krypton eat high bitrate 4k HEVC for breakfast and then some, without Android OS restrictions.

Android TV is good for Android Apps tho.

NedSc

Probably just a bit too high of a bitrate for the wifi connection, but if it's right on the edge then you might be able to get by increasing the cache buffer size. Use example 4 from here: http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Modify_the_video_cache

Make the text file on your computer and copy it over to a USB drive, then use a file manager app to copy it to the Kodi userdata folder. It's worth a shot, at least.

mondocu

Watching 4k over Wifi N must mean that your plex server is working real hard to transcode h265 to low bandwith (mean also low video quality). What are your server specs ? https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201774043-What-kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-?mobile_site=true Edit: you can't be directplay using N wifi with 4k content because the video bitrate is way higher than what you can do

pawdog

I have been unable to play any downloaded 4k video on the Mibox. I have about 30 movies of varying bitrates. MiBox can't handle any of them. I've tried Kodi 17.4, SPMC both stable and the new 17 alpha. Plex client and plugin for Kodi. Wireless AC and via Ethernet adapter. The same files can be played on Fire TV and Roku Premiere Plus on the same network.

Mibox handles every form of streaming UHD I have tried. Amazon, Netflix, YouTube. I've come to the conclusion that it's just underpowered for high bandwith playback.

parski

A few ideas:

Try serving the video files over a network share and attach that to your Android TV for direct use in Kodi. That should eliminate Plex if it should be the issue.
Try wired network. That way you can see if the network is the problem.
By connecting a keyboard to your Android TV you can press O during playback. This should show the load on your hardware.