Received my Homatics Box R 4K Plus Today - First Impressions/Testing Results

by jwort93

Definitely not worth buying at the moment. Too many software limitations. Tested a few things that I think were still open questions:

  • No DTS-HD MA/Dolby TrueHD Passthrough in Plex
  • No auto frame rate or resolution matching in Plex
  • Auto HDR doesn't work in Plex or Youtube, so no HDR in those apps unless you force it to always output HDR (and even then, not sure if it's just forced HDR or true HDR)
    • Turns out auto HDR is just semi-broken. If you connect it to a Dolby Vision capable TV, and set the adaptive HDR to prefer Dolby Vision, no HDR is output on these apps because they don't support Dolby Vision. However, if you set adaptive HDR to prefer HDR10, adaptive HDR does work on these apps. Similarly, if you plug it into a TV that only supports HDR10, adaptive HDR works on these apps just fine. Basically, with Adaptive HDR enabled you can only choose HDR10 or Dolby Vision, it won't auto switch between both, depending on which formats a given app supports if your TV supports both.
  • Hulu limited to 1080p with Stereo Audio, no 4K or HDR or 5.1 audio support
  • Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV+ all support Dolby Vision and Atmos
  • Haven't tested Disney+ or HBO Max, but will later today
  • Disney+ supports Dolby Vision, but only Stereo audio (despite UI showing 5.1 audio support)
  • HBO Max supports both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

Hardware wise, it's built well, looks nice, and seems fast, no complaints on that. The light bar on the front might be a bit bright for some people, haven't checked if there is a way to dim or turn it off though.

Anyone have any other questions about this box?

vs40at

No auto frame rate

It should be added as default function in ATV 12 according to last infos.

https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1638414453

Maybe it is why some relatively new certified devices like Xiaomi Stick 4K or this Box R don't get it out of the box, because companies don't want to bother if it will be added by Google in next ATV release.

fareek

The streaming app issues (aside from plex) might be fixable via a future ota update. Were any ota updates installed during the initial setup?

Are you able to get 4K with advanced audio using the hulu app on some other device? I thought hulu had slimmer pickings across the board for that sort of stuff on most devices.

PoissMi18

Do you know if it has HDR10+? Or only HDR10 and Dolby Vision?

LavishnessStrict7207

DTS-HD MA/Dolby TrueHD Passthrough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2P5oiiFUGY

Lunk94

I did get mine today. The HDR auto feature doesnt work for me too. In kodi i can only select fullhd and not 4k. And when i click auto resolution in the androidtv settings it goes to fullhd. Even when i manualy select 4k in the androidtv settings, kodi still only has fullhd option. Can test other settings if someone has an idea but for the first impresion it is not really good At least i could play av1 youtube videos :D

My setup is homatics -> pioneer receiver -> lg tv

fro0st21

Does it Kodi run ok? Did u try to run Coreelec on it?

3doggg

Can it run all the time at 120fps (multiple of 24fps) when using Prime Video, HBO, Netflix, etc....so movies and series are free of judder? Or maybe switch itself to 24fps. Either way would be free of judder.

asansc

Hi,
Thanks for sharing. I'm thinkint to buy it... can you test if you can play high bit rate 4k HDR (HVEC) MKVs??

I understand that can play all Dolby audio formats..

Thanks.

Czubeczek

What sort of software limitations??

yangtfu123

hdr and dolby alternative annoying，and i found another problem, netflix atmos only works when selecting audio auto but kodi atmos works when selecting audio passthrough.Hope than can fix them

Specialist_Ad_9561

LG C1 TV user here.

I have exactly the same problem. Wish I found your thread earlier. I can also notice that that the bars above and below movie in DV is not exactly black when selecting other than Cinema mode. On native TV apps are perfectly black on all modes.

Anyway I have totally messed up picture (like three colors displayed only) when I play DV remuxes in Cinema mode on box. On other modes it is fine except the bars are not black...

WorldlinessThis3656

I Receivid my 4k plus box also today. But ou of the boxwith a HDMI problem. Does anyone have a clue?

Check the video!

https://youtu.be/RQDy1LAJtyY

Let me know?

jimmyleng

u/jwort93 Does this Homatics Box R 4K Plus support LDAC & AptX Bluetooth codecs ?