Review of Xtream-Codes IPTV Panel Professional Edition – Part 1: Introduction, Initial Setup, Adding Streams…

Today I’ll start the review of one of the streaming software available on the market, with version 2.2.0 EVO of IPTV Panel Professional Edition developed by Xtream-codes. The Software is mainly used for the so-called IPTV broadcasting, but also with great potential for all kind of other content delivery applications such as audio and business streaming, cloud video transcoding, and all other kind of global streams. What is IPTV? Wikipedia definition: Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as a LAN or the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the media in smaller batches, directly from the source. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the data (such as a movie) before the entire […]

4K Video Playback and HDMI Audio Passthrough in Realtek RTD1295 based Zidoo X9S TV Box

Zidoo X9S is a high-end 4K TV box and HDMI recorder based on Realtek RTD1295 processor. I’ve already checked its hardware, and run some benchmarks, so after a successful OTA firmware update, I decided to test 4K videos and HDMI audio pass-through capabilities of the device with ZDMC, Zidoo’s fork of Kodi 16.1, and “Media Center” internal player. Before starting playing 4K videos and testing HDMI audio pass-through, you’ll want to make sure to configure video output to a 4K UHD resolution and framerate such as 3840×2160 @ 60 Hz, as well as change HDMI output audio in Sound & notification settings. The options are a little different from the other boxes as beside RAW and 2-channel LPCM, Zidoo X9S also supports multi-channel LPCM. In order to test HDMI audio pass-through, it must be set to RAW. You may also want to check Playback options to switch to 24 Hz […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

Report: Linux Cannot Be Installed on Microsoft Signature Edition PCs, Laptops and Tablets

Microsoft Signature program is designed to make sure certified devices offer the best possible experience for users, as they can not come with bloatware, include Windows Defender, and must meet strict hardware requirements. However according to a Phoronix report, “providing the best possible user experience” also includes blocking installation of alternative operating systems such as Ubuntu, Debian, or other Linux distributions. The issue was discovered by rijesh who attempted to install Ubuntu 16.04 on his Microsoft Signature Edition Lenovo Yoga 900 13-ISK2 laptop, and noticed that while the BIOS and Windows 10 could see his 512 GB hard drive, Ubuntu was unable to find it, and a customer support representative answered that: This system has a Signature Edition of Windows 10 Home installed. It is locked per our agreement with Microsoft. Another user reports having successfully installed Ubuntu 16.04 on his Lenovo YOGA 900-13ISK, so the devil is in the […]

HICAT.Livera Machine Vision Board and Robot Kit Feature HiSilicon Hi3518 SoC (Crowdfunding)

HiSilicon Hi3518 ARM9 processor is mostly being used in IP cameras, but Hicat startup decided to combined the camera processor with an Atmel MCU and a MT7601 WiFi module to create a wireless camera board to be used with OpenCV, and even provide a complete affordable robot kit with the board. Hicat.livera board specifications: Vision Core – Hisilicon Hi3518 ARM9 processor @ 440 MHz Storage – 16MB flash + micro SD card MCU – Atmel ATmega32U4 AVR micro-controller Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi via Mediatek MT7601 module + u.FL antenna connector Camera interface with provided 140 deg. camera using Omnivision OV9712 720p (1280×720) sensor USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming Audio – Built-in microphone, speaker header Sensors – MPU6050 accelerometer and gyro Expansion – 2x GPIO headers with GPIOs, I2C, SPI, serial, PWM, digital, analog and power signals. Misc – MCU reset and Linux reset buttons, […]

$16 and Up RGB LED Bluetooth 4.0 Light Bulbs include Speakers

I’ve just stumbled upon “H1007 Smart E27 Bulb Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker” on GeekBuying. It’s a smart Bluetooth 4.0 RGB LED E27 light bulb that also include a speaker, and sells for $22.59 shipped. I find it’s a good idea, and after looking for other models, I’ve found the $99 Twist light, as well as a much cheaper “OY-QP-BM13” model on eBay going for $15.99. I’ll look at (HZ-)H1007 specifications first: Light Bulb 5W; adjustable RGBW; 330 Lumens; Color temp: 6500K Screw Type – E27/E26 Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE up to 20 meters range Audio – 3W amplifier; 3D surround audio Voltage – 100 to 240V 50/60Hz Dimensions – 72 mm diameter x 136 mm length Weight – 146 grams The body of the light bulb is available in white, red, golden, and blue, and it ships with a user’s manual in English and Chinese. I could not find the […]

Amlogic S905L Processor Drops VP9 Codec, TS Inputs for Tuners, and the Camera Interface

[Update: I’ve received updated documentation for Amlogic S905X too, and the main differences are only the lack of VP9 codec, and HDMI 2.0b interface] Amlogic has apparently decided to launch yet another quad core Cortex A53 processor with Amlogic S905L, which appears to be based on  Amlogic S905X with built-in stereo audio codec and 10/100M Ethernet PHY & MAC, HDR support, but without VP9 codec, camera interface, nor TS inputs, so it looks like a cost-down version purely designed for OTT/IP TV boxes. The document I have is dated June 2016, before the 1.5 GHz “limit” was discovered on Amlogic processors, and the maximum frequency is rated @ 2.0 GHz in the document. Amlogic S905L specifications (based on S905L Quick Referent Manual): CPU – Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 2GHz (DVFS) with Neon and Crypto extensions, unified L2 cache 3D GPU – Penta-core ARM Mali-450 GPU up to […]

UP 7000 SBC

How to Download YouTube 4K Videos with Youtube-dl Script

Many Android devices can now support 4K VP9 and/or H.264 video decoding, but for some reasons, Google only serves 4K videos to devices running Android TV OS, as opposed to just Android, with the latter limited to 1080p videos. If for some reasons you want to watch a YouTube 4K video on a capable device, you could download it with youtube-dl script written in Python, and available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. I’ve been using the script for a while to download various video or audio files from YouTube, and other website, but for the purpose of this post, I made sure to update it to the latest version:

If you have already installed the script, it can also be updated with:

I’ll use one of the most popular 4K videos on YouTube as example, namely: COSTA RICA IN 4K 60fps (ULTRA HD) w/ Freefly Movi. The […]

ARM Unveils Cortex-R52 ARMv8-R CPU Core for Safety-Critical Systems

ARM has introduced their very first ARMv8-R real-time 32-bit CPU core with Cortex-R52 designed for safety-critical applications in the automotive, industrial and health-care markets. It has been designed to address higher workloads with increased performance (up to 35%) compared to Cortex-R5 processor. The processor should be used in systems capable of fulfilling IEC 61508 SIL 3 and ISO 26262 ASIL D functional safety requirements. ARM explains the new processor address both random errors for example bit flipping from radiation, and systemic errors more related to software or design faults. The latter can be addresses with the right development processes, including following aforementioned functional safety standards, but random errors require some extra hardware features such as ECC memory, or dual core lock step processors, where instructions are run on two processors simultaneously and results compared. Normally, the whole software stack must be validated and certified on safety-critical systems, even for part […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC