MediaTek MT8581 Media Processor Supports 4K UHD Blu-rays, 10-bit H.265, VP9, and HDR Imaging

Mediatek has unveiled MT8581 processor for UHD Blu-ray players at CES 2016, with support the latest 10-bit H.265 and VP9, as well as  High Dynamic Range (HDR) for better video quality. The press release provides limited info, but I found a temporary? page with more details (screenshot), and MT8581 specifications should be as follows: CPU – Quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor GPU – N/A, but could be ARM Mali-820MP2 according to AndroidPC.es Optical Disks support – Blu-ray, DVD and CD playback, including the latest BD-ROM format, such as BD-Live and BonusView. When combined with MT8577A Video Codecs – HEVC/H.265 10-bit, H.264 and VP9 Profile 2, Ultra HD 60p video decoder (3840×2160), MPEG-1/2/4, VP8 and VC-1 for Full HD 60p. Encode: H.265 and H.264. High Dynamic Range – HDR10 open standard and Dolby Vision IP Audio – AAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, and DTS HD Network […]

Amlogic S905X and S912 Processors To Support 4K VP9, HDMI 2.0a, Built-in DAC and More

I had heard some news that Amlogic S912 was delayed, and even possibly canceled, while talks about a new S908 processor surfaced recently with support for VP9 up to 4K resolution. We now have some more details as I’ve received some more information about Amlogic product roadmap, and S908 should be renamed S905M [Update: The name will apparently be changed to S905X now, the saga continues…] Amlogic S905 Amlogic S908 / S905M / S905X Amlogic S912 CPU Quad core Cortex A53 @ up to 2.0 GHz Quad core Cortex A53 @ up to 1.5/2.0 GHz Octa core Cortex A53 @ up to 2.0 GHz GPU Penta-core Mali-450 up to 750 MHz High perf gaming GPU Memory 16/32-bit DDR3, LPDDR2/3 Up to 2GB, DDR2133 16/32-bit DDR3/4, LPDDR2/3 Up to 2GB, DDR2400 Storage NAND Flash@BCH60 eMMC 5.0, SD, Nor Flash Video Decoding 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC, 4Kp30 H.264 4Kp60 10-bit HEVC, VP9 4Kp30 […]

H.264 & H.265 4K Video Playback on Amlogic S905 Android TV Box

I’ve almost completed my review of Videostrong K1 Plus Android box powered by Amlogic S905, and while there are many shortcomings, 4K video playback is actually pretty good with Android’s Video Player (Kodi is not really usable @ 4K). I connected the device to LG 42UB820T 4K UHD TV, and set video output to 2160p @ 60Hz, and went through several video samples: Beauty_3840x2160_120fps_420_8bit_HEVC_MP4.mp4 (H.265 @ 30 fps – No audio) – OK big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_30fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 30 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – OK big_buck_bunny_4k_H264_60fps.mp4 (H.264 @ 60 fps – MPEG1/2 and AC3 audio) – Video looks somewhat OK, but big audio delay or AV sync issue. BT.2020.20140602.ts (H.265 Rec.2020 compliant – AAC audio) – OK (First time I can play this video on any hardware). Fifa_WorldCup2014_Uruguay-Colombia_4K-x265.mp4 (H.265 @ 60 fps – AC3) – Video is very good, but no audio MHD_2013_2160p_ShowReel_R_9000f_24fps_RMN_QP23_10b.mkv (10-bit HEVC @ 24 fps – no […]

Converting H.264 Videos to VP9 In Linux / Ubuntu

1080p videos are all good, but my Internet connection’s upload speed is limited to 512 Kbps, so for example uploading a 20 minutes H.264 video shot at 1080p30 may easily take 10 hours, even after some processing with Handbrake. So this week-end I investigated how I could reduce the upload size, and going with H.265 codec appeared to be a good idea at first. So I tried again H.265 encoding in Handbrake in Ubuntu 14.04, and discovered that adjusting CRF (constant quality factor) to 25 with H.265 was roughly equivalent to 20 with H.264, and both the compression ratio and encoding speed were greatly improved compared to default settings with a minor degradation in quality. If you happen to have a second generation Nvidia Maxwell graphics card you may want to check Nvidia Video Encoding SDK for speedier encoding. All was good until I decided to upload a test video, […]

Roku 4 Media Player Supports H.265 and VP9 4K Videos, 7.1 Channel Audio Pass-through

Roku has announced the latest version of their video streaming player. Roku 4 comes with a faster quad core processor, supports H.265 & VP9 video playback up to respectively 2160p60 and 2160p30, and includes a new version of Roku operating systems. Roku 4 specifications: SoC – Unnamed Quad core ARM processor with OpenGL ES 2.0 capable GPU System Memory – 1.5GB RAM Storage – TBD internal storage – micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 3840×2160 @ 60Hz with HDCP 2.2 support Audio Output – HDMI or optical S/PDIF with support for Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround pass-through Video Codecs – 4K UHD 60 fps HEVC Playback, 4K UHD 30 fps VP9 Playback (YouTube) Connectivity – 802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless, 10/100 Base-T Ethernet USB – USB host port Power supply – 12V/1A Power consumption – 12.4W (typ.) when streaming 4K UHD video Dimensions – About 16.5 x […]

Nvidia Shield Android TV vs Apple TV vs Roku 3 vs Fire TV vs Nexus Player – Video Capabilities and Features Comparison

Since Nvidia released the Shield Android TV box, I’ve heard several people saying Nvidia raised the bar and even disrupted the TV box market by bringing a powerful HTPC and gaming console to the market for just $199. The company has now released OTA 2.0 firmware that improves HTPC capabilities, including under Kodi and Plex, and the box supports for 10-bit HEVC, H.264, and VP9 @ 4K, and audio pass-through for HD audio codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master. As part of the release announcement, Nvidia also compared the Shield TV media capabilities to the ones of other US centric media players, namely Apple TV (2015), Roku 3, Amazon Fire TV (2015), and Nexus Player. Since it comes from Nvidia, it was also going to show the Shield TV in a good light, but I’m very surprised to see that Apple, Amazon, Google, and Roku would ship a […]

Hisilicon HI3798C V200 64-bit ARM Processor Supports HDMI 2.0, 10-bit HEVC, USB 3.0, SATA and More

There have been several Cortex A53 processors announced or released on the market such as Rockchip RK3368, Allwinner A64, or Amlogic S905, but in many cases I can read comments complaining about the lack of high speed interface, incomplete code support, or a weak GPU. Hisilicon Hi3798C V200 offers better features than its competitor, as beside four Cortex A53 cores, it includes a Mali-720 GPU, supports HDMI 2.0 output up to 4K at 60 HZ, 10-bit HEVC / H.265 and VP9 video decoding at 3840×2160 resolution at 60 fps, and integrates SATA and USB 3.0 interfaces. Hisilicon Hi3798C V200 key features and specifications: CPU – Quad core Cortex A53 processor (15K DMIPS) GPU – ARM Mali-T720 supporting OpenGL ES 3.1/2.0, OpenVG1.1, EGL, and Imprex 2.0 PQ engine Memory I/F – DDR3 or DDR4 Video Engine (VPU) Codecs – HEVC, H.264, VP9, VC1, MPEG2 Decoder – 10-bit up to 4Kp60 Encoder – […]

Perseus Video Codec Claims 2 to 3 Times Better Compression than H.265 using Legacy Hardware

H.265 (aka HEVC) is supposed to half the video bandwidth / bitrate required compared to H.264 by delivering the same quality, and VP9 should also offer equivalent compression, but it’s just not as broadly supported in media processors. UK based V-Nova claims its Perseus codec can even beat that, by providing 2 to 3 times better compression than H.265 thanks to a new approach to video encoding, that allow the codec to leverage existing hardware, meaning it can be encoded with existing computers, and decoded by leveraging the CPU and GPU parallel processing capabilities in existing mobile & computing devices. Perseus codec highlights: Highly efficient – >3x compression vs. state-of-the-art in practical use cases. Benefits further increase with increasing resolutions & frame rates. Extremely fast – Significant processing time reduction thanks to  massively parallel architecture. Designed to take advantage of modern hardware Multi-scale (continuously hierarchical) – Single bit stream for […]