4k News - Page 63 of 82 - CNX Software

July 2, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 40 Comments

Review of Vorke V1 mini PC Powered by Intel Celeron J3160 Processor

After checking out Vorke V1 mini PC hardware in the first part of the review, it’s now time to publish the review starting with system information, benchmarks, and user testing. The device competes with similarly priced devices based on Intel Atom x7 processor such as Voyo V3 and Beelink BT7, so I’ll also include some comparisons to those in the review. Setup and System Information I connected USB keyboard and mouse, an Ethernet cable, HDMI and VGA cables to check dual display support, as well as the power supply. I did not connect my USB 3.0 hard drive since, I’ve already fitted the mini PC with an internal 1TB hard drive. Pressing on the large power button on the top of the device will boot it, and after a few seconds, you’ll get to go through Windows 10 setup by first accepting the EULA. The next steps are Custom or […]

June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 by Ray - 5 Comments

ROOFULL MRX 4K Android TV Box Review

CNXSoft: I’ve got many requests to review TV boxes, but I don’t always have time for them all, so from time to time I get people who help me do reviews, and this review of Roofull MRX TV box powered by Amlogic S905 processor had been done by Ray, who like me has been playing with many other Android TV boxes. ROOFULL MRX Specifications Operation System – Android 5.1 CPU – Amlogic S905 64-bit Quad core Cortex A53 up to @2GHz GPU – Penta Core Mali-450 RAM – 2GB DDRIII ROM – 16GB eMMC flash SD Storage expendable up to 32GB Bluetooth – BT 4.0 Antenna – Built-in antenna for WiFi Media UHD 4K x 2K: Support Full HD 1080P: Support HEVC H.265/H.264: Support Video/Picture Decoding Support: *.mkv,*.wmv,*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.dat, *.avi, *.mov, *.iso, *.mp4, *.rm and *.jpg file formats Audio Format Support: MP3,AAC,WMA,RM,FLAC,Ogg Communication WiFi: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz) Ethernet: […]

June 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Amlogic S912(-H) TV Box Boards Are Starting to Show Up

Amlogic S912 is one of the most expected processor this year for TV box users, and while there’s still a few months development needed before devices based on the new platform go on sale, some boards have started to surface on the Internet. The first board named S912_MBX_REF_Q02_V01 is shown above, and has the following specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 or S912-H octo core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ 750MHz+ System Memory – 2GB (Optional 1GB) Storage – 16GB eMMC flash (Optional 8GB) + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 Misc – IR receiver, recovery push button (behind AV jack) As a reminder the -H suffix means Dolby and DTS licenses are paid for, so audio down-mixing will work in all apps. […]

June 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 192 Comments

Shenzhen Tomato X96 Amlogic S905X TV Box is Designed to be “Hooked” Behind Any Monitor or Wall Mounted

There are several solutions to mount a mini computer or TV box behind a display, and while VESA mount is one of them, your TV may not support it, so Shenzhen Tomato has come up with “magic tape” combined with an IR extension cable to help you hook their latest X96 TV box behind your TV. Let’s go through the main specifications first: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5GHz/2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 (option: 2GB) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (option: 16GB) + micro SD card slot up to 64GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz, and AV port (composite video) Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, AV port (stereo audio) Video Codecs – 4K VP9 @ 60 fps, 4K 10-bit H.265 @ 60 fps, 4K H.264 up to 30 fps Connectivity […]

June 21, 2016January 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

WeTek Hub TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

WeTek Hub is the latest TV box by WeTek running Android 5.1 or OpenELEC, with support for Widewine Level 1 allowing Netflix HD in Android as well as Microsoft Playready DRM, and featuring Amlogic S905-H Rev. C processor that fixes video playback issues on some 4K H.265 DVB streams, and includes Dolby and DTS licenses. The company has now sent me a unit for review, and I’ll check the hardware first before reviewing the TV box in a separate post. WeTek Hub Unboxing The device comes in a blue and black retail package showing some of the key features including WiFi, Dolby, DTS, HDMI, and Bluetooth support. The QR Code on the package redirects to http://www.wetek.com/qr/201603, which just looks like WeTek main page. The top cover of the package can slide to reveal more small boxes with the device and accessories. The device ships with a basic IR remote control […]

June 20, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

EBox T8-4 TV Box and Ipega Bluetooth Game Controller Unboxing and Teardown

Entertainmentbox.com is a UK based shop specializing in TV box, and the company sent me their latest Amlogic S905 TV Box running Android 5.1 with EBMC based on Kodi 16.1, featuring an internal 2.5″ SATA bay, as well as an interesting and different design. I’ll write a two part review as usual, starting with specifications, and photos of the device, accessories, and internals, before actually testing the device in the second part of the review in a few weeks. EBox T8-4 specifications The TV box, also called Ebox T8 V4, has the following specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.0 flash + SD card slot + internal 2.5″ SATA bay for HDD or SSD Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDMI […]

June 16, 2016June 16, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

ARM Announces Mali Egil Video Processor with VP9 Decode, VP9 & HEVC Encode, and 4K @ 120 Hz Support

ARM has recently introduced Mali “Egil” video processor with support for VP9 Profile 0 (8-bit) and 10-bit Profile 2decoding, as well as VP9 8-/10-bit, and HEVC Main 10 encoding, on top of the currently supported codecs in Mali V550 VPU unveiled in 2014. The new VPU can also support displays ranging from 1080p60 up to 4K @ 120 Hz depending on the number of cores chosen in the VPU, clocked at 800 Mhz, and manufacturing using 16 nm FinFET technology. Mali Egil also brings some other improvements such as a redesign of the motion estimation engine, and finer granularity. From a user’s perspective, that means that 4K YouTube videos should be available in premium mobile devices soon, as well as higher quality video conference thanks to H.265 encode and decode. You can find some more information in the “Introduction to the Mali Egil Video Processor” presentation slides. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc […]

June 15, 2016August 3, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

H.265, H.264 and VP9 4K Video Playback with Hisilicon Hi3798C V200 TV Box (Video)

VP9 is starting to become a first class citizen as more and more ARM SoC, such as Amlogic S905X and Hisilicon Hi3798C V200, are getting 4K VP9 hardware video decoding support. I’ve already tested 4K VP9 in Amlogic S905X based NEXBOX A5, and today I’ll report my results with Sunhed S3 TV box based on the new Hisilicon processor. I won’t do a full review yet, as just like NEXBOX A5, it’s still an engineering sample, and the firmware is not quite ready for public release. For example, Google Play is working, but I could not install YouTube, and Kodi 16.0 (likely a custom version) would not start, even after clearing the cache and data. Anyway, I tested 4K VP9, as well as 4K H.265 and H.264 since the last two codec are also here to stay. I first tried to play over SAMBA through the Gigabit Ethernet connection, but […]