hdmi News - Page 19 of 22 - CNX Software

July 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Geniatech Showcases Amlogic T866 TV Box with 2 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output

Amlogic mostly makes SoCs for tablets, for example the M80x series, and TV boxes such as Amlogic S805 or S812, but they also have a processor family designed for Smart TVs such as Amlogic T866 quad core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.8 GHz coupled with an octa-core Mali-450MP. Somehow, Geniatech has designed ATV1866 TV box based on the latter support two HDMI inputs, and one HDMI output. The box does not appears to support video recoding from the HDMI input, nor time-shifting, but the company showcased picture-in-picture (PiP) functionality, showing either input used in full screen or windowed mode on top of the Android user interface. HDMI version is 2.0 for the output, with H.265 codec supported, but I could not find details about the HDMI inputs. The box is running Android 4.4 for now, but will certainly run Android 5.0 at launch. The company is still developing the product, […]

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Zidoo X9 Android HDMI Recorder & Media Player Gets Picture-in-Picture (PiP) Support

Zidoo has released another firmware for their X9 Android mini PC with HDMI input, which implements Picture-in-Picture (PiP) support, on top of the existing HDMI video recording. That’s the first Android TV box that I know of that supports it, although I’ve seen Geniatech demo HDMI input and PiP with their ATV1810 last year, but it does not seem to be available for sale anywhere. Changelog for Zidoo X9 firmware version 1.0.3.5: Added PiP function, You can press the TV button on the IR remote to enable it. Optimized audio compatibility. Fixed various Player bugs – Audio compatibility, OSD timeout, typos fix, etc… Fixed various File Manager bugs I don’t have the box with me right, so I could not try it, and Zidoo did not reply to my request for pictures and demo in time for this post, so I’m not sure if there are any shortcomings with the […]

June 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

Tronsmart Pavo M9 is a $90 Android HDMI Recorder and 4K Media Player

If you need your Android TV box to record external video via HDMI, few options are available on the market, and one of them is Zidoo X9. It works relatively well, and gets frequent firmware update. It now costs around $120, but Tronsmart has now launched a model based on the same Mstar MSO9810 processor with HDMI recording function that costs $89.90 shipped on GeekBuying or Ebay. Tronsmart Pavo M9 specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with a Mali-450MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output / Input – HDMI output up to 4K, HDMI input with PVR and Time Shifting support (up to 1080p), and AV port (Composite + stereo audio) Audio I/O – HDMI Out and In, AV, and optical S/PDIF (Main) Video Codecs – H265, VC-1, WMV-HD, MPEG1/2/4 up to […]

May 16, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Artway W8 Plus is a $100 Mini PC with HDMI and DisplayPort

Most mini PCs with Intel Atom Z3735F only come with HDMI output, while a few others feature both HDMI and VGA like MeLE PCG03, but if you need a cheap mini PC with both HDMI and DisplayPort as found in Intel NUC, Artway W8 Plus is worth a look especially since it sells for just $99 on Aliexpress. W8 Plus specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Z3735F quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz (Bust freq: 1.83 GHz) with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L Storage – 32 GB eMMC (16, 64 or 128GB optional) + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4b, and DisplayPort Audio I/F – HDMI, audio out and mic in jacks Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (RTL8723BS or AP6330), and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 4x USB 2.0 host Misc – Power Button, RTC Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 107 x […]

May 8, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

MINIX NEO Z64W (Intel Atom Z3735F) mini PC gets HDMI Audio in Ubuntu

We’ve been able to run Ubuntu on Intel Atom Z3735F mini PCs, as well as other Linux distributions, for a while, but with an important caveat: HDMI audio would not work, so instead you had to use an external USB sound card to get any audio. Luckily the problem seems solved, as Linuxium has now released a script (audio-wifi-minix-neo-z64-release.sh) and relevant files that will patch your system to enable HDMI audio, and WiFI on MINIX NEO Z64W running Ubuntu. Ian Morrison (Liuxium) compiled a Linux kernel and the Wi-Fi driver, together with a modified DSDT (Differentiated System Description Table) table to fix an ACPI bug. He used John Pemberton’s Bay Trail Audio HDMI patch, as well as help from Paul Kendall for identifying the ACPI DSDT table bug, Bastien Nocera (hadess) for the wifi source code and DroidMote Server / Client for the wifi pointer. A quick demo shows WiFi […]

April 17, 2015May 11, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Popcorn Hour VTEN Review

Popcorn Hour VTEN a Linux based media player powered by Sigma Designs SMP8757 ARM Cortex A9 processor. Contrary to the many Android TV boxes I tested in the last few years, the device is dedicated to media playback, even though it has an App Store with 59 apps including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. I’ve already taken a few pictures of the device and board, so today, I’ll go through the user interface, quickly test the app store, go through my library of video test files, and check if HDMI audio pass-through is indeed working. Popcorn Hour VTEN User Interface I’ve connected VTEN to an Ethernet Gigabit switch, the HDMI port to Onkyo TX-NR636 AV receiver which itself is connected to LG 42UB820T 4K UHD TV, and the 5V/3A power supply. Pressing the On/Off switch at the back of the player will start it, and the boot takes just under one […]

April 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Open Hour Chameleon RK3288 TV Box Gets (Partial) DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD HDMI Pass-through Support

People owning AV receivers capable of outputting 7.1 channels or more have had a hard time finding Android TV boxes that supports HD audio pass-through via HDMI. Many devices can pass through 5.1 codec like DTS or Dolby Digital (AC3 / E-AC3), but so far, none of the boxes I’ve tried could manage content with DTS-HD (MA / HR) and Dolby TrueHD with 8 channels properly. The one that came close was Zidoo X9 with support for Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and 7.1, but it downmixes 7.1 channels to 5.1 channels. So the only cost effective options to get proper 7.1 channel pass-through were Intel based mini PCs running Linux such as Asus Chromebox M004U or Intel NUCs. But recently, I’ve seen some progress. For example, yesterday Cloud Media released a new firmware for their Open Hour Chameleon media player based on Rockchip RK3288 processor. Their Android 4.4.2 firmware (version 1.0.23) […]

March 9, 2015March 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Beelink i one (i826) / Ubox i828 Quad Core Amlogic Media Player & Recorder with HDMI Input

There are very few Android TV boxes capable of recording video over HDMI. One of them is Zidoo X9 which works pretty well as long as you use the built-in apps, but playing 4K and/or H.265 with Kodi is a disaster, and despite Mstar MS09810 being a quad core Cortex A9 processor, the actual performance barely better than Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 processor due to the poor memory bandwidth. But now, if you’d like a system with HDMI PVR function, but better performance and good Kodi support, Beelink i one (i826) could be an option with its Amlogic S812 processor and HDMI input support. There’s also a similar looking UBox i828 featuring Amlogic S802 processor which lacks H.265 support. i one / Ubox i828 specifications: SoC i one – Amlogic S812 quad core ARM Cortex A9r4 at 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU Ubox i828 – Amlogic S802 quad […]