5 ms·

Interestingly, the place I've seen the most widespread adoption of HEVC is China: Android-based set-top boxes with hardware H.265 decoding are widely[1] availab

by envy2 11y ago

Interestingly, the place I've seen the most widespread adoption of HEVC is China: Android-based set-top boxes with hardware H.265 decoding are widely[1] available[2], and a number of the major IPTV services (both authorised and unauthorised) are using it, including for live content. I was quite surprised to find I was able to stream a very high quality 1080p movie on a random unbranded Chinese IPTV box at ~2mbps that looked every bit as good as what Netflix streams at 5mbps.

throwaway743829 11y ago
Boxes with 4Kx2K H.265 hardware decoder have been around since 12/2014 with SoCs from Rockchip, Amlogic and AllWinner. Volume prices start at $40, depends on RAM/eMMC size 1G/8G - 2G/16G. Yes, that's the price for a packaged box including power plug and lots of cables ... not just a PCB. Amlogic just announced S905X with 4Kx2K VP9 hardware decoder: http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/amlogic-s905x-processor-specifications/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/amlogic-s905x-process... And it does HDR10 (BT.2020), too. Rockchip announced new HDR10 SoCs at CES: http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/rockchip-rk3229-and-rk3399-32-bit-and-64-bit-processors-support-4k-10-bit-h-265-and-hdmi-2-0/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/rockchip-rk3229-and-r... First HDR10 boxes will be released in 2 months. Now, we have a different problem ... where to get an affordable screen that can display it ...
- voltagex_ 11y ago
  Has anyone used these? The one I had used an outdated fork of Android 4 and could never be updated because the hardware decoder could only be used with an OEM (binary only) video player.
  - throwaway743829 11y ago
    Yeah, the pre-installed software is usually crap. But there are plenty of modded ROMs for the more popular boxes. And you can't beat the price as an OEM product -- just put your own software on it. The source release policy has gotten better in the past year. Mainly due to Google (Chromebox), Hardkernel (ODroid) and others kicking the manufacturers. At least they're upstreaming their drivers now. They have to clean up ~1M lines per SoC family, that'll take some time. And userspace is not just blobs anymore. For example Amlogic regularly publishes a (working!) buildroot at http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ . Microcode for VPU or Wifi still comes as blobs.
    - voltagex_ 11y ago
      Mind blown - I never thought I'd see a buildroot setup like that. Although, Spreadtrum have servers like that but you'd be hard pressed to grab the sources while the servers are up...
  - envy2 11y ago
    I've used both Xiaomi's box[1] and LeTv's[2]. Both are quite nice hardware at rather amazing price points (299CNY/44USD and 290CNY/44USD, respectively). They are more or less intended to be disposable and don't get much in the way of software updates (though they work fine for their intended purpose), but there's a vibrant community that has released alternate ROMs. [1] http://www.mi.com/hezi3/ http://www.mi.com/hezi3/ [2] http://www.lemall.com/product/New_C1S.html http://www.lemall.com/product/New_C1S.html
joelthelion 11y ago
Could be because they don't care too much about patents and licensing issues?
- __P 11y ago
  I don't think that's the case given a number of them are being sued by both Chinese and Foreign Broadcasters and media companies. Others are pivoting into netflix-esque licensing businesses. They are like to media companies what Uber is to taxis, they are ignoring the rules to bring a better service, and it's working.
- envy2 11y ago
  They don't, but they've been getting hit hard from both domestic and international rightsholders. There's also been a push against IPTV services offering foreign content/live channels on 'national security' grounds in recent months, and quite a few companies have disappeared or gone deep underground. The big players—LeTv, Tencent—have been fairly diligent about getting proper licenses for content over the last year or so. LeTv just scored rights to the Premier League, for example.
tracker1 11y ago
I don't have much need for 4K, but have been considering re-encoding all my BR (ripped) content again in HEVC 1080p, as I do notice the difference, but the file sizes on my NAS have left me favoring 720p/h.264, but the size difference for 1080p/h.265 is minimal, but quality is noticeably better.

by envy2 11y ago

throwaway743829 11y ago

Boxes with 4Kx2K H.265 hardware decoder have been around since 12/2014 with SoCs from Rockchip, Amlogic and AllWinner. Volume prices start at $40, depends on RAM/eMMC size 1G/8G - 2G/16G. Yes, that's the price for a packaged box including power plug and lots of cables ... not just a PCB. Amlogic just announced S905X with 4Kx2K VP9 hardware decoder: http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/amlogic-s905x-processor-specifications/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/amlogic-s905x-process... And it does HDR10 (BT.2020), too. Rockchip announced new HDR10 SoCs at CES: http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/rockchip-rk3229-and-rk3399-32-bit-and-64-bit-processors-support-4k-10-bit-h-265-and-hdmi-2-0/ http://www.cnx-software.com/2016/01/12/rockchip-rk3229-and-r... First HDR10 boxes will be released in 2 months. Now, we have a different problem ... where to get an affordable screen that can display it ...

voltagex_ 11y ago
Has anyone used these? The one I had used an outdated fork of Android 4 and could never be updated because the hardware decoder could only be used with an OEM (binary only) video player.
- throwaway743829 11y ago
  Yeah, the pre-installed software is usually crap. But there are plenty of modded ROMs for the more popular boxes. And you can't beat the price as an OEM product -- just put your own software on it. The source release policy has gotten better in the past year. Mainly due to Google (Chromebox), Hardkernel (ODroid) and others kicking the manufacturers. At least they're upstreaming their drivers now. They have to clean up ~1M lines per SoC family, that'll take some time. And userspace is not just blobs anymore. For example Amlogic regularly publishes a (working!) buildroot at http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ http://openlinux.amlogic.com:8000/download/ . Microcode for VPU or Wifi still comes as blobs.
  - voltagex_ 11y ago
    Mind blown - I never thought I'd see a buildroot setup like that. Although, Spreadtrum have servers like that but you'd be hard pressed to grab the sources while the servers are up...
- envy2 11y ago
  I've used both Xiaomi's box[1] and LeTv's[2]. Both are quite nice hardware at rather amazing price points (299CNY/44USD and 290CNY/44USD, respectively). They are more or less intended to be disposable and don't get much in the way of software updates (though they work fine for their intended purpose), but there's a vibrant community that has released alternate ROMs. [1] http://www.mi.com/hezi3/ http://www.mi.com/hezi3/ [2] http://www.lemall.com/product/New_C1S.html http://www.lemall.com/product/New_C1S.html

joelthelion 11y ago

Could be because they don't care too much about patents and licensing issues?

__P 11y ago
I don't think that's the case given a number of them are being sued by both Chinese and Foreign Broadcasters and media companies. Others are pivoting into netflix-esque licensing businesses. They are like to media companies what Uber is to taxis, they are ignoring the rules to bring a better service, and it's working.
envy2 11y ago
They don't, but they've been getting hit hard from both domestic and international rightsholders. There's also been a push against IPTV services offering foreign content/live channels on 'national security' grounds in recent months, and quite a few companies have disappeared or gone deep underground. The big players—LeTv, Tencent—have been fairly diligent about getting proper licenses for content over the last year or so. LeTv just scored rights to the Premier League, for example.

tracker1 11y ago

I don't have much need for 4K, but have been considering re-encoding all my BR (ripped) content again in HEVC 1080p, as I do notice the difference, but the file sizes on my NAS have left me favoring 720p/h.264, but the size difference for 1080p/h.265 is minimal, but quality is noticeably better.