ZIDOO Z9X

Seem to spend my life deleting posts about the bloody stuff

 

I'm thinking about buying the Z9X to replace a slow Android TV I have been using for Music Library playback. Here are some questions...

1. Can I bypass the the internal music processing and output the music file via USB on the z9x to allow my Topping DAC to do all the conversions?

2. Can I connect a HDD that draws power from the z9x USB port without problems?

3. When using an external attached HDD with music files, what is the maximum number of files before it starts to choke. I have around 60,000+

4. Can I stream Tidal

5. Can I load and us the UAPP app for decoding and listening MQA files while streaming them from Tidal? or does the z9x decode MQA files on its own while streaming Tidal

6. With an attached HDD of music, does the z9x remember the index of files on the drive or does it need to search the drive each time its powered on??

7. Can the player be used with a Plex server thats on the same network loaded on to a Windows 10 PC?

8. Besides the app controller, does the z9x allow you to control it by going in through a browser via the network address like some older Zidoo models??

 

In my opinion you have to look for a specific network drive rather than a Z9X which is intended for video !!

 

I am using Plex as a network drive/server. What I need is an easy to use streamer/transport

 

Good morning
I am about to buy the Z9x to replace my Obsolete Android box (Himedia Q10 Pro)
I would like to ask if there is a particular setting to set the color space, since in my obsolete box I could not set up YCBCR444 10bit @ 60Hz but only at a 30Hz frequency, due to a bug that has never been solved.
Thank you

 

Have a mooch around here:

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?thr...f-for-rtd1619-players-includes-unbrick.82695/

 

I got my Z9X box yesterday and set it up this morning. When I went to do a FW update it installed v6.3.35.....no G on the end. My understanding in reading here is that I need the latest G FW to be able to install Play Store functionality.
Where or how do I get the proper G FW??

 

Download the v6.3.30_G Beta firmware from here: https://www.mcbluna.net/wp/zidoo-model-overview/zidoo-z9x-firmware-download/#v6.3.30
Put this on the root folder of a FAT32 formatted flash drive
Insert the flash drive into the Zidoo Z9X USB slot and follow instructions in the link below:
https://www.zidoo.tv/Support/support_guide/guide_target/jX8+0mU4clveq7k9e[ld]3ulg==.html

 

Hi, how's DV MKV playback with PLEX on the Z9x?
only interested in mel P7/P8/P5 playback since I'm already using my Sony X700 for FEL DV.

thank you

 

Hello good Morning. This player has a serious problem. The srt subtitles of the mkv are barely readable, they blend in with the colors of the played file and reading them is an ordeal. I have been waiting for an update for a long time to fix the problem but there is no improvement. It is something that annihilates the apparatus. Thanks.

 

Finally bought one and it works great except for the couple of issues I noticed.

this device send a bt2020 flag with tv-led DV ? that is incorrect... only LLDV is supposed to send a bt2020 flag because the signal is tonemapped by the player.


The x700, the Shield, the appleTV, the firestick, Chromecast, Ugoos, the Dune, the oppo players are all sending tv-led without a bt2020 flag.


Also, if you play a profile 8 DV/hdr10 file on an HDR10 display, you get the incorrect mastering display metadata. Maxcll/fall is correct though.




For any HDR10 file, this device is not sending the mastering display primaries color metadata (P3 or bt2020):



my HTPC ( and all my devices)


For color accuracy, HDR10 and SDR are mostly accurate,.

HDR10 422 12bit
zidoo vs source vs htpc: https://slow.pics/c/sjhJStHn

SDR 422 12bit (444 8bit is the same accuracy):
zidoo vs source vs htpc: https://slow.pics/c/MZyuVwBq

still have to check DV color but I expect more saturation thanks to the bt2020 flag. LLDV should be accurate but I didn't test.

EDIT: as expected the tv-led bt2020 flag slightly change the colors. It's not really a problem for me though because i can remove it with my Vertex. https://slow.pics/c/8zWhGixS

I'm also noticing a heavy black crush with the Spears and Munsil black levels pattern in both SDR and HDR10. DV is fine.

 

That's an interesting one - haven't noticed that before, but then I don't have a DV display so only use LLDV. Theoretically it shouldn't matter because a DV display shouldn't care about that AVI message but you're right, it shouldn't be there...

I don't think MaxCLL/FALL is correct either - the values it sends seem to be the same "dummy" values sent when either the Realtek or VS10 engine is used to convert SDR to HDR10.

Kind of a technicality I guess - again, a display shouldn't care about this, but it'd be nice to see.

Black (and white) levels do vary slightly depending which engine is used for which purpose, and there are well documented black floor issues with the VS10 engine for SDR and HDR dependent on display quantisation, but if outputting SDR and HDR10 natively, black clip is pretty damn perfect.

The only really big issue with black crush I've seen was in early firmware (and this is in line with all Realtek boxes from the 1295 upwards) using the Realtek engine HDR>SDR conversion where black used to clip somewhere around 100. Since I believe v6.1.13, it clips at 76 which is not ideal, but in all honesty the Realtek HDR to SDR engine is pretty awful anyway and shouldn't be used (colour space conversion is dreadful).

 

Hi, thanks for responding,

it does change the colors, unfortunately, noticeable mostly with Red and Yellow (https://slow.pics/c/8zWhGixS) but I'm sure it's easy to fix.
The Shield did the same thing when it came out. I kept the picture from back then... Notice how the difference is exactly the same as my new comparison: https://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/16962
* the comparisons are done in a pitch-black room, with a DSLR camera (locked settings), and represent exactly the difference I'm seeing.

That was my first thought (fake hdr) but I tried with more p8 files and got proper maxcll/fall while the mastering display value stayed at 500/50

True, this doesnt affect the output but would be nice if the device could send all the metadata regardless of if it makes a difference.

I always output everything natively and I'm on the latest firmware. I don't see any raised floor.
The problem is that HDR10 and SDR are completely crushed (can't see any bar flashing) with the SM patterns. My TV is calibrated and with my shield, my x700, or the internal C8 player I can see 66 flashing on both sdr and hdr10.
With the DV pattern, I can see til 72 and that's normal behavior for my C8 which is known for raising and crushing black levels.

here are the patterns:
HDR10: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lSDM0XbXLrisq8qojT4MWjvpDlbOYbXg/view?usp=sharing
SDR: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZfChHkg_gjVeYsXk2ZuOHl19HmIoAEfl/view?usp=sharing

 

Interesting about the DV colour difference - really not sure how that can happen to be honest but I've passed this onto Zidoo because it certainly should report the correct primaries in the AVI.

So the P8 thing - yes, you're absolutely right - it does report MaxCLL/FALL but not Mastering Display Luminosity - I guess an easy oversight since P8 is rarely, if ever, used commercially, but again reported so hopefully will be looked at.

But I'm confused over your black crush results.

Using your SDR test pattern, it resolves correctly down to 64 (65 flashing) as it does with my own S&M and AVS 709 patterns.

Your P8 test pattern only resolves to 76 playing the HDR layer, but if I take the original S&M HDR10 test pattern, it again resolves correctly down to 64 (I tested with the 1000nit and the 10000nit although I appreciate that wouldn't matter!).

So the problem of black crush only seems to show when playing the HDR10 layer of your P8 file and I'm not sure if that's the file or the player and in any case arguably isn't going to affect anyone in the real world - there can't be many people wanting to play a P8 file in HDR10!

Just as an aside, the raised black floor is only an issue when using VS10 to output SDR or HDR and only seems to affect displays that don't have a selectable HDMI quantisation range (defined in EDID) - notably Samsungs but also some Philips and Panasonics.

 

I will try again with the SDR pattern, I might have confused it with the p8 hdr one. unlikely but worth double-checking.
As for HDR10, I tested with a regular HDR10 MKV (no DV meta in it) and not with the p8 file I just shared, my bad. Still, I don't get why a profile 8 file would confuse an HDR10 display/player. The P8 file plays flawlessly on all my device (hdr10 or DV).
I won't be using the zidoo for SDR/HDR10 so it doesnt really matter to me but I'll check again tonight when I get home.

thank you for passing the info to the Zidoo staff.

 

Ha! I found the problem. HDMI range ''auto'' doesnt work properly. If I set it to 16-235, then I get a normal black level in SDR/HDR10/DV, I can see 66 flashing. I dont know why I didnt think of that last night
So far I really like the zidoo. Hopefully, they will fix the bt2020 flag with tv-led soon. In the meantime, I just remove the flag with my vertex.


EDIT:

unfortunately, I just find one thing that will probably make me return my zidoo ... (unless you tell me they can fix that too?)

It can't play DV content that is cropped (no black bars) properly, the black bars are grey. This is exactly the reason why I needed a new player because my Sony x700( the oppo too) behave the same with cropped content. The reason is because bluray players ignores the L5 metadata (active area of DV) and always expect black bars videos. I guess the Zidoo behave the same, surprising since it's and android box.

No problem on my C8 internal app and Shield. The firestick also has been confirmed to work with cropped content.

 

Hi, I have read this over on Makemkv also and as I believe Quietvoid asked - if it is cropped then there shouldn’t be black bars?

Do you have ana example of a movie I can try this with as I have never noticed it to be honest?

Thank you.

p.s.
The Auto HDMI range problem has been day 1, Mark has a recommended settings page that advises on this problem.

 

Ok so I getit now, when applying the rpu from a P5 that is cropped to a UHD blu ray that isnt cropped it raises the black bars to grey, I would imagine that is how it should work as the P5 rpu corresponds to whole screen output, but you say the Shield Pro and AFTV some how apply a mask to this based on the aspect ratio information?

Interesting, I’m sure if you could provide demo files for Zidoo tech to play with they would look at it

 

There used to be a problem with the HDMI level (quantisation) setting but it's something I flagged up in very early betas and as far as I know there's no remaining problem - certainly it's not something I've had issue with for a long time and I don't remember others reporting problems since - I wonder if your TV doesn't have the Quantisation flag for YCC in the EDID? That can certainly cause unexpected problems in this regard.

As far as the black bars go, again this is something I flagged up in the very early days and it was always in my bug reports. Later on I put it in a thread to see if it had any traction with other users - see point 3 below:

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/zidoo-1619-black-level-issues-explained.85966/

I don't think this is to do with Dolby mastering although it does only apply to the VS10 engine. The reason I say that is because it's evident on cropped HDR content put through the VS10 engine as well regardless of whether the VS10 output is HDR10 or DV.

The effect is far more evident in outputting VS10 HDR than VS10 DV and in my experience the effect is negligible in VS10 DV.

I do however take a belt and braces approach and when setting physical masks on my screen I also have the projector automatically set software masks too, but I have to admit that even before I set the software masks I didn't see any adverse light spillage.

 

nop , this play without problem because when you do that , the BL now has black bars.
The problem is with all the appleTV original p5 content which is always cropped. Also a problem with Amazon now that there's a tool that works very well to convert HDR10plus to DV.

here are 30 seconds of original appleTV content. hopefully, the splitting didn't break the file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RF4FN3uvE3s5B4FgxHfDhxCYsrQhMgAY/view?usp=sharing

I don't know but it's not working properly with Zidoo --> AVR ---> C8 and as I said the zidoo is the only device having an issue with HDMI range auto on my setup.

ha, so It's been a known issue for a while so I guess it will never work?. damn I really liked the zidoo, now I have to return just because of that

strange that the shield, the c8, the firestick can... I also had confirmation that the Dune player and the Ugoos Am6 are also playing cropped DV content properly.