Beta version v6.3.66 for Z9X/Z10 Pro/Z1000 Pro/UHD3000 release

As I say, not my experience at all and I've tested a couple of versions.

 

Try to remember it says more about them than you.

 

I don't have the possibility to try it on my Z9X actually,

To those who have tried this new FW, what do you think? Are there any significant improvements and have old bugs been solved?

Thanks for your help folks

 

As per the changelog really - a really nice visual enhancement to the poster wall with the details slip, Volume Direct mode is great (should stop everybody thinking pcm audio is low when it's actually just the volume control), and the 2.35:1 mode, although needing a few tweaks will be very useful for those with Scope screens.

The "ignore" functions are greatly improved for file names and scraping and frame-rate and bookmark fixes as well, so overall a worthwhile upgrade.

 

What is the use of this new global 2.35:1 ratio? Is this a optional setting for users with a 21:9 display? If I have a standard 16:9 OLED this mode isn’t for me anyway am I right?

 

yes probably...

And there is also this information

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?thr...o-z1000-pro-released.90775/page-3#post-160389

 

Thanks Mark, so it's a good vintage for a FW BETA

-------------------

To the people who will read this message do not forget that this is a BETA version that is not perfect and needs adjustments, you are not obliged to use it.

Although the BETA version should be reserved for BETA testers in their private section, Zidoo has the courtesy to make it available to everyone

The official FW is v6.3.41 while waiting for a new version

 

I shall await the firmware for my Zidoo but thanks to @mirror and @Markswift2003 in particular for their hard work this past 12 months. May I wish you both and all other esteemed members a very happy, Covid-free Christmas and a prosperous New Year

 

Thank you and Merry Christmas to you too

I have heart problems and I have not been out of the house for the last few months and despite that I have caught it (probably because of the in-laws ) so beware to all of you it spreads very easily.

See you soon

 

Dear @mirror @Markswift2003

There is a bug related with: "Play in order". I have 10 episodes of Cobra Kai named part1, part2, ..., part10. When part1 file goes to the end, next file which is played is part10 not part2.

Any chance for fix this bug?

Thank you in advance for your help and support.

Sincerely

 

Okay this is going to be fun to explain

Your second and third pictures actually help show part of the issue. You are displaying content that has a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and that content takes up the full width of the screen. That should not be happening on a 2.35:1 screen. 2.35:1 is wider than 1.78:1. Everything should be the same height, but the width of the movies varies. Anything smaller than 2.35:1 content, will be "shrunk" to fit within the physical 2.35:1 screen I have. So the height will remain constant, the width will be less, and there will be black bars on the sides.

First are some pictures from my theater, using the JVC's zoom function to display content correctly within my 2.35:1 screen. Lights up to help show the screen itself. All of the shots below are using the 16:9 Screen ratio on the Zidoo, and full as the aspect ratio.

First shot is the 16x9 HT GUI. IT doesn't take up the full width of the screen. No zoom applied on the JVC.



Second is a 2.35:1 movie. It DOES take up the full width of the screen, (black bars are above and below the screen area.) Zoom applied on the JVC so the black bars are off the screen.



Finally we have how a 1.85 movie should look on the 2.35:1 screen. Like the HT GUI, it correctly doesn't take up the full width of the screen. No JVC Zoom used. Take note of the lights at the top of the picture, and the trap door at the bottom. That will be a good comparison for how things are not working later.



That is all correct behavior. The video is displayed in the correct aspect ratio within the physical dimensions of the 2.35:1 screen. Mine happens to be approximately 46" high, by 108".

Bellow is what happens when using a 2.35:1 ratio and compression on the Zidoo. Note I am zooming out again on the JVC, but this time I am keeping it zoomed out to 2.35:1 for all situations.


First is the HT GUI, text and posters and watching pictures are all squished down, as the GUI is compressed to fit within the 2.35:1 area.



Second is the 2.35:1 aspect ratio movie. Everything is fine. Correct aspect ratio maintained. Menu is correctly displayed within the 2.35:1 area. Curiously I don't have a playbar being displayed (I must have turned it off somehow, not sure how to turn it back on)


Worth noting it appears that the Zidoo is turning off the compression before the movie starts to play, and back on after you exit the movie. You can see how it quickly turn the compression off and on. I was not able to snag a screenshot of that behavior, as it flashes on the screen very quickly. but I observed it multiple times. Sometimes you can see it turn off the compression before playing, but you could almost always see the compression turned back on.



So far things are okay. Now lets look at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio movie. It is taking up the full width of the 2.35:1 screen which is incorrect AND it has cut off the top and bottom of the screen , which is incorrect. You don't see the lights above and the trapdoor below.



I tried using the various aspect ratio to correct things. 4:3 is the only one that makes a difference, and it is not good. It does nothing to the height of the image (lights and trapdoor are still missing) but it is squeezing in the width in. This results in people looking too skinny/tall.



Hopefully the visuals do a better job of explaining things than my walls of text

 

Thanks for adding Volume Direct Mode, although the description could be a little clearer like- “for those with a HT receiver” or something to that effect.

 

Correct - No use to you at all.

 

Don't worry - way ahead of you - I put a request in this afternoon so that one of the aspect ratios (Probably "Original") in the player context menu could be CIH within the 2.35 frame rather than CIW.

I also requested that "Full" mode in the context aspect menu allow behaviour to revert to the same as current 16:9 mode which allows full resolution 1.78 and 1.85 presentations which will obviously require the projector to zoom out as you do now.

This would allow 2.35 CIH users to set "Fit" as a global setting so no adjustment would be needed for 2.35 movies and then either "Full" or "Original" be set for 1.78 and 1.85 presentation depending on preference.

It would be impossible to do it automatically because most 2.35 material is letterboxed in 16:9 and DAR is set at 16:9 (certainly this is the case for all BD & UHD BD content because that's part of the spec) so there's nothing to tell the Zidoo the difference between 1.78, 1.85, 2.35 or 2.39 when the frame is 1.78:1 but being able to access it in the context menu (as long as you don't set that globally) would allow the box to remember that setting for that particular movie.

It should also be borne in mind that a lot of 1.78 (and sometimes 1.85) content is also shot with 2.35 presentations in mind, so in some circumstances (notably IMAX VAR presentations) it is perfectly acceptable, and I'd say preferable, to view in 2.35 cropped on a 2.35 screen.

For example I will always view VAR IMAX in 2.35 not only with my screen physically masked at 2.35:1 but also using soft masks in the projector to stop overspill onto the physical masks during the IMAX sequences - as I say, valid because I know the DOP framed it with 2.35 presentation in mind because not all venues can present in VAR.

This is the first iteration of this feature so hopefully it will develop...


Don't think I've ever used so many acronyms in one post before

 

@Markswift2003

Hi Mark,
what do you think why is this so ?

i noticed something else

my egreat A5 is crisper and sharper in the picture .. this player can also play bd-j menu .. a shame that the official support has been discontinued
zidoo is currently only interesting because of the home theater !!!

 

The problem with this is feedback may be responded to in releases, but questions are unanswered.

For people to learn about the product, they ask questions. Yet most of mine still remain completely ignored on this forum. Only on other forums are people providing support, the majority of questions I've asked here directly don't get answered.

So if that's what I'm in store for when I have a unit in my hands, why would I put myself through that? If they think the questions I have now are too much, wait til I get one, they'll increase much more. Not a great sign of things to come.

 

TBH I don't see blu ray navigation getting worse - just not improving. The problematic blurays I have are still not working after years of HT through the Z9S to the Z9X.

There are still issues that I have reported that remain for example

Some UHD DV blurays when played via main menu play in HDR10. To get DV need to play direct
3-5 second audio loss for some audio codecs when coming out of pause

 

Thanks Mark. I look forward to those suggestions being implemented.

I totally understand the difficulty in automating all of these aspect ratio detections. With my old projector, I used an anamorphic lens, home assistant, Tautulli, a harmony hub and a user defined attribute in Plex to automate things. I had to set manually set an attribute on every movie added (scope, non-scope) in Plex then when I played the movie in Plex, Tautulli would use MQTT to change the value of a sensor in Home assistant. Home assistant would then send the appropriate IR command to the projector. Complicated, but it worked. Since I'm no longer using the anamorphic lens, or Plex with the new JVC, that automation won't work. Yeah, I'll go pretty nuts to accomplish what I want. Hence the desire to get something worked out with the Zidoo.

With all that in mind, what are the odds that we would ever be able to use the colored buttons on the remote to trigger discrete actions like aspect ratio changes? Right now it looks to be for system wide actions, or starting android apps.

 

Hi
Why other models so slowly comes out the new firmware?
V 6.3.6.5 is not yet available for z1000 pro. I want to buy a Z1000 Pro but am concerned. Can someone tell me about it?

 

why you are switching to German? plenty of info about the 1000 Pro and its pros and cons just using the search ;-)