Help explain Auto29.970/59.94Hz and HDMI auto

Discussion in 'HDD Media player(RTD 1295)' started by ursiel, Jan 30, 2018.

  1. Sarco

    Sarco Active Member Beta test group

    If your TV can't zidoo will know, but you should upgrade your firmware.
     
  2. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    A bug was possibly introduced with 1.5.0 where 23.976 is forced out to 24.000 when using YCbCr 4:4:4, creating a stutter every 42 seconds. This was reported in the Kodi forums. I also heard blu-ray menu playback doesn't work with 1.5.0 and 3D is broken in ZDMC with 1.5.0. I can't verify either since I'm on 1.4.12, but it makes me hesitant to install the updates as I will be using blu-ray menu playback and 3D playback, and I'd rather not have stutter issues introduced. There seems to be no mention of fixes for these in 2.0.5.
     
  3. Sarco

    Sarco Active Member Beta test group

    Good to wait for better firmware for your need....
     
  4. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    Yeah, better safe than sorry. I guess I could always go back if I needed to, but for now I'll just wait and see what develops. I get nervous thinking about going backwards in firmware. I wish 1.5.0 didn't introduce these bugs, because I'd like to try the new Music Player 2.0 and the Home Theatre 2.0. It's frustrating because I've only heard a couple reports of these bugs so I don't really know if they are even confirmed or not since there's so little discussion about them.

    Thanks very much for all your help. I'll test some files and try some settings and see what happens now that I have a better understanding of it. If I run into any issues I might post in here again later. Thanks again.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2018
  5. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    When playing a DVD (NTSC) I get the following pop-up (notice the spelling error too):

    "Recommand changing TV System
    Do you want to change TV system for better experience ? (2160p 29.97 Hz)"


    That annoying pop-up also comes up when I change to each and every different menu screen in the DVD, every time I switch to a different DVD menu option (extras/language/chapter selection). It seems the only way to get rid of this message is to either disable "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" or change HDMI to 2160p.

    - "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" enabled, HDMI Auto:
    "Recommand changing TV System
    Do you want to change TV system for better experience ? (2160p 29.97 Hz)"


    - "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" disabled, HDMI Auto:
    no pop-up and the DVD plays with no resolution switch - the screen doesn't go black for a moment first.

    - "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" enabled, HDMI 2160p@60Hz:
    the screen goes black for a moment, and I get a confirmation pop-up: "change TV system to 2160p 29.97HZ"

    - "Auto29.970/59.94Hz"disabled, HDMI 2160p@60Hz:
    no pop-up and the DVD plays with no resolution switch - the screen doesn't go black for a moment first.

    - "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" enabled, HDMI 1080p@60Hz:
    "Recommand changing TV System
    Do you want to change TV system for better experience ? (2160p 29.97 Hz)"


    - "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" disabled, HDMI 1080p@60Hz":
    no pop-up and the DVD plays with no resolution switch - the screen doesn't go black for a moment first.

    If I disable "Auto29.970/59.94Hz", does the player send the output as 60.00?

    I want to let the TV upscale but it seems no matter what, the player wants to upscale to at least 1080p - it won't output 480p, even when HDMI is set to Auto. The only way to force it to send it as 480p is by manually setting HDMI to 480p.

    It seems if I leave HDMI on Auto or 1080p, I have to live with that pop-up which makes navigating the DVD an exercise in frustration, unless I disable "Auto29.970/59.94Hz". If I do that, I'm not sure if it's outputting 60.00 or 29.970. I'm guessing 60.00?

    It also seems that the only way to get it to output 29.97HZ is by setting it to output 2160p. Why? Why doesn't it send it out as 29.97 at 480p or 1080p? I thought the option "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" was for it to automatically send 29.97 when playing 29.97 content, but that doesn't seem to apply unless HDMI is outputting 2160p.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2018
  6. Sarco

    Sarco Active Member Beta test group

    Unless you use 2.0.5 firmware I do not think you will have real good answer, most people use 2.0.5 and those who step back did it for specific reason. Personnaly I do not use DVD menu, each firmware has issue with menu since the dawn of this device. Even using 2.0.5 we have to explore ourselves the best setting you will not found a magic setting that do all your need unless you set them by yourself.
     
  7. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    From my testing so far this player is totally broken in terms of DVD playback. The Zidoo player is totally broken for DVDs, for a host of reasons, and the ZDMC player has major stuttering issues. It's like they didn't even consider that DVD is still a thing with this player.

    I plan to create a thread about the severely problematic DVD performance of this player. But as far as I can tell, it's approaching 1 1/2 years into this player's lifespan, and it still doesn't have proper basic DVD functionality.

    Also, all DVDs play in the wrong aspect ratio using the Zidoo player. NTSC is stretched, PAL is squished. Neither plays in the correct aspect ratio, and neither aspect ratio option in the side menu corrects it properly.

    If they hadn't broken more basic functionality in 2.0.5 or 1.5.0 (23.976 plays at 24.000 when set to 4:4:4 or Auto), I'd give it a try. It seems this player is very unstable to put it mildly. I appreciate the help, but this player seems like a lost cause to me. It's stuttering on some UHD 29.970 demo files too - files that play perfectly smoothly when played off a thumb drive directly from my TV's built-in media player. That issue was brought up in the Kodi forums today. I tested the same files and they do indeed stutter, and that's with "Auto29.970/59.94Hz" both enabled and disabled. So I'm about to give up and ship this back. Nothing I have tried works correctly so far - music, pictures (severe banding with every possible combination of deep color and color space settings), DVDs, various video files. I'm not an expert, but I have been using media players for years.
     
  8. Sarco

    Sarco Active Member Beta test group

    1.4.12 was release last august, nearly six month... Zidoo team work nearly all this time on rtk1295 and produce three firmwares. Now you didn't try 2.0.5, in some of your intervention you said that problem report where unacceptable but you dismiss other user saying it was fine. For my part I do not have any stutter in every frame rate, all switch resolution and frame rate are OK and following my TV capabilitie. 3D working flawlessly... But of course in Home Theater 2.0 witch you didn't give a try because you only think of Kodi, but that box is more than a Kodi Box it play prefect with Home Theater... Ok scraper is little bugy for now but I did register all my 300+ movies 3D, 4K, HD and avi file and no problem in playing and enjoying the picture quality. I am done with you!
     
  9. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    Wow, that turned ugly. What did I say that insulted you to the point you had to insult me? I've been nothing but polite.

    2.0.5 is beta. Maybe not everyone is comfortable installing beta firmware?

    Zidoo player is completely broken with DVD on 1.4.12, so it certainly doesn't play all files fine.

    So then does 2.0.5 play DVDs in the proper aspect ratio? Navigation bar working? No stutters?

    The only reason I even tried ZDMC was because the Zidoo player (home theatre) is so awful with the files I've tried so far. I hadn't even planned on using ZDMC as I don't need anything fancy. What I need is a stable player that respects aspect ratios and plays files without stuttering.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2018
    videobruce likes this.
  10. videobruce

    videobruce Member

    I'd say more than just "ugly".

    Not to get OT, but when you (or anyone) says playing a DVD or BluRay, can I assume it's a ripped disc recording in it's original format structure as opposed to one converted (ripped) to .mp4 or .mkv?
     
  11. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    Yes, when I say playing a DVD I mean either an ISO or a full VIDEO_TS folder structure.
     
  12. videobruce

    videobruce Member

    Out of curiosity, when you rip either type of disc (DVD or BD), why not just convert it to a .mp4 or a .mkv and loose the annoying formats? I for one hate the DVD structure and it's annoying menus.
    That over rated BD is 10x worse.
     
  13. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    Some people like the menus. They make it much easier to navigate discs with lots of extras (interviews, trailers, etc.), select alternate versions of movies, alternate opening/closing titles, etc.

    And that doesn't matter anyways, because as I detailed previously, even DVDs ripped to lossless mkv using makemkv result in the Zidoo playing them in the wrong aspect ratio, just like the full DVDs play wrong.

    I have tested both PAL and NTSC .mkvs ripped using makemkv and the Zidoo plays them in the wrong aspect ratio - neither fit or full correct it.
     
  14. videobruce

    videobruce Member

    The fault and solution is clearly in Zidoo's court. If that is the case, this is a huge issue and a deal breaker.
     
  15. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    Agreed. I'm literally stunned with all the issues I'm discovering with this player. This is stuff I'd expect to be fixed within the first couple firmware updates. Well over a year into the firmware releases and I'm dealing with broken DVD support, boot issues in 12bit and regular frame drops, among other issues. I find their silence on these matters totally unacceptable.
     
  16. videobruce

    videobruce Member

    What is really annoying is this line of bullshit at the top of each page starting out with "Dear Friends". Friends my ass, "friends don't treat other friends like this.
    I can't even get an answer here about this f'ing authentication error that is cropping up in more than one thread. :mad:

    This is just another Chinese POS. Period! They can't even compose a decent printable manual (But they can come up with are real pretty web site all decked out with glossy photos & artwork.
     
  17. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    I agree about the lack of a manual. My old Mede8er came with a beautiful printed color manual, and they made a nice updated color pdf manual for download off their site after they made some major changes. I get the feeling Ziddo is putting a bare minimum of effort into these players. Which is a shame, because all the hardware is here for an outstanding media player. But as we all know, the firmware is everything with these players.
     
  18. litlgi74

    litlgi74 Member

    480p outputs at 2160p
     
  19. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    I didn't catch that. Thank you.
     

Share This Page