New firmware v2.0.5 version(beta) for ZIDOO X9S release

Brilliant, thanks litlgi

 

do you mean the black flashing is when the box set into auto switch framerate?
coz i have that too and i dont like it, do i need to set it on auto switch if my source is already 23.976fps
when i tried my friend`s himedia Q10pro, it dont have experience for black flashing

and thanks for your information about banding
i`ve tried play "The World In HDR 4K Demo.mkv" and its true with my setting before, 10bit and YCbCr422, the banding is worse

oh...about hdmi cable, when this box arrived to me, i test with the cable from the box
the box will boot in black screen when you selected the Full range mode
but with my other cable, it work well

 

Player "freaking out" when booting with Deep Color 12-bit through Certified Premium HDMI 2.0 cable

So after solving my black flashing issue today with the new 18Gbps certified HDMI 2.0 cable I bought, I've discovered a new problem. When booting, the player goes nuts when Deep Color 12bit is enabled. There are rows of diagonal flickering white dots across the boot screen, along with some random flashes to black. Once the home screen appears, it continues until it sets to the correct frame rate and resolution, then it settles down. Here's the details:

Switch frame rate and resolution
HDMI mode: AUTO / 3840x2160P 60Hz
Deep Color: 12bit / Auto
Color Space Mode: YCbCr 444 / YCbCr 420 / YCbCr 422 / RGB 444 / Auto

This doesn't happen with 10-bit - only 12-bit and auto. This tells me Deep Color on AUTO is actually selecting 12bit for me. I tried each color space mode with each deep color mode. Only the modes I list above are affected. It doesn't happen when HDMI mode is set to 1080p or 720p.

I also tried my old cable again and it doesn't happen with the old 1.4 cable. So the new cable has solved the black flashing issue I mentioned previously, but introduced a new "bug" or issue for me by enabling full support of Deep Color in the cable.

Sometimes I can start the player up several times in a row (3-5 times sometimes) and it boots fine, then one time I get the flashing and flickering dots.

So the question is why is this happening? What is happening at boot with Deep Color on 12bit that is causing this "corrupted" boot-up? Sometimes it boots okay, sometimes it doesn't.





The above videos show the boot issue I'm having. The video below was taken with the same settings as the bottom video above, only this time it booted okay:



Update: videos and new info.

 

No, the auto-switch resolution/frame rate settings has nothing to do with the black flashing I was referring to. The black flashing I was getting was due to the older 1.4 HDMI cable I was using not properly handling the deep color signal.

The flashing you are referring to is very annoying, but that's how the player functions currently. Any time the player needs to change resolution or frame rate, it needs to flash to black to adjust the video output for the file being played, based on your settings. The only way currently to avoid this is to force the player's video output to whatever file you are going to play beforehand. For instance, if you are going to play a 2160p/23.976, video, setting the video output in the settings to 2160p/23.976 will mean the player is already sending out the correct framerate and resolution already, so when you start to play the video, it already matches what it needs to output, so no flashing to switch over is necessary. If the next video you want to watch is 2160p/29.970, you would need to change your video output to that, or the player would flash to black first when playing, to adjust for the different resolution/frame rate. Of course, since you're likely to play a variety of files with different frame rates and resolutions, you would constantly be switching back and forth as needed before playing your videos, which could be equally or more annoying. So there's reallt not much you can do about it - if you play a variety of files, you will get this flashing every time it needs to change from one resolution/frame rate to another.

I have asked if they can improve this by at least not starting/showing the video until the switch is made, so at least it wouldn't interrupt the first 5-10 seconds of the video.

 

i dont know why in Q10pro they can switch without black flashing
yes what i do now is set the video output to 2160@24p coz they dont have option for 23.976 and did not choose any auto switch

oh about banding, i have strange experience
i tried "LG_Colors-of-Journey-HDR" and "Sony_4K_HDR_Camp" with hdmi out:Auto, Deep Color:10bit and YCbCr420, it shows almost perfect
then i played "The World In HDR 4K Demo" in the same setting and it shows the same result, no severe banding like before

 

Well, if you look again at the chart I posted at the top of page 7, YCbCr 4:2:0 at 10bit does give much reduced banding for me, too. It's just the 12bit gives slightly better results.

My blu-ray player and Mede8er player and WDTV Live player all flash my TV to a black screen when the TV switches to 24Hz mode (or any time it has to change resolutions or frame rate from what it's currently displaying to what the film output is) - it's something the TV has to do from my experience. The problem is the Zidoo does it extra sloppy by starting to play the file and displaying it first, then switching and going black, while the file is still playing, then returning to the film which is now 5-10 seconds into playback. This makes it extra messy every time you play a file.

 

no, what i mean is when i played it before,i can see severe banding but now it just a liitle banding

agree with you, ziddo must do some improvement about black screen when switching resolution/frame rate
or maybe sigma and hisilicon is more superior in this

 

Sadly, I am unimpressed with their lack of support or communication in here, considering this is the discussion thread for their latest update, and I have to make a decision soon on whether to keep or return my x9s. If they bothered to keep communication open in here and let us know they they are hearing us, and are going to look into some of these serious issues, and address them, I might actually keep it and hope the issues get ironed out, now that some of the big issues are getting more attention in here lately and getting narrowed down.

But if they're just going to be silent, I have to assume they either aren't willing to iron out these issues, or can't. Which means this unit has to go back, as I can't use it for my daily media player in this condition. Which is a shame, because it's a very powerful device that just needs the right people to fix the issues. There's no excuse for this player to have such critical playback issues and awkward interface issues this far along into the firmware development cycle. The major issues all should have been ironed out by now, yet there are major playback issues that still exist. I pointed out many in the past week, both critical, core functionality, and basic menu/interface/usability issues.

This player has an impressive list of supported features and formats - it does things many other players don't. But these playback issues need to get resolved, soon.

 

wouldnt the fact that the v2-0-5 patch already has a new v2-0-10 patch within like a week or soof the 05s release,be a huge hint that they do infact read the issues posted here and work on them in a very timely manner

yes they could do with having someone post actual replies more often,thou that tends to lead down huge rabbit holes with every other person then jumping on them with their opinions of what should be changed...which usually leads to months of arguing and Nothing being done

my 2 cents

 

Possibly. I guess that will depend on what's in the new 2.0.10 patch.

I just wish we were given more of an idea if the more serious issues are being looked at/can even be fixed. I'd be much more likely to keep my unit if I thought some of these bigger issues are being worked on. I don't mean to sound impatient, but as a new owner, it's not reassuring to know this player came out well over a year ago and still suffers from some of these serious issues.

 

I have asked for a list of what is being worked on. I will post it as soon as I get it.

 

Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

 

Version 2.0.5 that shows how official in Zidoo Service & Support.

correct update, or is it beta?

I do not know anymore, I see a lot of complaints about her.

 

Most of the complaints (other than the new 23.976 issue) I have are not specific to 2.0.5. They have been present all along.

 

I think it would help greatly if we had some list currently that shows what settings/color modes/deep color settings work as intended in which resolutions, and which don't. That would help new users like me know what to avoid for settings, as well as help the Zidoo team narrow things down. This thread:

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/ycbcr-444-vs-ycbcr-422-why-the-difference.7216/page-2

and posts in here both show that the Zidoo seems to output frame rates, color spaces, and deep color modes that are different than selected, or what should be sent out. I have listed some of what I have found during my initial testing, and others have even posted pictures showing the output is different than what it should be outputting. But it seems some modes do work as intended. So It's very confusing to know which settings to use, considering the player may not actually adhere to those settings.

 

BUG report of this firmware:
1. picture browser - slide show, all the pictures are upside down.
2. Online video playback there will be three consecutive small repeats, can be changed to 1.

 

Version 2.0.5 in Zidoo Service & Support.

correct update, or is it beta?

 

Did you read the subject of this topic?

 

As i pointed out a few pages back, if a new owner goes to the main site (zidoo.tv) and clicks "downloads>x9s", the list of all available updates appear, with 2.0.5 at the top. There is no indication anywhere, even if you click the update and read the notes, that it is a beta version. I can definitely understand the confusion. It should say "beta" on the downloads page.

 

I added an image to my above post for "Player "freaking out" when booting with Deep Color 12-bit through Certified Premium HDMI 2.0 cable". You can see the diagonal rows of white dots. The camera only picked up a few but more are visible. As it is booting, they flicker and the screen flashes on and off, and this carries over to the main home screen, until the resolution witches and then it settles down.



Can anybody verify that this happens on their setup with the modes I listed in the above post? As mentioned above, for me it happens in all color space modes when 12-bit or Auto Deep Color is enabled (but not 10-bit), except YCbCr 4:2:2.