v1.1.70 Beta version for Z9X 8K/Z30 PRO/Z3000 PRO/UHD8000

In fact, it is not clear why the speed using Samba has decreased so much compared to previous Realtek models... Let's hope they can solve it...

 

I can confirm the first two points on Z9X Pro 8k

• Device sleeps even when configured to stay awake
• After sleep the physical display always reverts to bright, despite still showing my configuration in settings
• In addition, if device has gone to sleep when I open the controller app the Z9X will disappear showing an empty list, thus the option to wake on lan is not available to me

 

It’s quite strange when I use the Sandstrom HDMI cable, which is a high-quality cable with 48 Gbps bandwidth. Sometimes, I get a bad color image (too washed out), and other times, the image is overly sharp and looks like cardboard. However, this cable works perfectly with my UHD player and PS5.

I get better picture quality when I use the HDMI cable that came with my Dune or Zidoo. However, this is only until I put the Zidoo on standby. After that, playback is no longer as smooth as it should be. To restore the picture quality, I have to switch the power off for a while and restart the device.

 

I honestly have no idea what you're doing, but HDMI cables cannot have any effect whatsoever on image quality, HDR, Colour etc - an HDMI cable either works or it doesn't - you can spend $10 or $10,000, it makes no difference at all.

 

Thanks for the investigations. I don’t know why other people are not running into this. Maybe many people don’t use smb shares. I would prefer if the box would just not go to sleep period. They should add a switch to prevent sleep. @Markswift2003 ?

 

It's in my next bug report.

 

@Markswift2003, further to my recent reply to @martinstraka8282 regarding sleep / wake issues, I can confirm I also get visual issues after it goes into standby akin to those that @jehangir kh described. For example watching a dolby vision version of groundhog day and it just goes into this crazy over sharpened looking state where the image is flickering with artefacts. It doesn't happen all the time; I.e. after a reboot the same file plays fine, and it doesn't happen on my Shield. I am agree with you though that it can't be the HDMI cable, and to that point I am using the one Zidoo provided. I'll try to get a recording.

 

Do you have an EDID set ?

I know that occassionally the 8k will do the same EDID lose issue that plagued the Pro Range
It could be that after sleep its coming back with an incorrect EDID ,hence the weird colour/flickering issues ,and why it may not do it all the time,since it fails the edid as a rare event

I set mine yesterday to see if it sorts the Pause for 5-10 mins and get slow motion vid/normal speed audio on play startup

The HDMI seems very sensitive to me on these boxes
ie
IF i do my usual startup , Echo turn on Living Room to set the colour lights around the room and turn on tv the zidoo and the 2 amps and subs
Once its all up ,ill usually hit Youtube on TV remote to surf there quickly
10 20 mins later ill AV switch on the TV back to the Ziodoo ,and have a blank screen. after 30 secs to a min ill see Reboot on the Zidoo display and eventually it will settle back to zidoo main screen
The realtech boxes never had this issue for all the years i used them in exact same situation ,most days

 

I don't agree with this. I'm not saying spend 10,000 dollars on a cable, which would be madness as well as useless, but using a cable made with excellent quality materials still makes the difference compared to a cheap cable made with poor quality materials. If there was no difference between a cheap cable and a well-made cable, then it would also be pointless to buy a $10,000 AV processor or projector. You could also buy cheap products, as the audio/video quality would be the same.

 

If you could capture that it'd be really helpful.

I assume it's an EDID issue but that doesn't make sense for what you describe.

 

Yes, using a decent cable is absolutely essential - I always advocate using Genuine Premium Certified cables, which for a standard length can be bought for around $10.

But there is no possible way for an HDMI cable to "improve" an image. If an HDMI cable is unable to sustain the bandwidth required of the signal, you will initially see sparklies followed by complete failure if the bandwidth requirement is too much, but once the signal is robust, no amount of "improvement" will make any difference whatsoever to the picture quality.

 

I agree that a cable, HDMI, RCA, XLR or power cable, does not make any improvement to the audio/video signal. If the quality of an AV processor or projector is mediocre, cables cannot improve its quality. But the opposite is true, a cable can degrade an excellent signal coming from quality equipment. I repeat, using thousand dollar cables is useless, as well as expensive. But using excellent quality cables, made with excellent materials, helps to convey the signal while preserving its original quality.

 

I'm not sure what we're arguing about - we're both saying the same thing

But once you reach the point at which an HDMI cable works, there's no point spending any more money.

A $10 Premium Certified cable that successfully passes an 18GB/s digital signal is no better at conveying that same 18GB/s digital signal than one costing $100, $200 or $2000. There is no return for the extra investment other than cosmetics.

And that's why cables are Premium Certified in the first place - it means they have been independently tested by HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc to guarantee that they can pass that signal.

Unbelievably, some boutique cables costing hundreds of dollars are not even Premium Certified which is an arrogance beyond belief.

I'm sorry, but boutique cables make me really angry - I was in the CI (Custom Installation) industry and owned one of the largest installation companies in the UK for many years, and saw all the bullcrap associated with boutique cables.

 

I agree, but partially. However, everyone is free to have their own opinion, also based on their own experiences and skills .

 

I'm not using EDID, no.

However, I had enabled and messed around with the default EDID options a few days ago and then subsequently disabled the feature. In this case I'm not sure EDID issues are applicable due to the characteristics of the artefacts (described more below); colours and dynamic range on the tv, and signal format on the receiver are all correct as best I can tell.

Your noted issues though are interesting, and given the broader points a few of us are experiencing, the unit is clearly struggling with the correct loading of settings.

I'll try to get the recording tomorrow @Markswift2003. FWIW, the flickering looks a lot like ants dancing across the screen, with high contrast circles manifesting around image noise, small details etc. It doesn't appear like the signal is being lost, or anything to do with a bad connection, rather it looks like the image itself is being post processed 100x. If I had to guess based on the available functions of the unit I'd say there's something going on with AI image processing going into overdrive. I have it turned off, but as noted the unit is not loading my configuration correctly after it wakes from standby anyway.

 

Yes, I absolutely agree with that.

 

I hope you can capture this, but what you describe there sounds like a hardware problem.

 

Remember the travesty of Monster Cables. Very expensive way to break the inputs on a device.

 

Oh, good lord yes. As I say, there's little in this industry that annoys me more than boutique cables. Everywhere else you get at least some form of return - diminishing returns as a rule, but still returns.

Boutique cables. Nada.

You need to take me off my soap box now....

 

Ya what a joke that was. The electronics stores sure pushed their garbage marketing pretty hard ime too.