v1.2.01, v1.2.01_G Beta version for Z9X 8K/Z30 PRO/Z3000 PRO/UHD8000

1st time tonight ,with this latest firmware ,that i finally had the video pause ,audio continue bug which is a huge improvement over the previous f/w

 

Yes I've only had about three or four occasions in latest firmware where that has happened. For me the remaining bugs are

HDMI resyncs (seems to be restricted to DV\VS10)
DTS sync issue
Lossy sound loss from start or when pausing
Video freeze and sound continues.

I'm hoping they can crack these so they can focus on adding features to HT5 and improving bluray menu support.

 

I think the issue with the sound loss may be due to the Z9X8K stopping all audio output and then restarting. That causes the connected device (in my case a Yamaha Receiver) to lose audio sync and it then takes quite a while to identify the input and resync. If the Zidoo continued to output valid audio (say silence), while paused or seeking, then this would be a non-issue. Presumably the player would have to be able to generate silence frames using the same codec parameters as the last played source and mux them into the stream correctly, such that the sink device does not lose sync. Not a trivial thing to do (at least it wasn't when I tried to do this using the Broadcom SDK about 10 years ago)

 

I did a somewhat unintentional upgrade to that firmware some days ago. Accidentally, hit the ok on the firmware upgrade popup.
Anyway, after watching several movies it's the best firmware for me, atm. Especially, the stutter/stop on resume after pause is gone. Also when the movie starts or I resume the playback, the sound is back again almost instantly. Previously, there was a noticeable delay. I didn't read that on the changelog, but it's a great fix. No rewind after pause anymore to fix the bug and to get all the sound.

The only new issue I experienced was related to the subtitles in a movie/specific file: they were displayed so big on my screen that not even a single letter fit on the screen. Not sure if this would have happend on that file with the previous firmware, though. I saw working subtitles with the new firmware. Thus, might be file related.

 

And, Full range White Levels?....

 

I have this problem only on Z9X 8K. I have AVR too and this problem was never present on older Zidoos.

 

I have several hard drives connected to the 3000 via usb that I use smb to play files from. When I put one into my win10 computer and check them out they are usually severely fragmented. Defragmenting one can take hours and hours showing 80% fragmentation to start with. Is there an android app that can defrag them through the zidoo?

 

Looking at the calendar, I'm beginning to wonder when the next update will come. What worries me personally is the as yet unanswered question of whether the devs know what to look for and whether they have already found “something”. Because only then can the bugs be eliminated.
@Markswift: is there any communication between you and the devs regarding this, especially communication that gives us hope that the Zidoo will soon return to the quality of old devices?
Watching a movie with several video freezes (audio continues) is neither enjoyable nor contemporary.

 

His username is: - @Markswift2003 not as you posted

 

Yes there is, although I haven't got any news as yet.

 

If the developers were able to significantly reduce the number of "image freezes, sound continues" errors, I think they know the direction to go in order to completely eliminate this error.

 

Hopefully!

 

Unfortunately it seems like a race to get all the bugs fixed in the current models before the next models come out at which point the cycle starts over again.

 

I hope that they will fix the issue with resume from pause when the screensaver is engaged in the next firmware. This one really bothers me in my daily usage.

 

@Markswift2003 Hi Mark,

I know it won't be a priority just yet, but can we get this update for MP8 too?

"firmware update E/S 1.4.01
Includes includes the option to Merge Albums under the "scan" subsection of the settings accessible from the "Music"

Basically it puts multi cds (cd1, cd2 etc etc) into one album, rather than having cd1 cd2 etc all over the place in the main libary.

 

Personally I think that's a terrible idea. Imagine these multiple albums lumped together:

 

Maybe I've gotten the wrong end of the stick then on that option does - I guess it would be good if MP8 merge option would simply create a collection when an album has multiple discs, in the same way HT5 does for films, if that makes sense?

 

That makes a bit more sense, but I've curated my music collection for decades - back from when I started ripping CDs onto an Imerge Sound Server - my current library is some 9,761 albums containing 124,492 tracks and the key is metadata and housekeeping - get that right and it all falls together nicely.

Get it wrong and you have a cats arse.

I currently use Logitech Media Server (LMS) which was abandoned by Logitech (in true Logitech tradition) years ago but still has a mighty following, and has now been adopted by Lyrion and is now Lyrion Music Server (still LMS!). Blows everything else into a cocked hat, so I don't pay Music 8 much attention although it does support LMS so can be used as an LMS client which is great.

 

Yes, I would also like this feature to create a collection when we have multiple discs for the same album.
Plus, it would be useful the ability to select this album (or folder) and play all the songs included in the album (folder), just like on the MP7, from the UHD5000.
In the MP8, if I have multiple discs in the same album, I have to open each disc separately and play one of the songs so that the entire disc is then played, not the entire album.
In the MP7, we have the ability to select the album (or folder) and then play all the songs included in that album (folder).

 

So, thinking that through, the merge option would follow folder rules, rather than metadata, per se. So, a folderwith disc 1, disc 2, etc, would show in Music Libary as 1 album, until you click it, and then just like HT5, the other discs would be in that folder - so, at an album level, you could then have play all etc.....just thinking out load.