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4K video playback with Kodi are lagging

airwillow
Community Member

This is my setup : NAS Synology - Router wifi Nightawk R7800 (Dual Band AC2600) - ampli and TV 4k

Videos i'm traying to play : over than 20GB : HEVC (Main10@L5.1@High) , HDR10 

I'm playing those videos on the latest version of Kodi (19.3) and i downloaded the latest version of android TV (12)

PROBLEM : playback is lagging => playing 3 sec / freezing 3 sec / playing 5 sec / freering 4 sec ... And kodi is warning me that source is too slow !

I have a NVidia Shield connected over ethernet and i don't have any problem to play those videos. No problem also if i disconnect ethernet and play over WIFI

I have a chinese HDMI dongle with android TV connected over wifi and i don't have any problem to play those videos

 

So what's wrong with this chromecast 4K ? Is the wifi too slow on this chromecast and it can't read such a bitrate ? Is the processor too slow or memory too small to read such videos ?

Anybody else have this problem ?
Moreover, it seems i encounter some other problems like Dolby atmos not working fine with some media (working well with my shield), Dolby Vision playing strange colors (green color), well many problems only with chromecast 

Is it possible to connect the chromecast over ethernet using a station on USB-C ?

10 REPLIES 10

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there airwillow,

I'm sorry to hear that Kodi is having some freezing issues! While I haven't personally used Kodi, I have Plex and I have not experienced these issues. The Chromecast with Google TV recently updated to Android 12, and it's a possibility the Kodi app needs an update from the developer as well. Regardless, I would clear out the cached app data on the Kodi app to see if that helps. Regarding your question about Ethernet, you are able to hard-wire the Chromecast with Google TV. Check out this article for information on the Ethernet adapter.
I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know!

Best regards,
Jeran

Juni
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,

I just wanted to follow up if you were able to try the steps provided. Please let us know as we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks,

Juni

airwillow
Community Member

Hi Jeran,

I've done some new tests and i have so many issues with this chromecast 😞

Ethernet better than Wifi
First of all, it seems that wi-fi is not that fast. I'm now using a USB-C dock station with ethernet. Kodi is now playing video quite smoothly with almost no lag (sometimes video freeze 2 sec but it happens few times compared to wifi). (i don't have such problem with my nvidia shield old gen - 2017 - ethernet or wifi). So the experience is much better !

But still so many issues 😞

- with Kodi : Dolby atmos doesn't work : my amp receive a 2 channel PCM signal (tested with passthrough on and off)

- with VLC : Exactly same behavior

- with Kodi : Movies with DTS soundtrack are played backward !! First time i see such a weird behavior ! Video plays 3sec forward and goes 10 sec back (so at -0:00:07) then play 3 sec forward and goes 10 sec back (so at -0:00:15) .... This behavior is when i turn on passthrough. If i turn it off, my amp is receiving a 5.1 PCM signal but not DTS and video is running fine with sound

- with VLC : No sound ! My amp receive a 2 channel PCM signal but without any sound

- Sound is sometimes cracky, even in the android TV GUI (i didn't have this issues a few days ago)

- i got some problems with turning ON dolby vision (i got messages like tuning on dolby vision will set 4k@30FPS and disable 60 fps). I had to reboot chromecast to allow dolby vision with 4K60fps

=> i don't have any of those issues with my nvidia shield with exactly the same versions of app ...

PLEX

I don't understand how is working this app .... It seems that is have to configure a server and i have to do it on a desktop browser online .. I tried with my shield first but then when i try to make a library, i see the shield filesystem. I also can't make the chromecast a plex server ?

Actually i don't need a video server, i just want a good video player that can read video from my local network and from my NAS. Kodi and my shield do that just perfectly.

Conclusion :

I think i will send back this chromecast. I wanted to make a gift thinking eferything will work as fine as my shield but unfortunately not. I spent so many hours trying so many configuration without any results (i should say "i lost so many hours") 😞

Dan_A
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,

We understand your concern about your device not working as it should, and we appreciate your reports here in the Community but before you decide to return it since I believe it’s still under the return period, would it be alright for you to use an app that’s already programmed to your Chromecast with Google TV and see if the behavior persists?

Keep me posted.

Best,

Dan

airwillow
Community Member

Hi Dan,

Sure i can do some other tests but i'm not sure to understand what you are asking me to do ? By "using an app that's already programmed to my Chromecast", you mean an app like youtube or Netflix ?
I don't have any problems with those apps (even if i have sometimes cracky sounds) but the fact is i'm not sure those apps streams with the same video bitrate and with DTS or Dolby Atmos soundrack.

I know that Kodi is an old version released 1 year ago (19.3) but they couldn't release the new ones on playstore because of the andrdoid target version. I've tried to install 19.4 and new beta apk but i got a message warning me "my TV is not compatible".

Which app do you suggest me to try to play 4K videos ? 🙂

Dan_A
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello again,

You can cast from your phone to your Chromecast with Google TV to see the difference. Any app that has a casting icon works. They must be on the same Wi-Fi network. Also, there are apps programmed directly to your CCwGTV that you can test out. We need to find out if this is a Kodi update concern or not.

Tell me how it goes.

Best regards,

Dan

airwillow
Community Member

Hi Dan,

I tried Youtube but i couldn't find any Dolby Atmos video. I mean there are many demonstration video but seems that youtube doesn't stream Dolby Atmos

I tried DS Video (app provided with synology NAS) but DS Video can't play Dolby Atmos video.

I finally configured PLEX:

I configured a plex media server on my computer with library on my NAS.

Plex works better than Kodi but ... still not as it should work. Same as usual, i did the same tests with both chromecast and nvidia Shield. On the screenshot below, you will see :

  • in blue : the input (Shield for shield and BD/DVD for chromecast)
  • in red : the chosen soundtrack
  • in green : the signal my amp receives

Dolby Atmos on Shield : Works fine, both video and audio are played correctly

airwillow_1-1669244828983.png

Dolby atmos on Chromecast : video is played correctly but my amp receive a 7.1 PCM signal

airwillow_2-1669244975664.png

DTS on Shield : Works fine, both video and audio are played correctly

airwillow_3-1669245093589.png

DTS on Chromecast :

- if i set Automatic Selection in google TV general parameters / Advanced audio settings : Video is played correctly but i don't have any sound

airwillow_4-1669245198860.png

- if i set Manual Selection in google TV general parameters / Advanced audio settings (with all formats enabled) : Video is played correctly, i have sounds but my amp receive a 2 channels PCM signal

airwillow_5-1669246006844.png

I only set passthrough activated on both system in Plex. I didn't change any other settings in Plex on both system.

So i can't have a good audio/video playback on chromecast (it works fine with Netflix or Youtube but audio isn't streamed in best formats)

Best regards,

Wil

Dan_A
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi airwillow,

 

My sincerest apologies for the late reply. I wanted to know if you're still experiencing the same behavior with your Chromecast w/Google TV after configuring PLEX? Have you tried contacting your TV manufacturer to isolate the concern? This might also very well be a compatibility concern?

 

Best,

Dan

airwillow
Community Member

Hi Dan,

No problem,

in my previous answer, i mentioned all the issues i got using Plex.
It's not a compatibility concern with my equipment (TV or Amp) . As i mentioned , i did all the tests with both an old nvidia Shield and Chromecast TV with the same settings and all the results are clear (you can see the screens), Shield works like a charm and Chromecast doesn't work (sending bad audio signal to my amp).

I finally decided to send it back and get refund . And i bought the new nvidia Shield (tube) and after 5 min installing, everything worked perfectly (while i spend hours and hours trying to configure chromecast)

So the problem concerns the chromecast for sure ... I just don't know if it was only mine or a general issue ...

Best
Wil

Dan_A
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,

 

We're sad to see you go!  Sadly, we haven't received issues of the same kind like yours but we will be vigilant. We hope we can make it up to you in the future. Send us a message if you change your mind. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns as I will be locking this thread in 24 hours.

 

Cheers,

Dan