PLEASE READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE PREVIOUS RELEASES BEFORE READING THIS RELEASE NOTES AND BEFORE INSTALLING THE BUILD.
PLEASE READ THE FULL TEXT BELOW OF THE RELEASE NOTES.
IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS RELEASE USES A DIFFERENT DOVI.KO APPROACH FROM PREVIOUS RELEASES AND BUILDS. THIS BUILD USES THE ORIGINAL DOVI.KO FOR YOUR DEVICE AND A NEW DOVI5.KO. BOTH MODULES ARE REQUIRED: THE ORIGINAL DOVI.KO AND THE NEW DOVI5.KO. FOR DOLBY VISION TO PLAY CORRECTLY YOU MUST FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING STEPS:
- Download the new dovi.ko from https://discourse.coreelec.org/uploads/short-url/wJROeCGU0FOTRm8FsZ0MoO9ZF5G.ko - rename this file to dovi5.ko
BUILD FULL NEW INSTALL METHOD USING AVDVPLUS .IMG FILE
2. If you are doing a full new install using the avdvplus R10 .img file then create CE install USB stick or SD card using the full image file (img)
3. After the image has been written, copy the appropriate (device/SoC-specific) DTB file into root and rename it dtb.img and copy any other relevant files such as the remote file.
4. Download your device original dovi.ko and copy it to root.
5. Copy the dovi5.ko file from step 1 to the root.
6. Insert USB or SD card and reboot appropriately, preferably by unplugging your device power and replunging.
7. Done, Enjoy!
BUILD UPDATE METHOD USING AVDVPLUS .TAR FILE
2. If you are doing a build update using avdvplus R10 .tar file then check to see if you have a dovi5.ko on /storage/.config and if so delete it.
3. Copy the dovi5.ko from step 1 to /storage/ using your prefer method to access the device storage.
4. Copy the update avdvplus R10 .tar file to /storage/.update/
5. Reboot the device appropriately, preferably by unplugging your device power and replunging.
6. Done, Enjoy!
To commemorate avdvplus double digit release - R10 - This release has many new breakthrough features, performance improvements, and fixes.
Here is some information in regard to this Release in a summary/abridged edition (too many to outline in detail):
A) Major breakthrough - while still using CoreELEC NG and linux-amlogic 4.9 implemented the new dovi.ko which was mentioned above as dovi5.ko (thanks djnice77 for the work to get it to work with CoreELEC and play DV FEL) which has full CMv4.0 functionality for DV-LL including fixing the Chroma Weight bug.
B) Fixed long-standing issue of playing BD-J Menus, including complex BD Menu such as Avatar. The BD Menu fully works on startup, while playing the BD the OSD provides full functionality but the BD Menu will not be triggered during playback. This also works with Bluray Disc drive connected through USB with a physical Bluray disc. Thanks to SamuriHL for partnering to improve this area. The JRE for BD-J Menus add-on must be installed for BD Menu to work.
C) Fixed long-standing issue when playing BD 3D ISOs now both menus and playback work the same way as described on the BD ISO item above.
D) Added full subtitle-positioning support including "Bottom of Video", "Bottom of Screen", "Top of Video", "Top of Screen". Also "Manual Offset" position which is similar to the Oppo feature to be able to move the subtitles up or down manually. This full feature works for both bitmap (image) and text-based subtitles (including SRT/ASS). Also, this feature works for any aspect ratio including IMAX. Settings/Player/Subtitles "Subtitle vertical position" top/first option, the second option is the old Kodi settings that you can still use but avdvplus feature supersedes the Kodi original setting.
E) Major breakthrough - Video, OSD, and subtitles, now have their own dedicated thread/worker, this means no more expected micro stutter including when using the OSD and PPI, unless there are hardware, add-ons, or video/audio file issues. This includes the S905X4 when playing a movie and using the OSD and PPI. As a note the S922X will still be faster than the S905X4.
F) Fixed long-standing Kodi/XBMC issue when playing EAC3 sample per frame (SPF) 768, 512, and even 256 (as long as your device can handle these formats). Issue resolved even when using LAV Full which further aggravated the problem.
G) Added 6.0 and 6.1 PCM channel layout to Kodi so now all Multi Ch PCM layouts from 2.0 to 7.1 are supported (as long as your device can handle these formats). Also added Atmos and DTS information on presentation channel elements, bed channels, and objects (Atmos only). This information update new fields on the DB once the video file is played and can be viewed in the avdvplus skin on the PPI Audio tab. These fields can also be accessed by any skin as individual elements.
H) Fixed long-standing S905X4 issue with the "chipmunk" sound when using HDMI Multi Ch PCM.
I) Improved subtitle shader code and included SDR-authored subtitle controls in addition to the HDR-authored subtitle controls. Now you can have both subtitles in the correct luminance/saturation and you can adjust to your liking. Also, now subtitles maintain the correct luminance and saturation when using the VS10 conversion. Settings/Player/Subtitles "Bitmap subtitles *".
J) Fixed long-standing issue with "LAV Full" flooding certain displays with the Dolby Atmos Toasts. Also updated to SamuriHL's latest LAV code (thanks SamuriHL) that also reduces Toasts (in addition to avdvplus improvements). Toast will no longer flood the display during normal playback if there is no audio corruption on the file. Toasts will still pop-up during chapter changes, seeks, and FF/REW, which is normal behavior. New "ALL" setting replaces the previous "Debug" setting and has both "LAV Full" and "Seek/Sync" engaged at the same time, only use in extreme audio out of sync cases. Setting was relocated to Settings/System/Audio Audio Decoder area
K) Added more GUI OSD luminance and saturation controls. Now there are controls for HLG, HDR10/HDR10+, and DV. Settings/System/Display "GUI *"
L) Added HDR10 Max DL and CLL limiter feature to limit the MDL and MaxCLL values sent to the display. Settings/System/Display "HDR10 Max DL and CLL Limiter"
M) Improved compatibility with different video and audio types including HDR Vivid video. Added additional video/audio codec reporting on relevant skin screens and add those additional items to the video/audio DB.
N) New avdvplus skin with new features is now part of the build and there is no need to install the avdvplus skin. Skin also has been further improved for performance and quality. Do not install any older avdvplus skin or else you will override the R10 skin. Thanks to Frodo for the partnership with the avdvplus skin.
O) Fixed long standing issue with Kodi GUI resolution being changed to the last video resolution played in certain circumstances.
P) Further fixed VC-1 HW decoder playback including audio out of sync issues even when doing the pause/play cycle, now only VC-1 HW decoder is available since SW decoder has some native issues that HW decoder no longer has.
Q) Fixed MPEG2 HW and SW decoder issues and added "Preserve progressive MPEG2 frames". Settings/Player/Videos.
R) Further fixed VS10 conversion skin button used during playback for some edge cases.
S) Added a new setting for the "CMv4.0 Append" "Auto" feature, now additionally you can select what source max nits value that triggers the Auto feature. Also, include a new "Auto 2" setting (thanks SamuriHL) that triggers append based on L1 metadata and a percentage threshold.
T) Added HDR10+ support for VP9 (Both S922X and S905X4) and AV1 (only S905X4 since the S922X does not have AV1 HW decoder).
U) Fixed issues with the NFO functionality including supporting Imax, Auro, and HDR10+.
V) Ported cpm-code's latest improvements and fixes.
W) Ported all appropriate commits from pannal p3i T4C build including related PRs.
X) Included jammal2362's (U3knOwn) TinyPPI version 2.7.6 as-is and matthane script.module.sidedata version 1.6.0, both as add-ons only patched to work with CE21 and avdvplus build. Do not update or reinstall either package - reinstalling either package will make them to stop working. TinyPPI can be used as per its instructions https://github.com/CE-Repo/script.tinyppi and launched through avdvplus skin using the OSD button "AltPPI" which is next to the original PPI button. The "AltPPI" button currently points to the TinyPPI package but in the future it could point to any alternative PPI package.
Y) Backported CoreELEC/Kodi 22 features/fixes.
Z) Several other minor improvements and fixes.
Special thanks to all avdvplus PR contributors and testers, without your contributions this build would not be possible.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
If you are having audio/video playback issues when using avdvplus build with PlexMod for Kodi (PM4K) please try to completely turn off/disable Alternate Seek in PM4K. If the problem still persists with PM4K then try playing the same video file directly from a smb/nfs share connection or a local usb drive (i.e., not using PM4K). If you still have problems playing the video when using a smb/nfs/local drive then please post the issue on avdvplus build's "Issues" page, if you do not have playback issues using a smb/nfs/local drive then you can try PlexKodiConnect (PKC) that has similar Plex connection capabilities as PM4K - https://github.com/croneter/PlexKodiConnect - You can have both PKC and PM4K installed at the same time and see which one works best for you.
If you are using an AVR/Audio Processor and previously adjusted the audio delay it is recommended that you check it again on your equipment since the previous value may no longer be correct. You can use the video files from https://photojoseph.com/tips/2021/3/30/downloadable-audiovideo-sync-tests-2398-24-25-2997-50-5994 or any other video/audio sync files you prefer to calibrate your equipment.
A reminder from R1 release notes - After you install/update avdvplus build please make sure to always go to Settings/System/CoreELEC at the bottom of the screen and press "Reset above settings to default" and confirm with "yes" so avdvplus screen changes are aligned correctly. This is the screen settings "reset" NOT the CoreELEC "soft reset" and definitely NOT the "hard reset". After resetting the screen settings you can then select the appropriate settings for your equipment.