[mythtv-users] Android TV boxes

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Sat, Aug 26, 2017 at 1:51 PM, Steve Greene <sgreene820 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm seeing a wealth of cheap Android TV boxes on Amazon. Assuming they can
> run the Android mythfrontend client, would these be able to play MPEG2
> recordings?

First, they are not "Android TV" (the Google branded
Android designed for TV solutions), they are boxes
that run Android that can be connected to your TV
(the distinction is important for some applications,
as some of the boxes that run Android and connect
to the TV advertise (hardware) capabilities that are
not quite right for the actual device).

Secondly, while most of the SoCs in those boxes
can do MPEG2 decode, many of the manufactureres
do not export that hardware capability via a custom
driver (so the result is higher processing requirements
as any decode must be done by software codes).
But more importantly, there is a dearth of boxes that
have high quality hardware de-interlacers (MCDI)
which is necessary for discerning viewers who do not
wish to see artifacts.  The nvidia shield TV (which is
not cheap), which uses their GPU/VPU technology
(similar to their PC targeted tech) is the "gold"
standard for de-interlacing (nothing else is the same
if you compare them side-by-side).  If you have no
interlaced content, or are one of those who do not
see de-interlacing artifacts, or are willing to make
the tradeoff for poorer quality for the price, this
may not matter to you.

Lastly, most of these boxen are targeted to run
"fully loaded" Kodi (no matter how hard the
manufacturer tries to hide that is what they are
selling in order to prevent the product from being
banned from Amazon; this is just another
whack-a-mole game).  As such, they are likely
not really tested with generic other apps, and
they will never get support or updates.