What is the recommended way of playing 10-bit h.264 content, commonly used by anime fansubbers on the Vero 4K+?
I’ve heard that, because it is a non-standard codec, there is no HW decoding support so most players must use SW decoding. Is this true for the 4K+ and is the CPU on this box stout enough to decode this format?
For further context: Player capable of playing 4k 10 bit H265 media (anime in particular)
I think the thread gives the right information and also if you search in this forum you will see 10bit h. 264 gives most of the time issues even with the Vero4K+
There are some optimisations we will add in v18 but it’s still only decoded in software
Sam
So basically the only way to play these files back stutter-free is to transcode it using a stronger cpu and then serve it over the network?
I wonder how many more generations of ARM chips will need to be made before an ARM chip is stout enough to decode it using software.
Intel i7 chips can barely decode it in real time.
So transcoding in real time isn’t likely feasible for the forseeable future
It’s been a dead format before it started, so no one really bothered adding support for it.
Sam
I really want to hit everyone with a baseball bat who encodes in 10bit h264. There is not a single hardware decoder in the world for that format.
A broad statement like that is simply incorrect. There are broadcast products that support hardware decoding not only Hi10P, but even support Hi444PP. Yes, it’s true that there is no consumer level product that supports hardware decoding for Hi10P. There were talks about one of the RockChip SoCs supporting it. Not sure of what happened to that.
I’m playing the same Hi10p file from the Plex Server, transcoding using the 8700K and transcoding using the A10X in the ATV 4K.
It’s not even close.
The ATV 4K wipes the floor with the Intel. Surprising.
Every so often I’ll get transcoded exited errors from the Intel Plex Server, just Direct Playing to MrMC on the ATV 4K is smooth as butter.
The Apple TV 4K is a powerhouse, those apple cpus are beasts. I wish there was a way to put real Kodi on the Apple TV, that probably would threaten the Vero 4k is my primary box. Never going to happen though unless a jailbreak comes along.
The lack of full audio passthrough is a big no-no though.
Which in reality only affects those that need Atmos Bluray support and is the exact reason why a Gigabit equipped - 4K HDR capable Vero or LE box is a good Kodi companion device if you have an Atmos audio setup. 
Yup, that will be my main use of the Vero, and the ATV will handle the streaming media and Hi10P portion of my needs.
Just for shits and giggles I tried direct playing Hi10p on the plex for kodi add-on and the official plex for xbox one on my xb1x. No audio and forced transcode from the official plex and direct play using the plex add-on for kodi, but still stuttered. The XB1X also chokes out and crashes when playing 4K hdr remux over plex for kodi addon.
Two lessons learned:
Plex add-on for Kodi allows for more use of the system than official Plex app, which is surprising.
ATV 4K has a more stout CPU than an xbox one x…which is sad.
And now I’ve completely taken my own thread off-topic so don’t mind me.
I really can’t wait for the Vero 4K+ to arrive now.