Kodi Users: LibreElec community build with HDR and Atmos etc with Intel NUCs (Kodi 19)

[HomerJAU]

Just thought I’d alert NUC users about this LibreElec community build. HDR now working on my Intel NUCi3BEH (Windows be gone!)

https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/13738-intel-true-10bits-hevc-hdr-support/?postID=154506#post154506
Only issue is it doesn’t render subtitles (known issue that will be fixed), but HDR, Atmos/DTS-HDMA and multichannel FLAC audio etc all working ok! EDIT: Subtitle rendering fixed with latest builds.

This build should do HDR on all Intel NUCs from NUC7 to latest NUC11 I think, based on info. This build is using Linux 5.12 RC8 currently.

 

[HomerJAU]

For those using Kodi with LibreElec on Intel x64 processors (E.g Intel NUCs) there is a new build with HDR and the Atmos skipping fix just released here:

Intel NUC 8’th Gen: SMP’s HDR build: Atmos Skip fix?

I‘m playing The Beatles - Abbey Road Atmos now. The fix works!

For other Kodi users there will be nightly builds in next 24/48 hours with same fix for all platforms.

EDIT: Here’s the link to Kodi nightly builds. The code fix was done only a couple of hours ago so you’ll need to wait until the next nightly build is completed:

https://mirrors.kodi.tv/nightlies/

 

[HomerJAU]

There’s a new HDR Kodi build here based on LibreElec Kodi 20 alpha that’s working well on my Intel NUC8i3BEH NUCs.

(link removed, now updated see below)

 

[jamesc]

Hey Garry, I've been eyeing all your excellent Kodi guides for a while and finally got around to picking up a NUC to try it out. Do you still like LibreELEC these days? I'm thinking of Frankenstein-ing your Windows config into a LibreELEC build since it looks so good!

 

[HomerJAU]

Hey James. Yes I still use LibreElec for Kodi. I have two NUCs, one for each of my two systems. They share the same media on NAS.

Kodi is identical on Windows and LibreElec (Linux) but I use LibreElec as it boots straight to Kodi. Windows is forever updating and just a pain to run as a media player. Much longer to boot too. LibreElec (LE) makes the NUC much more like a normal HiFi device (Turn it on and it starts/ready).

I’m using a LE11 (prerelease) build which supports HDR. But if you want a more stable official release system use LE10.4 (latest).

I only just installed my latest LE11 HDR build just released last weekend. May be it’s a bit more stable than previous build used for about 4 months. Previous no problems with music only, issues when switching between videos with different resolutions (4K to 1080p etc). I’ve only played MCH audio on latest LE11 so far.

I’m pretty sure I could give you a backup of my LibreElec system configuration if you decide to go with latest LE11 HDR builds.

 

[HomerJAU]

Latest LibreElec 11 build with HDR in first post here: (June 16 build):

https://forum.libreelec.tv/thread/25185-le11-hdr-builds-for-intel-and-amd/?postID=165879#post165879

 

[jamesc]

Hey James. Yes I still use LibreElec for Kodi. I have two NUCs, one for each of my two systems. They share the same media on NAS.

Kodi is identical on Windows and LibreElec (Linux) but I use LibreElec as it boots straight to Kodi. Windows is forever updating and just a pain to run as a media player. Much longer to boot too. LibreElec (LE) makes the NUC much more like a normal HiFi device (Turn it on and it starts/ready).

I’m using a LE11 (prerelease) build which supports HDR. But if you want a more stable official release system use LE10.4 (latest).

I only just installed my latest LE11 HDR build just released last weekend. May be it’s a bit more stable than previous build used for about 4 months. Previous no problems with music only, issues when switching between videos with different resolutions (4K to 1080p etc). I’ve only played MCH audio on latest LE11 so far.

I’m pretty sure I could give you a backup of my LibreElec system configuration if you decide to go with latest LE11 HDR builds.

Thanks Garry! I love the idea of a stripped down OS since I grabbed an older gen Core i3 NUC. I'll mess around with the LE11 pre-release.

 

[jimfisheye]

Are you talking about actual Atmos decoding in Kodi? That would be amusing and awesome! Or is this just referring to the "pass through" workaround that sends the encoded Atmos to a hardware AVR to decode? I'm still dragging my feet on the $400 media player app from Dolby.

 

[HomerJAU]

Yea Jim. It’s HDMI Passthrough to an AVR for Atmos decoding.

 

[HomerJAU]

The latest LibreElec 11 (Kodi 20 alpha 3 build with Linux) generic nightly test builds now running on my two Intel NUCs (NUC8i3BEK) output HDR and seem very stable. Atmos/DTS:X etc via HDMI pass-through all working too.

Anyone using the old HDR builds mentioned in the opening post should upgrade IMO.

https://test.libreelec.tv/
There are also test builds for Rasberry Pi 4 that support HDR, Atmos etc.