Amazon Fire TV

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52 posts

Master Geek

#1087671 12-Jul-2014 12:46

Use this Netflix sample video with embedded bitrate displayed:

Http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70136810

sbowness

225 posts

Master Geek

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#1087674 12-Jul-2014 13:02

jakenz: Use this Netflix sample video with embedded bitrate displayed:

Http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70136810

Thanks. How do I find that on the Fire TV?

jakenz

52 posts

Master Geek

#1087676 12-Jul-2014 13:05

I've just been using this sample video to check my own just arrived Fire TV.

On a 15mbps vodafone cable line here in Wellington, midday Saturday, it slowly (over 5+ mins) gets up to and settles mostly at 1080p/4300kbps while briefly hitting 5800kbps (netflix 'SuperHD' quality) for some stretches.

Wierdly enough though there are parts of the video where it refuses to go above 720p/3000kbps (the ball juggling) while others it goes straight to and sits on SuperHD (the Netflix sign on the wall 3/4 of the way through and the following screen test patterns through to the end). Go figure. It certainly
Is riveting viewing.

By contrast my chromecast quickly (<1 min) gets up to 1080p in any part of the video. It is of course over wifi vs wired for the Fire TV.

Have others observed anything like this?

jakenz

52 posts

Master Geek

#1087678 12-Jul-2014 13:14

@sbowness - search in the Fire's netflix app for 'example short' and click on the top result which should include these refs - 23.976 & 2010. There are other versions of this test clip but they don't have the bitrate displayed.

Be interested to hear how you get on.

sbowness

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Master Geek

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#1087745 12-Jul-2014 15:00

jakenz: @sbowness - search in the Fire's netflix app for 'example short' and click on the top result which should include these refs - 23.976 & 2010. There are other versions of this test clip but they don't have the bitrate displayed.

Be interested to hear how you get on.

Ran it just now. I'm in Totara Vale on the North Shore using VF VDSL and I got a sustained 5800kbps once we got to the flashing white circle.

BigMal

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#1087767 12-Jul-2014 15:32

jakenz:

By contrast my chromecast quickly (<1 min) gets up to 1080p in any part of the video. It is of course over wifi vs wired for the Fire TV.

Have others observed anything like this?

Yeah I was getting flaky performance over wifi and have just today tried wired. Wired it gets up to 1080p after about 5-10 minutes. My Roku, Chromecast and tablet get 1080p A LOT faster. I'm on Telecom VDSL.

One thing I will say is the Fire TV makes for an awesome XBMC device, it boots gotham in seconds and is very fast.

jakenz

52 posts

Master Geek

#1087816 12-Jul-2014 18:05

So I checked again and Fire TV will never go to SuperHD until the same spot near the end of the sample clip (the Netflix sign & test patterns), and only gets to 1080p just before this. This is irrespective of whether I start the clip at the beginning or just before those points.

Ironically the images at the end are unchanging blocks of colour so wouldn't actually require much bitrate at all let alone 5800kbps, so it's hardly a real world example of SuperHD working.

Also flicked backwards and forwards between a Breaking Bad episode on chromecast and Fire TV and although the Fire eventually hit what appeared to be HD (720p or maybe 4300kbps 1080p) the chromecast was consistently slightly clearer, with more fine detail, colour and less noise - SuperHD I assume.

This is with Unotelly, Fire TV wired, Chromecast over wifi, to my 1080p 50" tv, each alternately paused while the other plays.

Anyone have any idea what variables may be causing the disparity? Anything I can influence?

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sbowness

225 posts

Master Geek

Subscriber

#1087835 12-Jul-2014 19:22

freitasm: I don't see a BBC iPlayer in the native apps list. Anyone?

I've sideloaded the iPlayer app but it won't respond to the remote. Has anyone been able to make it work?

jakenz

52 posts

Master Geek

#1088092 13-Jul-2014 15:11

Debug mode for Fire TV - displays detailed stream info incl bitrates

To enter debug mode connect a USB keyboard and type CTL + alt + shift + D.

On my Fire TV it confirms what I suspected - Netflix quickly getting up to but topping out at 720p /3000kbps on House of Cards. Breaking Bad eventually went to 1080p /4300kbps but then alternated between this and 720p, sitting mostly on the latter.

Whereas on my PS3 both quickly reached '1080p Super HD' (displayed on screen when you click the ps3 remote's display button) and stayed there.

This also sort of backs up my suspicion that the Netflix test vid eventually getting the 5800kps stream on the Fire TV only at the end with those static test images doesn't prove much.

I'd be interested to hear what others find with this.

insane

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#1088149 13-Jul-2014 18:03

sbowness:
freitasm: I don't see a BBC iPlayer in the native apps list. Anyone?

I've sideloaded the iPlayer app but it won't respond to the remote. Has anyone been able to make it work?

I plugged a mouse into the USB port and was able to click around the app. I have the latest version 4.0.0.1175 but as soon as I try play anything I get a network error popup. Makes me wonder if the app has hard coded DNS settings, hope not.

Going to try see what requests are being sent through my router... stand by

*UPDATE*

App uses the system DNS serttings, must be something else..

jakenz

52 posts

Master Geek

#1088281 14-Jul-2014 00:13

Update: almost but no cigar!

With USB keyboard connected an alternative keystroke sequence brings up a bitrate override screen: CTL + shift + alt + s.

Use Tab keyboard key to tab between panels then PageUp / down keys to cycle between options. I got as far as selecting 5800kbps video bitrate and tabbing to highlight the 'override' (ok/execute) on-screen button but I can't find a keyboard key or combo that will 'press' this. Eg. Pressing enter/return merely toggles the underlying video between pause & play. Most keys do nothing at all. Others kick you out of the vid. Connecting a mouse brings up a round circle but clicking with left or right mouse buttons on the 'override' dialogue box does nothing. Maybe a combo of keyboard and mouse keys would work but I can't try both at once yet. If anyone could solve this final step I'd be much obliged.

Btw Googling draws a blank on this for the Fire Tv (though similar override screens exist for the Roku and silverlight/windows netflix players, albeit none have the 5800 bitrate) so if we got this working we might be breaking new ground...

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#1091623 18-Jul-2014 18:14

Amazon Fire TV updated, now includes Music streaming...

BigMal

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#1091952 19-Jul-2014 12:14

jakenz: Update: almost but no cigar!

With USB keyboard connected an alternative keystroke sequence brings up a bitrate override screen: CTL + shift + alt + s.

Use Tab keyboard key to tab between panels then PageUp / down keys to cycle between options. I got as far as selecting 5800kbps video bitrate and tabbing to highlight the 'override' (ok/execute) on-screen button but I can't find a keyboard key or combo that will 'press' this. Eg. Pressing enter/return merely toggles the underlying video between pause & play. Most keys do nothing at all. Others kick you out of the vid. Connecting a mouse brings up a round circle but clicking with left or right mouse buttons on the 'override' dialogue box does nothing. Maybe a combo of keyboard and mouse keys would work but I can't try both at once yet. If anyone could solve this final step I'd be much obliged.

Btw Googling draws a blank on this for the Fire Tv (though similar override screens exist for the Roku and silverlight/windows netflix players, albeit none have the 5800 bitrate) so if we got this working we might be breaking new ground...

I went a different route and hooked up the fire a number of different ways. I went...

1. Wireless with iptable DNS rewrite on a DD-WRT router
2. Wired with iptable DNS rewrite on DD-WRT router
3. Wired with getflix DNS on the Fire TV using Telecom supplied Thomson modem.

None the above solutions gave me anywhere near the Netflix streaming performance of the Roku or the Chromecast. The Fire TV would stream in SD for a good 5-10 minutes before, sometimes, getting up to HD (720p range). It's frustrating because it seems everyone else on here has had an excellent experience with the Fire TV and I have a Roku and Chromecast which both stream Netflix in HD in under a minute.

I also tried side loading the official Netflix app for Android but I couldn't navigate using the fire remote.

Ah well, I'll hold onto it for the short term and see if any Netflix app updates come out that might make a difference.

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#1091954 19-Jul-2014 12:16

As above, there's an update for Fire TV a couple of days ago. You can manually check for it. Also an update for the remote control.

It adds a new Music tab that allows you to stream music you purchased from Amazon before and to stream Prime. Also added a Prime tab and the tiles now show suggestions for Hulu and Netflix as well.

BigMal

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#1092430 20-Jul-2014 12:11

BigMal:

I went a different route and hooked up the fire a number of different ways. I went...

1. Wireless with iptable DNS rewrite on a DD-WRT router
2. Wired with iptable DNS rewrite on DD-WRT router
3. Wired with getflix DNS on the Fire TV using Telecom supplied Thomson modem.

None the above solutions gave me anywhere near the Netflix streaming performance of the Roku or the Chromecast. The Fire TV would stream in SD for a good 5-10 minutes before, sometimes, getting up to HD (720p range). It's frustrating because it seems everyone else on here has had an excellent experience with the Fire TV and I have a Roku and Chromecast which both stream Netflix in HD in under a minute.

I also tried side loading the official Netflix app for Android but I couldn't navigate using the fire remote.

Ah well, I'll hold onto it for the short term and see if any Netflix app updates come out that might make a difference.

Update:

My Netflix country is set to UK (because I prefer the UK shows, as do the kids). Anyway I switched Netflix to USA and what do you know everything starts streaming beautifully and quickly in HD.

My Fire TV is linked to a US Amazon account so I might try creating a UK Amazon account, switching back to Netflix UK and seeing if that improves UK Netflix streaming.

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