Frame Drops on HDR/Dolby Vision Content on TCL C805 TV with Google TV

[psychedelicu 3]

Hello, I'm experiencing frequent frame drops (not stuttering) on HDR/Dolby Vision 4K content while using Jellyfin and Emby on my TCL C805 TV running Google TV (Android v12). This occurs during Direct Play and affects only HDR/Dolby Vision content—SDR and x264 content play without issues. The same problem also occurs on Netflix and other streaming apps. It seems the TV remains locked at 60Hz, causing frame drops when playing 23Hz content. Both "Enable Refresh Rate Switching" and "Match Video Resolution" settings do not appear to work correctly on this TV or Android TV platform in general. Are there any known issues or fixes for frame rate switching on TCL TVs or Android TV? This is severely affecting the viewing experience for HDR content. Any help would be appreciated. Note: If i use Kodi as external player is working fine.

[rbjtech 5284]

Does Kodi change the TV display refresh rate correctly ?

If the other apps have issues, then I believe it is likely a problem with your TV/firmware and/or internal Android limitations/restrictions. 

Kodi may be doing some extra internal work to make 23.976Hz (film) or 24Hz (Apple TV) look reasonable on a 60Hz display or as they have their own display 'drivers' (they don't use the default Android stack) they have have been able to find a way to change the display refresh rate from the app. 

[visproduction 315]

3 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Kodi may be doing some extra internal work to make 23.976Hz (film) or 24Hz (Apple TV) look reasonable on a 60Hz display or as they have their own display 'drivers' (they don't use the default Android stack) they have have been able to find a way to change the display refresh rate from the app. 

Don't you mean 23.976 fps and 24 fps?  

[rbjtech 5284]

21 minutes ago, visproduction said:

Don't you mean 23.976 fps and 24 fps?  

Technically yes, but Hz is fully accepted as also being correct - being the SI unit of number of events per second - in this case frames.

but I fully get the fps vs Hz debate - ie a 30fps display actually shows 4 identical frames on a 120Hz display etc.

"Kodi may be doing some extra internal work to make 23.976 fps (film) or 24 fps (Apple TV) look reasonable on a 60Hz display" ..  

Edited September 12, 2024 by rbjtech

[psychedelicu 3]

4 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Does Kodi change the TV display refresh rate correctly ?

If the other apps have issues, then I believe it is likely a problem with your TV/firmware and/or internal Android limitations/restrictions. 

Kodi may be doing some extra internal work to make 23.976Hz (film) or 24Hz (Apple TV) look reasonable on a 60Hz display or as they have their own display 'drivers' (they don't use the default Android stack) they have have been able to find a way to change the display refresh rate from the app. 

How can I check if Kodi or Emby changes the refresh rate? I will return the TV anyway and buy another model. Maybe there is some issue with mine, but there are people who have the same problem with many TCL models on avforums, reddit and TCL telegram channel.

The reason I am here is because everybody use Kodi, Shield Pro or any other tv stick to avoid frame drops and i want to use just Emby client app with this TV because i really like it.

On LG and Samsung i don't have this issue.

[rbjtech 5284]

3 hours ago, psychedelicu said:

How can I check if Kodi or Emby changes the refresh rate?

On a refresh rate change, the TV usually blanks the screen for half a second or so - and on many, it displays the new Refresh rate as an overlay for a few seconds.   You may also be able to use the remote ('info' or something like that) to check the refresh rate.

[psychedelicu 3]

1 hour ago, rbjtech said:

On a refresh rate change, the TV usually blanks the screen for half a second or so - and on many, it displays the new Refresh rate as an overlay for a few seconds.   You may also be able to use the remote ('info' or something like that) to check the refresh rate.

On screen don't appear any notice and i can't find any settings to view the info. Also in Kodi settings appear 60hz. Somebody in avforum said that TCL hardcoded their OS to 4k@60hz. 

[rbjtech 5284]

12 hours ago, psychedelicu said:

On screen don't appear any notice and i can't find any settings to view the info. Also in Kodi settings appear 60hz. Somebody in avforum said that TCL hardcoded their OS to 4k@60hz. 

In which case, Kodi is not setting the correct Refresh rate - there is nothing any app can do if it's hard set.   I would return the TV - it's not optimal for proper film viewing.

[psychedelicu 3]

2 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

In which case, Kodi is not setting the correct Refresh rate - there is nothing any app can do if it's hard set.   I would return the TV - it's not optimal for proper film viewing.

I just filled the return request. So TCL don't make TV's for movies. I keep hearing this.

[psychedelicu 3]

I replaced the TV with a newer model form 2024, TCL C765 (the previous one was 2023), and is doing the same.. 

[rbjtech 5284]

On 13/09/2024 at 08:36, psychedelicu said:

I just filled the return request. So TCL don't make TV's for movies. I keep hearing this.

1 hour ago, psychedelicu said:

I replaced the TV with a newer model form 2024, TCL C765 (the previous one was 2023), and is doing the same.. 

Buy a different brand of TV that does support this function... ? 

 

[psychedelicu 3]

3 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Buy a different brand of TV that does support this function... ? 

 

TCL support this, but i think the apps needs adjustments, i'm not sure.