Replace HiMedia Player with MX Player completely

[Eriol]

I'm not really like the fact that HiMedia player is getting worse and worse with every new fw so  I tried and managed to replace HiMedia Player with MX Player recently. What I got so far:

HD Audio passthrough working
10bit HDR working with correct aspect ratio
Subtitles working
Smooth, shuttering free playback (with 23.976fps as well)
SMB playback with subtitles works via Total Commander (needs wrapper via Kodi)
Imprex configurable from MX Player with patch: Unofficial Remote Patch
Optimized playercorefactory.xml:
     Wrapper (HiMediaPlayer) and VideoPlayer (Kodi's player) still selectable in the "Play using..." menu
     VideoPlayer (Kodi's player) automatically plays DVDs, DVD files and ISOs
     Wrapper (HiMediaPlayer) automatically plays Bluray folders and ISOs (In Kodi select: Show Blu-ray menu)

Pros:
Faster and more responsive seeking
Much better subtitle handling and styling (there are fading effects, etc)
Full SSA subtitle support
More flexible and configurable interface
4K HDR "Lucy" problem is solved in the latest version

Cons:
Auto framerate switching not completely implemented (but still got smooth, shuttering free playback)
Direct SMB/NFS playback via Kodi needs XBMC Wrapper to work as with HiMedia Player


How to set up (Kodi 17.x):

1. Installed MX Player Free from store.
2. MX Player settings: Decoder -> Turn off all HW+ and SW video/audio option.
3. Shutdown Kodi if it's running (from within Kodi or you can use the sweeper icon in the main screen)
4. Enabe SAMBA:  Settings -> More -> SAMBA Service (at Personal menu) -> SAMBA
5. Use a computer to open the samba share on the device using it's IP address (eg: \\192.168.1.100)
6. Find and edit \sdcard\Android\data\org.xbmc.kodi\files\.kodi\userdata\playercorefactory.xml on the device as follows:

Code: [Select]

<playercorefactory>
<players>

<player name="MXPlayerFree" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
<filename>com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad</filename>
<hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc>
<playcountminimumtime>120</playcountminimumtime>
</player>

<player name="Wrapper" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
<filename>com.himedia.xbmcwrapper</filename>
<hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc>
<playcountminimumtime>120</playcountminimumtime>
</player>

</players>

<rules action="prepend">

<!--Video Rules-->
<rule video="true" player="MXPlayerFree" >
<rule videocodec="mpeg2" player="VideoPlayer" />
<rule filetypes="iso|bdmv" player="Wrapper" />
</rule>

<!--Audio Rules-->
<rule audio="true" player="PAplayer" />

<!--Stream Rules-->
<rule internetstream="true" player="VideoPlayer" />
<rule protocols="http|https|rtmp|sop|pvr" player="VideoPlayer" />

</rules>
</playercorefactory>

For MX Player Pro use the following:

Code: [Select]

<playercorefactory>
<players>

<player name="MXPlayerPro" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
<filename>com.mxtech.videoplayer.pro</filename>
<hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc>
<playcountminimumtime>120</playcountminimumtime>
</player>

<player name="Wrapper" type="ExternalPlayer" audio="false" video="true">
<filename>com.himedia.xbmcwrapper</filename>
<hidexbmc>true</hidexbmc>
<playcountminimumtime>120</playcountminimumtime>
</player>

</players>

<rules action="prepend">

<!--Video Rules-->
<rule video="true" player="MXPlayerPro" >
<rule videocodec="mpeg2" player="VideoPlayer" />
<rule filetypes="iso|bdmv" player="Wrapper" />
</rule>

<!--Audio Rules-->
<rule audio="true" player="PAplayer" />

<!--Stream Rules-->
<rule internetstream="true" player="VideoPlayer" />
<rule protocols="http|https|rtmp|sop|pvr" player="VideoPlayer" />

</rules>
</playercorefactory>

For Kodi 16 you need to replace all VideoPlayer entries with DVDPlayer.

You either need to play your media from an attached HDD or you need to use mountpoints to access your network shares and configure Kodi to access the library through these mountpoints. Howto can be found here:
Persistent mountpoints for SAMBA / NFS Shares

In case of audio issues (this audio format ac3 is not supported) you can download this open source ffmpeg codec (or just use wrapper for that file):
MX Player Custom Codec
With this codec you can enable HW+ settings as well.

Other useful links:
MX Player shortcuts
MX Player Pro icon guide

[honto]

But, can MX Player play HDR videos?
As far as I know, only Himedia Player can play HDR videos perfectly, and it also supports 10bit videos. (Any player I found on Google Store is only 8bit, even Kodi)

[Eriol]

But, can MX Player play HDR videos?
As far as I know, only Himedia Player can play HDR videos perfectly, and it also supports 10bit videos. (Any player I found on Google Store is only 8bit, even Kodi)

It plays HEVC 10bit perfectly and plays HDR videos as well, however I don't know if its passes the HDR metadata to the TV so it's really HDR or not. You can try it if you want.

And you can still switch in the Kodi menu if you want to play something with HiMedia Player.

[honto]

Download this video sample to see the difference:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5hiymahhqfyzzf3/Spears_Munsil_Quantazation_Test_2160p.mp4  (15 MB)

You must play it in a UHD TV with HDMI Ultra Deep Color feature switched ON

And set the configuration in the box (Q10):
-2160p 60Hz
-YCbCr420 10Bit
-HDR10

Play it with any player (Kodi, MX Player, etc...).
You'll see that only Himedia Player (MediaCenter) can truly display 10Bit.

[looun]

Why use MX Player ? it not have any sense 
- No auto switch FPS
- No HD audio

If you don't like himedia player , you can use kodi DVDplayer so you have auto switch FPS with HI-addon.

PS if you have some issues  try flash last firmware with recovery mod  not OTA. 

[Eriol]

- No auto switch FPS

I have smooth playback and didn't saw any shuttering with MX Player so playback is good enough for me.

- No HD audio

DTS/DD passthrough as I wrote before is working perfectly, thats more than enough for me as my Q5 is connected to a AV receiver.

Why use MX Player ? it not have any sense 

Because subtitle handling is getting worse and worse in HiMedia player. It does not handle subtitle tags, auto encoding recognition never worked line placement is badly implemented and now it does not show subtitle lines if they are too close in time to each other (not just overlapping but a few ms).

MX player has a more user friendly interface, much more customizable, seeking into video is way faster and more responsive, and the subtitle styles looks much better and handle subtitles perfectly.


I may switch back to HiMedia Player if they can (ever) fix the subtitle handling issues but till then I had enough from their player app.

[Eriol]

Download this video sample to see the difference:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5hiymahhqfyzzf3/Spears_Munsil_Quantazation_Test_2160p.mp4  (15 MB)

You must play it in a UHD TV with HDMI Ultra Deep Color feature switched ON

And set the configuration in the box (Q10):
-2160p 60Hz
-YCbCr420 10Bit
-HDR10

Play it with any player (Kodi, MX Player, etc...).
You'll see that only Himedia Player (MediaCenter) can truly display 10Bit.

10bit HEVC: encoding works with MX player, I tried that.
HDR: I can't try that, because I don't have a HDR compatible TV. However it plays HDR videos I tried that.

But you can try it yourself,  just install MX Player to your box and play any video without setting anything else.

[futeko.com]

If you don't need 7.1 HD-Audio, 10bit HDR, framerate switching then MX Player is better in some ways (interface / subtitles).

Thanks for posting the instructions on how to change player.

[Eriol]

If you don't need 7.1 HD-Audio, 10bit HDR, framerate switching then MX Player is better in some ways (interface / subtitles).

Thanks for posting the instructions on how to change player.

7.1 HD-Audio works with passthrough as well, no?

Does someone tried HDR with MX Player at all? I'm just curios.

[Fa.Ch]

I can try this evening if nobody made the test before

[Eriol]

I can try this evening if nobody made the test before

Did you managed to test this?

[dorol]

Workaround for subtitles in Mx player?
Playing from a synology, not showing subtitles, must manually copy them on sd card.

[Eriol]

Workaround for subtitles in Mx player?
Playing from a synology, not showing subtitles, must manually copy them on sd card.

They showing up for me, i rename all my subtitle to have the same name as the move itself.

You may try to use menu button while playing -> Subtitle -> Open
This way you can chose any subtitle you want.

[dorol]

Workaround for subtitles in Mx player?
Playing from a synology, not showing subtitles, must manually copy them on sd card.

They showing up for me, i rename all my subtitle to have the same name as the move itself.

You may try to use menu button while playing -> Subtitle -> Open
This way you can chose any subtitle you want.

 Subtitle -> Open point me to sd card.
My subtitles are in the same folder with movies, over samba, in my synology device.

And yes, same name like movie

[Eriol]

They are working for me if I rename the subtitle to have the same name as the move itself.

Like this:
2046.2004.BluRay.720p.DTS.x264.mkv
2046.2004.BluRay.720p.DTS.x264.srt