How to know if a 1080 video is being played in 1080 or 720?

[Kryzon]

I have an Android TV box and I use Kodi.
From the Kodi app system settings, it says that Kodi's UI resolution is 1280x720, even though my TV is 1080, and the TV box features saying that it is definitely "full HD (1080p60Hz)". So, for some reason, my TV box is only letting Kodi display on 1280x720.

In the Kodi docs it says that the UI resolution doesn't impact on playback, so "if you play a 1080 video, Kodi will send a 1080 video signal to the device".

But how can I verify that?
My idea was to create a short 1080 video with straight lines and single pixels and lossless compression, and seeing if those pixels and lines are lost when the video is played back -- meaning, the video is being downscaled by my TV box.

Is there any other way to debug if the device is letting Kodi send a legitimate 1080 video signal to my TV?

[jagabo]

Here's a 1920x1080 test video for you. With pixel-for-pixel mapping on a 1920x1080 TV/monitor you should be able to see every alternating dark and light line. If you see moire patterns the video is being scaled somewhere.

[jagabo]

And what do you mean by "the TV box features saying that it is definitely 'full HD (1080p60Hz)'" ? Is that an on-screen status display? Or just the advertising say it has a 1080p60 display? Early full HD TV's had 1080p60 displays but only accepted 1080i30 input (which was then deinterlaced to 1080p60 for display).

What happens if you force KODI to output 1080p60?

[Sharc]

Here's a 1920x1080 test video for you. With pixel-for-pixel mapping on a 1920x1080 TV/monitor you should be able to see every alternating dark and light line. If you see moire patterns the video is being scaled somewhere.

I have to turn the sharpening setting of my 1920x1080 TV way down as its sharpener tends to produce some kind of moire, even at its factory default setting.

[mammo1789]

I have an Android TV box and I use Kodi.
From the Kodi app system settings, it says that Kodi's UI resolution is 1280x720, even though my TV is 1080, and the TV box features saying that it is definitely "full HD (1080p60Hz)". So, for some reason, my TV box is only letting Kodi display on 1280x720.

Kodi on Android boxes with low memory 1,2 gb limits UI to 720p to save memory it has nothing to do with playback or display as you said only UI, playback depends of the capabilities of the soc some can go to 4k (almost all advertise that they can) or even 8K H264/H265 even HDR so don't worry .

You can set display output in settings/display

[Kryzon]

Thanks all!

Here's a 1920x1080 test video for you. With pixel-for-pixel mapping on a 1920x1080 TV/monitor you should be able to see every alternating dark and light line. If you see moire patterns the video is being scaled somewhere.

Oh wow, that's exactly what I was looking for.
Will try it first with the built-in media player on that TV box as the "ground truth", then later from within Kodi.

And what do you mean by "the TV box features saying that it is definitely 'full HD (1080p60Hz)'" ? Is that an on-screen status display? Or just the advertising say it has a 1080p60 display?

The advertising on the box mentions it's "full HD", and the manual says that the device can output 1080p at 60 and/or 30 FPS.
Edit: in case someone drops by from a web search, it's the Brazilian IzyPlay TV box by Intelbras.

What happens if you force KODI to output 1080p60?

The option is grayed out, it can't be changed. But the Kodi docs say that that's only the UI resolution anyway, and playback will output the video as is.

[jagabo]

The advertising on the box mentions it's "full HD", and the manual says that the device can output 1080p at 60 and/or 30 FPS.

That doesn't mean it accepts 1080p60 as an input.

What happens if you set the Android TV box to 1080p60 output? On my cheap box it's under Settings -> Device Preferences -> Display -> Screen Resolution -> Display Mode. The choices range from 480p60 to 4K60.

[Kryzon]

That doesn't mean it accepts 1080p60 as an input.

What happens if you set the Android TV box to 1080p60 output? On my cheap box it's under Settings -> Device Preferences -> Display -> Screen Resolution -> Display Mode. The choices range from 480p60 to 4K60.

I checked those device display settings, the highest setting available is 1080p60, and if I choose any lower and then turn on "Auto switch to best resolution", it goes to 1080p60.
The Netflix app and the screensaver pictures seem to go that high at least, using all pixels of the TV.

[jagabo]

That doesn't mean it accepts 1080p60 as an input.

What happens if you set the Android TV box to 1080p60 output? On my cheap box it's under Settings -> Device Preferences -> Display -> Screen Resolution -> Display Mode. The choices range from 480p60 to 4K60.

I checked those device display settings, the highest setting available is 1080p60, and if I choose any lower and then turn on "Auto switch to best resolution", it goes to 1080p60.

So your Android TV box is sending 1080p60 to the TV and the TV is displaying it.

On my Android TV box the options go up toe 4K because it's connected to a 4K TV.

[johnnycage15]

Here's a 1920x1080 test video for you. With pixel-for-pixel mapping on a 1920x1080 TV/monitor you should be able to see every alternating dark and light line. If you see moire patterns the video is being scaled somewhere.

Great, thank you!