After some testing, I wanted to document the current state of 4K playback on the Raspberry Pi 4 under Android TV based on my latest experiences, in case it’s helpful for other users with similar expectations.
Setup:
Raspberry Pi 4B (4 GB)
KonstaKANG / LineageOS 23.0 (Android TV)
Local 4K HEVC (H.265) files
Observed:
4K HEVC files exhibit micro-stuttering in Kodi and fail or drop frames in other players, preventing smooth playback.
CPU and memory usage do not reach maximum values.
CPU overclocking does not produce noticeable improvements in playback.
Comparison:
On Android TV, CPU usage during playback stays below ~50%.
The same files play completely smoothly on LibreELEC (Kodi) using hardware decoding.
This confirms that the Raspberry Pi 4 hardware is capable of efficiently handling 4K HEVC playback when the video decoder is used correctly.
Root cause (according to Konsta):
On Android, the current hardware H.265 decoding implementation based on FFmpeg still relies on the CPU for buffer copying and “detiling” operations.
This creates bottlenecks; even if hardware decoding is enabled, in practice it is not fully utilized or not used at all, and much of the processing ends up being done in software, negatively affecting 4K playback.
A key point is the HAL: Android relies on it to communicate with the Raspberry Pi drivers. If the HAL is not fully optimized to use all driver functions, hardware decoding is not fully leveraged.
This also raises the question of whether current drivers are fully optimized for Android TV, as some functions necessary for full 4K may not be exposed or used correctly.
HEVC remains primarily relevant for local 4K content, such as files stored on a NAS or UHD Blu-ray rips, which are the cases where playback issues are observed.
Conclusion:
The observed limitation appears to be due to the Android video pipeline or driver optimization on the Raspberry Pi, not the hardware itself.
LibreELEC/Kodi remains the most robust option for local 4K HEVC playback, demonstrating that the hardware can handle it efficiently.
Android TV, while currently limited in 4K performance, is appealing for its ease of installing and using Android apps (APKs).
Future potential / collaboration:
This leaves open the possibility that, in the future, Android TV on Raspberry Pi could better leverage the hardware for 4K playback, provided the HAL and drivers are properly optimized, although it is currently limited by the Android video pipeline.
Please, if anyone has tested with different results, share your findings. On the other hand, if anyone can confirm that my observations about Android TV are incorrect, or provide any insights, I would greatly appreciate it.![😉]()
Cheers!
Setup:
Raspberry Pi 4B (4 GB)
KonstaKANG / LineageOS 23.0 (Android TV)
Local 4K HEVC (H.265) files
Observed:
4K HEVC files exhibit micro-stuttering in Kodi and fail or drop frames in other players, preventing smooth playback.
CPU and memory usage do not reach maximum values.
CPU overclocking does not produce noticeable improvements in playback.
Comparison:
On Android TV, CPU usage during playback stays below ~50%.
The same files play completely smoothly on LibreELEC (Kodi) using hardware decoding.
This confirms that the Raspberry Pi 4 hardware is capable of efficiently handling 4K HEVC playback when the video decoder is used correctly.
Root cause (according to Konsta):
On Android, the current hardware H.265 decoding implementation based on FFmpeg still relies on the CPU for buffer copying and “detiling” operations.
This creates bottlenecks; even if hardware decoding is enabled, in practice it is not fully utilized or not used at all, and much of the processing ends up being done in software, negatively affecting 4K playback.
A key point is the HAL: Android relies on it to communicate with the Raspberry Pi drivers. If the HAL is not fully optimized to use all driver functions, hardware decoding is not fully leveraged.
This also raises the question of whether current drivers are fully optimized for Android TV, as some functions necessary for full 4K may not be exposed or used correctly.
HEVC remains primarily relevant for local 4K content, such as files stored on a NAS or UHD Blu-ray rips, which are the cases where playback issues are observed.
Conclusion:
The observed limitation appears to be due to the Android video pipeline or driver optimization on the Raspberry Pi, not the hardware itself.
LibreELEC/Kodi remains the most robust option for local 4K HEVC playback, demonstrating that the hardware can handle it efficiently.
Android TV, while currently limited in 4K performance, is appealing for its ease of installing and using Android apps (APKs).
Future potential / collaboration:
This leaves open the possibility that, in the future, Android TV on Raspberry Pi could better leverage the hardware for 4K playback, provided the HAL and drivers are properly optimized, although it is currently limited by the Android video pipeline.
Please, if anyone has tested with different results, share your findings. On the other hand, if anyone can confirm that my observations about Android TV are incorrect, or provide any insights, I would greatly appreciate it.
Cheers!
Statistics: Posted by RU_RPI — Thu Jan 01, 2026 11:50 pm