Can FFP playback 4k video?

[spaulgal]

HiAll
FPP instances can be very useful for video playback. We use a bunch of them for various things including stand-alone looping kiosks and of course FPP remotes playing video which is synced to a larger lightshows.

I have a new instance (FPP 7.5, Pi4) which will be a standalone player looping videos in our lobby. I want this one to be 4k, which we are trying with FPP for the first time. When we attempt to play a 4k video, the screen output is just black. If I switch to a 1080p video, those videos will display fine. The display is 2160p, so that should not be the issue. Also I ensured that we are using a 4k capable cable (micro > full HDMI).

I also tried moving the FPP device to another (known-working) 2160p monitor and got the same black screen.

I tried a few of the FPP settings in system (force 2160p output) and got the same result.

BTW, in the FPP dashboard, it does show that the video is playing... I can see the appropriate time elapsed / time remaining.

Any ideas?

 

[dkulp]

The Pi4 has a hardware limit on h264 encoded video of 1080p. If you want higher, you need to use h265. You could try using Handbrake to re-encode the video and see if that helps.

 

[spaulgal]

Thanks Dan. I tried a compressing a short video with handbrake in h.265 and got the same black screen-- when in 3840x2160.
I tried a few different bitrates and all showed black.