I just went through a few playlists and tried all of the UK categories that were labeled HD/RAW and everything played fine. NOW Tv Sports, Discovery Documentaries, Sky Cinema, Soccer channels etc. but I may not be trying the ones you are referring to.
I have several providers so if you let me know a specific channel I can check, but I haven’t found any that won’t play.
I have an SK1 and while it does have Amlogic and AI upscaling, the AM9 has the better processor chip, which I have found to give a more vibrant, upscaled image. In his review on the SK1, Troy indicated he did not see that much of a difference with the upscaling. I did but have got to say the upscaling on the AM9 is even more noticable.
Since you tagged me in your post I will reply.
I haven’t seen a side by side comparison so can’t comment on how much better it actually is. As for some not seeing much of an improvement that is also dependent on the quality and model of the TV as some manufacturers have better upscaling and this gets better depending on what range of model you buy because the flagship models always have the best processors and will have better upscaling of lower resolution content.
As for a better processor the Amlogic S905x5 doesn’t outperform the Amlogic S928X-K in benchmarks scores when used in Ugoos devices.
You can see the benchmark scores achieved by the current Ugoos devices from the Tvboxstop
Ai upscaling is hard to quantify since picture quality is very subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
While the S928 does indeed have more processing power the S905x5 has more AI computing power.
| AI computing
| operations per seconds | 4 TOPS | 3.2 TOPS |
|---|
That is 25% more. As to how that relates to any actual picture improvement or any improvement in the internal upscaling engine, it is definitely close and depends greatly on settings, the content being upscaled and the TV displaying the result.
I find with playing in the settings, both the SK1 and AM9 produce better results than the Shield Pro. I’ve subjected my wife and daughter to “which looks better” tests and the AM9 wins in more tests that they had an actual preference. It is not a night and day difference, and results vary, and no one should think upscaling in a magic bullet, but there is a definite improvement for some content.
Both the SK1 and AM9 are great boxes. I wish Ugoos would release the AM9Pro with Dolby Vision and/or release a 64bit update to the SK1 since 64 bit will be the standard moving forward. Either of those would be close to perfection.
Thanks for your comments. I did a side by side comparison of the SK1 and AM9 on my 65” LG Oled and the difference in upscaling was visible, with the AM9 giving the sharper, more detailed image, with the same video settings on both boxes. Both boxes definitely give a better image than either the PS6 or the Shield.
AM9 is my future. Someday 
. TP’s review should drop any day now, yes?
Thanks for replying. I wasn’t able to post again for 24 hours! I don’t want to inadvertently break any rules by talking specific IPTV providers.
It wouldn’t be the NOW TV channels. Perhaps try FHD versions of BBC or ITV channels in UK entertainment? You can sometimes tell if it is a satellite feed because there can occasionally be a split second of pixelated squares on the screen when the channel initially loads.
Appreciate you looking into this for me. I’m UK-based so this bug would impact me quite a bit.
I went and checked and there is indeed stutter or freeze on some of them. Sorry
Ahh dammit. Hopefully Android devs get around to squashing that A14 bug soon. Thanks for confirming. 
Just a comment on the TV BoxStop rankings, which appear based mostly on the Antutu Benchmark test. The Antutu scores are hardly a be-all-end-all for rating a tv/android device. The top ranked PS6 has a score of over 663,000 vs. the AM9 at 271,000, yet there is no doubt the AM9 has the better video images in a side-by-side comparison due to the existence of the Amlogic/AI upscaling settings and the S905X5 processor.
I think you’ve made your point on upscaling! But I personally think for the average viewer with a top end tv, that already upscales, there would be no discernible difference to the human eye. Also coupled with a different device that already upscales, I begin to wonder just how much better we need it to be! This is a subjective issue and will vary between users.
Regarding your comment on tvboxstop ratings being based on attitude score,I have to disagree with you.
It is based upon the testing of every facet of a device, including hardware/ software/ performance etc etc.
Hence the AM8Pro/Am8/ SK1 are above the AM9.
To each his own. I own an SK1 and did a side by side comparison with the AM9 on my 65” Oled tv. With the same video settings the AM9 had the better video image. I believe the difference is because of the S905X5 processor.
I have an LG OLED and it does a good job upscaling but one advantage of having a box like the AM9 etc is you can adjust some of the setting to try to tweak the picture to your taste, most TVs don’t allow much adjustment of upscalling. And if there is no improvement you can also just turn it off on the box and use the TV.
And yes, chasing the last little bit of improvment is definitly on the fring, but it can be fun.
I agree we have about maxed out on this technology, video resolution and what is visible to the human eye. Except for very large screen sizes, I think 8K will be irrelevant to most consumers. That won’t stop the industry from hyping it though.
There are folks that want the latest and greatest every time. Perhaps I was like that back in the day. Now I want simple.
I have Samsung’s phone # for tech support. I call it when I need this info. AI has abilities in their tv that make a picture convert from 360 to 4k
My TV is almost 8 years old and I still like it. No clue if AI helps its’ picture. Not sure if AI existed back then for this stuff. Thanks and welcome. We have a fabulous community here thanks to Troy and Miki.
Thanks for the information. I’m thinking about buying one.
I have heard multiple times that the processor in the AM9 is faster than in the SK1. Amlogic S905X5 vs the S928X-K. Can someone fill me in on what I’m missing? I know the AnTuTu score isn’t everything (attached), but this comparison isn’t even close between the two. A box that is close to $100 cheaper in some cases, usually doesn’t have the same tier of hardware as the more budget boxes. Don’t get me wrong, from everything that I have seen so far about the AM9, I think it is a great value for its price. I’m just curious what I’m missing.
The difference in total Antutu benchmark scores between the SK1 (306,000) and AM9 (271,000), aren’t that big. The max processor speeds are 2400 on the AM9 and 2000 on the SK1. The NPU/AI performance is 4 TOPS on the AM9 vs. 3.2 TOPS on the SK1. The AM9 also has the H266 video codec which the SK1 does not. Most other features are the same. Based on my usage of both the AM9 and the SK1, the AM9 has the better, more visible upscaling of 720 and 1080p streams which is the primary reason I got it.
