Simple questions on starting to use Android box to replace CTH

[partington]

With the GMM-Z pay TV debacle (taken over by CTH, suddenly terminating all pre-paid packages even with a year outstanding, promising to replace the now useless GMM-Z box with one that works and compensating for withdrawal of unsupplied but paid-for packages, but not delivering, etc etc) I have decided to try to replace the service with an android box and internet TV.

I am in BKK and have 13/1 True internet. I can get torrents at 1.5MB/s, so my speed, at least on multi threaded downloads, is close to specification.

I'm completely new to android TV, and so know literally nothing about it, but reading around while I wait for my mail-ordered box to arrive, it seems like it will come with some version of Kodi on it, and I will have to update, then download specific add-ons or pre-builds to get exactly what I want.

What I want, at least at the start, is to just replace pretty much what I was getting with the GMM-Z Platinum package. The Platinum package had Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo, Fox Thai, Fox HD, Fox Premium Movies, Fox Crime, Warner TV, Starworld HD, and so on. I'm not interested in any sport so this doesn't matter, but I really hate watching low-quality, non-HD TV now, so 720p is the absolute minimum that I would accept.

It seems like the easiest way to do this may be to just pay for ilikeHD, even though this is basically a pirating operation and could disappear at a moment's notice.

So question 1. Are the ilikeHD streams HD? The name seems obvious but will my speed REALLY let me watch 720p without continual buffering?

question 2. Is my internet speed fast enough to watch 720p (or DVD quality for movies) from the various Kodi add-ons that may be streamed

from overseas?

question 3. If the add-ons or pre-builds relying on overseas streams will allow me to watch 720p TV/DVD movie definition, is there a build or

add-on that anyone could recommend to get the channels I want without an ilikeHD subscription?

Finally many of the pre-build sites I've seen say install on a "fresh installation of Kodi". It might be very obvious once I get the box, but how exactly do you uninstall Kodi and do a fresh installation?

Thanks for any help!

[dddave]

I used to have hair.

Then I cut True and got Kodi.

Now, I have no hair....but I'm reading a lot more books.

Seriously, steep learning curve.

[steve187]

android boxes are just that android boxes. you uninstall apps as you do on your smart phone,

if you can not manage that, then kodi isn't for you

you tube is your friend with all things kodi

[Mooner]

ILikehd is very reliable and had been going for years.

You don't need kodi for android boxes especially as you are not tech savi. You can learn from YOUTUBE as mentioned.

Showbox, mobdro and other apps can service your needs. These apps are not on playstore but can be found on Google search.

I would never go back to satellite.

[recom273]

As a android TV n00b .. I installed andys build and its OK. Not great, but ..

I think the thing is to find the right build that suits you, this will have the right channels pre-loaded to give you a start.

I use my box for UK news/live UK TV and to stream torrented movies and TV from a computer in another room. I use FTVUK to get most programming.

I have been using torrents for many years and to me, I do notice a difference in the HD movies, they seem to be a lower bitrate than a well encoded movie over wifi.

My box won't stream a 1080 movie over wifi - I haven't done any research but I guess you get what you pay for, at 1200b I didn't expect top quality.

I had issues with a corrupt build, I deleted Kodi which then wouldn't reinstall from the play store so i did a clean install from a USB drive then loaded a build on top. So this is one way to do a fresh install.

You should be able to get some decent viewing without interruptions on your line, I have times when its not possible to watch some channels and sometimes badly encoded movies force the box to lock up when streaming over wifi.

The one negative, apart from the cheap hardware and unreliability of the set up is the quantity over quality. There's too many sources to get the same programming.

[partington]

As a android TV n00b .. I installed andys build and its OK. Not great, but ..

I think the thing is to find the right build that suits you, this will have the right channels pre-loaded to give you a start.

I use my box for UK news/live UK TV and to stream torrented movies and TV from a computer in another room. I use FTVUK to get most programming.

I have been using torrents for many years and to me, I do notice a difference in the HD movies, they seem to be a lower bitrate than a well encoded movie over wifi.

My box won't stream a 1080 movie over wifi - I haven't done any research but I guess you get what you pay for, at 1200b I didn't expect top quality.

I had issues with a corrupt build, I deleted Kodi which then wouldn't reinstall from the play store so i did a clean install from a USB drive then loaded a build on top. So this is one way to do a fresh install.

You should be able to get some decent viewing without interruptions on your line, I have times when its not possible to watch some channels and sometimes badly encoded movies force the box to lock up when streaming over wifi.

The one negative, apart from the cheap hardware and unreliability of the set up is the quantity over quality. There's too many sources to get the same programming.

Thanks, this is just the kind of info I was looking for. Obviously I'm googling and reading now, and will experiment with the box once it arrives.

I think that, although I'm a Brit, I probably won't be that bothered about live UK TV , as the time difference makes it a bit awkward to watch, and I can torrent the stuff I really like.

I do like surfing channels when I'm watching TV though, as you come across stuff that you wouldn't think to download, but if you accidentally stumble on them they can be quite interesting ( like 1958 "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" with big actors before they got famous...)

[TheCruncher]

Your speed is plenty to view 1080P streams.

[recom273]

Thanks, this is just the kind of info I was looking for. Obviously I'm googling and reading now, and will experiment with the box once it arrives.

I think that, although I'm a Brit, I probably won't be that bothered about live UK TV , as the time difference makes it a bit awkward to watch, and I can torrent the stuff I really like.

I do like surfing channels when I'm watching TV though, as you come across stuff that you wouldn't think to download, but if you accidentally stumble on them they can be quite interesting ( like 1958 "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" with big actors before they got famous...)

Yeah, this is exactly what I do, I have well organized torrent sites for movies, UK and US TV.

I enjoy watching news over breakfast and the wife is addicted to Noel Edmond's deal or no deal. The best drama / series seems to be on US TV.

Just find the right build with the right channels to surf, I think you will be at home.

What box did you buy ? I bought a MXQ box - is OK as a cheap intro.

[TheCruncher]

As a android TV n00b .. I installed andys build and its OK. Not great, but ..

I think the thing is to find the right build that suits you, this will have the right channels pre-loaded to give you a start.

I use my box for UK news/live UK TV and to stream torrented movies and TV from a computer in another room. I use FTVUK to get most programming.

I have been using torrents for many years and to me, I do notice a difference in the HD movies, they seem to be a lower bitrate than a well encoded movie over wifi.

My box won't stream a 1080 movie over wifi - I haven't done any research but I guess you get what you pay for, at 1200b I didn't expect top quality.

I had issues with a corrupt build, I deleted Kodi which then wouldn't reinstall from the play store so i did a clean install from a USB drive then loaded a build on top. So this is one way to do a fresh install.

You should be able to get some decent viewing without interruptions on your line, I have times when its not possible to watch some channels and sometimes badly encoded movies force the box to lock up when streaming over wifi.

The one negative, apart from the cheap hardware and unreliability of the set up is the quantity over quality. There's too many sources to get the same programming.

I think the thing is to spend some time on the Kodi related forums and download the addons that you're interested in. Always try to keep the box as neat as possible, it will improve the performance. Every build has far to many addons that you never will use and only clutter the system memory. Also every week addons stop being supported and other become available.

The trick is to choose those addons that have the least server load.

[partington]

Thanks, this is just the kind of info I was looking for. Obviously I'm googling and reading now, and will experiment with the box once it arrives.

I think that, although I'm a Brit, I probably won't be that bothered about live UK TV , as the time difference makes it a bit awkward to watch, and I can torrent the stuff I really like.

I do like surfing channels when I'm watching TV though, as you come across stuff that you wouldn't think to download, but if you accidentally stumble on them they can be quite interesting ( like 1958 "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" with big actors before they got famous...)

Yeah, this is exactly what I do, I have well organized torrent sites for movies, UK and US TV.

I enjoy watching news over breakfast and the wife is addicted to Noel Edmond's deal or no deal. The best drama / series seems to be on US TV.

Just find the right build with the right channels to surf, I think you will be at home.

What box did you buy ? I bought a MXQ box - is OK as a cheap intro.

Exactly the one I got- MX Q pro- cheap start up in case it didn't work out!

[recom273]

I think the thing is to spend some time on the Kodi related forums and download the addons that you're interested in. Always try to keep the box as neat as possible, it will improve the performance. Every build has far to many addons that you never will use and only clutter the system memory. Also every week addons stop being supported and other become available.

The trick is to choose those addons that have the least server load.

Thanks for this confirmation.I soon worked this out but when I started deleting sources and add-ons I soon ended up with dead build, so I stuck with the way bloated andys build and everything seems OK.

Now I have an idea of the sources, I have it in mind to create my own build on a windows machine and port over to the android box.

[ignis]

Been using Kodi for a long time, yet still find it much easier to do everything on my PC before putting it on to the Android box, have USB sticks so easy to delete or Add what I want when I want then plug into the box.

you do not need a Android box, I have it on a very old laptop [screen frosted and non working] yet fine connected on a bedroom TV, yes do have a Android box on the main TV downstairs, as well as on my PC.

[WorriedNoodle]

Been using Kodi for a long time, yet still find it much easier to do everything on my PC before putting it on to the Android box, have USB sticks so easy to delete or Add what I want when I want then plug into the box.

By "putting it on to the Android box" are you referring to copying you latest Kodi build on a PC to the android? If so how do you go about copying the files as I notice some of the folders on Android are hidden?

Thx for any feedback?

[recom273]

Been using Kodi for a long time, yet still find it much easier to do everything on my PC before putting it on to the Android box, have USB sticks so easy to delete or Add what I want when I want then plug into the box.

By "putting it on to the Android box" are you referring to copying you latest Kodi build on a PC to the android? If so how do you go about copying the files as I notice some of the folders on Android are hidden?

Thx for any feedback?

I would look to using something like this .. To clone the add-ons.

https://www.tvaddons.ag/clone-configuration-kodi/

If it didn't work, I would look to see how others clone to make a build.

[TheCruncher]

You can back up your own build through the Community Portal. You even can store it online, for private or public use, and just download it to your other devices.

[partington]

Been using Kodi for a long time, yet still find it much easier to do everything on my PC before putting it on to the Android box, have USB sticks so easy to delete or Add what I want when I want then plug into the box.

By "putting it on to the Android box" are you referring to copying you latest Kodi build on a PC to the android? If so how do you go about copying the files as I notice some of the folders on Android are hidden?

Thx for any feedback?

I would look to using something like this .. To clone the add-ons.

https://www.tvaddons.ag/clone-configuration-kodi/

If it didn't work, I would look to see how others clone to make a build.

Thanks-this is really useful stuff to know!

[WorriedNoodle]

Yeah, thnx for feedback on cloning guys. I've been using USB-SDcard wizard backup addon as I found it faster than Backup addon mentioned- it offers options for small items like favorites only rather than full build back up that could be very large - and take ages on cloud storage.

[TheCruncher]

Yeah, thnx for feedback on cloning guys. I've been using USB-SDcard wizard backup addon as I found it faster than Backup addon mentioned- it offers options for small items like favorites only rather than full build back up that could be very large - and take ages on cloud storage.

The option to back up in the community portal ( maintenance section ) has recently revised. It is the fastest, most accurate and creates the smallest file. It even has a Nano option where it will create an extreme small file.

I have previously always used the Back up addon but it took ages to back up and restore, and then you also had to fiddle with the settings of the addon, and it would never properly reinstall the settings of your build.

The CP option has no settings, creates 2 files, 1 your build and 2 the GUI settings and takes only a few minutes to complete.

Extra option is that you can auto upload it to the Noobsandnerds server and send a link to a friend at the other side of the world who can install your build.

[partington]

I've been looking at a few of the sites mentioned by various people e.g. filmONTV, just on a web browser on my Mac, and so far it seems a bit disappointing as regards quality. There are many streaming sites on web browsers, but they look fuzzy and dingy, and not crystal clear and sharp as you get on 720p or 1180p satellite channels.

This is really for me an essential part of trying to replace a satellite TV box with Android, so I got a bit disheartened. It also seems like many of these sites have about 6 tabs to view whatever you have chosen and most of these tabs lead to broken links, low quality streams that wouldn't be watchable on a 40in TV, or pop up ads.

This is only idle web searching though, and not directly related to Android or Kodi, but I'm hoping the experience will be different to this when I finally get my box. I like seeing the individual blades of grass as a lion leaps on top of an impala on Nat Geo Wild...

[IMHO]

I've been looking at a few of the sites mentioned by various people e.g. filmONTV, just on a web browser on my Mac, and so far it seems a bit disappointing as regards quality. There are many streaming sites on web browsers, but they look fuzzy and dingy, and not crystal clear and sharp as you get on 720p or 1180p satellite channels.

This is really for me an essential part of trying to replace a satellite TV box with Android, so I got a bit disheartened. It also seems like many of these sites have about 6 tabs to view whatever you have chosen and most of these tabs lead to broken links, low quality streams that wouldn't be watchable on a 40in TV, or pop up ads.

This is only idle web searching though, and not directly related to Android or Kodi, but I'm hoping the experience will be different to this when I finally get my box. I like seeing the individual blades of grass as a lion leaps on top of an impala on Nat Geo Wild...

If picture quality is important, unfortunately there's nothing available in Thailand that challenges paying for it.

Truevisions satellite service does 1080i with either stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks on most of it's HD channels (a few are only 720P though) - pricey, but ultimate reliability and excellent PQ.

iLikeHD has a handful of 1080i channels with stereo only soundtracks, but most are either 720P or SD. Budget around 400-1000/mth to get a decent selection of channels and some VOD titles (most movies are 720P, but most series are only SD).

Netflix is low on content, but has the best PQ of any TV service available in Thailand, period. With an approved box it will do 1080P with Dolby Digital 5.1, and with the right box, fast internet, and a 4K TV you'll get 2160P with DD 5.1 on selected titles.

[recom273]

I think you need to do some digging, the channels I watch are great from the sources I have pre-programmed are OK, but I had a surf around to look at NatGeo and discovery and, yes, pretty sub standard and hardly watchable.

I'm sure if you find some different sources, you may find some better quality.

There are some channels that you pay a subscription to, that maybe better.

[partington]

I think you need to do some digging, the channels I watch are great from the sources I have pre-programmed are OK, but I had a surf around to look at NatGeo and discovery and, yes, pretty sub standard and hardly watchable.

I'm sure if you find some different sources, you may find some better quality.

There are some channels that you pay a subscription to, that maybe better.

Yes maybe...this is kind of the reason I asked in my original post about whether Internet could really replace a satellite box in terms of quality. If it can't I might as well sign up for satellite, I suppose.

I'll try all this out over the next few weeks. I am assuming my replacement CTH box won't arrive, and if it does it won't be any good, but maybe both of these assumptions are too pessimistic.

I don't think CTH as a company has a particularly good reputation, though, and things like just dropping the english audio on an english language station-FXHD- that already shows all its programs with Thai subtitles is a good indication that they won't be good at customer service...

[TheCruncher]

I think you need to do some digging, the channels I watch are great from the sources I have pre-programmed are OK, but I had a surf around to look at NatGeo and discovery and, yes, pretty sub standard and hardly watchable.

I'm sure if you find some different sources, you may find some better quality.

There are some channels that you pay a subscription to, that maybe better.

Yes maybe...this is kind of the reason I asked in my original post about whether Internet could really replace a satellite box in terms of quality. If it can't I might as well sign up for satellite, I suppose.

I'll try all this out over the next few weeks. I am assuming my replacement CTH box won't arrive, and if it does it won't be any good, but maybe both of these assumptions are too pessimistic.

I don't think CTH as a company has a particularly good reputation, though, and things like just dropping the english audio on an english language station-FXHD- that already shows all its programs with Thai subtitles is a good indication that they won't be good at customer service...

The streams I get on Kodi are more than good enough to view on a 60" tv, and nothing less in quality to what I can get in Thailand.

Also Kodi doesn't have any pop ups. The National Geographic and Discovery channels are in full HD if I pay a small monthly fee, but are decent quality on the free servers.

Movies are in HD and more and more are offered in Full HD these days, again completely free and on demand.

Where on the satellite you can get something even remotely comparable for free? Where on the satellite can you in Thailand view the UK and US premium tv channels, and then I don't even talk about the cost, which is free.

[partington]

I think you need to do some digging, the channels I watch are great from the sources I have pre-programmed are OK, but I had a surf around to look at NatGeo and discovery and, yes, pretty sub standard and hardly watchable.

I'm sure if you find some different sources, you may find some better quality.

There are some channels that you pay a subscription to, that maybe better.

Yes maybe...this is kind of the reason I asked in my original post about whether Internet could really replace a satellite box in terms of quality. If it can't I might as well sign up for satellite, I suppose.

I'll try all this out over the next few weeks. I am assuming my replacement CTH box won't arrive, and if it does it won't be any good, but maybe both of these assumptions are too pessimistic.

I don't think CTH as a company has a particularly good reputation, though, and things like just dropping the english audio on an english language station-FXHD- that already shows all its programs with Thai subtitles is a good indication that they won't be good at customer service...

The streams I get on Kodi are more than good enough to view on a 60" tv, and nothing less in quality to what I can get in Thailand.

Also Kodi doesn't have any pop ups. The National Geographic and Discovery channels are in full HD if I pay a small monthly fee, but are decent quality on the free servers.

Movies are in HD and more and more are offered in Full HD these days, again completely free and on demand.

Where on the satellite you can get something even remotely comparable for free? Where on the satellite can you in Thailand view the UK and US premium tv channels, and then I don't even talk about the cost, which is free.

That's interesting. I was really wanting to see if internet TV could replace my satellite TV at equivalent quality, and so being free wasn't necessarily the priority, (although it would be nice of course.)

I wanted to try to avoid being dependent on a really bad company like CTH, but also admittedly not have to pay the massively expensive fees for TRUE.

On GMMZ I had about 10 US based super HD channels and this is what I watched 90% of the time. I don't mind watching an occasional program on SD, but they just look so bad on a large screen , especially after watching 1080, that it really gets on my nerves now.

Reading more it does seem unlikely that I will be able to do this with TV on the Android box with KODI builds. For example the IPTV forum lists all current channels, about 830 in Jan 2016, but only 20 or so ( very obscure ones) are 720p, all the channels I would want - Nat Geos, Fox HD, Warner, Discovery and so on - are listed as being SD or lower than SD streams.

But I'll keep looking...

[WorriedNoodle]

Yeah, thnx for feedback on cloning guys. I've been using USB-SDcard wizard backup addon as I found it faster than Backup addon mentioned- it offers options for small items like favorites only rather than full build back up that could be very large - and take ages on cloud storage.

The option to back up in the community portal ( maintenance section ) has recently revised. It is the fastest, most accurate and creates the smallest file. It even has a Nano option where it will create an extreme small file.

I have previously always used the Back up addon but it took ages to back up and restore, and then you also had to fiddle with the settings of the addon, and it would never properly reinstall the settings of your build.

The CP option has no settings, creates 2 files, 1 your build and 2 the GUI settings and takes only a few minutes to complete.

Extra option is that you can auto upload it to the Noobsandnerds server and send a link to a friend at the other side of the world who can install your build.

Thnx, I hadn't looked at Noobsandnerds since before it was TotalXBMC I think. Anyway this looks like a good improvement so I'll be using it to backup in future.

[TheCruncher]

I think you need to do some digging, the channels I watch are great from the sources I have pre-programmed are OK, but I had a surf around to look at NatGeo and discovery and, yes, pretty sub standard and hardly watchable.

I'm sure if you find some different sources, you may find some better quality.

There are some channels that you pay a subscription to, that maybe better.

Yes maybe...this is kind of the reason I asked in my original post about whether Internet could really replace a satellite box in terms of quality. If it can't I might as well sign up for satellite, I suppose.

I'll try all this out over the next few weeks. I am assuming my replacement CTH box won't arrive, and if it does it won't be any good, but maybe both of these assumptions are too pessimistic.

I don't think CTH as a company has a particularly good reputation, though, and things like just dropping the english audio on an english language station-FXHD- that already shows all its programs with Thai subtitles is a good indication that they won't be good at customer service...

The streams I get on Kodi are more than good enough to view on a 60" tv, and nothing less in quality to what I can get in Thailand.

Also Kodi doesn't have any pop ups. The National Geographic and Discovery channels are in full HD if I pay a small monthly fee, but are decent quality on the free servers.

Movies are in HD and more and more are offered in Full HD these days, again completely free and on demand.

Where on the satellite you can get something even remotely comparable for free? Where on the satellite can you in Thailand view the UK and US premium tv channels, and then I don't even talk about the cost, which is free.

That's interesting. I was really wanting to see if internet TV could replace my satellite TV at equivalent quality, and so being free wasn't necessarily the priority, (although it would be nice of course.)

I wanted to try to avoid being dependent on a really bad company like CTH, but also admittedly not have to pay the massively expensive fees for TRUE.

On GMMZ I had about 10 US based super HD channels and this is what I watched 90% of the time. I don't mind watching an occasional program on SD, but they just look so bad on a large screen , especially after watching 1080, that it really gets on my nerves now.

Reading more it does seem unlikely that I will be able to do this with TV on the Android box with KODI builds. For example the IPTV forum lists all current channels, about 830 in Jan 2016, but only 20 or so ( very obscure ones) are 720p, all the channels I would want - Nat Geos, Fox HD, Warner, Discovery and so on - are listed as being SD or lower than SD streams.

But I'll keep looking...

I assume you are American and prefer to view US channels. Take a look at http://www.streamlive.to/

Not free bu lots of HD channels and good quality streams

[partington]

That's interesting. I was really wanting to see if internet TV could replace my satellite TV at equivalent quality, and so being free wasn't necessarily the priority, (although it would be nice of course.)

I wanted to try to avoid being dependent on a really bad company like CTH, but also admittedly not have to pay the massively expensive fees for TRUE.

On GMMZ I had about 10 US based super HD channels and this is what I watched 90% of the time. I don't mind watching an occasional program on SD, but they just look so bad on a large screen , especially after watching 1080, that it really gets on my nerves now.

Reading more it does seem unlikely that I will be able to do this with TV on the Android box with KODI builds. For example the IPTV forum lists all current channels, about 830 in Jan 2016, but only 20 or so ( very obscure ones) are 720p, all the channels I would want - Nat Geos, Fox HD, Warner, Discovery and so on - are listed as being SD or lower than SD streams.

But I'll keep looking...

I assume you are American and prefer to view US channels. Take a look at http://www.streamlive.to/

Not free bu lots of HD channels and good quality streams

Thanks for the link-this may be a possibility! EDIT: bit concerned that if it's streaming from overseas or US based the international bottleneck will slow down too much for HD to be possible, though. I can get 12Mbps within Thailand , but once you try the US it's at least 5 times slower.

Actually, as I said in earlier post, I am British, but not that interested in watching live UK TV because the time difference makes it too awkward to watch, am not a sport fan at all, and I can get anything I really want with torrents a day or so after broadcast, and that's fine.

A lot of good series, perhaps most nowadays, originate from the US, and having had those GMM-Z US based channels for years now I got used to having them available when idly surfing, i.e. not decided what to watch, but flicking through until something interesting comes up. This is just a different experience from knowing what you want to see in advance, and just getting it, which is pretty easy nowadays.

In truth while surfing I would most of the time stop at Nat Geo Wild, which also seemed to be by far the best definition of any of the GMMZ channels -and just watch that in a daze for hours, marvelling at the quality of the actual picture...

I have realised of course from looking into this Android-Kodi stuff that live channels are the last thing it is for, and it's not really at the point where HD is possible for live streams.

What it is great for is video on demand-here of course all the files are pre-stored on the servers- so you go to look for movie X, or season 5 episode 8 of Game of Thrones, and of course you can get it in HD, because you are basically watching it from a file on a server.

This is a very different requirement and technical process from watching a live stream in HD, as it is actually happening, and which I think android boxes and internet TV can in reality not really do yet.

All right-this is obvious to people who have been doing this for years, but wasn't to me as I am completely new!

[IMHO]

ilikehd has a few 1080i live streaming channels, and they work stream pretty much flawlessly, so long as the channel is actually up..

[partington]

ilikehd has a few 1080i live streaming channels, and they work stream pretty much flawlessly, so long as the channel is actually up.

I'm actually going to check them out, and as part of doing so I will come back here and list the definition of every channel that I am able to get, by name, and by reliability.

This because I wish someone had done this already because it will be a useful reference..

[meatboy]

That's interesting. I was really wanting to see if internet TV could replace my satellite TV at equivalent quality, and so being free wasn't necessarily the priority, (although it would be nice of course.)

I wanted to try to avoid being dependent on a really bad company like CTH, but also admittedly not have to pay the massively expensive fees for TRUE.

On GMMZ I had about 10 US based super HD channels and this is what I watched 90% of the time. I don't mind watching an occasional program on SD, but they just look so bad on a large screen , especially after watching 1080, that it really gets on my nerves now.

Reading more it does seem unlikely that I will be able to do this with TV on the Android box with KODI builds. For example the IPTV forum lists all current channels, about 830 in Jan 2016, but only 20 or so ( very obscure ones) are 720p, all the channels I would want - Nat Geos, Fox HD, Warner, Discovery and so on - are listed as being SD or lower than SD streams.

But I'll keep looking...

I assume you are American and prefer to view US channels. Take a look at http://www.streamlive.to/

Not free bu lots of HD channels and good quality streams

Thanks for the link-this may be a possibility! EDIT: bit concerned that if it's streaming from overseas or US based the international bottleneck will slow down too much for HD to be possible, though. I can get 12Mbps within Thailand , but once you try the US it's at least 5 times slower.

Actually, as I said in earlier post, I am British, but not that interested in watching live UK TV because the time difference makes it too awkward to watch, am not a sport fan at all, and I can get anything I really want with torrents a day or so after broadcast, and that's fine.

A lot of good series, perhaps most nowadays, originate from the US, and having had those GMM-Z US based channels for years now I got used to having them available when idly surfing, i.e. not decided what to watch, but flicking through until something interesting comes up. This is just a different experience from knowing what you want to see in advance, and just getting it, which is pretty easy nowadays.

In truth while surfing I would most of the time stop at Nat Geo Wild, which also seemed to be by far the best definition of any of the GMMZ channels -and just watch that in a daze for hours, marvelling at the quality of the actual picture...

I have realised of course from looking into this Android-Kodi stuff that live channels are the last thing it is for, and it's not really at the point where HD is possible for live streams.

What it is great for is video on demand-here of course all the files are pre-stored on the servers- so you go to look for movie X, or season 5 episode 8 of Game of Thrones, and of course you can get it in HD, because you are basically watching it from a file on a server.

This is a very different requirement and technical process from watching a live stream in HD, as it is actually happening, and which I think android boxes and internet TV can in reality not really do yet.

All right-this is obvious to people who have been doing this for years, but wasn't to me as I am completely new!

i myself although i like footie ect,but anytime between 1am-6am.for me. i am trying to see who has universal rights,a lot of good documentaries,grim,law-order,crime series,csi,i too was very happy with gmmz.ultra platinum package but loosing the fox channels THATS IT.