The Global MiTV with Android TV Operating System

16 December 2019

Xiaomi's Global MiTV with Android TV operating  system are known to come from warehouses in Hong Kong,  Spain and Russia.   These models comes with DVB-T2 digital tuner that can be used in Singapore and many other Asian countries.  The digital tuner can also be used in Russia and also some European countries like Spain.  They are all manufactured by Xiaomi Authorised Agents in China.

The sellers in ASEAN countries like Singapore have known to get their TVs from the warehouses in Russia and Spain. Banggood who has warehouses in various parts of the World are known to get their TVs from Hong Kong.  

The Russian Global MiTVs have  model numbers ending with 5ARU;  for example,  L55M5-5ARU. The "RU" stands for Russia.   

Xiaomi exports 2 type of Global MiTVs to Spain.  One has Satellite Tuner ; the other has DVB Digital Tuner. The former are for local market and comes with Netflix and Prime video keys in the remote controller. The latter can be re-exported to other countries and they are without the 2 special keys.  Other than that, the former has model numbers ending "5ASP" where "SP" stands for Spain. The latter has V5xR in the model number where "x" representing the different sizes of the TV. 

The Indians' MiTV with Android TV operating system are on sale for quite sometime. Their TVs are only for local consumption.  Most of their newer TVs have Netflix and Prime Video buttons on the controller. 

   

The newer Global MiTVs that are from Russia has Cortex A55 chips. The chips are not only saving energy but also performing better.   The newer chips appears to have VP9 decoders that can play YouTube @ 4K video quality.  They are designed by MediaTek instead of Amlogic.

The specification of the MiTV for  Russia and Spanish markets are shown here. 

(For mobil users,  please rotate screen to see full table)

Model	Global MiTV4 S Russian 55”,  43”,  32”		Global MiTV4 S Spain 55”,  43”,  32”
Country of Origin	China		China
Known Supplier	BOE (Anhui)  and TCL (HuiZhou)		JuYiShiHou (Shenzhen)
Type	Narrow  Bezel		Narrow  Bezel
Model Number	55” 43” 32”	L55M5-5ARU  L43M5-5ARU  L32M5-5ARU		DVBT2 model	Satallite Model
			55” 43” 32”	V53R V57R V52R	L55M5-5ASP  L43M5-5ASP  L32M5-5SP
Resolution	55” 43” 32”	4K (3840x2160) 4K (3840x2160) HD (1366x768)	55” 43” 32”	4K (3840x2160) 4K (3840x2160) HD (1366x768)
Price @ Nov 19	55” 43” 32”	33,999 Ruble 22,999 Ruble 11,999 Ruble	55” 43” 32”	449 euro 349 euro 175 euro
Viewing Angle		1780		1780
CPU & GPU
Speed		1.1 -1.4 Ghz		1.1 -1.4 Ghz
Model	55” 43” 32”	Cortex A55 Cortex A55 Cortex A53	55” 43” 32”	Cortex A53 Cortex A53 Cortex A53
Chip Designer		MediaTek		MediaTek
core		4		4
Bits		64		64
RAM	55” 43” 32”	2 GB 2 GB  1 GB	55” 43” 32”	2 GB 2 GB  1 GB
Flash		8 GB		8 GB
GPU		Mali 470 MP3		Mali 470 MP3
Refresh Rate		60 Hz		60 Hz
Response time
Backlight		Back lited		Back lited
Contrast Ratio
Operating System
PatchWall OS		Yes,  depended on geological servers		DVBT2 model:    Yes	Satallite  Model :  No
Android TV OS		Yes Android 9.0		Yes Android 9.0
Features
HDR10		Supported		Supported
Wifi		2.4 /5 Ghz		2.4 /5 Ghz
Bluetooth		4.2		4.2
Bluetooth remote		Supported		Supported
Netflix & Prime Video key on controller		No		DVBT2 model:  No	Satalite  Model :  Yes
Google Assistant		Yes		Yes
Google Chromecast		Yes		Yes
Google Voice Search		Supported		Supported
Digital Sound Decoder		Dolby Audio/DTSＨＤ		Dolby Audio/DTSＨＤ
Video Decoders		MPEG 1/2/4, VP8 / VP9 / VC1, H.264, etc. PNG, GIF, JPG		MPEG 1/2/4, VP8 / VP9, ​​H.264, etc. PNG, GIF, JPG, etc.
Input Output
IO connection	55” 43” 32”	HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) Headphone (1) USB (3) USB (3) USB (2) Internet DB5 (1)	55” 43” 32”	HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) Headphone (1) USB (3) USB (3) USB(2) Internet DB5 (1)
				DVBT2 model	Satallite  Model
Cl+Module 1		1			1
Tuner					Satellite (1) DVB-S2
DVB-T2 + DVB-C		Supported		Yes	Yes
SPDIF	55” 43” 32”	Optical Optical  Not supported	55” 43” 32”	Optical Optical  Not supported
Sound System
Speaker Power	55” 43” 32”	2x10W 2x  8W 2 x 5W	55” 43” 32”	2x10W 2x  8W 2 x 5W
Sound Bar		Nil		Nil
General
Appearance	55” 43” 32”	Metallic case Metallic case  Black back lit	55” 43” 32”	Metallic case Metallic case  Black back lit
Stand & Wall mount		Yes		Yes
VESA Mount	55” 43” 32”	300x300 225x400 100x100	55” 43” 32”	300x300 225x400 100x100
Power Consumption	55” 43” 32”	120 Watts   75  Watts  45  Watts	55” 43” 32”	120 Watts   75  Watts  45  Watts
Remarks		Available for sale in Europe and most part of the World		Also known to supply QLED 8K model Agents are known to re-exporting only the  DVB model
Web Site		https://tinyurl.com/w83u5cs		DVBT2 model	Satellite  Model
				https://tinyurl.com/snu6cmt	https://tinyurl.com/te2tcp7

The name plate of the TV		This TV is from TCL Electronic		This TV from Beijing Xiaomi factory
The Difference between Russian and Spain Satellite model		Without the Satallite port		With the Satellite port

Additional Note:  The MiTV remote controller with  Netflix button shown earlier is from MiTV,  India.  The Spanish model has more buttons on the remote controller as shown here

The introductory YouTube clip for the Spanish model is shown here.

The specification for the MiTV for  the Indian markets are shown here.  These MiTV  are only for local market

(For mobil users,  please rotate screen to see full table)

Model	MiTV4 X (65”,50”,55”,43”) India		MiTV4 A (32”,40”,43”,49) India		MiTV4 Pro (55”) MiTV 4C Pro (32”) India
Type	Narrow  Bezel		Narrow  Bezel		4 4C	4.9 mm Ultra Thin Narrow  Bezel
Model Number
Resolution		4K (3840x2160)	49P 43P 40” 32P	1920x1080 1820x1080 1366 x 768	4 4C	4K (3840x2160) 1366 x 768
Price @ Nov 19	65” 50” 55” 43”	54,999 Rupee 29,999 Rupee 34,999 Rupee 24,999 Rupee	49P 43P 40” 32P	29,999 Rupee 21,999 Rupee 17,999Rupee 12,499 Rupee	4 4C	49,999 Rupee 12,499 Rupee 17,999Rupee 12,499 Rupee
Viewing Angle		1780		1780		1780
CPU & GPU
Speed					4 4C	1.8 Ghz 1.5 Ghz
Model	65” 50” 55” 43”	Cortex A55 Cortex A53 Cortex A53 Cortex A53	49P 43P 40” 32P	Cortex A53 Cortex A53 Cortex A53 Cortex A53	4 4C	Cortex A53 Cortex A53
Chip Designer	65” 50” 55” 43”	? Amlogic Amlogic T950X Amlogic	43P 40” 32P	Amlogic Amlogic Amlogic	4 4C	Amlogic T968 Amlogic T950X
core		4		4		4
Bits		64		64		64
RAM	65” 50” 55” 43”	2 GB 2 GB 2 GB 2 GB	49P 43P 40” 32P	2 GB 1GB 1 GB 1 GB	4 4C	2 GB 1GB
Flash	65” 50” 55” 43”	16 GB   8 GB 8 GB 8 GB	49P 43P 40” 32P	8 GB   8 GB 8 GB 8 GB	4 4C	8 GB   8 GB
GPU	65” 50” 55” 43”	Mali 470 MP3 Mali 450 MP3 Mali 450 MP3 Mali 450 MP3	49P 43P 40” 32P	Mali 450 MP3 Mali 450 MP3 Mali 450 MP3 Mali 450 MP3	4 4C	Mali 450 MP Mali 450 MP3
Refresh Rate		60 Hz		60 Hz		60 Hz
Response time	65” 50” 55” 43”	9.0 ms 9.5 ms 6.5 ms 6.5 ms	49P 43P 40” 32P	6.5 ms 6.5 ms 8.5 ms 6.5 ms	4 4C	8.0 ms 6.5 ms
Backlight		Back lited		Back lited	4 4C	Bottom lited Back lited
Contrast Ratio
Operating System
PatchWall OS		Yes		Yes		Yes
Android TV OS		Yes		Yes		Yes
Features
HDR10		Supported		Supported		Supported
Wifi		2.4 /5 Ghz	49P 43P 40” 32P	2.4  Ghz 2.4 Ghz 2.4 Ghz 2.4 Ghz	4 4C	2.4/5  Ghz 2.4 Ghz
Bluetooth		4.2		4.2		4.2
Bluetooth remote		Supported		Supported		Supported
Netflix & Prime Video key on controller		Yes	49P 43P 40” 32P	No No Yes No	4 4C	No No
Google Assistant		Yes		Yes		Yes
Data Saver		Yes	49P 43P 40” 32P	No No Yes No		Not Supported
Google Chromecast		Yes		Yes		Yes
Google Voice Search		Supported		Supported		Supported
Digital Sound Decoder		Dolby Audio/DTSＨＤ	49P 43P 40” 32P	DTS Stereo DTS DTS HD Stereo DTS	4 4C	DTS Stereo DTS
Video Decoders	65” 50” 55” 43”	MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264 MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264 H.265/4/3,VP8/VP9/VC1,MPEG MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264	49P 43P 40” 32P	MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264 MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264 MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264 MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264	4 4C	Dolby Audio DTS HD MPEG1/2/4,REAL,H.264
Input  & Output
IO connection	65” 50” 55” 43”	HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) USB (2) USB (2) USB (2) USB (2) Internet DB5 (1)		HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) USB (2) Internet DB5 (1)		HDMI 2.0 (3; 1 with ARC) AV in (1) USB (2) Internet DB5 (1)
Headphone	65” 50” 55” 43”	1 0 1 1	49P 43P 40” 32P	0 1 1 1	4 4C	0 1
Tuner	65” 50” 55” 43”	Satellite & TV TV TV TV	49P 43P 40” 32P	TV TV TV	4 4C	TV TV
CI+Card	65”	1		Not Supported		Not Supported
DVB-T2 + DVB-C		Not Supported		Not supported		Not supported
SPDIF	65” 50” 55” 43”	Optical Co-axial   Co-axial Co-axial	49P 43P 40” 32P	Co-axial Not supported Not supported Not supported	4 4C	Co-axial Not supported
Sound System
Speaker Power	65”50” 55” 43”	2x10W 2x10W 2 x10W 2 x10W	49P 43P 40” 32P	2x10W 2x10W 2x10W 2x10W	4 4C	2x8W 2x10W
Sound Bar		Nil		Nil		Nil
General
Appearance		Black back lit		Black back lit	4 4C	Metallic thin frame Black back lit
Stand & Wall mount		Yes		Yes		Yes
VESA Mount	65” 50” 55” 43”	250x300 200x200 300x300 100x200	49P 43P 40” 32P	250x400 100x200 200x200 100x100	4 4C	200x400 100x100
Power Consumption	65” 50” 55” 43”	190 Watts 115 Watts 140  Watts 105  Watts	49P 43P 40” 32P	108 Watts 75 Watts 75  Watts 50  Watts	4 4C	155 Watts 50 Watts
Remarks	Only Available in India
Web Site		https://tinyurl.com/vd9uqmj	49P 43P 40” 32P	https://tinyurl.com/t77bsu6 https://tinyurl.com/vb2eca6 https://tinyurl.com/rgx9hls https://tinyurl.com/tn9hrlo	4 4C	https://tinyurl.com/todzm84 https://tinyurl.com/wouedfm

Who is "Printing" More Money? The US's Fed or PRC's PBOC?

16 December 2019

There are much talks about US's Federal Reserve Board (Fed)  has been "printing"  lots and lots of money.  There are also lots of videos  showing Fed is at the stage of collapsing because of such  indiscriminate "money printing".  Some of these videos also compared the situations between US and China. 

The Purpose 

To share 3 charts showing the latest "money printing" work of the two Central Banks in US and in China. The balance sheets of the Central Banks will be able to show these "money printing" work. The more money the Central Banks printed, the more "swelling" will be their balance sheets.  

 

These 3 charts are from Yardini Research,  which is an economic research institution  often used by Economists all over the World

 

https://www.yardeni.com/pub/peacockfedecbassets.pdf

Which Central Banks Printed More Money?

Chart No.1  shows that China's PBOC has printed over US$5.0 Trillions.  This is US$1.0 Trillion  more than US's Fed @ about US$4.0 Trillions

Which Country can "Pay Back" the "Printed money" quicker?

Chart No 2 shows that the PBOC’s asset to GDP @ 40% is about twice that of Fed's @ 20%. One can interpret that US can pay back their debts or "money printed" much quicker than PRC. This is because US's earnings are much higher

Where Do the "Printed Money" Used? 

Chart No 3 shows that PBOC buys Foreign Exchange Notes and non-gold international reserves whereas Fed buys US Treasuries, Agency Debt and Mortgage Back Securities (MBS). One can interpret that PBOC are putting their money more in riskier assets than the US.

Fixing Humming Noise for Subwoofers

6 December 2019

A Kentwood Subwoofer was found lying around after we retired the Sherwood Receiver.   It is a passive Subwoofer,  meaning it does not have a built-in amplifier.

 


















After buying a new TV for our sitting room,  we decided to add a sound bar. This sound bar made in China was called  “万音 JY A9S.  It claimed to have 8 speakers but 4 of them are  just “dummies”.  We also found that the Subwoofer output of the sound bar could not drive the passive woofer.

We have 3 options:

1.  To re-refurbish the existing Sherwood Receiver;

2.  To buy another Amplifier receiver;

3.  To upgrade the Kenwood Subwoofer

We choose to upgrade the Subwoofer because it is the cheapest.  We found this Subwoofer amplifier at TaoBao with many good reviews.  The amplifier cost  about CNY$230/= (SGD$44)  including shipping.  The delivery took around 2 weeks by sea.

The Installation

The installation took about 2 hours. Cutting the hole at the back board of the Subwoofer took sometime. The Subwoofer produced fantastic bass. It is worth the money spent.

 

The Problems

There was this loud humming sound coming from Subwoofer whenever the music stopped. Otherwise,  it delivered beautiful sound.  During the test, the sound bar was connected to the phone using Bluetooth.  

Trouble-Shooting

1. The humming would stop under these circumstance

   a)  The music resumes playing;

   b)  The input cable is unplugged;

   c)  The sound bar is switched off

2. The multi-meter showed some ohmic readings when it is connected to the coaxial cable. There was no readings when the music stopped playing. It was as if the sound bar had some sort of mechanical switch "isolating and cutting off" the cable;

3. The humming noise did not go away when the inputs are short-circuited to earth are the Subwoofer;

4. There was no humming sound when the Subwoofer was connected directly to the phone using a 3.5mm to RCA cable

Other Observations

1.  The power supply of the sound bar is a 24 volts switching power without any earthing terminal;

2. The sound bar delivers beautiful sound without humming when connected alone.

What could be wrong?

Floating ground or earthing. There will always be a small voltage between the switching power supply terminal and the earth of the Subwoofer amplifier as shown below. This small voltage will cause humming noise. The humming noise was suppressed when the sound bar was playing music.

The Solution

1.  Open up the sound bar and solder a 25 V 100 uf capacitor in series with a low resistor around 20 ohms as shown

Precautionary Safety Measures

Always made sure that the Subwoofer amplifer has proper earthing. Also make sure the earth is connected to  the  main power supply earth.  

   

Why There are so Many Protests in Hong Kong from another angle.

3 December 2019
# Hong Kong protest,  reasons

The 2019 Hong Kong protests started in Mid-March 2019,  it is now over 250 days and still on going very strong.  it started as a protest against Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) and extended to include the following 5 demands:

1  Full withdrawal of the extradition bill;
2. A commission of inquiry into alleged police brutality;
3.  Retracting the classification of protesters as “rioters;
4. Amnesty for arrested protesters;
5. Dual universal suffrage, meaning for both the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive.



So far,  only the first one i.e. the "withdrawal of the extradition bill"  has been fulfilled.

There were much speculations about why Hong Kong has so many street protests.  Tons of videos have been made and web articles have been written to argue about the reasons.  Many were just speculation;  for example,  "someone wants Hong Kong to be separated from China";  "Hong Kong people were losing the high degree of autonomy " etc. etc.  After reading these speculative articles  one could be more confused. 

This video clip found in YouTube made attempts to give the answer from a different prospective: