BBC One HD freezes intermittently, watching or recording. (1 Viewer)

[mikeyp]

Have you tried the TBS card in another PC? (or in a different card slot on the motherboard).

It might possibly be interference from something inside the PC box that just happens to be on the right frequency to affect that particular transponder reception.



For Freeview HD, I use the 'encode to DPL II' facility in LAV Audio Decoder (settings -> mixing -> matrix encoding), then stream it as PCM to the AV receiver via SPDIF (AVR then decodes it back to surround sound). Not as good as true 5.1, but better than stereo.

Thanks Owlsroost. I wonder if you could be right. To be fair I haven't tried it in another PC/motherboard but I don't have another one to try it in. I wonder if work would let me borrow something.... I will certainly try another slot later though. I wonder if it's worth looking through the BIOS to see if there's anything to change that might help. I would look now but my toddler is being very good watching CBeebies HD. Mummy is poorly and if any channel is going to work well right now, it's that one!

Great tip about Freeview HD and re-encoding to DPL. I'll give that a try and see what I think. It would certainly be better than what I've got now. My Denon amp is really good with the prologic encoded stuff. I wonder if LAV will re-encode to DD...

 

[Owlsroost]

I wonder if LAV will re-encode to DD...

No, it can't.

My LAV audio mixing and encode settings are below (mix down to 2 channel output, and encode multi-channel input to DPL II). The default LFE Mix Level is 1.0 but I prefer a little less hence the 0.71 setting:

 

[mikeyp]

Thank you Owlsroost. I'll try that later when my daughter has gone to bed.

I've moved the card to the bottom PCIe port on the motherboard. Windows sees it in Device Manager but MP won't see it until I remove the old ones and re-add them. It doesn't see it as the same card when moved to another port. I can't change anything right now as I'm recording the new series of Red Dwarf on freeview (aerial) so have to wait another 90 minutes until it finishes to sort out the freesat card.

 

[mikeyp]

Have you tried the TBS card in another PC? (or in a different card slot on the motherboard).

It might possibly be interference from something inside the PC box that just happens to be on the right frequency to affect that particular transponder reception.

That does seem to have done the trick @Owlsroost . I've not had a single dropout since moving the card to the bottom slot. Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon.

Anyway around, if there are no further issues, I'll post back in about a week and let you know how I've got on.

@mm1352000 I think you were on the money with interference. Funny how it was oddly specific.

Anyway, thank you both.

For Freeview HD, I use the 'encode to DPL II' facility in LAV Audio Decoder (settings -> mixing -> matrix encoding), then stream it as PCM to the AV receiver via SPDIF (AVR then decodes it back to surround sound). Not as good as true 5.1, but better than stereo.

That is an absolutely cracking tip. I think I'm finally in a position to begin to think about merging channels.

 

[mikeyp]

Ok, so the situation is much improved but I'm still getting the occasional dropout. Still within 10-30 seconds of tuning in. Oddly it will happen when I first start using the TV but then won't do it again for the rest of the evening.

 

[mikeyp]

For anyone who is interested, it's definitely not a MediaPortal issue. I'm talking with TBS support and they asked me to download and try their player, DVBDream. Here is a screenshot of the issue reproduced there. You can see the packet losses climbing. They're currently at 117000.

 

[Owlsroost]

Thanks for the update - hope you get it resolved eventually.

 

[porky996t]

If I can be of any assistance as I run two TBS cards (one a quad DVB-S/S2, and a DVB-T/T2) let me know. I have had flawless performance from both cards since I got them some years back and if you need anything trying just shout. My knowledge of the technicalities of MP is very small compared to @Owlsroost and @mm1352000, but happy to help if needed.

 

[mikeyp]

I promised I would follow up. Unfortunately the issue remains unresolved. The channels on that specific transponder still drop out when you first tune to them, Turn to another channel and turn back again and it stays locked in for however long you want to watch.

TBS after initially replying positively and rehashing the conversation above, stopped replying after telling me to get my dish checked. The dish has been checked and no difference seen. I won't be buying another of their products.

 

[mikeyp]

If I can be of any assistance as I run two TBS cards (one a quad DVB-S/S2, and a DVB-T/T2) let me know. I have had flawless performance from both cards since I got them some years back and if you need anything trying just shout. My knowledge of the technicalities of MP is very small compared to @Owlsroost and @mm1352000, but happy to help if needed.

Thanks @porky996t I didn't see your post when I wrote my last reply. Unfortunately I don't think there's any way of resolving my issue. I'm sure it's not a MP issue. I think it could be interference but bearing in mind the steps taken above and the fact I don't have another machine to test the card, I don't think it's going to get resolved. This is my media centre and I'm stuck with it.