Live TV Flicker/Flash (2 Viewers)

DreadBeatDad

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May 10, 2016
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MP2 on owner build PC.
Nvidia GeForce 210 driver version 341.95 1gb
8gb ram
Windows 10 64bit
Samsung TV running at 60hz and 1080p
TV card AverMedia A188 PCIe Pure DVB-T driver version 1.3.64.76

I have had to move to Windows 10 due to hard drive issues and now I need a new Media centre as I used to use WMC.
I have installed MP2 and have just finished configuring the tuners and I have scanned for channels all successful.
My EPG is working great however, when I hit up live TV I have problems with video flickering.
The flicker is whole screen going to black and back to video feed in maybe 100ms or less. And the flicker is random. sometimes it is once or twice every second. and it can extend out as far as 10 - 15 seconds without a flicker. I have searched through the forums and cannot find anything that might suggest the same issue.
Just to note, I did a side by side install of MP2 and WMC on windows 8.1 a month ago (WMC worked flawlessly in this configuration) and had the same problem.
Could it be something to do with the codecs that MP2 uses and WMC had a MS proprietary CODEC? I admit I don't have a lot of experience with Codecs.
I have tried some changes relating to resolution/refresh rate and scaling but the problem persists.
Just to reiterate WMC was smooth and silky on Windows 8.1 with the exact same hardware configuration but MP2 had problems.
I am really keen on getting MP2 working as it looks and feels really nice. EPG works great, timeshifting is fine. Its just the darn live TV problem.
Any help would be great.

Thanks,

JD
 

scowie

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May 14, 2016
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  • go to Settings > Players > Video Player
  • Enable refresh rate change: select 'No'
 

scowie

New Member
May 14, 2016
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1
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United Kingdom United Kingdom
Although the above helped somewhat with flickering I was still getting it, especially when in fullscreen mode (I usually watch tv in a window on my pc). Anyway, after some googling I came across this and decided to try the ReClock tool... it worked! I can now watch tv fullscreen flicker-free. I am using Windows 10 btw (on an Atom-based tablet) so no problems there.

Instructions:
Download and install the latest ReClock v1.8.8.5.
Run the 'Configure Reclock' shortcut on the desktop and on the Audio tab at the bottom check: Accept bitstream formats. (everything else can be left on defaults)
In MP2 menus go to Settings -> Players -> Codecs -> Audio Renderer -> Audio Renderer -> check: ReClock Audio Renderer

I also disabled the Settings -> Players -> Video Player -> Video effect changer (just in case this had any effect)
 
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HTPCSourcer

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  • May 16, 2008
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    Symptoms may be the same, but causes may be different. This is why we ask to provide logs to be able to analyze in more depth and get to the root cause.

    Well, I asked for logs on May 12...
     

    karniemi

    Portal Pro
    November 11, 2010
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    Had the same problem, also W10 and Geforce 210. Black full screen flicks, as described by OP, with dvb-t SD content on a 1920x1080 Samsung via HDMI. This fixed it for me: "I also disabled the Settings -> Players -> Video Player -> Video effect changer"

    I tested it a few times back and forth, and it seemed to always work the same way. Disable that option while live-tv was on, did not help -I had to stop the live-tv and start live-tv again: no flickering. Re-enable that option: no more flickering -even if I stopped and restarted live-tv(which is odd?). Disable option,restart MP2, open live-tv: no flickering. Enable that option, restart MP2, start live-tv: flickering.
     

    ge2301

    Lead Design MP2
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  • January 11, 2014
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    Had the same problem, also W10 and Geforce 210. Black full screen flicks, as described by OP, with dvb-t SD content on a 1920x1080 Samsung via HDMI. This fixed it for me: "I also disabled the Settings -> Players -> Video Player -> Video effect changer"

    I tested it a few times back and forth, and it seemed to always work the same way. Disable that option while live-tv was on, did not help -I had to stop the live-tv and start live-tv again: no flickering. Re-enable that option: no more flickering -even if I stopped and restarted live-tv(which is odd?). Disable option,restart MP2, open live-tv: no flickering. Enable that option, restart MP2, start live-tv: flickering.
    Thanks. A lot of people have these flicker problems. I also had them. So your observatons might be very helpful.
    @morpheus_xx I do not remember who else had the probem. Would be good, if somebody can try to reproduce same scenario and we can narrow down the root cause. As mentioned elsewhere I can not do it at the moment.
     

    karniemi

    Portal Pro
    November 11, 2010
    65
    12
    I just got latest updates for W10 and updated t0 MP 2.1.1 from MP 2.1. I can still reproduce it the same way as in my previous post. Maybe the "Video effect changer" requires better gpu than Geforce 210? According to resource monitor, cpu AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 4000+ is not a bottleneck.
     

    ge2301

    Lead Design MP2
  • Team MediaPortal
  • January 11, 2014
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    I just got latest updates for W10 and updated t0 MP 2.1.1 from MP 2.1. I can still reproduce it the same way as in my previous post. Maybe the "Video effect changer" requires better gpu than Geforce 210? According to resource monitor, cpu AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 4000+ is not a bottleneck.
    Well, I have a Geforce 1030 Ti in my HTPC, not the latest model, but should be fast enough for a "video effect changer". I'd more say there is a code bug.
    However these are all assumptions, one of your devs would need to take a look.
     

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