Live TV Stutter since Win 10 upgrade (1 Viewer)

[Groovemaize]

Confirmed DXVA (native) is being used, default directsound audio, was playing hd fine for about 10 mins, cpu usage average 15%, switched to SD for a few minutes which played fine, I switched to a different HD channel and actual FPS practically bottomed out! CPU was still average 15% with a couple of spikes to about 30%. This is only happeneing on one client, 3 other clients, came hardware and setup all running perfectly! New log attached...

 

[mm1352000]

Right, these log files are perfect.

The first HD channel you played:
[2016-05-06 21:02:28,119] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - TVHome.ViewChannelAndCheck(): View channel=ITV HD
[2016-05-06 21:02:34,603] [ 7550048] [ 538] - DeMultiplexer: First Gop after new PAT, 1920x1080 @ 16:9, 25.000Hz progressive

The second HD channel you played:
[2016-05-06 21:12:25,932] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - TVHome.ViewChannelAndCheck(): View channel=BBC ONE HD
[2016-05-06 21:12:29,854] [ 7550048] [ 8a8] - DeMultiplexer: First Gop after new PAT, 1920x1080 @ 16:9, 25.500Hz interlaced

Note the critical difference - progressive vs. interlaced. Owlsroost hinted at this. Interlaced video requires an additional stage of processing called deinterlacing before it is displayed as intended. For HD video that deinterlacing is quite an intensive process. Your system(s) may not be powerful enough to cope unless configured carefully.

You mentioned CPU usage was roughly 15% with some 30% spikes. I'm assuming you're talking about overall usage across all your four cores rather than the busiest core. Since you have a quad core CPU, I predict that the 15% is likely to be one core at ~55%, and the 30% spikes is one core peaking at 100%. If I'm right, that's a problem. It may indicate some or all of the following:

• DXVA is not actually active despite your configuration, and we need to figure out why
  
• background programs are doing too much and need to be reigned in
• the combination of 1080i + plugins (eg. ViewModeSwitcher) is too much for the system to handle, and something needs to be done to reduce the load
  
• the CPU is throttling to avoid overheating or save power, and we need to figure out why
  
• [other]

At this point I recommend you check the CPU usage per core to confirm whether my theory about a peaking/overwhelmed core is correct. If I'm correct, please also note the process(es) that are using the most CPU. If it's really only MediaPortal using CPU, try disabling the ViewModeSwitcher plugin (MediaPortal Configuration -> plugins section -> process plugins group). Otherwise if there are other processes using significant CPU as well, try stopping them (ie. close background programs, ensure MediaPortal is exempt from anti-virus/malware scans etc.).

I also recommend you go back and check your other clients. Check the CPU usage when viewing the BBC ONE HD channel. If your clients really are identical, you should be able to get roughly the same CPU usage on all clients. Compare them simultaneously. If the bad client is showing the problem, try another client at the same time too be 100% certain that it's only the bad client.

 

[Groovemaize]

So I've spent a bit of time looking and comparing as suggested. CPU load is shared evenly across all four cores (see attached photo) When compared to the other clients I have noticed that the following processes appear to drain CPU and disk resources at the point that stuttering occurs, these are: MS Windows Malicious Spyware, System and compressed memory and Antimalware Service. I removed Team Mediaportal folder from the antivirus folder checks previously, the spyware and malware processes are also running on the other clients with roughly the same CPU load however the compressed memory runs at significantly lower CPU load on the other clients say 0.5-3% where it was spiking at 25%+ on the problem client. During these checks the other clients are running fine. I think the system and compressed memory is indicating the problem however I don't know where to begin to fix it. Any ideas?

 

[Bernie_W]

Hi, I am sorry, I am not familiar with reading the log files, but I had the same problem. TV was almost impossible, watching or recording. I have a hauppauge card and the solution for me was to replace the faulty driver (which was working perfectly in Win 7) by the old Vista driver
Now it works really fine, no stutter anymore.

Maybe worth a try?

 

[Groovemaize]

Hi Bernie, thanks for the input. I did have to update the tv cards in the server when I upgraded from 8.1 to 10, the other clients work fine however I will have another look, tbh I'm open to trying anything now as this has been a problem for a while now!

 

[mm1352000]

@Groovemaize
I think investigating the tuner driver is probably a "wild goose chase". As you say, some clients are working fine, so that's an indication the tuners are fine.

In relation to compressed memory...
Have you tried simply disabling that "feature" ( ) of W10?

I suggest a google search on the subject of compressed memory and CPU. The following links were some of many potentially relevant results that I found:
http://superuser.com/questions/1000485/how-to-disable-windows-10-memory-compression
http://superuser.com/questions/1020...nd-compressed-memory-in-windo/1020948#1020948
http://www.tenforums.com/performanc...-compressed-memory-process-always-20-cpu.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3tg0vx/system_and_compressed_memory_randomly_using_100/

etc. etc. etc.

 

[Groovemaize]

Hi MM, I think you are right, have been reading about the compressed memory and also antimalware causing problems on random win10 upgrades. I came across one of the links you have provided and will look to try disabling this when I return home from working away. I'll report back when tested...

 

[Bernie_W]

Hi MM and GR,

I am certainly not an expert, I only wanted to share my view. I have a older HVR930c and a Cinergy xs HD, well besides two other cards (a newer Technotrend and the good old FireDTV). I always had kind of problems when both cards ran in parallel (I already had separated the couple ). I read all the topics about compressed memory, but it didn't help - in my case. So once I decided - out of being desperate - to install an older driver. To answer why is simply because in Win 7 all was fine, but upgrading to Win10 using the "new" Win8 (no newer available) drivers revealed the problem. So my - possibly wrong - assumption was, it must be the driver.

Lucky, I kept the old Vista CD (yes the cards are old) and installed a driver from 2008 and voila it worked. Even, both of the culprits in parallel. Almost no discontinuities anymore.
Just wanted to share this, not saying this is the solution. Guess, I just was lucky.

 

[mm1352000]

@Bernie_W
I don't doubt for one second your good intentions, or that your solution was effective for you.

With MediaPortal, a lot of the time the "symptoms" of problems are similar/repetitive, but the underlying causes can vary widely. Your problem clearly had some of the same symptoms as Groovemaise's. However I think this is one of those cases where the underlying causes are different.

Still, thanks for your information and willingness to try to help!

 

[Groovemaize]

Thanks fir the input Bernie, i checked the tvcard drivers on the server which also prompted be to check the network adaptor drivers again aswell. Sadly no improvement. MM I switched off the compressed system memory but it has made no difference either. I noticed once stuttering starts now MePo using about 30% CPU... This is painful!