MP 1.2.0RC TV micro freezes (3 Viewers)

[adagio]

I'm very glad I found this thread. I am experiencing the exact same thing. With version 1.1.2, I had no problems. But with 1.2 rc, i get the micro stutters. These are recorded because when I play back the video they always happen at the same time. I have hd channels and non hd channels. I only see the stutters on the hd channels.

I can post logs if it would help, but it looks like you guys already have a good handle on it.

 

[bluebear]

After wasting some time aligning my dish(it was as good as possible) i tried the following:

I switched my 1.2.0 tswriter.ax to the one provided with 1.1.3. Guess what, no stutter on my 1.2.0 RC.
I also do not have the "don't drop discontinued packets" option ticked. This is not the ideal fix, but if it works it will narrow the
problem to tswriter at least. It´s a start.

If you want to try, save the old tswriter (as tswriter_120) and replace it with the one provided here. Would be curious if it works.
You´ll find it in the tv-server folder.

Edit:
Ahh, not quite a success it turned out. I still have occasional stutter, but its not pronounced. Small glitches.
It broke my BDA cable tuner with an error : can´t play ts-livebuffer4.0 (something like that.) Cured it when switching back to 1.2.0 tswriter
On the other hand I do not have the occasional unknown error at startup of livetv with 1.1.3.

Summary:
+ No unknown error at startup of livetv

- Broke my cable BDA tuner
- Still occasional stutter

 

[adagio]

Just tried it and I can't play HD channels with the 1.3 version. I get unable to play:live3-0.ts.buffer.

 

[adagio]

I just recorded a 10 minute test. I then watched it and wrote down where I saw the stutters. I also have included the logs.

I noticed in the TVServer log there are entries similar to these:

17-09-2011 14:16:50.328 Recorderid 71 Continuity error... 9 ( prev 5 ) - bad signal?
17-09-2011 14:17:23.890 Recorderid 70 Continuity error... 8 ( prev 6 ) - bad signal?
17-09-2011 14:17:23.890 Recorderid 70 Continuity error... 8 ( prev 6 ) - bad signal?

Not sure if that is what is causing the probem, but I didn't have these issues with version 1.1.2.

The recording starts at about 14:15:19 in the log. The stutters I saw occured at around :27 seconds in to the recording, then 1:29, 2:04, 2:42, 8:08, and 9:15.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi adagio and bluebear

To clarify a few things:
- the 1.1.x TsWriter is *not* compatible with 1.2.x.
- continuity error logging that adagio is seeing was not enabled in 1.1.x and has been re-enabled in 1.2.0rc. The fact that you didn't see those entries before does not mean anything in itself. The fact that you see them now is indicative of signal corruption - as it says, have you got "bad signal?".

adagio: have you tried enabling the "don't drop discontinued packets" option? Wiki details -->here<--.

mm

 

[adagio]

I just tried the "don't drop discontinued packets" setting. When I play back my 'bad' video it is better. I don't see the micro pauses now. On a few of the more major pauses I now get a pixelation - which I understand if the signal is bad. I like it better with this setting - thanks for suggesting that.

I don't remember seeing those pauses with the previous version of MP, and I didn't change any settings when I installed 1.2, so I thought maybe something changed in the newer version. My TV connection is cable, so I'm not sure what I can do to improve the signal. Other than signal strength value, is there a way to analyze a 'bad' signal?

Thanks again for being so responsive to issues. I really appreciate it.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi adagio

I don't remember seeing those pauses with the previous version of MP, and I didn't change any settings when I installed 1.2, so I thought maybe something changed in the newer version.

From what Tony said earlier in the thread, my understanding is that behaviour has changed in 1.2.x as you suspect. It seems that discontinued packets for h.264 video were dropped in 1.1.x and earlier, but this was not done for MPEG 2 video. Now with 1.2.x things are more consistent as discontinued packets are also dropped for MPEG 2 video (like yours).

[edit: so to be clear, turning on that "don't drop discontinued packets" option in 1.2.0rc gives you effectively the same behaviour as 1.1.x]

My TV connection is cable, so I'm not sure what I can do to improve the signal. Other than signal strength value, is there a way to analyze a 'bad' signal?

Tricky one. I'm not a signal specialist by any stretch. There are a few things you might be able to do to investigate:

Where is your TV Server in relation to the cable "input" for your house - could you try to move the PC closer and see if it makes any difference?
Are you splitting the cable signal at all (so that other devices can receive it) - what happens if you remove the splitter or other devices?
Are all cable "ends" terminated correctly?

You could try an amplifier - if the signal is not *strong* enough for the tuner then that might help, however it won't help if the signal *quality* is the issue. It also might make things worse as the signal might be too strong already. All a game of chance really. If you can afford it I'd recommend getting a cable technician from your provider to come and take a look at the situation as they should have the tools to diagnose the problem quickly and effectively. Their professional experience is going to be much better than what I can offer you.

mm

 

[adagio]

Thanks for your thoughts. Hard to move my PC closer. Yes, I have a splitter. I'll need to do some investigation!

 

[bluebear]

@ mm1352000
I´m not ruling out anything, bad signal seems most likely at this moment. That or bad tv-card/ driver or both.
It could also be something completely different, none signal related, that is causing my stutter. I have watched a few hours
this morning without any stutter on a vanilla 1.2.0rc. I have also seen two entries of bad signal in the tswriter logs, but no stutter (don´t drop was not ticked at that moment).

On the signal side, I cant get any better than what I have at the moment. I have a second similar setup with even better reception that has the stuttering. We both have tevii cards, and that might be the case. I will try an old mystiq satix dvb-s a see what happens.

Cheers,
bluebear.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again bluebear

I haven't seen any continuity errors since your first logs, which says to me that the issue you're seeing could be different (not signal related). Do you see dropped frames when you turn on renderer statistics (press shift+1 - exclamation mark)? Also, do you see this on all channels or only some?

mm