MP2 - V2.1 MP2.1 Pre: Live TV playback has blockyness and out-of-sync audio (1 Viewer)

[Cordraconis]

So I waited about a month till I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade from Spring 2016 to MP2.1 Release candidate, hoping it would remove the issues I had as discribed here:
No smooth playback of live TV
As in the wiki, I uninstalled Spring 2016, uninstalled Dokan, rebooted, installed MP 2.1 RC (+newer Dokan) and then rebooted again.
For the log files I put both the client and the server (=same machine) on DEBUG levels. I played a recording (DVB-C), Analog Live TV and a x264 series. All with some fast and slow scenes. Some skipping was used for that.


Good thing is MP2.1 seems to have solved the BSOD-while-rapid-channel switching/scanning problem: when I use the "test channels" procedure it stays stable even after 6 minutes of switching. I'll do some further testing dough.


HOWEVER I still have the LIVE TV playback issue, but it has a different "look", so something changed. Instead of choppy and slowed-down-sped-up playback it now plays relatively smooth but with blockyness. Audio is still out of sync. It is almost like it now "skips over" the problems it finds but throws blocks just to keep the framerate. Pressing F10 shows a much smoother green curve than before. No dips anymore.

The problem is definately confined to MPEG-2 playback: old and new recordings and live TV have the same blocks+audio out of sync. VLC player is just fine.
I noticed the install has downgraded my LAV codec back to 0.63

Interrestingly enough, MPEG-4 series are smoother than before AND with subtitles to boot. Woohoo! Whatever you guys did for the DVB-T2 improvements worked. Maybe MPEG2 can have similar issues?

Some other things I noticed:
- even with MPEG4, there is still a 2-3 seconds black screen/delay before playing. Everything is fine then, but this is about the same delay with MPEG2 audio, so maybe a buffering issue?
- I tried to change the postprocessing (smart sharpen) but again nothing happens like in Spring '16. I did get a split second of greyscales when I choose it, so I think it constantly forces the default from the settings. Individual change is not possible, yet you can see the menu...

 

[morpheus_xx]

A note to the video effects: they are automatically applied, chosen by video resolution. There are settings to select which effects are applied and on which video pixel lines the low/high res effect is used.
Defaults are:
Less than 720 lines: sharpen complex
More lines: none

 

[Cordraconis]

It was with my test-recording, which is analog and MPEG2. However, I just realized that the hauppaughe card records with a big black border around the video, so maybe the recorded/full resolution may be detected as higher.
Still I think the "grayscale" option doesn't have resolution-dependant options and/or should have worked when manually forced.

I'll see if I can find the .ts analizer mentioned somewhere here on the forums and report back with the results.

 

[Cordraconis]

General
ID : 1 (0x1)
Complete name : F:\Recorded TV\Floortje naar het einde van de wereld - NPO 1 - 2016-08-31.ts
Format : MPEG-TS
File size : 2.14 GiB
Duration : 1 h 1 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 4 946 kb/s

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : N=15
Format settings, picture structure : Frame
Codec ID : 2
Duration : 1 h 1 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 4 313 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 4 000 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.416
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:15
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Closed
Stream size : 1.87 GiB (87%)

Audio
ID : 192 (0xC0)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 2
Codec ID : 4
Duration : 1 h 1 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -169 ms
Stream size : 170 MiB (8%)

--------------------------------------------------------
General
ID : 4 (0x4)
Complete name : F:\Recorded TV\Soundbreaking - Canvas - 2017-01-06.ts
Format : MPEG-TS
File size : 3.42 GiB
Duration : 1 h 6 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 7 301 kb/s

Video
ID : 48 (0x30)
Menu ID : 137 (0x89)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=4, N=32
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 1 h 6 min
Bit rate : 6 617 kb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan type, store method : Separated fields
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.128
Stream size : 3.10 GiB (91%)
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Audio
ID : 64 (0x40)
Menu ID : 137 (0x89)
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 2
Codec ID : 3
Duration : 1 h 6 min
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 320 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -790 ms
Stream size : 153 MiB (4%)
Language : Dutch

Other
ID : 96 (0x60)-100
Menu ID : 137 (0x89)
Format : Teletext
Language : Dutch

----------------------------------

Hope this is also of some use.

 

[Cordraconis]

A note to the video effects: they are automatically applied, chosen by video resolution. There are settings to select which effects are applied and on which video pixel lines the low/high res effect is used.
Defaults are:
Less than 720 lines: sharpen complex
More lines: none

Maybe make it so that smart sharpen effects are still used *after* intelligent zoom? (ie if the remaining resolution is lower than treshold after cropping?

Also this morning I noticed something funny in my post above: it seems Mediainfo (MediaInfo) finds the DVB-C recording has MPEG-4 video in it, but x264/MPEG-4 played without problems... so I followed a hunch and changed the container to .mkv
(Just a simple repack with MKVtoolnix. I named the file SoundbreakingTest.mkv so you can find it in the new logs.)

And suprise: no blockyness anymore!!! BUT the audio is now off by 13 seconds...

I think we now found a place to start digging: the .ts format natively used by MP2 causes issues wih either blockyness and audio sync (at least on my machine...)

The new log files are added below. TIA for anyone who looks into this.
Also there are some windows updates I'm pushing to the HTPC right now, and some of them are chipset, video driver and USB related. I don't think it will give any change dough.

 

[HTPCSourcer]

@Cordraconis , any news about this?

 

[Cordraconis]

@HTPCSourcer: Thanks for asking. ([rant mode] Sometimes it is rather annoying to get no feedback from someone knowledgeable, even if it is just a notice they are looking into it or that it is a low priority thing for them. Having said that, I am very gratefull for the work they are putting into MP2 and I definitely do not expect them to work on-demand for me. Just a minor annoyance. [/rant mode off] )

Short answer: I have one working client!!! on my laptop but I have no idea (yet) why...

Longer answer:
The driver updates made no difference.
I installed 2.1 pre CLIENT onto the laptop but it had the same issues as above. I changed some settings but no difference. Changing the buffer size in LAV filters did influence the audio delay when playing .mkv files. (i.e. the re-packed .ts file into .mkv ) so I started playing with the splitter and audio renderer settings in LAV etc...

Then a few days later I wanted to try some more but it WORKED! No blockyness or sync issues on recorded or live TV! I have no idea what I did, asides from the obvious reboot of the laptop.


So now I am systematically copying settings from the working laptop to the HTPC and each time doing a reboot to make sure the settings "stick". So far I haven't found it yet, but to do all this I have to physically be in front of the HTPC with my laptop. Taking down the VM's and rebooting I can do from work etc... over VNC, but still it takes days to go trough this.
So far the LAV audio settings and the splitter settings are copyed but still blockyness. I have copyed the video settings and rebooted but haven't been able to view it yet.


Consider this a warm call for suggestions as to what settings in the client I may also copy, in case it is not within the LAV filters. (refresh rate change, audio output device in win 7, etc ... )

After more than half a year I finally have gotten the scent of this **** and now I am slowly but surely going in for the kill.



They made it personal ... :-D

 

[HTPCSourcer]

Consider this a warm call for suggestions as to what settings in the client I may also copy, in case it is not within the LAV filters. (refresh rate change, audio output device in win 7, etc ... )

Every system is different and sometimes (very rarely though) one needs to play around until the particular setup is working flawlessly. That said there is no exact protocol that one has to follow to be successful.

No blockyness or sync issues on recorded or live TV! I have no idea what I did, asides from the obvious reboot of the laptop.

My usual comment when dealing with PC and software issues is that 98% of all problems are located in front of the screen, and this applies to me also. Anyway, as your issues are gone now, I am marking this thread as "Not repoducible".

 

[Cordraconis]

My usual comment when dealing with PC and software issues is that 98% of all problems are located in front of the screen, and this applies to me also. Anyway, as your issues are gone now, I am marking this thread as "Not repoducible".

I have the same comment with respect to my lack of car safety systems like ABS, ESP ... Safety is located behind the steering wheel!

Just for clarity sake: my issues are not gone, as the HTPC (server) still has blockyness, but at least I now have a working client somewhere to try to reproduce. I will definately report back here if I get it sorted out!
Worst case scenario is the HTPC and the Onkyo Reciever cannot sync audio properly over HDMI and this throws the video (framerate) off. (I read how ReClock works.)

 

[HTPCSourcer]

You can test your hypothesis by connecting your PC directly to your TV via HDMI and play both video and audio through this with.