[Evaluate] Playback buffering on "weak" networks. (1 Viewer)

Lehmden

Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • December 17, 2010
    12,553
    3,934
    Lehmden
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    Hi.
    In an German thread an idea raises up that I think is not too bad. Wouldn't it be nice if the MP2 client will have some sort of local buffer for media playback, similar to playing a Youtube video on too slow internet connection? On slow WLan networks this may improve the user experience a lot if the playback will start delayed (with user notification) but instead lots of stuttering it plays nice and smooth once the buffer (maybe a few hundred megabytes or similar, could be in ram or on disk, depends on the environment) is filled...
    What do you think about this?
     

    ge2301

    Lead Design MP2
  • Team MediaPortal
  • January 11, 2014
    8,705
    3,491
    Stuttgart
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    I'd like that as the strongest router has problems to come through 4 steel beton walls walls over a distance of 20m. In 99% of the cases I have no problem, but in rare cases the wireless connection makes the playback stuck especially with 1080p movies. When thinking about 4K it would even make more sense.
     

    morpheus_xx

    Retired Team Member
  • Team MediaPortal
  • March 24, 2007
    12,073
    7,459
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    Just a question: how would you fill that buffer, if the network throughput is not fast enough for real time playback? If this should happen on playback start this would introduce a big delay...
     

    HTPCSourcer

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • May 16, 2008
    11,418
    2,335
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    Right! And even if buffers could be filled quickly enough there would still be another downside when jumping back or forth beyond the buffer time frame: One would then have to wait (100 MB would be more than 10 sec) before being able to watch again.

    I guess we have to wait for faster Wifi connections to become mainstream. A few more years...
     

    Lehmden

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • December 17, 2010
    12,553
    3,934
    Lehmden
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    Hi.
    I don't mean this as a general thing, only as an option for weak network connections...

    this would introduce a big delay...
    Yes, it would. Not that nice but the only way I can imagine if there is no faster network available. Think about all those "Computer Sticks" that don't have any other connection than WLan... Those sticks are more and more common those days.

    Isn't it a lot better to delay playback start than not be able to play media at all or this massive amount of stutter that now happens in such cases? When I start a YouTube video I also have to wait some time before playback starts (as I have a slow internet connection). And even with buffer it happens every now and then that I need to wait in the middle of the playback for the buffer to be refilled again. So people are used to this, especially if they have played some YouTube videos on cellphone while not connected to a WLan.
     

    morpheus_xx

    Retired Team Member
  • Team MediaPortal
  • March 24, 2007
    12,073
    7,459
    Home Country
    Germany Germany

    HTPCSourcer

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • May 16, 2008
    11,418
    2,335
    Home Country
    Germany Germany
    As part of house-keeping: Can I set this thread to "rejected"?
     

    Cordraconis

    Portal Pro
    July 26, 2016
    82
    2
    Home Country
    Belgium Belgium
    Just a question: how would you fill that buffer, if the network throughput is not fast enough for real time playback? If this should happen on playback start this would introduce a big delay...
    I suppose the total length is also sent/known? So buffer a given percentage and measure how much time it takes and then re-adjust the buffer for continuous playback? Maybe give a warning "buffering will take x minutes for smooth playback".

    However, this seems like an other problem: increasing bandwidth requirements with ever increasing resolutions (4K, Dolby DTS, ...) so may I suggest an on-the-fly transcoding feature (based on ffmpeg or something.) Then you can still do what I suggested above, but then calculate the bandwidth for smooth playback...
    Yes, I know transcoding is already asked, but in this case I couldn't resist as it seems the solution to the covering/higher problem imho.
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom