Recorded TV playback stuttering (2 Viewers)

[Groovemaize]

Hi, I have been running MP for just over a year and love it, originally we had mediacentre but was unable to stream live hd tv so decided to give MP a trial. Things have gone well, we have a dedicated win 8 server with 4 win 8 clients all running well. Unfortunately we are experiencing problems with recorded hd tv at the moment (kids programs so are required a lot!) These recorded tv progs tend to start stuttering after about 10-15 minutes to the point that they become un watchable. I've watched the Shift+1 graphs and can see that the actual FPS start to change frequently which coincides with dropped frames resulting in the stuttering, somewhere around 50 dropped frames in 20,000. I've read a few forum threads and tried setting deinterlacing to aggressive but this didn't seem to help. If anyone has any good ideas or a solution to fix this I'd be very grateful

Runing V1.6.0 on Zotac ID81 on win 8, log file attached.


Kind Regards

Guy

 

[mm1352000]

Hello Guy

Can you please post the log files from the server too. We need to confirm that the issues aren't "baked into" the recordings themselves (for example: due to TV signal reception issues at the time of the recording).

Thanks,
mm

 

[Groovemaize]

Thanks for the reply mm, Ah, I see, I think my reception is fine as live tv is perfect across all channels, please see attached log. Note: nvidia output is set to 50hz.

Kind Regards

Guy

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks

There are only a few discontinuity errors in the TsWriter log, so that's a good indication that your reception is adequate.

I notice is that you haven't configured your codec preferences for TV:
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/1_...nfiguration/9_Codecs_and_Renderer/1_TV_Codecs

I'd strongly recommend you configure those settings. Note that defaults (which will be LAV for all, since you have the LAV codecs installed) will show when you first visit that section... but the settings are only saved when you click OK.

Second thing I notice is that it looks like you're using a wireless network connection, and the recordings are hosted on a NAS. That's not ideal... but it may be adequate. Please copy a recording to the local PC and check that you observe the same problem.

Finally, I observe power notifications from Windows around the time that MP starts dropping frames. I wonder if the cause is that your client is falling into a power saving mode. Please check the Windows power settings.

Regards,
mm

 

[Groovemaize]

Thanks for the prompt reply mm, the recordings are currently hosted on a NAS - Synology DS415+ which should be more than adequate. They were previously on the server but I observed the same problem. The network is a combination of hardwired Cat 6e and Gb powerline plug to the client which plays full 3D blurays so is cappable of handling tge transfer. I'll check tge power settings on the client and configure the codec preferences according to the link and see where I get to. Appreciate the input.

Kind Regards

Guy

 

[Groovemaize]

Hi mm do you have any pointers for codec setup other than the defau,t LAV?

Cheers

Guy

 

[mm1352000]

Hi mm do you have any pointers for codec setup other than the defau,t LAV?

Do you mean that you don't want to use LAV, or...? (The question isn't clear to me.)

Codec preferences are personal choice. There isn't a "right" and "wrong"; just use what works for you.

Lots of people follow this guide:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/guide-perfect-playback-display-calibration.119610/

Maybe it helps you.

 

[Owlsroost]

Thanks for the reply mm, Ah, I see, I think my reception is fine as live tv is perfect across all channels, please see attached log. Note: nvidia output is set to 50hz.

Kind Regards

Guy

In the original client logs you posted, Live TV also has problems (I can see it in the TsReader log) - it's not just the recordings....

Do all clients have the problems ?

You say you have been using MP for over a year, so have these problems started recently, or have you always had them ?

Does standard definition (SD) TV play OK ?

(playing Full HD interlaced HDTV is harder for the PC to play than Bluray - it's as tough as it gets...)

 

[Groovemaize]

Hi mm, happy to use the LAV codecs and have configured according to the link, still seem to be seeing problems when playing back the recorded files.

Have checked the power options and changed from balanced to high performance with no power saving, the result is the same playback issue.

Hi Owlsroost, yes all clients have the same issue, as far as I remember recorded files have had this problem, although it doesnt appear to happen on animated recordings ie Deadly 60 have problems, Disney Dragons are fine! SD tv is fine.

Cheers

Guy

 

[mm1352000]

the recordings are currently hosted on a NAS - Synology DS415+ which should be more than adequate. They were previously on the server but I observed the same problem.

I'd still like you to try the suggested test (playing recordings that is hosted on the client) please.

The point I'm concerned about is the network link, not the NAS. A network link will introduce additional latency, and may make latency more variable (depending on the reliability of the network). Latency is the reason why players can struggle to play a 10 Mb/s file over a 54 or 150 Mb/s wireless network. You would think the bandwidth should be enough... but bandwidth is somewhat beside the point.

This is also why I'm not surprised you observed the same problems when the recordings were on the server, and why I'm specifically asking you to try playing a file that is hosted on the client.

The network is a combination of hardwired Cat 6e and Gb powerline plug to the client which plays full 3D blurays so is cappable of handling tge transfer.

As above: I'm concerned about latency/reliability, not bandwidth. Wireless and power line can be particularly problematic.

Transferring/playing a Blu-ray is very different to live TV (ie. it isn't a fair comparison). With a Blu-ray (or any other static file), the whole file is available for the player to buffer. In other words, the player can read ahead as much as it likes. This buffering can mask latency issues. I mean, if the network is slow (high latency) for a moment it usually doesn't matter, because the player should have enough content in its buffer to continue play until the issue passes.

With live TV, there's a limited buffer size so the data must arrive in a timely fashion in order to avoid problems. My understanding is that MP's playback for recorded TV is similar to live TV in that it doesn't use a particularly large buffer. Owlsroost can correct me if I'm wrong,

still seem to be seeing problems when playing back the recorded files.

Please post fresh log files from a client, and a screenshot of the LAV video settings.