Stuttering problem (5 Viewers)

[richbayliss]

In my case changing the audio codec from MainConcept (Hauppauge) MPEG Audio Decoder to MPA fixed the stutter that lasted until you rewind and resume playback. Unfortunately I lost audio on one channel too, so I'm still looking for a better solution

I am using the NVIDIA PureVideo Audio/video decoders (since I have all NVIDIA HW)

 

[riadmelb]

In my case changing the audio codec from MainConcept (Hauppauge) MPEG Audio Decoder to MPA fixed the stutter that lasted until you rewind and resume playback.

Thank you igalan for this tip.

Last night I did similar thing. I left the video decoder at nVidia, but I changed the audio decoder to DScaler. I tested it with many video files, and also watching tv for over an hour, all good so far. I did this using mp setup and also RadLight Filter Manager, then tested the result using graphedit.

Note: I tried audio decoder of ac3filter and mpa, and both didn't help the stuttering.

--
riadmelb

 

[Spragleknas]

Simular experience: Using SPDF w/PureVideo audio gave me microstuttering. Changing audiocodec to AC3-filter solved the problem.

 

[thirsty]

I too have stutter issues and have followed the suggestions here and in other posts.

My issues are a little different though.

If I turn Timeshift off all is fine with the odd stutter here and there but I can live with it. If I record one channel and watch another (I have three tuners) then it works fine. Once recording is finished though it seems timeshift is left selected on and the stuttering makes the tv unwatcheable.

It seems strange that recording is OK but having the timeshift buffer on causes problems,

Thirsty

 

[igalan]

The problems that I had with stuttering have gone away, but only after I replaced my TV tuners. Since the HVR-900 that I had died (this is an external USB 2 tuner), I had to replace the PVR-350 as well to make room for a PCI Dual DVB-T tuner (I just have one PCI slot). Now my system is completely stutter free.

So, the problem wasn't the audio or video codecs (I'm using the same as before), or any MS patch that had to be applied (like quartz.dll), or any process hogging the CPU, or Media Portal, or low signal. The problem were the TV tuners or their drivers. And I'm almost sure that the problem was the HVR-900. It affected the PVR-350 as well. When I had only the PVR-350 it was stutter free, as well.

 

[iamfrank]

Okay, I am back. Apologies for the delay I've been mucho busy with work.

Now, the reason I've been able to try so many things is I can reproduce the problem by flicking a light switch on and off repeatedly, it causes enough interference in the antenna cable to cause the stuttering, but I digress. Passing comments about the home wiring I'm not super keen on because while it's something I'm going to look into, neither MCE or Meedio have the problem.

Here goes:
I've changed my audio codec to every one installed on my system. MPA, NVidia, DScaler, AC3Filter
I've installed every patch under the sun that someone has suggested to fix my problems.
I've mucked around installing old drivers, new drivers etc.
I've mucked around looking for obvious problems with BIOS settings.
I've grabbed the latest version from SVN, not the current one, but a couple of weeks after I was last here.

Result, it's exactly the same as it was before. I can flick the switch on and off, and it stutters and keeps throwing out the VMR9 error message in the logs (I grabbed tail for Windows to monitor the log file). If I do the same in MCE, it stutters over the problem, then continues on as per normal once the interference ceases.

Alright guys, where to from now?

 

[Taipan]

I can reproduce the problem by flicking a light switch on and off repeatedly, it causes enough interference in the antenna cable to cause the stuttering

So, the cause of the problem is interference to the TV signal - due to low TV signal level, or poor shielding of the TV lead-in. I suggest that the best solution is to solve the cause, rather than try to get MediaPortal to handle the errors better.

Alright guys, where to from now?

You need to get a better quality signal from the TV antenna to your TV card :-
1. make sure the TV antenna is top quality, high-gain, mounted as high as possible and aimed correctly for maximum signal pickup
2. the co-ax cable must be quad shielded and all connectors should be "F-type" screw-in connectors
3. eliminate any "splitters" in the TV signal path
4. fit a mast-head amplifier (only if absolutely necessary)
5. check that the mains supply is earthed correctly and the TV co-ax is earthed correctly.

The above steps will ensure that you get "stutter-free" viewing performance ....

 

[iamfrank]

That doesn't make Mediaportal as robust as any of the other products in the market now does it? If it was just me I'd say don't worry about it, but I'm not alone, I'm just the only one who's worked out how to replicate it.

 

[iamfrank]

And if you read what I wrote, I'm planning to solve the hardware problem, as you can see from the time between my responses though, time is something I'm quite short of at the moment.

 

[iamfrank]

Apolgies in advance, I've not been in a good mood since for some unknown reason MP also stopped playing DVD's on my machine this morning too