why can't i play a ts file over wifi? (1 Viewer)

[tachtevrenidis]

my MePo server is connected to my router with a 1Gbps connection. My macbook is connected via wifi over 802.11n (showing 140Mbps). That should be plenty of bandwidth to watch my recorded shows over mapped file share. When I try to open a ts file on my macbook (I have tried other computers same outcome) using vlc, there is 10 secs buffering for every 1 second of playback. This just doesn't seem right. Same hardware and network was just fine when I was watching MCE recorded content on my mac via VLC. What's going on?

Macbook wifi connection details attached. Keep in mind that when i try to watch on the same machine when plugged in to the same router using wire, it all works just fine.[DOUBLEPOST=1380139828][/DOUBLEPOST]Some more info. When I try to copy the file over to my mac (drag it to desktop), I get close to 3MB/s average and it estimates it will take 48mins. The recording is 70 mins so you would think that if it can copy faster than the duration of the recording then it should be able to playback over wifi just fine.

 

[mm1352000]

My macbook is connected via wifi over 802.11n (showing 140Mbps). That should be plenty of bandwidth...

Bandwidth is only one half of the concern. The other half is latency. The issue with wireless is as much latency as it is bandwidth, and my guess is that is what is killing it for you here.

When I try to open a ts file on my macbook...

Are you literally browsing to a network share and attempting to play the file?
There is no guarantee that playback should work as the size of chunks transferred and latency could mean that the data is not arriving in time for VLC to stream smoothly. When data arrives late it will be thrown away.

Macbook wifi connection details attached. Keep in mind that when i try to watch on the same machine when plugged in to the same router using wire, it all works just fine.

Which points to network exacerbating an issue with the way you access/share the files.

...so you would think that if it can copy faster than the duration of the recording then it should be able to playback over wifi just fine.

No, I wouldn't say that. As above, latency is the other half of the coin. Extreme example: if 1% transferred in the first minute and the rest transferred in the last 5 minutes then you'd have a big gap where the client had no data to play.

 

[tachtevrenidis]

thanks mm... but the point is that from the same server to the same client, if i double click on a wtv file (remnant from my MCE setup), it plays over wifi on my laptop no problem. When I look at 'media information' for the two files, it all looks identical except for framerate. Why is the MePo recorded file at 120 frames per sec? That seems wasteful.

 

[mm1352000]

thanks mm... but the point is that from the same server to the same client, if i double click on a wtv file (remnant from my MCE setup), it plays over wifi on my laptop no problem.

WTV has a different file structure to TS files.

When I look at 'media information' for the two files, it all looks identical except for framerate. Why is the MePo recorded file at 120 frames per sec? That seems wasteful.

Like WMC, we simply record (ie. write to HDD without re-encoding) what comes from the tuner. Unless you're using an analog or capture card that means that all video stream parameters - bitrate, frame rate, encoding - are identical to WMC. Almost a bit for bit copy o In other words, I'm saying that what you're seeing is an error in whatever program you're using to read these stats. Nobody broadcasts 720p at 120 fps and we certainly don't re-encode to that either.

 

[tachtevrenidis]

ok but this is VLC, pretty widely used software. Is it MePo that does not structure the ts file correctly? Regardless of the media info, the result is that recording ts results in inability to play over wifi while recording wtv results in playing over wifi just fine. And by the way i have a separate MePo client and while on wifi on the MePo player, playing a ts file is again terrible (while same system wired is just fine). I think there is something wrong with how MePo creates the ts file or the ts file format is not tolerant of wireless networking.

 

[mm1352000]

ok but this is VLC, pretty widely used software. Is it MePo that does not structure the ts file correctly?

No. If the structure were wrong then you wouldn't be able to play it over a wired network connection.
In any case, the structure of the TS file is 99% controlled by your TV provider. We basically just copy what comes off the air/cable/satellite from your tuner to your HDD.

Regardless of the media info, the result is that recording ts results in inability to play over wifi while recording wtv results in playing over wifi just fine.

I can only repeat: WTV has a different file structure to TS. I don't know the specifics of the differences (WTV is proprietary) so I can't speculate over why WTV might be more resilient in this specific scenario.

To be clear, both WTV and TS are "wrapper" or "container" formats. The video and audio inside WTV and TS recordings of the same show would be the same - the difference would be how that video and audio is mixed and [crucially] how the stream timing is stored.

File formats have different purposes and use cases; it is not always reasonable to expect the same results from different formats.

And by the way i have a separate MePo client and while on wifi on the MePo player, playing a ts file is again terrible (while same system wired is just fine).

This is a completely different scenario. When playing a TS file through MediaPortal from the recorded TV section the file will be streamed using RTSP (unless you've enabled the UNC share debug option). When playing that file over the network with VLC you're directly accessing the shared folder (UNC, NFS ... whatever). Without log files I'm not able to speculate further.

I think there is something wrong with how MePo creates the ts file or the ts file format is not tolerant of wireless networking.

I disagree, and I can only repeat what I've already said.

1. MP does little if anything to determine the structure or content of the TS file. In other words, the idea that MP has control of the format is not correct.
2. The TS format was designed for streaming by experts in their field. The assumption in the design is that latency would be relatively constant. That assumption is not always valid in a wireless network use case.

Continuing to discuss what we don't agree on is pointless. Here is a simple test that might help with the VLC scenario:

1. Open VLC.
2. Select File -> Advanced Open File.
3. Select your file using the "add..." button/dialog.
4. Tick "show more options".
5. Increase the "caching" value to 5000 ms.
6. Click play.

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again

Just curious: did the VLC trick help?

mm

 

[tachtevrenidis]

I don't see the caching option in vlc on my mac.

 

[mm1352000]

You're right, the interface does look a bit different to Windows... and in fact I was using VLC 1.1.x. For the record, in VLC 2.x the menu to select is Media->Open Multiple Files...

For you, try tick "streaming/saving".

 

[mm1352000]

Oh, back up the truck. Try this:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=97271