My problems with R5000 system

[vorius]

For all you R5000 users out there, can you offer some help? I am having some issues with R5000 HD + SageTV, which I dont know whether to look for a fix in SageTV software or in the R5000 software. But I have been using SageTV with regular cable with internal tuner for over a year now and I have not noticed any of these problems until now with R5000.

Here's what I am currently facing:

1. Sometimes the video starts skipping after a certain amount of continuous play on one channel. The audio is fine, but the video starts to make very noticeably skips. My current workaround is to change the channel to something else, then quickly come back. Then I can watch for a certain amount of time before it starts skipping again. This does not happen on every channel AFAIK.

2. If I was watching a channel through R5000, then put SageTV into Standby mode, and come back in several hours. That channel never loads up correctly the first time. Even if I change channel to another one on the same R5000 source, the channel never loads, it remains black. My workaround is to change channel to my external Satellite source, then change channel to one of the R5000 ones before it finally loads.

3. Sometimes as I am flipping through R5000 channels I get to a channel which just remains black, like in problem (2) above. I can wait for several minutes and nothing happens, just remains black. Workaround is to change channel again to somethign else, and come back to this one and it will usually load this time.

4. Audio/Video not synched. I have only noticed this on one channel, the TNT HD channel.. so it may very well be a problem with the channel itself, but what happens is there is a noticeable delay in the time a person's mouth moves and the actual audio.

5. What methods are there for increasing the speed when changing channels in R5000? I understand there is supposed to be some delay but is there anything to make it a bit more snappy? Any little tweaks at all to make this go smoother? I already tried the property file changes they recommended on the web site but it didn't really do much.


some relevant details on my system which may help:

SageTV is version 5
Java is latest version as of last weekend.
Intel core 2 duo E6400
MSI nVidia 7600GS

I guess most of my rpoblems may be due to codecs being used. What codecs do you guys recommend?

[DualQuad]

Are your problems with Live TV only or are your "recordings" and playback of recordings showing these issues?

1) I have some issues with Live playback (skipping/freezing) that usually clear up with pausing for a moment and then playing. This issue only appears if I am right on the "edge" of the buffer. I have not yet looked into delaying playback until the buffer grows.

2) Never use standby, my server is an appliance and is always active with Sage

3) I have noticed some tuning issues as well for LiveTV, recording are always spot on.

4) Never seen

5) Wish I knew, like you I am running with the recommendations.

For my decoding I use either Nvidia PureVideo (mpeg2) or CyberlIink PowerDVD (h.264)for playback.


DQ

[vorius]

Thanks for your input, DualQuad!

I will try that technique of not playing right off the edge of the buffer. But so far I have only really been watching live TV (but isn't that itself a recording anyway?)

There was one other problem I completely forgot about: volume! I could watch a SD channel (standard definition) and the volume is comfortably audible, then flip to a HD channel and suddenly the volume is so low I can barely hear it. I will have to raise my volume to the max and it's still low. Then if I flip back to a SD channel the volume is so loud it scares the crap out of me! What could be causing these volume differences?

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by vorius

There was one other problem I completely forgot about: volume! I could watch a SD channel (standard definition) and the volume is comfortably audible, then flip to a HD channel and suddenly the volume is so low I can barely hear it. I will have to raise my volume to the max and it's still low. Then if I flip back to a SD channel the volume is so loud it scares the crap out of me! What could be causing these volume differences?

thats because your HD channels use AC3 audio, and the SD channels use MP3 audio. AC3 audio is what DVDs use and it is lower than MP3 audio. If you install AC3filter, you can increase teh gain for AC3 to get it's volume closer to the MP3 volume level.

[HawgGuy]

Originally Posted by vorius

1. Sometimes the video starts skipping after a certain amount of continuous play on one channel. The audio is fine, but the video starts to make very noticeably skips. My current workaround is to change the channel to something else, then quickly come back. Then I can watch for a certain amount of time before it starts skipping again. This does not happen on every channel AFAIK.

What is the program stream that causes skipping? HD or SD, MPEG-2 or H.264? I had the same problem with HD H.264 streams until I found the right video driver/codec combination for my setup. If your not sure, run Sage in a window and open the r5000-hd status window to see the stream info.

Originally Posted by vorius

2. If I was watching a channel through R5000, then put SageTV into Standby mode

Can't help you here - I run 24/7.

Originally Posted by vorius

4. Audio/Video not synched. I have only noticed this on one channel, the TNT HD channel..

I see this very rarely. Only on certain HD channels. I work around by setting the audio delay to 100-150 ms in Detailed Setup-->Video/audio.

As already noted, bumping up the gain on the AC3 filter will equalize your volume for the HD streams.

Originally Posted by vorius

5. What methods are there for increasing the speed when changing channels in R5000?

Haven't played much with this. From what I have read, any of the tweaks decrease the tuning reliability.

Originally Posted by vorius

SageTV is version 5
Java is latest version as of last weekend.
Intel core 2 duo E6400
MSI nVidia 7600GS

I would recommend upgrading the SageTV 6.x. The newer releases have worked better for me - especially with h.264 streams. You don't list your codecs - but Cyberlink's h.264 is needed if your HD is encoded with that.

For H.264 streams I have had the best luck with the ATI 2600HD card.

Also for H.264 streams, increasing the NumBuffers from 40 to 80 (HEX) using RegEdit (Frey->Common->DSFilters->MpegDeMux) did the trick for me to get silky smooth HD playback of h.264 streams.

[DualQuad]

Whats the point of AC3 filter? Miixing multichannel AC3 to Stereo?

DQ

[vorius]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

thats because your HD channels use AC3 audio, and the SD channels use MP3 audio. AC3 audio is what DVDs use and it is lower than MP3 audio. If you install AC3filter, you can increase teh gain for AC3 to get it's volume closer to the MP3 volume level.

Oh, I do have that option available under the audio/video section of Setup... how do I increase it's gain so it's volume is on par with the MP3 playback volume?

[vorius]

Originally Posted by HawgGuy

What is the program stream that causes skipping? HD or SD, MPEG-2 or H.264? I had the same problem with HD H.264 streams until I found the right video driver/codec combination for my setup. If your not sure, run Sage in a window and open the r5000-hd status window to see the stream info.

I have seen it on both SD and HD. The more noticeable times it was an SD channel actually. I think it was MPEG-2 stream. Are there any procedures for getting the right codec or is it just trial and error with alot of patience?

I would recommend upgrading the SageTV 6.x. The newer releases have worked better for me - especially with h.264 streams. You don't list your codecs - but Cyberlink's h.264 is needed if your HD is encoded with that.

Ok I will try it. I was trying several different codecs I had available on the list. I don't have Cyberlink codec anywhere on the list... is that something I can download for free?

Also for H.264 streams, increasing the NumBuffers from 40 to 80 (HEX) using RegEdit (Frey->Common->DSFilters->MpegDeMux) did the trick for me to get silky smooth HD playback of h.264 streams.

Cool, I will try that.


Thanks for your help!

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by DualQuad

Whats the point of AC3 filter? Miixing multichannel AC3 to Stereo?

DQ

AC3filter can be used for many things. Mixing multichannel to stereo, or to less multi-channels. For instance, you have 5.1 or 6.1 audio but only have 4.1 setup, you cna adjust the levels to each speaker. YOu can adjust gains for certain parts of the audio, just the bass, or just the speaking. Very versatile.

Originally Posted by vorius

Oh, I do have that option available under the audio/video section of Setup... how do I increase it's gain so it's volume is on par with the MP3 playback volume?

nyle posted this a while ago that explains it pretty good.

Just to try and clarrify for anyone else that's new to using sage or external decoders. I'll try and do a quick summary of what they are saying here.

1.) Download the latest AC3Filter from the official site.
2.) Install the AC3filter(The current version 111 will open a tray icon when it's in use for adjustments or you can use the offline configuration utility which is placed in a folder on the start menu under AC3filter.)
3.) Under Setup->Detailed Setup->Video/Adio select the Audio decoder for MPEG2 to be AC3filter.
4.) Now you would modify the AC3filters settings using the tray icon when something is playing or with the offline config.

5.)
a.)If you have 2 speakers turn off the Normalize Matrix option under Equalizer which may be enough. If not boost the gain a little as well.
b.)If you have multiple speakers, If you look under the different options there is a Master Gain - try raising this to your liking during playback.