STX-HD100 VOB playback issue (1 sec skipping)

[melgon]

I am noticing the following issue when playing back ripped DVD's (VOB folder structure): During playback the Extender suddenly seems to skip about a second (approx.) of content (like someone "cut" out one second of content in the middle of a scene). This is of course especially noticeable in the middle of a dialogue sequence. It seems to occur about every 20 minutes. Here is the interesting part: It always happens in the EXACT same scene(s) when playing the movie in question. In other words: If you rewind or skip back a chapter, it will happen at the exact same scene again. First I thought it was a problem created during the ripping process and I tried pretty much all of the "known" ripping software without getting any improvement. Then I finally tried to stream the exact same movie(s) (VOB containing folder(s)) directly to a computer that is running WinDVD -> No problem during playback over the network. I tried it using my wife's computer on the network running Sage TV client software -> No playback problems. All my media and the SageTV software are running on a dedicated PC (Fast dual core processor - 2 GB RAM - Intel Motherboard - 2 TB RAID - XP Professional SP2 - 2 Hauppauge 1800 tuner cards). All computers and extenders are connected hard-wired through a Network switch. Everything else (incl. HDTV streaming) seems to work relatively normal. It must be some kind of problem with the STX-HD100 extenders. Anyone else? -Melgon

[jpwegas]

I noticed the same thing on a DVD we were watching tonight. Out of frustration, we played the real DVD in a real DVD player.

Then I noticed that the real DVD player would show the "multiple angles available" icon briefly at the SAME scenes where the HD Extender was skipping. It matched up exactly. I don't think this DVD actually has multiple angles, but the skipping must have something to do with the angle flag appearing in the video content somehow.

I don't know how to fix it but I'll send this detail to support.

--John

[jpwegas]

Did a little more research... although the hardware DVD player shows that additional angles are available on that DVD, I can't actually switch to view them. I don't know if that's a problem with the DVD player or if the DVD is designed this way on purpose.

Regardless, I don't think it's coincidence that the skips happen at the same points where the "angle" icon appears on the hardware player.

--John

[jpwegas]

Ok, I figured out why I couldn't view the "angle" in this case - turns out the "angles" are scenes where some sign or background wording is in another languange. So if you are watching in English, it will show angle 1 which shows the scene with the English sign, angle 2 shows the French version of the sign, etc. The "alternate angles" are only available if you've selected that language in the setup menu, that's why I couldn't view them directly.

--John

[bialio]

I see this in quite a few of the movies I have ripped to HDD.

btl.

[Grant]

There are several VOB's 1 gig each could this be a glitch when going from one VOB to the next? Try playing one VOB on your a PC using a DVD player that supports VOB. Go to the end of that video and see if it is the same location you are getting the skip. If the end of the file is close to where you are seeing the skip then at least that identifies it is a problem with the player going from one file to the next.

[bialio]

I don't think that's the case - there's one movie that it happens in the first 2 minutes for me (Zoolander). Surely that's too early to hit a VOB boundary.

btl.

[Grant]

I agree, I was thinking about the first post that said every 20 min or so. Not sure what would cause this after 2 min though.

Grant

[jpwegas]

The skipping happens very consistently when an alternate angle is available. It's always at the exact same place in the video.

I did some research and apparently using multiple angle this way is a common method to provide an alternate view of words when viewing the movie in an alternate language. I just never noticed it before.

Anyway, I sent this problem to support with some debugging logs and was told that the skip will be reduced but not eliminated in the next firmware update.

--John

[Berg]

Has anyone heard back from support about this ?

I did notice this with "The Kingdom" and I have just added "Ratatouille" (I know - quite the leap ...) to the server and found this would occur at any time their was an alternate angle available.

Should I file a support ticket ?

Thanks.

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by Berg

Has anyone heard back from support about this ?

I did notice this with "The Kingdom" and I have just added "Ratatouille" (I know - quite the leap ...) to the server and found this would occur at any time their was an alternate angle available.

Should I file a support ticket ?

The answer I got from support was:

"There is a workaround in the next firmware for this. It will still cause a 1/3 second pause though."

--John

[jpme]

I've had this same issue, and with the latest versions (both Beta and Released) it is still there and seems even worse than before. For me, the problem does not seem to show up when playing on the server, only the extender (have not tried client). Also, when I rewind back to the 'defective' spot, sometimes audio does not come back at all, sometimes it does after a delay. Often need to stop-resume the movie.

Some movies, this 'skip' happens very frequently (a matter of 10s of seconds apart in places)....

Anyone have the same experiences?

I wonder if converting to a different format would help? I'm using DVD Fab to do the rip.

Anyway, I'll send a bug report just to update that the latest releases still don't solve it.

[jpme]

I though I should ask what ripper everyone is using, in case it has anything to do with it. I'm using DVD Fab primarily (once in a while DVD Next Copy). Anyone using something else and still seeing this?

I doubt the ripper is contributing to the problem, but, may be worth a shot asking, just in case.