HD100 micro stutters with D* MPEG4 content

[mediahome]

I have a strange one that I am trying to get my hands around. Anyone else seeing anything like this?

When watching the newer MPEG4 channels from D* on the HD100 it does a little stutter and pixelation every second or so. It is like a clock as it is very regular. The stutter and pixilation is very slight, just enough to be annoying.

This does not occur with the same channels when played on the PC client. It plays very smoothly on the PC.

Now the truely strange part. If I record a show from one of these channels it plays smoothly on the PC but does the little micro stutter thing on the HD100. Same recording with different results on the two clients. It appears that the HD100 does not like the format of those files???

Any feedback or ideas would be greatly appreciated

Mediahome

[HawgGuy]

Have you tried pausing the playback for a few seconds and then resuming? I have seen this problem as well on stations tuned with the r5000 tuner. If I recall correctly, I think is was primarily SD mpeg-2 content. Pausing for a few seconds and then resuming fixes the problem. There is a setting in the SageTV properties file that can compensate for this, but I believe they may have fixed it in the latest firmware update.

[mediahome]

Yes, I have seen the occational MPEG2 stutter problem and that problem does respond to the pause/restart work around.

I updated to the 12/26 firmware and that does not impact this issue.

The micro stutter problem that I am seeing seems to happen only on MPEG4 streams and it may be limited to the local broadcast channels. I downloaded the channel index at http://www.dishchannelchart.com/ so that I can tell how each channel is broadcast. It does not appear to happen with the VOOM channels which are MPEG4. ???? Will do more testing to isolate this further.

I have tried to isolate everthing that I think could affect it. Network, disk, video cables, etc. I even plugged the HD100 directly in to the TV to eliminate the reciever as an issue. Everything points to the HD100 having a problem with the local broadcast MPEG4 streams.

[littlerm]

Although not the same source, I am seeing stuttering problems with some xvid encoded files (which is mpeg-4) and some h.264 files (mpeg-4 avc). I wonder if the issues are related?

[mguebert]

How are you getting D* mpeg 4 streams into sage? I did not realize there was a way to get HD D* mpeg 4 streams into a pc yet.

[mediahome]

littlerm - Certainly could be related. What are you seeing? What I see is a regular glitch every second or so where the audio stutters and the video pixelates for a fraction of a second.

[mediahome]

mguebert - The video is captured using a Nextcom R5000 modified D* reciever. The R5000 is USB attached to my media server running the WHS version of Sage. It is a great setup and works well once you have everything shaken down. At this point I just have playback issues with the HD100 and I am sure that the Sage guys will work that out soon.

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mediahome

mguebert - The video is captured using a Nextcom R5000 modified D* reciever.

I think mguebert's question is how are you getting mpeg4 from a DirecTV box. Nextcom says that MEPG-4 models H10 and H20 are not supported . Unless you are meaning D* as Dish instead of DirecTV.

[mguebert]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

I think mguebert's question is how are you getting mpeg4 from a DirecTV box. Nextcom says that MEPG-4 models H10 and H20 are not supported . Unless you are meaning D* as Dish instead of DirecTV.

I should have been more specific, that is exactly what I meant. I would like to go with DirecTV for their better channel lineup and NFL sunday ticket, but the lack of ability to modify the MPEG4 receivers make Dish more likely at this time. But I also have read of many more problems with the R5000 mod and Dish bitstreams.

[littlerm]

Originally Posted by mediahome

littlerm - Certainly could be related. What are you seeing? What I see is a regular glitch every second or so where the audio stutters and the video pixelates for a fraction of a second.

That is what I am seeing with the h.264 files. The xvid stuttering seems to happen in scenes with lots of action on-screen such as a flash, high-speed action scene, etc. The files all play fine on a client PC.

[tdoris]

I'm seeing the same issue with local network channels (H264) on my Dish 211. I already sent a support request in.

[mediahome]

Yes, sorry I was refering to Dish. I guess I am a bit mixed up on the short cut.

At least I am not alone in seeing the stutter. Have any of you had problems tuning into those MPEG4 channels using a 211 and R5000? It frequently takes me 3-4 times to get the channel to play.

[tdoris]

Yes, there seems to be two separate issues. The first one is that while the last software update for the R5000 fixed the issue to a very large degree, the R5000 will sometimes still misidentify (or fail to identify and then by default make) a H264 stream as an MPEG2 stream. The second issue is that SageTV seems to have an issue switching between H264 and MPEG2 streams, most of the time I see nothing (hit stop and then restart and usually it will work), but sometimes I actually see the last second or so of the previous channel I was on. I can't help but think SageTV might have some kind of buffer clearing issue here, but I haven't tried since I think the 6.1 beta to resolve with SageTV and Nextcom support. Maybe after I can view my locals again I'll take it up with them.

When the HD100 works, it is great. I've been struggling with getting streaming HDTV working reliably throughout my home for almost 2 years now (trying various SageTV, Windows MCE, MythTV, Cable, Dish combinations). The HD100 looks like it has the potential to solve what has been the hardest problem so far: a stable and quiet client that is easy to use and plays all the channels and different media formats I need. If I could get all the channels working, I might finally be at the point where I can remove the direct HDMI feed from my Dish receiver and use that input on my HDMI switch for something else.

[mediahome]

tdoris - Thanks for your observations. It does appear that there is a combination of problems that are causing these symptoms. The problematic channels appear to come through the R5000 tagged as "MPEG2-TS[h.264 1080p, AC3/384Kbps @ 48Khz 5.1]". These are where I consistently see the microstutter problem and where I have problems switching between any two of these channels. I don't seem to have problems switching between H.264 and MPEG2 channels. My reciever and TV are not 1080p so perhaps part of the problem relates to transcoding to 720p.

The problem is also impacted by the Dish channel mapping. I can minimize, but not eliminate, the switching problem by mapping the local HiDef feed channel (e.g. 6420) to the traditional channel (2) and vice versa and then deleting the mapping for the associated LoDef channel.

As much as I am very frustrated by these problems I agree whole heartedly with your other comments. I have been using Sage since version 2 and this is the closest I have come to a setup that I am happy with. I have long since given up on the idea of having a PC client in the family room with the TV and once we get past these issues the HD100 will be a great solution for me.