Video Stuttering in latest SageTV 6.4.0 for Mac

[mcbrems]

I have submitted a bug report, and was asked a couple
questions, but then .... [crickets chirping]

I was hoping Sage would tell me they have been working
hard on getting the Mac renderer into a bullet-proof
state, and the stuttering is a known glitch that will be fixed
in a new build by end of week. But in the absence of any
good info, I have no incentive to not roll back to 6.3.5
and wait until some other diehard beta warrior assures
us all that the renderer is fixed.

Thoughts?

MB

[mcbrems]

I have discovered that SD recorded material does not stutter, and the stuttering of the HD material is worse when it is full screen. I can reduce the severity of the stuttering if I exit full screen mode and scale the SageTV playback window down a bit - maybe to 70-60% normal size. The same HD video files play fine in full-screen mode in VLC Player.

MB

[flavius]

Is this about PS or the client? I own a C2D mini as well and, so far, there hasn't been any issue in rendering HD content fullscreen at 1900x1200. That's PS. Is your problem with the client? So, far, I have test the client only on a C2D iMac at 1680x1050.

What OS X version?

[mcbrems]

I'm not using PlaceShifter. I'm running SageTV on the same Mac Mini that I am using to record and view OTA video.

[flavius]

Is that a software encoder?

[mcbrems]

OTA = "Over The Air" video being broadcast ATSC by commercial TV stations.

[mcbrems]

This thread is becoming my personal blog.

I ponied up the 39 bucks for the update of EyeTV just to see how the smart guide and smart playlists work. Not too bad, actually. Now EyeTV will record entire series, and add programs to the record queue based on keywords when they appear after program guide updates. But EyeTV is still too complex and keyboard driven, and not integrated and remote driven, like Sage. I also didn't like much the way the Apple remote was implemented - hit the wrong button and suddenly FrontRow is opening up. I have gotten so accustomed to using the "back" button in SageTV to return to the previous menu, that anything else seems clunky.

SO... I prefer to use SageTV, but in order to avoid the video stuttering that I mentioned earlier, I rolled back to SageTV Ver 6.3.5. Before my jump to the new Mac Ver 6.4.0, Sage was working fine except for an occasional video dropped frames hiccup every few minutes. Now I just need to go back in and reinstall and tweak out SageMC to my liking.

One thing I would like to learn is how to install future builds of SageTV without losing any of my SageMC tweaks (including dynamic menus). It would be great to just isolate and swap in the new renderer from new builds without dumping any of my other Sage files. It will take some tinkering unless somebody here has some wisdom in this area.

MB

[flavius]

How about using the PS for playback? The new render is far superior to the old one.

[mcbrems]

Originally Posted by flavius

How about using the PS for playback? The new render is far superior to the old one.

I never considered that, as I am not using Client or PS, and am just using the basic app on my Mini to both record and playback. If I understand correctly, are you suggesting that I install placeshifter on the same Mini and treat it as two units - a back end and a remote machine? Is the new renderer playback better in placeshifter than in the basic app?

[mcbrems]

Apparently Mac v6.4.0 video playback issues are being addressed. See this post:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...ack#post278884

[iconic]

All three apps now use the same renderer, albeit slightly differently in the placeshifter. The next version has some changes that should help performance when rendering video in large windows or fullscreen. I normally run 1920x1200 on my first gen Intel Core Duo mini, it runs as well as VLC as far as I can tell (same framerates according to OpenGL Driver Monitor).

The problem is mixing the UI graphics with the video image, some systems can handle it better than others (notably the MacPro running at 2560x1600 on a 30" Cinema display I tested on <drool>).

It's in private beta now, if you have access, *please* test it and report any problems!

[mcbrems]

I'm feeding video DVI/HDMI to my Sony SXRD rear projection display which overscans, requiring me to use SwitchResX to tweak my display dimensions to slightly less than the Sony's native 1920x1080. I thought maybe it was the scaling that was causing the problem, but I attempted to play video from Sage with the mini set to its native resolution 1920x1200, and it stuttered badly just the same. True, though; it did behave much better when the Sage window was sized smaller on the desktop - the smaller the less stuttering.

I rolled back to Ver 6.3.5 for Mac and reinstalled all of my SageMC tweaks, and playback is completely back to prior performance: pretty good except for a clump of a few dropped frames every couple minutes (it looks like a momentary freeze-frame, although the audio is continuous). I even replaced my Seagate 300GB FireWire with a new 500GB G-Force FireWire yesterday, but the aforementioned video hiccup remains. Drat.

I'd be happy to test the new beta if you can get me access. I'd like to know if there is a way to just swap in the renderer rather than having to do a complete reinstall each time.

Thanks!

[guho]

Does it achieve full, no-compromise 30fps on 1080i HDTV content on your Mac Mini? Did you watch an HDTV channel, full screen @1920x1200, with a rolling ticker to see if it is smooth now?

Is the audio now in sync with the video? Current beta has serious lag and lip sync deficiency.

When will this go to public beta? Thanks.

Originally Posted by iconic

All three apps now use the same renderer, albeit slightly differently in the placeshifter. The next version has some changes that should help performance when rendering video in large windows or fullscreen. I normally run 1920x1200 on my first gen Intel Core Duo mini, it runs as well as VLC as far as I can tell (same framerates according to OpenGL Driver Monitor).

The problem is mixing the UI graphics with the video image, some systems can handle it better than others (notably the MacPro running at 2560x1600 on a 30" Cinema display I tested on <drool>).

It's in private beta now, if you have access, *please* test it and report any problems!