HD200 stutter on HD

[hemicuda]

I've been having this problem for several weeks now. Just got around to testing and discovered it's only on the HD200. VLC and the HD100 are fine. The stutter/jitter happens usually when the scene pans or zooms. Sometimes it's bad enough to hurt our eyes. I reverted back to stock w/o plugins and it made no difference. Next test is in standalone to stream the file directly from the server, but that has to wait til later today. I haven't noticed this on anything but broadcast HD so far.

Edit: Standalone does it too. Only on HD, SD is smooth as Comcast broadcasts. It's like a strobe effect. Even as small an area as a head turning.

Just fired up an HD-DVD rip (uncompressed mkv) and no stutter/jitter/strobe motion.

I thought the HD200 had better hardware than the HD100.

[freedml]

See if firmware 20090505 solves the problem and join the crowd.

[_Demo_]

Originally Posted by hemicuda

I've been having this problem for several weeks now. Just got around to testing and discovered it's only on the HD200. VLC and the HD100 are fine. The stutter/jitter happens usually when the scene pans or zooms. Sometimes it's bad enough to hurt our eyes. I reverted back to stock w/o plugins and it made no difference. Next test is in standalone to stream the file directly from the server, but that has to wait til later today. I haven't noticed this on anything but broadcast HD so far.

Could you try adding a custom resolution (details in faq) like :

Test1920x1080i@60|standard=HDMI_1080i59;

and see if it fix the problem? (replace the i with p if using a 1080p display)

Thanks

_Demo_

[_Demo_]

Originally Posted by freedml

See if firmware 20090505 solves the problem and join the crowd.

I think you are one of the last who still has better results with this firmware version. Did you look at the test I sent you by private message?

Thanks

_Demo_

[hemicuda]

I'll try that Custom when I get time to shut the server down tomorrow.

Did some more poking, updated firmware to the latest release as of an hour ago, and tried some other recordings. Turns out the jitter only seems to appear on 720p (ABC) recordings. 1080i (CBS) are rock solid. I haven't had time to look at Heros from NBC yet.

[hingepin]

I get the studdering more frequently only on HD channels. It's not all the time and usually around the same time 8-10 at night. It will cause the HD200 to lock up. I attribute that to living in a townhouse complex and using the wireless dongle. The timeframe must be the heaviest traffic time for the neighbors' networks.

My MOCA adapter should be in on Monday and should do the trick ($150 on Amazon w/shipping).

Just and idea.

[hemicuda]

Originally Posted by _Demo_

Could you try adding a custom resolution (details in faq) like :

Test1920x1080i@60|standard=HDMI_1080i59;

and see if it fix the problem? (replace the i with p if using a 1080p display)

Thanks

_Demo_

Survey says... no Dice.

advanced_aspect_ratio_extra_modes=Test1920x1080p@60|standard=HDMI_1080p59;

Tested a 3min segment of a 720p recording. Seems camera pans aren't as jittery as body gestures. It makes no difference whether I use Source or Test.

Edit: tried 480 resolution on the extender. no difference from 1080P.

[hemicuda]

*scratches head*

Smooth as silk (at least as smooth as the TV QAM tuner) on ABC for the NASCAR race today. ABC shows (720p) were the ones giving trouble the last few weeks. Nothing different on the setup except the f/w on the extender. But that didn't make any difference on the recordings that were jumpy.

Edit: More weirdness: went back to the ABC recording from Thurs. This time I skipped the show and just looked at commercials. Absolutely NO jitter/jumps/skips/strobes. Widescreen or fullscreen. what the..?

[_Demo_]

Originally Posted by hemicuda

Survey says... no Dice.

advanced_aspect_ratio_extra_modes=Test1920x1080p@60|standard=HDMI_1080p59;

Tested a 3min segment of a 720p recording. Seems camera pans aren't as jittery as body gestures. It makes no difference whether I use Source or Test.

Edit: tried 480 resolution on the extender. no difference from 1080P.

You should use extender_resolution_extra_modes not aspect ratio. Then you will need to switch to that the new mode using the video out button on the remote.

Let me know the result.

Thanks

_Demo_

[hemicuda]

oops. my bad. It still showed up using that button (I think) though. I'll drop the setting in the correct spot soon as I get a window to shut down the server. Maybe I can walk the wife through checking it while I'm at work.

[hemicuda]

No dice again. Although all formats I tried reported as 60Hz refresh on the TV.

extender_resolution_extra_modes=Test1920x1080p@60|standard\=HDMI_1080p59;

Wife reported that Dancing on ABC this week didn't exhibit the problem, but that was before I tried your idea.

[hemicuda]

Flashing back to 20090505 soon as I get the thumb in the box. And yes, it seems it's just the evening, drama-type shows on ABC. Everything else I've tested seems to be ok. I'll report back on the flash in a bit (or maybe tomorrow depending on the time to flash).

[freedml]

Good luck. Be sure you rename the files according to the instructions or they won't work!

[hemicuda]

ok, that was a big bust. 20090505 was just as bad if not a little worse. the latest beta (20091016 1) didn't help either.

WAF is hitting an all time low for the 200. She actually asked if I could just send it back. Devs are looking at the clip I sent in, but I hope they figure something out sooner than later.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by hemicuda

ok, that was a big bust. 20090505 was just as bad if not a little worse. the latest beta (20091016 1) didn't help either.

WAF is hitting an all time low for the 200. She actually asked if I could just send it back. Devs are looking at the clip I sent in, but I hope they figure something out sooner than later.

So the problem is only with Drama type shows on ABC?

I wonder if your ABC affiliate is using the repeat frame flag in 720p broadcasts to broadcast ~45fps telecine'd (film) material in a 60fps stream? This would not affect "live" events, like Dancing with the Stars, or sports. This drives (linux based) software players nuts, and you see jittery motion. The HD100 plays these files fine. This also causes problems on some Vizio TVs (also causing jittery motion). Our Fox & MyTV affiliates broadcast their syndicated shows like this, and it is one of the reasons I still use SageTV -- nothing I have other than my hd100 will play them back properly. You could tell if the problematic files used RFF by using dr1394 from AVS forum's tools. PM me for pointers to the tools and instructions.

Drew

[hemicuda]

PM sent

[drewg]

Originally Posted by hemicuda

PM sent

I saw your PM, but it wasn't clear to me. Did you run dr1394's tools and see RFF = 1 in the stuttery shows, and not in the "good" shows? BTW, it probably isn't comcast, it is most likely your local ABC affiliate that decides to send telecined 720p.

Does it make any difference if you play the files in stand-alone mode, or play them via SageTV? I'm wondering if there is a chance that SageTV is transcoding things because it thinks you don't have enough network bandwidth to the HD200. ffmpeg is known to be broken for telecined 720p, and that might explain whats going on.

Drew

[hemicuda]

Originally Posted by drewg

I saw your PM, but it wasn't clear to me. Did you run dr1394's tools and see RFF = 1 in the stuttery shows, and not in the "good" shows? BTW, it probably isn't comcast, it is most likely your local ABC affiliate that decides to send telecined 720p.

Haven't had a chance yet.

Does it make any difference if you play the files in stand-alone mode, or play them via SageTV? I'm wondering if there is a chance that SageTV is transcoding things because it thinks you don't have enough network bandwidth to the HD200. ffmpeg is known to be broken for telecined 720p, and that might explain whats going on.

Tried it in standalone... same thing happens. Server and switch are gig-e; HD200 is on a 5-port 10/100 in the livingroom. Seems 720p would require less bandwidth than 1080i, but I'm no expert to the "mind" of the server software.

[gplasky]

Try changing the switch ports from auto to 10/100. I can't remember if yo can change the HD200 settings also but set them all the same and see if that helps.

Gerry

[hemicuda]

Not quite sure how to accomplish that feat. I don't run managed switches. Gig-e is an 8-port d-link, 5-port is linksys. I'll check the HD200 screens.