Plugin: PlayOn in Online Services (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VOD, etc.)

[easystreet]

Anyone having intermittant netflix issues? Some videos play fine, but most freeze during the netflix buffer.

Also, is there anyway to speed up browsing through menus of playon feeds? Is this extremely slow for anyone else...or would this be an internet connection or processor speed issue?

Thanks for any help. This is freakin awesome!

Matt

[visiontim]

I am too. It's really poorly done with Netflix because it's reencoding it seems. I launch the browser and just watch the stream and it's just so much better with no lag. Is there any way to just have SageTV use the browser stream instead of reencoding?

[slaponyc]

But no content from my HD200 in extender (connected to Sage Server) mode. I defaulted to sagetv3.htm (I think), but I have stvis like metadata and fanart and IMDB. Those are still loaded. Does this mean I didn't do this right?

I go to PlayOn Settings and nothing shows up.

I'm thinking I should completely uninstall Sage Server and start all over.

Thoughts?

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by easystreet

Also, is there anyway to speed up browsing through menus of playon feeds? Is this extremely slow for anyone else...or would this be an internet connection or processor speed issue?

When you say browsing are you talking about how long it takes the feeds to download or just navigating inside the online services menu?

Originally Posted by slaponyc

But no content from my HD200 in extender (connected to Sage Server) mode. I defaulted to sagetv3.htm (I think)

Sounds like your STV isn't updated, see this post for info.

[sic0048]

I still don't get any Amazon VOD listings. Anyone else? I have a couple of shows in my Amazon account. I can log into Amazon directly and see them, but nothing shows up in my feeds.

Everything else (including Netflix) works just fine.

[evilpenguin]

Check out Amazon VOD with UPNPInspector and see if any videos show up like that. If the videos are there and I just can't see them them a bug for me, but if no videos are showing up the you need to send that to PlayOn support.

[easystreet]

Evilpenguin,

Delay is when loading video menus/selections through playon.

Thanks for the read.

Easy

[skyeclad]

Originally Posted by easystreet

Evilpenguin,

Delay is when loading video menus/selections through playon.

Thanks for the read.

Easy

I notice a significant pause while the shows load but not menus.

[mkanet]

What video decoder is used to play these video streams back? I have a feeling my letterboxed issue might be related to the H.264 video decoder I'm using (CodeAVC H.264) and the properties file setting=always_use_dshow_player=true

I am almost certain these Playon Videos have a missing aspect ratio parameter which is dependant on the H.264/directshow setting used. I'm guessing the default H.264 playback for sageTV client is more forgiving when this parameter is missing.

If its not the H.264 decoder, its probably another decoder. I just need to know which one is used by a PC client that displays the aspect ratio correctly. This is the only thing that can affect the video's aspect ratio/letterboxing/sizing.

I think it's the decoder used for flash FLV playback. Anyone have any idea what's sageTV uses internally? I have a directshow FLV playback filter on my system to play FLV files in Windows Media Player; which it's technology is already obsolete.

Originally Posted by mkanet

Thanks I appreciate the help, at least I know its something that can be fixed by me (hopefully). I'm using SageTV 6.6.2.218 and SageMC 6.3.9a with the latest clean install of this addon, 1.6. My default "aspect radio mode" Detailed Setup\Multimedia\Aspect Ratio Mode for all videos is "Source"; which makes it letter boxed, and with 16x9 or Fill, the video stretches where there are no black borders on the left/right, but unecessary black borders still show on the top and bottom no matter what. This only happens with the videos coming from this addon. All other videos, no matter what aspect radio are handled correctly on my 16:9 screen.

I also have my Detailed Setup\Multimedia\Display Aspect Ratio Settings=16x9

Lastly, I have my Detailed Setup\Advanced\Select User Interface Theme=Standard HD 1080

Edit: An important thing to note, you shouldnt have to override the aspect ratio setting to 16:9. Leaving it on source is the correct setting, unless there's something wrong with the source's aspect ratio setting. What happens when you put your aspect ratio to "Source"? Do all the Online Videos look correct except for these being letterboxed? I'm guessing that's why you had yours set to 16:9 for these videos right?

Lastly, (and most importantly), what video decoder is being used for these videos? Is it whatever is used for H.264?


If the above mentioned are all the same for us; yet, for the videos coming from this plugin only are letterboxed (see attached screenshots), it's a setting that we haven't talked about yet (probably not in sageTV). The thing to note is that all my settings are set correctly; which cause my Online Videos to all show correctly. However, just for these streamed videos they dont.

Maybe, the setting I'm looking for isnt in sageTV at all; and is somehow in PlayOn? If so, why would they show correctly on my HD200? My HD200 uses the same settings and themes I do on my PC.

Thanks for your help. Any further help would greatly be appreciated!

[mkanet]

I can for the video to show correctly for these videos by changing "Detailed Setup/Multimedia/Aspect Ratio Settings= Horiz. Stretch=133% and Vertical Stretch=133%, however, this stretches out my videos for everything else that sageTV can play under Online Videos, TV, etc.

Is someone couple please think of a few ideas (even if you think they might not work) please let me know. I would really appreciate it. I know that there is another person who has it working fine on a PC client, so it is something on my setup that I can change. I just dont know what.

Thanks for any help people can offer. This plugin has turned out to be my most favorite new plugin now; which is why I'm determined to figure out whats the problem. Idont think sageTV support can fix this since there's a good chance they wont be able to reproduce this.

I certainly cant be the only person who plays back Online Videos from this plugin via their Server; and, not their HD-200 clients only.

Edit: It would help a lot if someone knew what decoder/filter is used to play back these types of videos. The filter used on the HD200 obviously has been tested to handle flash video flv based material. I just want to use the same thing on my PC based sageTV client.

[Taddeusz]

I believe all video through PlayOn is transcoded to MPEG2 video.

[mkanet]

How sure are you? Any mpeg2 I have ever used; even with missing AR info, my PC based sageTV client has been able to display it correctly unless the black bars are actually part of the video; which in this case is not. It would be helpful to get access to the streamed video that sageTV is trying to playback. I am willing to bet my directshow based media player would display the videos in the same fashion... letterboxed. There's something proprietary that sageTV does; external to system directshow components when playing these types of streamed files.

I am not sure who the correct person is to get support on this; but, I would like to move forward with it rather than shrug my shoulders and ignore it. I'm sure if this is happening to me, it will most likely happen to someone else sooner or later.

If I contact sageTV support, they will ask the author of this addon to contact them directly to resolve the issue.

Evilpenguin, could you please find it in your heart to help me out here? I dont know how to debug this to find out the source of the issue. All I know is, there is someone with an almost identical setup that doesnt have this issue.

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I believe all video through PlayOn is transcoded to MPEG2 video.

[Taddeusz]

Just verified this by looking at my SageTV Client's log while playing a Hulu video through PlayOn. PlayOn ALWAYS transcodes the video to MPEG2. The video information shows as an MPEG2-Video with MP2 audio:

Tue 12/15 11:25:54.401 [AWT-EventQueue-0@187aeca] VideoFrame.timeSelected2(Tue 12/15 11:25:31.163, true) currFile=MediaFile[id=0 A[100000004,100000002,"OnlineVideo7477591942694542853",0@1215.11:25,0] host=BeanDip encodedBy= format=MPEG2-PS 0:00:02 3993 kbps [#0 Video[MPEG2-Video 59.94006 fps 640x480 4:3 4000 kbps progressive]#1 Audio[MP2 44100 Hz 2 channels 192 kbps idx=1 id=c0]] C:\Users\Taddeusz\AppData\Local\Temp\OnlineVideo7477591942694542853.flv, Seg0[Tue 12/15 11:25:31.163-Tue 12/15 11:25:33.663]] realDur=0

[Mitch G]

If I watch a Netflix movie via a browser and stop part way through the movie, close browser, turn off computer, etc and then at some later date pick the movie from netflix and start watching it, it'll start up where I stopped it the last time.
This doesn't seem to work with this plugin/playon.

Is this a playon limitation? Or is it something with the plugin?


Mitch

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by Mitch G

If I watch a Netflix movie via a browser and stop part way through the movie, close browser, turn off computer, etc and then at some later date pick the movie from netflix and start watching it, it'll start up where I stopped it the last time.
This doesn't seem to work with this plugin/playon.

Is this a playon limitation? Or is it something with the plugin?


Mitch

Because PlayOn uses a hidden browser to transcode Netflix movies the movie will pick up where the transcoder stopped, not where you stopped.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by mkanet

Evilpenguin, could you please find it in your heart to help me out here? I dont know how to debug this to find out the source of the issue. All I know is, there is someone with an almost identical setup that doesnt have this issue.

Yep, its definitely mpeg2, but Sage is just saving it as a .flv for some reason.

Here's a test you can run to isolate where the problem is:

1) Start watching a 16x9 show in Hulu.
2) Wait a few minutes then force quit SageTV.
3) Go to the %TEMP% folder in windows.
4) Grab the leftover FLV, and dump it into one of your import directories.
5) Let Sage detect it then try playing it back and see if you have the same problem outside of the Online Services menu.

If the AR is correct then its a Sage problem, if the AR is still wrong then its an issue with the specific decoder you're using.

[petereader]

Originally Posted by mkanet

I can for the video to show correctly for these videos by changing "Detailed Setup/Multimedia/Aspect Ratio Settings= Horiz. Stretch=133% and Vertical Stretch=133%, however, this stretches out my videos for everything else that sageTV can play under Online Videos, TV, etc.

Is someone couple please think of a few ideas (even if you think they might not work) please let me know. I would really appreciate it. I know that there is another person who has it working fine on a PC client, so it is something on my setup that I can change. I just dont know what.

Hey mkanet,
I've been experiencing this problem for quite a while; same symptoms as you describe, oddly enough, only for netflix videos. Hulu and other videos don't have this issue. I'm also using coreAVC for my H264 decoder. Have you tried a different decoder? What were the results?

I'm sorry your having this issue but thanks for posting. I've been tearing my hair out trying to wrap my head around this one and had pretty much hit a brick wall. This gives me something new to try.

[mkanet]

The AR is still wrong when playing the original FLV in "My Videos".

- I currently have PowerDVD 8 as my mpeg2 decoder (sageTV mpeg2 decoder does the same thing)

-I use the best H.264 AVC decoder on the market.. the latest CoreAVC Professional. However, I dont think this is being used, the system tray icon doesnt show during rendered video (which happens when CoreAVC is being used).

It doesnt matter if I have always_use_dshow_player=true or false


Magic question of the day: What decoder is used to playback Playon videos and what setting to change to get these videos to playback?

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Yep, its definitely mpeg2, but Sage is just saving it as a .flv for some reason.

Here's a test you can run to isolate where the problem is:

1) Start watching a 16x9 show in Hulu.
2) Wait a few minutes then force quit SageTV.
3) Go to the %TEMP% folder in windows.
4) Grab the leftover FLV, and dump it into one of your import directories.
5) Let Sage detect it then try playing it back and see if you have the same problem outside of the Online Services menu.

If the AR is correct then its a Sage problem, if the AR is still wrong then its an issue with the specific decoder you're using.

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Check out Amazon VOD with UPNPInspector and see if any videos show up like that. If the videos are there and I just can't see them them a bug for me, but if no videos are showing up the you need to send that to PlayOn support.

Just an update - the UPnP Inspector could not find any feeds, so I've submitted a support ticket with Playon. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[sic0048]

Already worked with PlayOn and determined a solution. (Talk about FAST support! Nothing but great things to say about PlayOn Support).

After checking a couple of things, they had me uninstall and reinstall the Playon Software. I uninstalled the program, downloaded the current version from the website and then installed it again. Alll my settings and license were retained in the new installation (making things very easy).

This worked for me. Now I can see my Amazon VOD library and play videos on the HD-100 without any problems.

Best 30 minutes I've spent in a long time