Android/AndroidTV Placeshifter client (Discussion)

[stuckless]

Nothing to fancy... just fixed 2 issues that I introduced while fixing the placeshifter UI.

1. Fixed unabled to connect to server
2. Fixed shows the same server in the list twice

[pjwerdna]

Thought Id give this a try on a Galaxy SIII. (i9300, 4.3)
Most things work. Double tapping to navigate, play etc. Stopping video was tricky as there's no keyboard, but double tapping the screen to bring up the UI and then double tapping again brought up the expected options screen. I found using the Web Remote as part of the webserver work quite well. SD Played fine, but as expected HD playback was about half speedand there was no audio.

The only real issue are visible in the attached screenshot.
* The phones info bar (or whatever you call it) stays on screen
* The last video played appears behind the menus even though playback is stopped
(Ill raise the first one)

However, any reason why the menu key cant be used to bring up a menu for the keyboard etc? Dont most Android devices will have a menu button somewhere?

[gexi]

Originally Posted by Dargason

Ok, so my new Amazon Fire TV arrived yesterday. It appears to be a very good quality device and service, and I'm really happy with it so far.

I installed Alpha v14 of the miniclient and here are my observations.
- The app doesn't appear in the apps list, but I found it by going into settings->applications->manage applications.

This is normal FireTV behavior, any sideloaded apps will appear in the manage applications section instead of the main section unless they come from the Amazon App store.

One way around this is to use Firestarter:
https://github.com/sphinx02/FireStarter

Which will show you all sideloaded apps

[gexi]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Nothing to fancy... just fixed 2 issues that I introduced while fixing the placeshifter UI.

1. Fixed unabled to connect to server
2. Fixed shows the same server in the list twice

Awesome, just loaded the new version and noticed that the double server is fixed. FireTV (rev 1 on FireOS 5.0.3) works really well so far minus some issues with Comskip and FF.

Great work!

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by pjwerdna

However, any reason why the menu key cant be used to bring up a menu for the keyboard etc? Dont most Android devices will have a menu button somewhere?

Many newer android phones don't actually have a menu key, anymore. But I added the mapping for Menu to bring up the Options menu, if the key is pressed.

[samgreco]

Originally Posted by gexi

Awesome, just loaded the new version and noticed that the double server is fixed. FireTV (rev 1 on FireOS 5.0.3) works really well so far minus some issues with Comskip and FF.

Great work!

So playback of video works well for you on the FireTV? On mine it's jittery and quality is not great. Mine is a first gen.

[gexi]

Yes, mine seems to work very well even with HD, the only time I have video skipping or jumping is if it is trying to skip ahead for comskip or if I try to fast forward. Then the timeline gets all screwed up and the video will stutter and lose sync. At this point I usually have to quit the app.

For a network connection I am using ethernet connection to a wireless bridge.

[Dargason]

Originally Posted by samgreco

So playback of video works well for you on the FireTV? On mine it's jittery and quality is not great. Mine is a first gen.

Playback is blocky on some shows, but was perfect on at least one show I watched yesterday. All were recorded by my HDHR OTA tuner, so it may be related to the provider.

GUI interface definitely usable, though a little slower than I expected when drilling down from one menu to the next.

I would also like to report that it seems to be working on my Samsung Galaxy S4 also.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Dargason

Playback is blocky on some shows, but was perfect on at least one show I watched yesterday. All were recorded by my HDHR OTA tuner, so it may be related to the provider.

GUI interface definitely usable, though a little slower than I expected when drilling down from one menu to the next.

I would also like to report that it seems to be working on my Samsung Galaxy S4 also.

It seems that any channels that are 720P are choppy.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

It seems that any channels that are 720P are choppy.

To clarify 720p MPEG2 may be choppy. My HDPVR produces 720p H264 files, and they are pretty smooth.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by Dargason

GUI interface definitely usable, though a little slower than I expected when drilling down from one menu to the next.

Are you running WIFI or WIRED for your TV device? WIFI will definately feel sluggish (it did on my Nexus Player), but once I went wired (like the HD300) the UI was pretty smooth. If you are on a tablet/phone, the UI will definately be a little sluggish, since it's WIFI.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by stuckless

To clarify 720p MPEG2 may be choppy. My HDPVR produces 720p H264 files, and they are pretty smooth.

Yeah I meant mpeg2 720P

[Dargason]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Are you running WIFI or WIRED for your TV device? WIFI will definately feel sluggish (it did on my Nexus Player), but once I went wired (like the HD300) the UI was pretty smooth. If you are on a tablet/phone, the UI will definately be a little sluggish, since it's WIFI.

It's WIFI right now. I'll try moving it to the TV in the basement where there is a wired connection and see how it performs.

[dranockcir]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Nothing to fancy... just fixed 2 issues that I introduced while fixing the placeshifter UI.

1. Fixed unabled to connect to server
2. Fixed shows the same server in the list twice

Hmmm, 15 for me is back to no UI when placeshifting, reinstalled 14 and have UI again.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by dranockcir

Hmmm, 15 for me is back to no UI when placeshifting, reinstalled 14 and have UI again.

That's not good Apparently I'm playing Whack-a-Mole with bugs

[foolio]

Originally Posted by stuckless

That's not good Apparently I'm playing Whack-a-Mole with bugs

I get a black screen with 2 input boxes.....

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by foolio

I get a black screen with 2 input boxes.....

The good news, is that I was testing something else this morning, and I think I found the root cause of the blank screens... I just need to figure how to fix it for both.

[samgreco]

I'll have to do some organized testing. Some files play very well, others do not. I need to find the pattern.

[stuckless]

This version should enable BOTH placeshifter and normal client modes

Interestingly enough, the root cause of this was a bug in the image caching layer. I wasn't caching the images properly, and when I was, I was deleting them immediately. I "think" the UI feels a little smoother with this fixed, but it could just be my imagination.

[KryptoNyte]

I'm able to connect again with alpha 16 (Galaxy S4) but I still get that black screen after it makes the connection to the server, I never did solve that problem rendering the UI. I've been firing up the Sage Web Interface on a PC while fooling with this, and seeing the S4 client make it's connection, and then the device sits at the black screen.

Tonight I decided to enter the web interface after getting the phone connected (without any UI capability on the phone) and force the S4 to play a recorded TV show via the web browser on the computer. The phone starts playing the file immediately. It would be slick to get the UI running correctly on the S4, but I realize this isn't really the target device.

Not sure if this matters, but here are my results with video performance on this device (wireless 2.4ghz connection to router);

16:9 aspect, 3000 to 12000 kilobits/sec, Dolby digital 5.1:

- TV recording, direct stream Mpeg2 (Time Warner), 1080i 30fps = plays perfectly

- TV recording, direct stream Mpeg2 (Time Warner), 720p 60fps = plays perfectly

- TV recording, H.264 TS from Original HD-PVR, 1080i 30 fps = video perfect, audio lags badly

- H.264 MKV or mp4, encoded Mpeg2 TV show from above, now 1080p 30fps = plays okay, mild video jitter

- H.264 MKV or mp4, encoded Mpeg2 TV show from above, 720p 60 fps = plays perfectly

- H.264 MKV or mp4, encoded TS TV show from above, now 1080p 30fps = plays but jittery video and audio lags badly

- H.264 MKV direct stream, 28000 kbits/sec 1920x1080p 24fps = renders but jittery - cuts in and out, wireless can't keep up I suppose.


Misc aspect, Dolby Digital 5.1:

- encoded video H.264 MKV, 5000 kbits/sec, 1920 x 800 progressive 24fps = plays perfectly but 2.40:1 aspect ratio stretched to fit screen (incorrectly)

- encoded video H.264 MKV, 6200 kbits/sec, 1920 x 1040 progressive 24 fps = plays perfectly, but 1.85:1 aspect ratio stretched to fit screen (incorrectly)

- encoded video H.264 MKV 7000 kbits/sec, 1920 x 800 progressive 24 fps = plays perfectly but 2.40:1 aspect ratio stretched to fit screen (incorrectly)