Android/AndroidTV Placeshifter client (Discussion)

[bweb]

thanks for the reply.

when i tried out the mini player on my nexus player and nexus 7 i was getting compression artifacts... say 1/20th of the screen had large blocks and they'd show up every few seconds. (both connected 5ghz wifi)

1) any idea what the deal is?

I saw some comments about transcoding, I wondered if the server was trying to do that and not able to keep up.

the server i'm running is a pc i scrounged up, its pretty old (not speedy).

when i run a client software on a different pc (fast and wired) in the house the picture looks great.

2) (the off topic part...) any educated guesses if i'll have this problem on an hd300? my sample points are the 3 mentioned. i wasn't sure if the difference was:
android mini client vs sagetv client
wifi vs network

3) actually i already ordered a Liva X and put ubuntu on it...took a little effort, but its there. tried to run the linux placeshifter, it runs but the video is nonsense/blank... i guess i'll go with a windows wired client.

thanks again.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by bweb

thanks for the reply.

when i tried out the mini player on my nexus player and nexus 7 i was getting compression artifacts... say 1/20th of the screen had large blocks and they'd show up every few seconds. (both connected 5ghz wifi)

1) any idea what the deal is?

I saw some comments about transcoding, I wondered if the server was trying to do that and not able to keep up.

the server i'm running is a pc i scrounged up, its pretty old (not speedy).

when i run a client software on a different pc (fast and wired) in the house the picture looks great.

2) (the off topic part...) any educated guesses if i'll have this problem on an hd300? my sample points are the 3 mentioned. i wasn't sure if the difference was:
android mini client vs sagetv client
wifi vs network

3) actually i already ordered a Liva X and put ubuntu on it...took a little effort, but its there. tried to run the linux placeshifter, it runs but the video is nonsense/blank... i guess i'll go with a windows wired client.

thanks again.

1. It's likely that the player is using software transcoding. You can try enabling ExoPlayer and seeing if that makes a difference.

2. HD300s would likely work fine.

3. I would think that, right now, for stability, either the HD300 or a full windows Sage Client would be your best bet. Eventually I think the Android Client will get there as well.

[dinki]

1. What kind of streams are you trying to play? You'll note that MPEG2 720p streams are problematic at this time for the Android Client. Playback of these on my NP is exactly as you described in terms of pixelated display.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by dinki

1. What kind of streams are you trying to play? You'll note that MPEG2 720p streams are problematic at this time for the Android Client. Playback of these on my NP is exactly as you described in terms of pixelated display.

It plays 720 just fine as long as it is a MPEG2-TS and not a MPEG2-PS stream using ExoPlayer.

[dinki]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

It plays 720 just fine as long as it is a MPEG2-TS and not a MPEG2-PS stream using ExoPlayer.

Not to derail the thread, but how do I force SageTV/HDHR to record in MPEG2-TS?

[wayner]

Originally Posted by dinki

Not to derail the thread, but how do I force SageTV/HDHR to record in MPEG2-TS?

You don't have a choice as the HDHR doesn't actually encode the video file it just saves the incoming content directly to your PC. And for ATSC OTA and cable QAM that content is MPEG-2.

The one exception is the newer HDHR that can save files as h.264 but I don't think that device is supported by SageTV - at least not the transcoding to h.264 part.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by wayner

You don't have a choice as the HDHR doesn't actually encode the video file it just saves the incoming content directly to your PC. And for ATSC OTA and cable QAM that content is MPEG-2.

The one exception is the newer HDHR that can save files as h.264 but I don't think that device is supported by SageTV - at least not the transcoding to h.264 part.

You do have a choice you can you can change encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=true to false. Sage is configured to make PS streams out of TS streams. The problem Is that sometime SageTV cannot handle the TS OTA streams it sorta chokes on them.... so they added that property to make the PS streams.

OpenDCt records to MPEG TS streams I would be happy if the author can add in the future the OTA Hdhomerun tuners.

[dinki]

So just to make sure I'm getting this right, I can make the setting change you mentioned and be able to play these fine with both the Android Client and my HD200? I watch a lot of live tv. Is there any negative repercussions from using this setting in terms of seeking?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by dinki

So just to make sure I'm getting this right, I can make the setting change you mentioned and be able to play these fine with both the Android Client and my HD200? I watch a lot of live tv. Is there any negative repercussions from using this setting in terms of seeking?

Like I said SageTV sometimes chokes on the unprocessed TS files you have to judge for yourself. Seeking will not work in the miniclient as it never has worked reliably yet.... and I have never owned a HD200.

I watch LiveTV using my Prime Cable card tuner and that works fine because I am using OpenDCT.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Like I said SageTV sometimes chokes on the unprocessed TS files you have to judge for yourself. Seeking will not work in the miniclient as it never has worked reliably yet.... and I have never owned a HD200.

I watch LiveTV using my Prime Cable card tuner and that works fine because I am using OpenDCT.

I have a HDPVR and it's produces nothing by .ts (h264) files for years. If by miniclient, you mean the Android MiniClient, then TS seeking is working in ExoPlayer... that was a change that published yesterday, if I recall. TS seeking works fine in all SageTV supported miniclients (ie, HD200, HD300, desktop, etc).

Ultimately, MPEG2-PS will eventually be supported on the Android MiniClient as well.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I have a HDPVR and it's produces nothing by .ts (h264) files for years. If by miniclient, you mean the Android MiniClient, then TS seeking is working in ExoPlayer... that was a change that published yesterday, if I recall. TS seeking works fine in all SageTV supported miniclients (ie, HD200, HD300, desktop, etc).

Ultimately, MPEG2-PS will eventually be supported on the Android MiniClient as well.

Thanks looks like I missed that change will load it up now.

Edit

Great Job seeks great.

[dinki]

Nyplayer, are you saying that SageTV chokes on TS MPEG2 files as Stuckless is saying he uses TS H264 files without problem?

[wayner]

Just like Stuckless I have been using H.264 files from HD-PVRs for years in SageTV on HD200 and HD300s without problems. However I find that these files can cause other players to choke, or die and this especially happens when trying to seek. This has been the case with stuff like Air Video, Plex on iOS and the streamer that is part of the Sage Mobile web browser.

However in recent years Air Video HD is more reliable.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by dinki

Nyplayer, are you saying that SageTV chokes on TS MPEG2 files as Stuckless is saying he uses TS H264 files without problem?

H264 and MPEG2 are 2 different types of video files. one has nothing to do with the other as far as performing in SageTV. I am talking about MPEG2-PS streams you can go into details of your recordings and see what kind of files you have. Keep track of what type plays in your android mini client and you can see what works for you.


MPEG2-TS streams play great regardless if 720p or 1080i and seek properly now thanks to Sean.

[bweb]

when using a nexus player, i had used play music to listen to music.

afterwards when in the miniplayer, pressing play/pause paused the sagetv, but started playing the music.

user error? miniplayer? configuration?

this problem existed through power being removed from the device. i ended up disabling google play music in order to prevent it from playing again.

[brewston]

Originally Posted by bweb

when using a nexus player, i had used play music to listen to music.

afterwards when in the miniplayer, pressing play/pause paused the sagetv, but started playing the music.

user error? miniplayer? configuration?

this problem existed through power being removed from the device. i ended up disabling google play music in order to prevent it from playing again.

I've had this happen in other apps on my Nexus Player and heard other people complain about it too. It's not a problem with Miniclient, more likely a problem with how the media button is handled in Android.

[bweb]

Originally Posted by brewston

I've had this happen in other apps on my Nexus Player and heard other people complain about it too. It's not a problem with Miniclient, more likely a problem with how the media button is handled in Android.

i agree, thats the most likely, just thought i'd ask.

i know that on my phone (android) my podcast app often forgets that it was the last one playing and wont resume after a game or something takes the sound,

my audio book player loves being the default, after i've run it, it often is in resumed audio even if other things were used more recently.

i wonder if there is a way for the miniplayer to elevate its priority (but only when it makes sense.) please dont put this high on any to do list, the nexus player is only temporary until i get a pc running. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't an easy fix.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

You do have a choice you can you can change encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream=true to false. Sage is configured to make PS streams out of TS streams. The problem Is that sometime SageTV cannot handle the TS OTA streams it sorta chokes on them.... so they added that property to make the PS streams.

I just want to confirm that the "choking" you a referring to happens during playback and not in the recording process?

[thatdude90210]

Just got a FireTV second gen. I tried it first on Wifi (5 GHz and right next to the router) and was getting periodic pauses and maybe the audio sync wasn't quite right either. Plugged in the Ethernet and the pauses & audio issues are gone, smooth video from HDPVR recordings. Otherwise, I've not run into other issues yet.

One thing I wish the onscreen navigation had are the skips FW/BK & skip FW2/BK2 that the extender remotes have. Got used to those for skipping around and getting past commercials.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by thatdude90210

Just got a FireTV second gen. I tried it first on Wifi (5 GHz and right next to the router) and was getting periodic pauses and maybe the audio sync wasn't quite right either. Plugged in the Ethernet and the pauses & audio issues are gone, smooth video from HDPVR recordings. Otherwise, I've not run into other issues yet.

One thing I wish the onscreen navigation had are the skips FW/BK & skip FW2/BK2 that the extender remotes have. Got used to those for skipping around and getting past commercials.

It's not hard to add those options to the OSN... but you should add a defect to the defect tracker, or else I will forget