Problems with MKV / H.264 on Sony BDP-S370 Bluray-Player

I've been able to get .mkv files to stream fine using one of the most recently posted profiles specific to the Sony BDP-S370.

The problem I am continuing to have is that audio stutters very badly for .mpg files that are streamed with Serviio. The video is fine. I am running the audio into an AV receiver. The Window7 box that I am running serveriio on does not seem to be stressed in any way.

I have tried both audio options (Keep Original / Downmix to Stereo) but the stuttering audio symptoms are the same. Specifying that 1 or 2 cores are to be used also makes no difference.

I am running Serveriio version 0.4.2

Any ideas as to what the problem might be would be greatly appreciated!

Patkevin,

without knowing what codecs your mpg files are using, I'd suggest you let the S370 try and play the very same files from an USB stick to see if the player can cope with them at all.

CU,
Low

Soft subs work in MKV, so I guess if you transcode VOBs into MKV that might work. Did you try that?

No, I did not try that yet. I always wanted to keep to standards and thought mkv would not be the first choice as a container for MPEG-2/mp2 from DVB recordings. I did try muxing other files into mkv before and found that the S370 doesn't play a single mkv I muxed myself (with mkvmerge GUI), regardless of codecs contained. It's fine with mkvs from the internet (most of which were muxed with mkvmerge as well), but not with any home muxed mkv. I'll dig further into this this afternoon. EDIT: mkvs containing anything other than h264 or divx don't seem to work at all, so my plan of muxing MPEG2 video, multiple audio and subs into mkvs has failed.

I'm not especially convinced by that guy's blog conclusion that the player must be the problem.

Me neither. I do have experienced the pink screen of death, though.

You can kind of get around the issue my transcoding everything to M2TS but then you lose alternate audio tracks and soft subs support in MKV.

Multi audio does work in TS here, and I'm in the happy position that almost all my subbed stuff is SD, so I can set a transcoding filter which only kicks in if it detects h264 inside an mkv. All other mkv are advertised to the player as divx as defined in the player profile (and do not FF/REWIND, but I'm fine with PAUSE/PLAY. If a new files gets FF-critical, I remux it to a native TS and can watch it forwards and backwards).

I have to admit I tried another DLNA server in the meantime, and it plays just about bl**dy everything on the S370. Multiple audio, multiple subs, flv and all. But at the cost of taking a completely different approach, by creating some kind of folder structure from each and every multitracked file, containing every possible combination of audio and subs, e.g. if you have a dual-audio dual-subs file, it creates one entry for each audio without subs and one for each audio with each sub, altogether there are 6 entries for that video, and 7 if you declare the container format playable natively in the server's setup, which creates a direct entry as well.

That's very versatile, but I'd clearly prefer a solution where I can switch between audio and subs while playing the video.

CU,
Low

[patters]

To recap here are the BDP-S370 device profiles as they currently stand (I go back and edit these when new modifications are discovered):-

Euro
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=326&p=3684#p3684

US (incorporating lostinserviio's mod)
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=664#p3682

Canada (no one has confirmed it yet)
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=727

Hi all,

this may be not exactly S370 related, but my S370 still has got massive problems with home muxed MKV files. It's fine with MKVs from the internet, SD and HD, and it's fine with those reference videos for multi audio and multi subs (the rabbit thing and the GI Joe trailer).

But the Sony does instantly bail out into a PSOD when I try to play any MKV I muxed myself with the latest mkvmerge GUI. Needless to say that VLC plays everything fine. I even tried to demultiplex a random TV episode (H.264/AC3) in avidemux and re-muxing it with mkvmerge GUI -> PSOD. I compared those MKVs with MediaInfo, and the only difference I found is that those files from the i/n were muxed with an older version of mkvtoolnix.

I'm kind of stuck here, and any hint how to set up mkvmerge GUI properly to satisfy the Sony would be highly appreciated. I just spotted a new version of mkvmerge GUI and I'll give it a try tonight, but I don't think this is version related.

Thanks for reading,
Low

Hello. I'm very new to all of this, but I finally got the Serviio set up to play MKV's on my BDP-S470. However, I can't seem to get the subtitles to show. The mkv file has a sub stream, but when i hit the subtitle button on the remote nothing happens, can someone point me in the right direction?

[Illico]

...can someone point me in the right direction?

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=38#p242

[patters]

Hello. I'm very new to all of this, but I finally got the Serviio set up to play MKV's on my BDP-S470. However, I can't seem to get the subtitles to show. The mkv file has a sub stream, but when i hit the subtitle button on the remote nothing happens, can someone point me in the right direction?

This will only work on European and possibly Canadian players. Is yours a US one?

Hello. I'm very new to all of this, but I finally got the Serviio set up to play MKV's on my BDP-S470. However, I can't seem to get the subtitles to show. The mkv file has a sub stream, but when i hit the subtitle button on the remote nothing happens, can someone point me in the right direction?

This will only work on European and possibly Canadian players. Is yours a US one?

I got here in the US, so I guess it is. Are you saying that the US units cannot display subtitles embedded in an mkv file? what about an mts file? or just dropping a separate .srt file where the video file is located?

[patters]

From another post of mine, but relevant here:

I think you're a bit stuck really because it seems that Sony only allowed MKV subtitle support on the European firmware. Maybe they were under pressure from the MPAA not to in the US or something. Even on that firmware though MKV is the only format it will read subs from, not even DVD VOBs (when the same DVD played from disc will show player-rendered subs in the awful interlacy font the BDP uses).

Though Serviio is able to advertise an SRT to the renderer as a subtitle resource, the implementation of this is manufacturer-specific, falling as it does outside the DLNA spec. It works for later generation Samsung devices but little else unfortunately.

[Illico]

...the only difference I found is that those files from the i/n were muxed with an older version of mkvtoolnix.
I'm kind of stuck here, and any hint how to set up mkvmerge GUI properly to satisfy the Sony would be highly appreciated. I just spotted a new version of mkvmerge GUI and I'll give it a try tonight, but I don't think this is version related...

Do you try with older version of mkvtoolnix (MKVMerge version 2.3.0), http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/win32/old/
Have a look on this french forum http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/view ... &start=539

Illico,

Do you try with older version of mkvtoolnix (MKVMerge version 2.3.0), http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/win32/old/
Have a look on this french forum http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/view ... &start=539

I'll try an older version of the tool tonight. As I wrote, my observation is that MKVs from the internet are muxed with an older version. Didn't consider that this may be the reason for my MKVs not to play.

I had a close look at the french forum, but the closer I look, the more I realize I don't speak french.

Short version: Is there any hint in that forum that different revisions of those MKV tools do make a difference when it comes to standalone devices?

CU,
Low

[Illico]

On this other french forum http://www.lesnumeriques.com/legrandfor ... tm#t129011
Mkv created by Mkvmerge (4.1.1) doesn't work.
Mkv created by Mkvmerge (2.3.0) Work.
Probably due to mkvmerge modification: http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoo ... ompression
So good test...

after some trial and error with mkvmerge ( 4.4.0) ive got a 100% playback rate.

The important thing is to remove Compression on ALL tracks - video /audio or subtitle.

Highlight the track - Extra options tab - compression none ( ignoring this will default to compression on which results to no playback on the 370).

for 264 streams
1) ensure that the 264 streams have a profile @ 4.1 ( mkvinfo can tell you this)

2) under Format specific options set the FPS (only for the main video stream). Assuming you have demuxed streams MKVmerge will not detect the correct FPS automatically so must be manually set(will mkae a popup stating a default 25 fps ..... 23.976 = 24000/1001)

3) Under General track options for all tracks audio/video/subtitle
set the language.
Leave Default track set to NO
Force track set to YES

4) and the most important for ALL tracks set Compression to none.


I havent tried that yet with subtitles but so far everything done this way played on the 370 with 0 problems.

ps. i like to demux first with TSmuxer - also if the 264 stream isnt profile 4.1 its possible to demux and convert to 4.1 at the same time.

Judge,

thanks for looking into the subject and sharing your observations! I tried several versions of mkvmerge GUI and found in the release notes (see illico's link) that the compression options were introduced in version 4.1.0. Header compression has been part of the MKV specs for a long time but hasn't been implemented in mkvmerge (and many standalone playback devices as well) before.

Yes, I can multiplex reliable (from a Sony point of view) MKVs from various codecs now. No luck yet with MPEG2 video, though. Have you tried muxing DVD-compliant elementary streams into MKV and playing them back on the S370?

CU,
Low

@ lowlander

No i havent tried sorry , so far only 264 streams

[tombert]

I didn't read all the 15 pages of replies ... but I do have the same Blu-Ray player and mkv plays fine for me ... only that I do not see one single thumbnail for whatever file ... maybe you have already been asked: What about latest firmware of your player?

seems as of today theres new update for the 370. Anyone know what it does or is it just a bug fix for the new sony vod that appeared in my menu a few days ago?


edit copy & paste from sony

Benefits provided by previous upgrades and included in version M03.R.695:

HDMI connectivity improvement
Improves compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.
Support DLNA Feature
Router connectivity improvement
For UK only: BBC iPlayer: Making the unmissable, unmissable with the last 7 days of BBC TV and radio via your Blu-ray Disc Player with no need to connect your TV to your laptop or PC.
Gracenote Entertainment database browser: Great new features to improve your Blu-ray Disc movie database such as related information browse and contents search.
Enhanced photo slideshow: New visual effects and music to add to your photos when displayed on a TV.
Improved Compatibility Compatible with DTS Neo:6

and another copy & paste from Sony, regarding today's firmware release, not issues solved by previous upgrades:

* The issue that an unnecessary warning message recommending the upgrade of the BD player software appeared when playing some discs has been fixed.
* It is possible to input not only ASCII character but also others (Chinese etc.) to the player from other devices (iPhone, iPad etc.).

I think this firmware update is a major breakthrough in codec compatibility and playing stability, isn't it?

CU,
Low

[patters]

I got the ball rolling over at the Sony forums with a DLNA firmware improvement wishlist, seeing as there are Sony mods on there:
https://www.sony.co.uk/discussions/thre ... 9?tstart=0