Serviio

Hello,

I am having some problems playing some bluerayrips/1080/mp4 files on my LG 47" TV.

The Audio plays just fine but the video lags and stutters, it shows a frame and then 15 seconds later another ?

I have tried enabling/disabling the trans-coding option and have tried the generic and LG profiles for my TV, any help would be greatly appreciated

Pete

See my post here: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10520&p=69992&hilit=lg+stuttering#p69992

Most likely cause in your case is

1. bit rate is too high for your TV. Most LG's seem to be limited to about 17Mbps, whereas many high def video files exceed that. Use MediaInfo to check the bitrate of your files. If this is the case you will need to limit the bit rate in your profile (search the forum for info on this)
2. network bandwidth. What type of network are you using (wired or wireless, if wireless - g, n or ac).

I appreciate the response and help !!

The TV and Computer with the Files are both connected via a wired Ethernet network.

I went ahead and ran mediainfo on two similar files one which works and one that does not. Whats interesting is the one that works has a higher overall bitrate (~20Mbps).

I have attached the media text file for both videos, perhaps it would be helpful ?

Any other ideas ?

Pete

Only one, which I have never been able to prove one way or the other. I have read on the web where the number of re-frames can be an issue - some sites suggest anything over 5 could be an issue for some devices.

Do all of your faulty files have the same (high) number of reframes?

There are two ways to address this - a complete re-encode of the movie or some sites suggest just changing the re-frames tag. Either way I believe MakeMKV can be used to do this.

DenyAll, i tried installing and using the MAkeMKV program and i don't believe it does what i need.

Do you have any other suggestions that would allow me to change the reframe tag or worst case rencode the videos ?

I appreciate the help so much !!

Pete

Oh, OK. Others have reported being able to do this -I believe you need to re-encode the video to a different profile (eg. 3.1 or 4.1). It should then adjust the reframes automatically.

You can also use XMedia Recode (I use this for most transcoding I do). Its not specific to mkv's though. You will need to change the profile on the Video tab (Main and 4.1 should be OK) and set the audio to Copy. go thru all the other options, add it as a Job and then run job. It will take a while - pick a small file to test this.

B4 doing this, did you confirm that all of your problem files had the same high number of re-frames?

Sorry pasta1234, I have just found out something that may enable you to transcode this in Serviio. Although the"not working" file has a profile of High@L4.0, it will be read by Serviio as it should be (it should be L5.0 if you do the maths), rather than what the header is showing.

I presume you are using the standard LG profile. If so can you modify it to look like:
This should then transcode your video so that he TV can play it. Note: the four lines starting <Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" maxVBitrate="17000" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384""> is what has been added. Also by default the transcoding section of the LG profile is commented out - this has been uncommented in the above.

Once changed in profiles.xml you will need to restart your PC to take effect (or restart Serviio services if you know how to do that).

DenyAll, thanks for all the advice !!

After I replaced the LG TV profile with the code you provided serviio fails to start with an error ? Is There something else I am supposed to change ?

Pete

syntax error, remove "


<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" maxVBitrate="17000" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384"">

if persist, please post your profiles.xml

Thanks Illico, good pickup - dont know how the extra " slipped in must be fat fingers. Have edited post above just in case.

Well I'm happy to say that serviio starts now but the videos still don't play properly with the above profiles mods.

The audio play perfectly but the video sttuters and lags horribly, I'm not even sure if the transcoding is taking place ?

Pete

Not sure how computer literate you are, but the easiest way to tell if transcoding is to see if ffmpeg appears in your task manager list when first playing the video. Also look at your CPU usage during that period. Otherwise you will need to enable detailed logging in Serviio, play the file, and post the log to the forum.

It may be that your PC is not powerful enough to transcode on the fly (an indication will be if ffmpeg is running and CPU is > 90%) - if that proves to be the case, then you will have no option but to permanently re-encode the file using Handbrake or XMedia Recode or similar products.

With the video playing on the TV, the computer is seeing a CPU usage of 1-3% nothing more.

Also on the Taskbar, i see no icons other than the typical ones (ie Serviio, antivirus..etc), No ffmpeg on the task manager as well.

Would the log be necessary to troubleshoot why transcoding isn't working further ?

Thanks !!
Pete

No need, pretty safe to say that its not transcoding. Some preliminary checks:

• Confirm that you have selected the LG profile for the correct IP of your TV in Serviio Console, Status tab.
• Confirm that Transcoding is enabled in Serviio Console, delivery tab.
• You restarted your PC after making the changes to profiles.xml?

If that all checks out then lets try forcing transcoding for now... In your profile, add the line <Matches container="mp4" /> just above the line <Matches container="*" vCodec="h264" profile="high" levelGreaterThan="4.1" />. Save the file and restart your PC and try the file again, monitoring your CPU and Task Manager processes list - you should see ffmpeg in your processes list (make sure you have selected "Show processes from all users") and high CPU initially . This is not the solution, just a step toward it.

I went ahead restarted the PC, checked that transcoding is checked, verified the LG IP and Profile are selected properly. I also added the <Matches container="mp4" /> line as you suggested.

Similarly when i play the video file, CPU utilization hovers no more than 3% and ffmpeg is no where to be seen ?

Pete

After adding the line you saved the profile file and restarted your PC?
It is an MP4 file, correct?
I'm at a loss - this should be transcoding it. Post your profile.xml file and we'll have a look at it.
Also if you can post your log file - if you can do a detailed log file, play the file for a little, and then post that. Thanks

Something isnt adding up here...

* With transcoding checked & <Matches container="mp4" /> inserted into the profiles.xml file the file shows on the TV but is greyed out and unplayable. As soon as i uncheck transcoding and restart the PC & TV the file is all of a sudden playable (although not watchable).
*The TV is showing two IP/entries on Serviio for the same device (see pic).

Its almost as if the TV doesn't want to transcode and forcing it just makes it not play at all ?

Ideas ? ?

Pete

Interestingly at some stage it discovered the TV with a different Device Name.
Remove both devices, press save then do a refresh - it should only pick up one TV. Select the LG profile and press save. That should fix the issue of the two devices.

Am at a loss as to where to go with transcoding without having that TV and file in front of me. Try removing (commenting out) the <MediaFormatProfile mime-type="video/mp4" name="">AVI</MediaFormatProfile> line and see if that helps - with transcoding on and of). Also post a detailed log while playing, or attempting to play, the file.

How many files fail - if its only one or two it may be easier just to permanently transcode them.

I figured id try and load the Beta Version 1.3 which made no difference.

If i try and comment the code you suggested below serviio service fails to start for some reason.

With the attached profiles file i have attached the LOG file, perhaps that might shed some light . With trasncoding enabled the file appears as a video real and is unplayable, see pic.

Are there others who have their LG TVs successfully transcoding ?

Pete

If Serviio failed to restart it would be because of a syntax error in the profiles.xml file. To comment out that line just add the !-- and -- as shown:
The above though is a real long shot...
Yes, but I note the comments in the standard LG profile suggests that there are some devices that do not support on-the-fly transcoding.