Serviio

Hi All

I recently bought synology ds214+ and installed serviio 1.4 on it. i'm using it to play movies on my Panasonic Viera TX-P50G20E. Avi files works ok. Problem is only with mkv files - video and audio stuttering. On synology i noticed that ffmpeg proccess is consuming 90-99 % of procesor. In servio - panasonic viera 2010 profile is selected - only with this profile mkv files works. every device is connected to router using lan.

thanks in advance for your help

The Panasonic 2010 profile will transcode the video on all MKV files - this can be processor intensive (particularly for HD movies), and the processor on the ds214 can't keep up.

I did find on my V20 (also a 2010 model) that for most MKV files you don't need to transcode the video, you can get by with remuxing them (far less processing). To try this, edit the Panasonic Viera 2010 profile (located in the serviio/config/profiles.xml file - edit with a text editor) and change the line:

<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" targetACodec="ac3" >
to
<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetACodec="ac3" >

This will remux your MKV files. This may allow many of you MKV files to be played. You must restart the Serviio service (not just the server) after editing the profile.

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it didn't help. I have edited config file and restarted synology device. MKV file still stuttering - ffmpeg proces consuming 90-99 % like before. Any other ideas?

Lukasz

There must be something else (other than it being an MKV file) triggering transcoding. Can you please post MediaInfo details for the file.

Hi

I have this problem with every mkv file that i have tested. here is media info from one of tchem:

General
Unique ID : 334882905819343975177075480144331871183 (0xFBF01A03A49ED35988D86549650313CF)
Complete name : Blue
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 2.30 GiB
Duration : 1h 38mn
Overall bit rate : 3 348 Kbps
Movie name : Blue Jasmine
Encoded date : UTC 2014-02-21 11:03:27
Writing application : mkvmerge v3.0.0 ('Hang up your Hang-Ups') built on Dec 29 2009 00:21:20
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 7 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 38mn
Bit rate : 2 900 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 536 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.176
Stream size : 1.95 GiB (85%)
Title : FilmyHD.net
Writing library : x264 core 133 r2334 a3ac64b
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=7 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.30 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-4 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=9 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=120 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2900 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default : No
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 38mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 315 MiB (13%)
Title : Polish AC3 FilmyHD.net
Language : Polish
Default : Yes
Forced : No

Cannot see what is forcing transcoding of the video stream rather than simply remuxing the video (which should have a lot lower CPU usage). Do you use subtitles - if so, try turning them off.

Can you try turning on detailed logging and capture the log of it playing the video. That way we can confirm it is indeed transcoding the video.

Hi

i've attached log file.

thanks

Lukasz

From the log file it is still transcoding the video. I'm not sure why - if you made the change from my earlier post it should only ever remux the video.

Can you paste your current Panasonic 2010 profile and lets have a look at it. Strange....

Also, if you let the video fully transcode (ie. start playing it, pause it until the ffmpeg process is completely finished and then continue play) does it still stutter? CPU usage should be low at this stage (as ffmpeg has finished).

Hi Again

I have updated dsm to newest version and reinstalled servioo. Next modified serviio profile like in your post. In attachment you will find log, profile and print screen from resource monitor. I have tried to pause and wait some time - then play - it helpes for 1 or 2 minutes. Also what is important ffmpeg proccess is not ending (90% of proccessor) even when stop playing movie - i have to restart serviio proccess to kill it.

Lukasz

Sorry I'm at a loss.

In your log the Panasonic 2010 profile can be seen to be selected correctly, and yet the video in the MKV is still being transcoded (despite the profile having been modified correctly to remux the video). I dont know why this is happening - you did restart your ds214 after making the profile modifications? Are subtitles turned off (on the Delivery, Subtitles tab in Serviio console)? If so, this file should not be being transcoded, and you should not be getting the high CPU usage (which is very likely causing the stuttering).

Maybe someone else may have an idea?