MKV Playback on Pana stops every few seconds (Synology NAS)

I played it on vlc directly on the nas and it played smooth. But on the nas I can play almost everything whithout problems...

I also renamed it to mpeg and the bd player plays it but with same problems.

[Cerberus]

im still going back to thinking it is a network issue then can you try plugging server directly to the tv via network cable to eliminate a router issue and se if it still has the issue..

[zip]

hi,

i transcoded as described, the job was done in less than 5 minutes but unfortunately my BD Player won't play or recognize .mpg files. So the video has to be transcoded again but i found no profile which transcodes mpg files... DLNA sucks... at least on a panasonic bd player. Is it really that difficult to implement this capability? I've been frustrated.

it should play the file as it's the output of the profile's transcode job. Unless the profile is not right for your device. Did you add the file to your serviio library and tried to play it?

im still going back to thinking it is a network issue then can you try plugging server directly to the tv via network cable to eliminate a router issue and se if it still has the issue..

I still don't think it's a network issue... can't test the direct connection because I would need a cross ethernet cable which I haven't. But I tried two different switches, the one which is integrated in my audio network player (Hifidelio) and the one in my Linksys router and the results are exactly the same.

Much more interesting for me is the coincidence with the scene cuts... could this lead to something? Maybe the abrupt change of frame rate or data (I could imagine that the complete change of the picture after a cut in the scene causes a peak of data because the compression ratio is lower in such scenario?) irritates the BD Player? Does anyone knows about the implementation of DLNA in the Panasonic Blu-Ray players? I found some articles saying that it's very crappy. And it's quite impossible to find any profile information for the Pana Blu-Ray players. But unfortunately I haven't any other network enabled playback device for testing and comparing.

it should play the file as it's the output of the profile's transcode job. Unless the profile is not right for your device. Did you add the file to your serviio library and tried to play it?

natively the player does play only a very few video formats and NO audio (not even mp3) over DLNA, I was very disappointed when I first tested the DLNA features. Playing from USB works very well but DLNA is only usable for pictures... what a joke.
And yes, I added it to the library but it only plays when I renamed it to .mpeg; .mpg doesn't work, the entry was greyed which means "Playback not
possible"...

I included the media file specification I found in the manual of my player, maybe it helps a bit (but it's not especially for the DLNA feature, it's regarding the overall compatibility of the player; most of the files aren't playable natively over DLNA)

  Code:

About MP3/JPEG/DivX/
AVCHD/MPEG2 files

≥ With certain recording states and folder structures, the play order may differ or playback may not be possible.
≥ CD-R, CD-RW : ISO9660 level 1 or 2 (except for extended formats), Joliet
This unit is compatible with multi-session.
This unit is not compatible with packet writing.
≥ DVD-R, DVD-R DL (except for AVCHD) : ISO9660 level 1 or 2 (except for extended formats), Joliet, UDF bridge (UDF 1.02/ISO9660)
This unit is not compatible with multi-session.
This unit is not compatible with packet writing.

MP3
File format MP3
Extension Files must have the extension “.mp3” or “.MP3”.
Compression rate 32 kbps to 320 kbps
Sampling rate 44.1 kHz/48 kHz
Reference ID3 tags: version 1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4
(Only titles and the names of artists)

JPEG
File format JPEG
Extension Files must have the extension “.jpg” or “.JPG”.
Picture resolution between 34x34 and 8192x8192 pixels
(sub sampling is 4:2:2 or 4:2:0)
Reference
JPEG conforming DCF* is supported.
≥ MOTION JPEG and Progressive JPEG is not supported.
* Design rule for Camera File system: unified standard established by Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA).
≥ DVD-RAM must conform to UDF 2.0.
≥ BD-RE must conform to UDF 2.5.

DivX
File format DivX
Extension Files must have the extension “.DIVX”, “.divx”, “.AVI”, “.avi”, “.mkv” or “.MKV”.
Picture resolution Up to 1920k1080 pixels
Reference
≥ DivX certified to play DivX video up to HD 1080p, including premium content.
Video
– Number of streams: Up to 1
– Codec*: MPEG-4 SP (Simple Profile), MPEG-4 ASP (Advanced Simple Profile)
– FPS (Frame Per Second)*: Up to 60 fps Audio
– Number of streams: Up to 8
– Format*: MP3, MPEG, Dolby Digital
– Multi channel: Dolby Digital is possible. MPEG multi is 2 ch conversion.
≥ GMC (Global Motion Compensation) is not supported.

* DivX Plus HD
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
FPS (Frame Per Second):
From 320k240 to 1920x1080: 30 fps
Specifically at 1280x720: 60 fps
Audio Format: MP3, MPEG, Dolby Digital, AAC
≥ DVD-R and DVD-R DL must conform to UDF 1.02 without ISO9660 and UDF 1.5 with ISO9660.
≥ BD-R must conform to UDF 2.5.
≥ This unit supports DivX files less than 4 GB in a USB
device.
Subtitles text file of DivX
File format Subtitles text file of DivX
File format MicroDVD, SubRip, or TMPlayer
Extension Files must have the extension “.SRT”,
“.srt”, “.SUB”, “.sub”, “.TXT” or “.txt”
Reference
≥ The DivX video file and subtitles text file are inside the same folder, and the file names are the same except for the file extensions.
≥ Depending on the methods used to create the file or the state of the recording, only parts of the subtitles may be displayed, or the subtitles may not be displayed at all.
≥ If a file extension is “.mkv” or “.MKV”, you can not display the subtitle text.

AVCHD
File format
AVCHD format (V1.0) used on High Definition Video Camera (Panasonic and some others)
Codec MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
≥ Discs must conform to UDF 2.5.

MPEG2
File format
SD-Video format* used on Standard
Definition Video Camera
(Panasonic and some others)
Codec MPEG2
* SD-Video Entertainment Video Profile


[zip]

And yes, I added it to the library but it only plays when I renamed it to .mpeg; .mpg doesn't work, the entry was greyed which means "Playback not
possible"...

So it did play, right? Did you see the same stops during that playback?

So it did play, right? Did you see the same stops during that playback?

Yes, and they're always exactly at the same position/frame number. One more reason for me to assume that this is not a network issue. The conditions in the network change constantly because there are other devices causing network traffic so if it would be a bandwith problem it should occur more randomly I think.

[zip]

ok, so it's not a serviio problem or the way it deals with transcoding. It's actually not transcoding your content, but only remuxing, keeping the video stream untouched (ffmpeg -vcodec copy). The fact it always stops at the same frame might be:

1) a dodgy video encoded in a way the player doesn't like
2) a bitrate spike the player cannot cope with

You could setup transcoding of all h264 files to mpeg2 to get around this but you will lose a bit of quality and will end up with high CPU usage which (especially on NAS with HD content) might not help with smooth playback.

You could setup transcoding of all h264 files to mpeg2 to get around this but you will lose a bit of quality and will end up with high CPU usage which (especially on NAS with HD content) might not help with smooth playback.

Could you provide me with the correct xml entry for such a profile? I tried myself modifying an existing profile but couldn't get it to work as I don't understand all the parameters and sure have done something wrong...

Regarding my NAS I think it could handle the transcoding because it has a Dual Core 1,67 GHz CPU which doesn't reach 30% when processing files...

Thanks again for your time and support!

Markus

[zip]

try the DirecTV profile for example. see how that copes.

try the DirecTV profile for example. see how that copes.

I tried that already, there is no obvious difference to the Bravia profile and the problems are the same. I tried all included profiles and the few I found for panasonic devices, but these didn't work at all.

[zip]

there are a lot of differences from the bravia one, directv transcodes everything into mpeg2, no remuxing.

I believe you that , but it doesn't work better, the stopping is the same. So I could assume that transcoding all h264 material doesn't work either?

[zip]

can you post the ffmpeg command used with directv profile?

yes, sure I can. But I have to be at home because I can't control my BD player remotely, so it will last until tomorrow...

sorry for this late reply but today evening was the first time I had time to check that out.

DirectTV isn't working at all. It has worked before on the old Diskstation with the ARM CPU, I'm sure, but now it isn't. It gave me a black screen when I wanted to start the video and after 5 minutes a network error is displayed.

Below is the ffmpeg command line:

  Code:

ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs


the strange thing is, this commandline appears 5 times in the processes list. Also other processes of serviio and Java are listed several times in the processes list. Don't know if this is normal on Linux.

below is a excerpt from the actual processes list when trying to play the video:

  Code:

26517 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
26518 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
26519 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
26520 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
26521 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
26602 root      6608 S    /usr/syno/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL -f /usr/syno/apache/conf/httpd.conf-sys
26705 root     19804 S    /usr/syno/sbin/smbd -D
26717 root      6352 S    /usr/syno/apache/bin/httpd -DSSL -f /usr/syno/apache/conf/httpd.conf-sys
26998 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
26999 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
27000 serviio  81472 R    ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs
27001 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
27002 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
27003 serviio  81472 S    ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs
27004 serviio  81472 S    ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs
27005 serviio  81472 S    ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs
27006 serviio  81472 S    ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs
27007 serviio  81472 S    ffmpeg -i /volume1/video/House MD Season 7 ep01 to ep12/House.S07E12.720p.mkv -y -threads 4 -vcodec mpeg2video -b 8192k -maxrate 8192k -bufs
27016 serviio   519m S    /opt/java/ejre1.6.0_27/bin/java -Xmx384M -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true -Dderby.system.home=/opt/serviio/library -Dserviio.home=/opt/servii
27

some other very strange behaviour:

I just killed one of the ffmpeg processes which results in all ffmpeg processes are being killed but the video is still running. now only 4 java processes are running but no ffmpeg. The video still plays...

[zip]

it does llok weird, maybe you should ask in the NAS forum here

i would love to do so, can I somehow link this post to the new location or should I copy the last posts?

Hi again,

after having absolutely no success in getting DLNA with high quality stuff to work I decided to test another blu-ray player with streaming support.
I ordered a Oppo BDP-93 and it arrived on friday last week, so I had the whole weekend to test it. What should I say? Absolutely amazing. Everything worked out of the box. Every type of file, whether it is audio or video plays flawlessly. No stutters, no lost frames, no drop outs. Even special functions like selecting different audio tracks in the files or subtitles worked. No special profile is needed, the default profile, both from serviio or from the Synology itself works perfectly.

So my conclusion is: The DLNA feature implemented in Panasonic Blu-Ray Players is more than a crap and doesn't deserve the description "DLNA". It's absolutely useless if you want to do more than viewing pictures on your TV. Audio isn't supported at all and video only in SD quality. Although the streaming functionality in the Oppo Player is marked as "beta" and not yet fully integrated it works a thousand times better than that in the Pana. Besides that the Oppo Player is overall great performer in all its disciplines.

But thanks again all of you for trying to help me out, although the solution could be a much quicker one if I had considered earlier that the player is the problem.

...now I have a Panasonic BD Player to sell...

Regards,
Markus