Question with Sony profile

[atc98092]

I have two BDP-S3100 players, using the BDP-Sx90 (2012) profile. I use this one because it appears to pass my MKV files natively. However, I just discovered at least a few MKV files that are still being transcoded, and playback is unwatchable due to FFMPEG not being able to keep up with the video stream. Looking at profiles.xml, it appears that there is something that is still catching some MKV files with multiple audio tracks. Here's MediaInfo information on a file that is still being transcoded:

  Code:

General
Unique ID                                : 333831892877393773954366734157700241021 (0xFB25AF134F7B4C6548AAC9ACF181967D)
Complete name                            : F:\The Hunt for Red October (1990).mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 35.0 GiB
Duration                                 : 2h 15mn
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 37.1 Mbps
Movie name                               : The Hunt For Red October
Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-01-05 03:38:50
Writing application                      : MakeMKV v1.8.7 win(x64-release)
Writing library                          : libmakemkv v1.8.7 (1.3.0/1.4.1) win(x64-release)

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 2 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 2h 15mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : TrueHD
Codec ID                                 : A_TRUEHD
Duration                                 : 2h 15mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Maximum bit rate                         : 5 148 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Title                                    : 5.1
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 2h 15mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 640 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                              : 619 MiB (2%)
Title                                    : 3/2+1
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #1
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : PGS
Codec ID                                 : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                            : The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text #2
ID                                       : 5
Format                                   : PGS
Codec ID                                 : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info                            : The same subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Menu
00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 01
00:13:12.958                             : en:Chapter 02
00:19:35.757                             : en:Chapter 03
00:33:26.504                             : en:Chapter 04
00:43:06.417                             : en:Chapter 05
00:51:46.770                             : en:Chapter 06
01:05:25.546                             : en:Chapter 07
01:11:14.979                             : en:Chapter 08
01:25:03.807                             : en:Chapter 09
01:36:51.680                             : en:Chapter 10
01:47:51.756                             : en:Chapter 11
01:55:18.745                             : en:Chapter 12
02:07:59.421                             : en:Chapter 13



I have other MKV files with the same level of encoding and bit rate, and the player does fine playing without transcoding. What should I comment out of the profile file to send all MKV files without transcoding? I think it is this section:

  Code:

<Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" maxVBitrate="17000" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="320" forceInheritance="true">
            <Matches container="*" vCodec="h264" profile="high" levelGreaterThan="4.1" />
            <Matches container="*" vCodec="h264" profile="main" levelGreaterThan="4.1" />
            <Matches container="matroska" vCodec="vp8" />
         </Video>


The next section also talks about unsupported audio, such as TrueHD. However, this Sony player will accept both TrueHD and DTS Master Audio as a bitstream, so I don't want the audio changed either. I've seen my receiver indicate it is receiving both HD audio formats, so I want them sent intact.

Any suggestions?

[DenyAll]

That section of code shouldn't be impacting as your file is a level High@L4.1, so won't match the: profile="high" levelGreaterThan="4.1"

If you are sure your player supports TrueHD then remove (or comment out) the line:

<Matches container="matroska" aCodec="truehd" />

This is causing your file to be remuxed, and the audio transcoded to AC3. Once removed the file will be presented natively (as-is) to the player... as long as the player supports this audio all should be fine.

ps. even delivered natively, this file has a 37Mbps bit rate which is pretty high - your network needs to be fast (and your players need to handle it).

[atc98092]

That section of code shouldn't be impacting as your file is a level High@L4.1, so won't match the: profile="high" levelGreaterThan="4.1"

If you are sure your player supports TrueHD then remove (or comment out) the line:

<Matches container="matroska" aCodec="truehd" />

This is causing your file to be remuxed, and the audio transcoded to AC3. Once removed the file will be presented natively (as-is) to the player... as long as the player supports this audio all should be fine.

ps. even delivered natively, this file has a 37Mbps bit rate which is pretty high - your network needs to be fast (and your players need to handle it).

Yep. Wired gigabit, so no connection issues. Of course, the Sony doesn't have a gigabit LAN connection, but my network has plenty of overhead space. I even have a couple of videos that can hit over 50Mbps (The Dark Knight Returns for one). That's assuming the bit rate display in the Sony is accurate.

Since I've seen my Yamaha receiver display both DTS Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD while streaming, I'd say the Sony supports it. But since I'm already seeing it on the Yamaha, it seems that the Sony is already passing the bitstream audio, and Serviio is not remuxing it. And that doesn't explain why the Sony is displaying this particular video as MPG, while it shows MKV of other files.

What exactly does this line do: <Matches container="matroska" vCodec="vp8" /> ? What video codec is vp8?

[DenyAll]

Not sure how the TrueHD is getting to your receiver as that line will enforce its transcoding to AC3??? Removing this line will ensure these files are played natively.

VP8 is a video codec, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VP8. This line tells Serviio to transcode these files - if you attempt to play an MKV file that contains VP8 encoded video, Serviio will transcode the video to mpeg2 (and the audio to AC3 if not already) and package it in a mpeg2-ts container.