[SOLVED] Bad viewing quality for MP4-(AVC) on Bravia EX701

I've got some mp4-files (H.264) from www. save.tv. I want them to play with my Sony Bravia KDL-46EX701. Installed is Serviio 1.4 which recognises the KDL-46EX701 propperly and uses the "Sony Bravia TV (2010)" profile.

But the viewing quality is very bad: blurred and with low resolution (audio is ok).

As far I have seen in the faq and the forum I probably have to change something in the profiles.xml. But I do not really understand what is in this file.

So: can anybody give me some hints what to do?

[NX3]

Your set is from 2010 so the files are being converted to mpeg2 I guess, not sure why the quality is so bad though. Are the files ok to start with e.g do check on a PC ? You could convert before sharing them to a format your tv supports directly.

Yes, I think the problem is the transcoding. That's why I said: "I probably have to change something in the profiles.xml".

Playing the files on a pc or a mobile is no problem. Best quality! But these devices can play mp4 without transcoding of course.

So what could I do in the profiles.xml to enhance the transcoding quality?

[NX3]

I think your missing what I was saying. Serviio will convert to mpeg2 because of the limitations of your tv. You could convert to mpeg4 but you'd need serious cpu power to do the fly. Given they are already mp4 they must be something incompatible with your tv. tweaking the profile settings won't improve what your tv can do. I had a 2010 Sony, mpeg2 quality was great so confused why it's so bad.

Why not work out what the problem is for native playback.... Post the mediainfo for a file, it helps either way.

Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk

I understand that serviio is transcoding the mp4 to mpeg2 because the tv can't play mp4 and wants to get the video in mpeg2. But this transcoding seems to have serious problems.
So I thought, changing some parameters in the profiles.xml could improve the outcome of the transcoding ...

CPU power dosn't seem to be the problem. While watching the video on the TV the cpu workload is only 1% to 4% in the Windows task manager of the serviio server.

If I convert the video to mpeg2 with an external program (I tried Super: http://www. erightsoft.com/SUPER.html) the quality is ok. But converting all the files means a lot of work and a lot of disk-space.

Here comes the Media-Info of the mp4-File:

Allgemein
Vollständiger Name : \\MyServer\medien\Video\Krimis\Crossing Jordan\Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_Weisser_Tod_Folge71_2014-02-12_2305_535854.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format-Profil : Base Media
Codec-ID : isom
Dateigröße : 513 MiB
Dauer : 41min
Gesamte Bitrate : 1 733 Kbps
Filmname : Crossing Jordan - Pathologin mit Profil - Weisser Tod - Folge 71
Künstler : 8076118_535854

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format-Profil : High@L1.3
Format-Einstellungen für CABAC : Nein
Format-Einstellungen für ReFrame : 5 frames
Codec-ID : avc1
Codec-ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Dauer : 41min
Bitraten-Modus : variabel
Bitrate : 1 492 Kbps
Breite : 720 Pixel
Höhe : 576 Pixel
Bildseitenverhältnis : 16:9
Modus der Bildwiederholungsrate : konstant
Bildwiederholungsrate : 25,000 FPS
Standard : PAL
ColorSpace : YUV
ChromaSubsampling : 4:2:0
BitDepth/String : 8 bits
Scantyp : progressiv
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.144
Stream-Größe : 442 MiB (86%)

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format-Profil : LC
Codec-ID : 40
Dauer : 41min
Bitraten-Modus : variabel
Bitrate : 232 Kbps
maximale Bitrate : 256 Kbps
Kanäle : 2 Kanäle
Kanal-Positionen : Front: L R
Samplingrate : 44,1 KHz
Stream-Größe : 69,4 MiB (14%)

[NX3]

If cpu is so low it can't be transcoding. You got a url to a sample file to test?

Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk

If I switch off the transoding check box in serviio the mp4-files do not appear on my sony bravia any more. So serviio seems to do something with the files.

Nope. No url. But I could upload a file to your ftp-server ...

[Illico]

Could you enable detailed logging and extract the ffmpeg command line used during file transcoding ?

I just realized that on the Sony Bravia was displayed AVC as the file format of the mp4-file instead of mpeg2 (to which I thought it was transcoded).

Here are the lines of the log which I think do describe the request of the Sony Bravia (not sure if I got everything out of the 60.000 lines):

2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [ServiioHttpService] Incoming request from /192.168.123.107:55905: HEAD /resource/7859/MEDIA_ITEM/AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO-2/ORIGINAL HTTP/1.1, headers = [getcontentFeatures.dlna.org: 1,Pragma: getIfoFileURI.dlna.org,transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming,X-AV-Physical-Unit-Info: pa="BRAVIA KDL-46EX701";,X-AV-Client-Info: av=5.0; cn="Sony Corporation"; mn="BRAVIA KDL-46EX701"; mv="1.7";,Host: 192.168.123.100:8895]]
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [RendererDAOImpl] Reading a Renderer with ip address 192.168.123.107
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [RendererDAOImpl] Reading a Renderer with ip address 192.168.123.107
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [ResourceDeliveryProcessor] Resource request accepted. Using client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [ResourceDeliveryProcessor] Request for resource 7859 and type 'MEDIA_ITEM' received
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [MediaResourceRetrievalStrategy] Getting information about media item 7859 (local)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Reading a MediaItem (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [VideoDAOImpl] Reading a Video (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Retrieving resource information for item 7859, format AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO and profile Sony Bravia TV (2010)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [AbstractTranscodingDeliveryEngine] Getting media info for transcoded version of file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Found Format profile for transcoded file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4: AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO
2014-02-26 17:43:45,015 DEBUG [ResourceTransportRequestHandler] HTTP/1.1 200 OK, headers = [[Content-Type: video/mpeg,Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:43:45 GMT,Server: Windows XP, UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50, Serviio/1.4,Cache-control: no-cache,contentFeatures.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_PN=AVC_TS_HD_60_AC3_ISO;DLNA.ORG_OP=10;DLNA.ORG_CI=1;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01500000000000000000000000000000,transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming,realTimeInfo.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_TLAG=*]]
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [ServiioHttpService] Incoming request from /192.168.123.107:55906: GET /resource/7859/MEDIA_ITEM/AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO-2/ORIGINAL HTTP/1.1, headers = [TimeSeekRange.dlna.org: npt=0.000-,getcontentFeatures.dlna.org: 1,Pragma: getIfoFileURI.dlna.org,transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming,X-AV-Physical-Unit-Info: pa="BRAVIA KDL-46EX701";,X-AV-Client-Info: av=5.0; cn="Sony Corporation"; mn="BRAVIA KDL-46EX701"; mv="1.7";,Host: 192.168.123.100:8895]]
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [RendererDAOImpl] Reading a Renderer with ip address 192.168.123.107
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [RendererDAOImpl] Reading a Renderer with ip address 192.168.123.107
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [ResourceDeliveryProcessor] Resource request accepted. Using client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [ResourceDeliveryProcessor] Request for resource 7859 and type 'MEDIA_ITEM' received
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [MediaResourceRetrievalStrategy] Getting information about media item 7859 (local)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Reading a MediaItem (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [VideoDAOImpl] Reading a Video (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Retrieving resource information for item 7859, format AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO and profile Sony Bravia TV (2010)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [AbstractTranscodingDeliveryEngine] Getting media info for transcoded version of file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Found Format profile for transcoded file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4: AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [MediaResourceRetrievalStrategy] Getting information about media item 7859 (local)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Reading a MediaItem (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [VideoDAOImpl] Reading a Video (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Delivering item '7859' for client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Delivering file 'Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4' using transcoding
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [AbstractTranscodingDeliveryEngine] No suitable transcoding job exists yet, start one for client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Getting file of media item 7859
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [FFMPEGWrapper] Invoking FFmpeg to transcode video file: E:\Medien\Video\Krimis\Crossing Jordan\Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4
2014-02-26 17:43:45,046 DEBUG [ProcessExecutor] Starting C:\Programme\Serviio\bin\\..\lib/ffmpeg.exe -fflags +genpts -threads auto -i E:\Medien\Video\Krimis\Crossing Jordan\Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4 -y -threads auto -c:v copy -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -c:a ac3 -b:a 384k -ac 2 -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -sn -f mpegts C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\Serviio\transcoding-temp-7859-sony2010-ORIGINAL.stf
2014-02-26 17:43:45,546 DEBUG [FileBasedTranscodingDeliveryStrategy] Sending transcoding stream
2014-02-26 17:43:45,546 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Found Format profile for transcoded file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4: AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO
2014-02-26 17:43:45,546 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Marking MediaItem (id = 7859) as read
2014-02-26 17:43:45,562 DEBUG [LocalContentCacheDecorator] Cleared cache (local_resetafterplay)
2014-02-26 17:43:45,562 DEBUG [GETMethodProcessor] Stream entity has length: 50000000000
2014-02-26 17:43:45,562 DEBUG [ResourceTransportRequestHandler] Creating entity with chunked transfer
2014-02-26 17:43:45,562 DEBUG [ResourceTransportRequestHandler] HTTP/1.1 200 OK, headers = [[Content-Type: video/mpeg,Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:43:45 GMT,Server: Windows XP, UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50, Serviio/1.4,Cache-control: no-cache,TimeSeekRange.dlna.org: npt=0-2489/2489,contentFeatures.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_PN=AVC_TS_HD_60_AC3_ISO;DLNA.ORG_OP=10;DLNA.ORG_CI=1;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01500000000000000000000000000000,transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming,realTimeInfo.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_TLAG=*]]
2014-02-26 17:43:45,812 DEBUG [SearchManager] Committing search index
2014-02-26 17:43:47,937 DEBUG [WebServer] I/O error: Software caused connection abort: socket write error
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [ServiioHttpService] Incoming request from /192.168.123.107:55908: GET /resource/7859/MEDIA_ITEM/AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO-2/ORIGINAL HTTP/1.1, headers = [TimeSeekRange.dlna.org: npt=0.000-,getcontentFeatures.dlna.org: 1,Pragma: getIfoFileURI.dlna.org,transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming,X-AV-Physical-Unit-Info: pa="BRAVIA KDL-46EX701";,X-AV-Client-Info: av=5.0; cn="Sony Corporation"; mn="BRAVIA KDL-46EX701"; mv="1.7";,Host: 192.168.123.100:8895]]
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [RendererDAOImpl] Reading a Rendersgml3comer with ip address 192.168.123.107
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [RendererDAOImpl] Reading a Renderer with ip address 192.168.123.107
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [ResourceDeliveryProcessor] Resource request accepted. Using client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [ResourceDeliveryProcessor] Request for resource 7859 and type 'MEDIA_ITEM' received
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [MediaResourceRetrievalStrategy] Getting information about media item 7859 (local)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Reading a MediaItem (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDAOImpl] Reading a Video (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Retrieving resource information for item 7859, format AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO and profile Sony Bravia TV (2010)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [AbstractTranscodingDeliveryEngine] Getting media info for transcoded version of file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Found Format profile for transcoded file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4: AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [MediaResourceRetrievalStrategy] Getting information about media item 7859 (local)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Reading a MediaItem (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDAOImpl] Reading a Video (id = 7859)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Delivering item '7859' for client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Delivering file 'Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4' using transcoding
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [AbstractTranscodingDeliveryEngine] A suitable transcoding job already exists, re-use it for client 'Identifier=192.168.123.107, Profile=Sony Bravia TV (2010)'
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [FileBasedTranscodingDeliveryStrategy] Sending transcoding stream
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [VideoDeliveryEngine] Found Format profile for transcoded file Crossing_Jordan_Pathologin_mit_Profil_In_der_Hitze_der_Nacht_Folge72_2014-02-19_2305_535854.mp4: AVC_TS_MP_SD_AC3_ISO
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [MediaItemDAOImpl] Marking MediaItem (id = 7859) as read
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [LocalContentCacheDecorator] Cleared cache (local_resetafterplay)
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [GETMethodProcessor] Stream entity has length: 50000000000
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [ResourceTransportRequestHandler] Creating entity with chunked transfer
2014-02-26 17:43:47,953 DEBUG [ResourceTransportRequestHandler] HTTP/1.1 200 OK, headers = [[Content-Type: video/mpeg,Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:43:47 GMT,Server: Windows XP, UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50, Serviio/1.4,Cache-control: no-cache,TimeSeekRange.dlna.org: npt=0-2489/2489,contentFeatures.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_PN=AVC_TS_HD_60_AC3_ISO;DLNA.ORG_OP=10;DLNA.ORG_CI=1;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01500000000000000000000000000000,transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming,realTimeInfo.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_TLAG=*]]

[NX3]

upload an example

[Illico]

As you can see on ffmpeg command line, the video track was kept as the original (-c:v copy, h264 displayed AVC on sony screen), it was only remuxed in a new container mpegts with a new trasncoded audio track (ac3)supported by your device.

So the bad viewing quality is due to the original file...Or a bad settings of your TV (noise reduction, motionflow,etc)

  Code:

ffmpeg.exe -fflags +genpts -threads auto -i INPUT.mp4 -y -threads auto -c:v copy -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -c:a ac3 -b:a 384k -ac 2 -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -sn -f mpegts TEMP.TS

upload an example

I can't post an example because limitations of the forum: "The file is too big, maximum allowed size is 500 KiB."

As you can see on ffmpeg command line, the video track was kept as the original (-c:v copy, h264 displayed AVC on sony screen), it was only remuxed in a new container mpegts with a new trasncoded audio track (ac3)supported by your device.

I tried some changes in the settings of the tv. But no success.

So, what can I do to make serviio transcode the file?

[NX3]

Why do you want it transcoded? If it plays then seems rather pointless. If they file is playing untranscoded and poor quality then the problem is the source file....serviio can't fix it and transcoding won't improve it.

Sent from my HTC One mini using Tapatalk

Why do you want it transcoded? If it plays then seems rather pointless. If they file is playing untranscoded and poor quality then the problem is the source file....serviio can't fix it and transcoding won't improve it.

As I wrote earlier the qualiy is excellent on a PC. And if I convert the video to mpeg2 with an external program (I tried Super: http://www. erightsoft.com/SUPER.html) the quality is ok on the TV too.

As fas as I know from viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2396 the Sony Bravia KDL-46EX701 is not able to play mp4.

[Illico]

You can try to create a custom profile, add following lines in ./serviio/config/profiles.xml file, just before the last </Profiles> element:

  Code:

       <Profile id="sonymp4" name="Sony Bravia TV (2010) - MP4/AVC*" extendsProfileId="sony2010">
          <Transcoding>
             <!-- Transcode MP4/h264 -->
             <!-- remove DAR option on next line for U.S. model -->
             <Video targetContainer="mpegts" targetVCodec="mpeg2video" maxVBitrate="17000" targetACodec="ac3" aBitrate="384" DAR="16:9" forceInheritance="true">
                <Matches container="mp4" vCodec="h264" />
             </Video>
          </Transcoding>
       </Profile>

Then restart, serviio services (not server) or reboot your PC.

Then on serviio console (in device list), manually select this new custom profile "Sony Bravia TV (2010) - MP4*" for your device when you have problem with your mp4 quality...

This works really great! Thank you very much!

I had a deeper view into all this in the meantime and saw, that the Sony Bravia should be able to play AVCHD.
I think, that's the reason why the file was not transcoded but copied (I was confused because of the mp4-Ending and did not know that it contains AVC. So I thought, it could not play mp4).

So the question is: Is AVCHD something other than the file-format: AVC1

Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format-Profil : High@L1.3
Format-Einstellungen für CABAC : Nein
Format-Einstellungen für ReFrame : 5 frames
Codec-ID : avc1

And might there be something other (than transcoding to mpeg2) I can change in the profiles.xml to get a better quality on the screen?

[Illico]

And might there be something other (than transcoding to mpeg2) I can change in the profiles.xml to get a better quality on the screen?

I don't know, because AVCHD codec (AVC, h264, x264etc) should be good, usually it does not need to be transcoded to get better quality...because usually the quality is lower during transcoding process.

[NX3]

because usually the quality is lower during transcoding process

My point, very odd !