PS stream bandwidth less then target

[Sam]

I'm trying to use PS over a wireless LAN link which is too slow for the regular client. The wireless connection is very stable, but only about 2-3Mbps from the sage server to the PS, and 400Kbps from the PS machine to the server.

When I try to use dynamic transcoding, it does very poorly so I am trying to use fixed streaming rates. But no matter what rate I request, the PS status window shows the actual stream bandwidth is a fraction of what I request. For example, if I request 1200 Kbps video with 64Kbps audio, the status window shows the channel bandwith fluctuating around 2000+ Kbps, the target as 1390 Kbps, but the stream bandwidth flunctuating only around 80-120Kbps.

This results in a very poor quality video signal, when I think the bandwidth exists for a decent quality signal. The problem isn't stuttering; the status window shows the buffer stays nearly full. I have also tried adding video_buffer_size=32000000 to the PS properties, and all it does it increase how much time is available in the buffer.

What makes the PS stream bandwidth be under 10% of the requested target bandwidth? On the PS status graph, the red channel bandwith is always above the blue target bandwitch, but the green stream bandwidth is very low and never approaches the target bandwidth.

The server is a Pentium 4 3.4GHz cpu with 2GB memory, and the SageTVTranscoder process is running at around 49-50% of the CPU with the system idle process running 40+% and usually 45+%. So I don't think it has maxed out the server CPU capacity.

I have the fixed transcoding settings at 1200Kbps video with the others at default values (CIF resolution, 30 fps, using B frames every 10 seconds, and 64Kbps audio). I have tried various fixed rates, and I get nowhere close to the target bandwith.

I have tried v6 .011, .12, and now .13 with the same reults. Also, v5 did this for me too, but I was waiting to see if the v6 beta improved it any.

What limits the stream bandwidth?

[Mark SS]

Submit a bug report. I reported some problems with the 1st two beta releases and Narflex mentioned alot of the PS code was in flux so maybe something else has gone wonky.

[bbrookfield]

I also have been unable to get the auto adjust streaming to work for more than a few minutes. When I switch to a fixed bandwith (300k) It seems to be ok for ahout 30mins to 1 hr then I get skipping. Also, it seems to me that even with 30-50% CPU usage, my who system slows down (Mostly screen updates outside of Sage), If I shutdown the Sage TV service, it takes a few minutes before my system returns to normal even though processor usage is now less th 10%. I also have set the buffer to 32meg bug still have the issues.