HD recordings not playing on MVP

[jjstok]

From what I have read about a new HD Media Extender coming soon, I assume HD is not supposed to play over the current. Sage TV does not actually make anything called a Media Extender so when they say a new HD Media Extender is coming, is that a new Hauppauge MVP or is Sage talking about their Placeshifter?

On my present MVP I can watch HD TV just fine. What I can't watch are shows I have recorded in HD off the same channel I can watch live TV. Does the MVP only play live TV but not recorded shows?

[gplasky]

Your server has to transcode the HD recordings for the MVP. But live or recorded is the same because it is all recorded to the hard drive. My MVPs play both without an issue.

Gerry

[jjstok]

I can't figure out what I am missing then... Is it a recording playback resolution issue? I get sound but actually there is a squished video on the bottom but it's all distorted and yellow.

[Crashless]

It takes some serious horsepower to accomplish this. I have an intel 6320 (dual 1.86) and I have to use 'Standard Quality' for MVP transcoding - or I get severe studdering.

I have run into a few shows that don't get any audio on the MVP during transcoding though - but I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot yet.

What kind of hardware are you using?

[jjstok]

The transcoding option is the Media Extender Conversion Quality, right? I have tried Standard with no luck.

Dell PE 2800 Xeon 2.8 Quad and 1gb rm

[BFisher]

I have a Quad core CPU and 5 MVPs - have had no real issues transcoding at the high setting. I've tested it transcoding 2 HD at once while commercial skipping and haven't had an issue. Barely used 25% of CPU...

Sorry I can't offer more help - just giving you something to benchmark against.

[kevine]

That should transcode about as good as anything!

If I understand this straight you have 1 MVP working and 1 not working while playing HD. If so, you have the perfect scenario to test if the MVP is bad. I would do that first. Just unplug the working 1 and plug in the non-working 1. That will eliminate a problem with the server and possibly the MVP itself. If the MVP works there, you may have network topology problem. If it does not work there, take the working MVP and plug it in where the other MVP did not work. If it works there, you have a bad MVP or a settings problem with that MVP.

[jjstok]

I have one MVP. It plays everything fine except recorded HD programs. It seems to be a resolution issue but I can't figure it out. The sounds come through just fine but the picture is a squished multi-color bar at the bottom which I am assuming is the picture heavily screwed up.

[jkf]

After upgrading to the latest version of sage (6.2.10) my MVP has stopped playing HD programs correctly.
It seems that its trying to play the files without transcoding - I can hear the audio, but just get a black and green screen.


I just installed the new sagetv version on top of my existing version (6.1.9 I think)

[jjstok]

Same here, with Placeshifter too. My Placeshifter interface has been really punchy too. A far cry from the previous version which gave snap menu responses. I think I need to downgrade. Was your HD videos working correctly in the previous version?

[dadams]

You might try upgrading your Java. That solved some of my MVP playback issues.

[jjstok]

Just did. No luck. Java caches up to 1gb. Digital recordings typically begin in size way beyond that. Could that be the problem? Is anyone else not having the same problem?

[BFisher]

jj - I actually saw this problem last night. My MVPs have been playing HD shows just fine (recorded or live) (I know they aren't HD, they are transcoded, but the original source is HD (OTA)).

However last night's "Dancing With The Stars" results show (ABC) had this issue - could hear it, couldn't see it. Also, "Ellen Degeneres" (my wife loves Dancing Stars and one of them was on Ellen) had the same issue (FOX).

However, I sent these 2 shows to be compressed, and the compressed files play fine (which tells me they were recorded fine... it's a transcoding issue).

Not sure where to start on getting this fixed though...

[jjstok]

BFisher - Thanks for the info. Sometimes they play a little bit, real choppy, but not watchable. I'm pretty sure it is a file size issue which is why the compressing sounds like it would work.

How do you compress the files? I'm kind of a Sage newbe.

[Crashless]

You guys may want to check your task manager while the MVP is transcoding to see if you're being CPU limited. Sounds like it's either that, or your network.

[jjstok]

It's not limited to the MVP. Locally the same problem occurs when trying to watch. The procs are not getting pegged out.

[fist34]

I just received my MVP today. After setting it up, I'm experiencing the same problem reported above:

I have SageTV 6.2.10. I can watch live HD/Digital video, but watching the same channels from recorded video either stutters or gives me weird yellow stripes with audio. Switching between standard and high quality conversion makes no difference. The menu response on the extender is also very sluggish.

I have an AMD 4800 dual core and 2 gigs of ram on the server. Should be more than enough I would think.

[BFisher]

My issue is not consistent. I don't watch any live TV so I can't compare... but about 1-2 recordings per day are not able to be watched. The recordings are there (ShowAnalyzer worked because I can see the cut commercial marks), but not watchable on MVP. They work fine on the PC.

I know it's not CPU constraint...

Compressing the file so far has worked everytime. I assume there is something in the file causing this... I've not had any stuttering issues.

[fist34]

Sure sounds like a transcoder issue to me -- maybe the transcoder is tripping up on a particular format, as not every channel transmits the same resolution...

I put in a support request with Sage, but I've never had much luck with them. Seems like all the real support comes from other Sage users.

If I can't get it resolved, I'll be returning my MVP.

[MeInMaui]

Serveral of us have noticed that our HD recordings are being tagged as 480i. This could be the same issue you guys are seeing. If sageTV doesn't realize the file is HD, then it won't try to transcode the file for playback on the MVP. I have an MVP, but I haven't used it in a while. When I get the chance, I'll try firing up an HD recording and see what happens.

Aloha,
Mike