6.2.4 :: H264 w/AAC

[bialio]

So there's a test clip out there provided by SHS of some video that might have been captured from a HD-PVR. Its a .ts file, H264 with AAC audio.

Being the adventurous early adopter that I am, I loaded up the new beta last night and updated one of my extenders. I though MAYBE that test clip would play now in Sage (although in fact it's never played in Sage Client or Extender)....

Well, it did not play on the extender. Just had a black screen - which is the same as before. I haven't updated my full client to the beta yet, so I don't know if it will work there either.....

btl.

[Brent]

Thus far I've only loaded the beta on my SageTV machine which is underpowered for playback.
On this machine, I could view the entire test clip (from the HD-PVR) although it wasn't smooth due to the high (90-100% CPU) processor load, it did allow me to view it completely. In the old SageTV version I couldn't view it at all.

I'm planning to upgrade my Client PC's tonight as well as the HD extender firmware.

I've heard that the HD extender handles playback of the HD-PVR files perfectly. Not sure if this firmware and SageTV update makes that possible or not, but I'm pretty excited that the HD extenders can handle these well.

[_Demo_]

Originally Posted by bialio

So there's a test clip out there provided by SHS of some video that might have been captured from a HD-PVR. Its a .ts file, H264 with AAC audio.

Being the adventurous early adopter that I am, I loaded up the new beta last night and updated one of my extenders. I though MAYBE that test clip would play now in Sage (although in fact it's never played in Sage Client or Extender)....

Well, it did not play on the extender. Just had a black screen - which is the same as before. I haven't updated my full client to the beta yet, so I don't know if it will work there either.....

btl.

It should be working with the latest server and firmware 20080508.

_Demo_

[Narflex]

It should definitely work w/ the 6.4.2 server and the beta firmware. I was playing back content from the HD-PVR through the STX-HD100 all day yesterday.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Narflex

It should definitely work w/ the 6.4.2 server and the beta firmware. I was playing back content from the HD-PVR through the STX-HD100 all day yesterday.

Jeff,
Lets say I have an older single-core processor on my server that is now updated to the new SageTV 6.4.2. Once I update the firmware on my STX-HD100, should that work okay for HD-PVR playback?

I'm going to try it tonight, but wanted to see if you thought the server had much impact on the playback.

Great to hear the HD Extender is handling the HD-PVR streams well - you gotta get more of those extenders in because they are going to sell like crazy!

[Eckwell]

Originally Posted by Narflex

It should definitely work w/ the 6.4.2 server and the beta firmware. I was playing back content from the HD-PVR through the STX-HD100 all day yesterday.

So how is the HD-PVR working out? Since you have used it, can you comment on its ability to carry Closed Captions? if you have a minute that is...

[Apap]

I just updated my client pc to 6.4.2 and tried playing the clip stored locally on my client pc and it plays but it stutters both video and audio.

Hardware config.
Athlon 64x2 4600+
2g ddr2 800
500g hard drive (64k blocks)
8800gt

I tried a few things that did not help. First switched from VMR9 to overlay, no joy,reverted. upgraded video driver from 169.21 to the latest beta 175 whatever, no joy.
Task manager shows cpu load at 50% during playback in any of the scenarios tested so far.
I had previously tried a trial of Arcsoft total media and the clip played smoothly but with no audio so I uninstalled it.

Any suggestions as to what else to try?

[Brent]

You might try the latest Cyberlink codec as I think it handles H.264 better than most. I'm planning to try it on my client PC tonight which has similar specs as yours - I'll report back.

[bialio]

Originally Posted by Narflex

It should definitely work w/ the 6.4.2 server and the beta firmware. I was playing back content from the HD-PVR through the STX-HD100 all day yesterday.

I've tried to play it on both of my HD-100 - both show the timeline advancing, but both are a black screen with no audio.

If you'd like to trouble shoot it some on my system I will work with you. I upgraded both extenders to the beta, and the server from 6.3.10 to 6.4.2.

btl.

[bialio]

Originally Posted by Brent

You might try the latest Cyberlink codec as I think it handles H.264 better than most. I'm planning to try it on my client PC tonight which has similar specs as yours - I'll report back.

I actually got the video to play smoothly in my Sage Client finally. The trick that did it for me was using the ARCSOFT decoder from TMT.

Still have no audio on the test clip, but at least I have smooth video. Extenders still have nothing.

[JREkiwi]

I'm using the ArcSoft video decoder too. Try the Monogram AAC decoder for the missing audio on your PC.

I get video, but no audio on my extender, but that's with a DVB-T H.264/AAC stream

John

[bialio]

Originally Posted by Narflex

It should definitely work w/ the 6.4.2 server and the beta firmware. I was playing back content from the HD-PVR through the STX-HD100 all day yesterday.

After a clean re-install of my Sage Server (v.6.4.2) (OS and everything) - the test clip provided by SHS will now play on my HDX-100s.

Previously I had installed 6.4.2 on top of 6.3.10 - which I had installed on top of the previous 6.3.x, etc etc. The initial Sage install probably started back in the early 6.2.x release - and I've just been installing the new additions on top of that as they have come out.

So - Houston, we could have a problem! If the HD-PVR doesn't work on the extenders without a clean install of your Server. Something that had accumulated over the lifetime of the server was definitely causing problems......

[Brent]

Originally Posted by bialio

So - Houston, we could have a problem! If the HD-PVR doesn't work on the extenders without a clean install of your Server. Something that had accumulated over the lifetime of the server was definitely causing problems......

For the record, I've just been doing the normal updates (not "clean installs") of SageTV up to the most recent beta. Same thing with the firmware updates. And I can view the test file on my HD Extender with perfect playback.

So there must be something else causing the issue for you I would think.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by bialio

I actually got the video to play smoothly in my Sage Client finally. The trick that did it for me was using the ARCSOFT decoder from TMT.

Still have no audio on the test clip, but at least I have smooth video. Extenders still have nothing.

Originally Posted by JREkiwi

I'm using the ArcSoft video decoder too. Try the Monogram AAC decoder for the missing audio on your PC.

I get video, but no audio on my extender, but that's with a DVB-T H.264/AAC stream

John

So on my client PC I should try
Video Decoder: Arcsoft TotalMediaTheater - this will be coming with the HD-PVR right?
Audio Decoder: Monogram AAC decoder

Does Arcsoft work better than Cyberlink 8?

[geogecko]

I ended up installing CoreAVC, which I had been trying to buy for months, and finally gave up. Decided to check on them again, after seeing the recent updates to SageTV, and they finally are selling it again.

After installing the trial version, all my Sony HDR-SR1 videos can now be played directly on the HTPC without converting them or anything, it's awesome.

I ended up buying the professional version after it worked...

Now I see this new HD-PVR that is out...looks like a winner to me, wish it was a dual tuner for that price though.

[Brent]

Jason,
Does CoreAVC work well within SageTV for both audio and video on H.264 files?

[geogecko]

I can say that it works for the M2TS files that are generated by the camcorder, which are AVCHD. Before, I couldn't even play them. I get both video and audio with the CoreAVC decoder installed. Of course, you could try it free, just to see if it works for you.

[JREkiwi]

Originally Posted by Brent

Does Arcsoft work better than Cyberlink 8?

Arcsoft ran more smoothly and with less CPU on my DVB-T H.264 (PAFF) stream. YMMV

John