SageTV Demux Beta for Windows w/ Accurate Seeking

[Narflex]

Howdy all,

Got a little beta fix for those of you in need.

It's a new Mpeg2 Demultiplexor DirectShow filter for Windows. This component is used when playing back any MPEG file in SageTV or SageTVClient for Windows. The one that comes with V6.4.8 and all prior versions has an issue where it does not seek accurately to the desired time unless the file was encoded with constant bitrate. One of the main issues this relates to is inaccurate seeking with ComSkip for digital TV recordings or HD-PVR recordings.

The main features of the new demux are:

-Accurate seeking
-More efficient
-More compatible with different audio/video decoders
-Supports all the same formats as the prior demux
-Rearchitected from scratch to enable more advanced features (yes, we'll be adding smooth FF/REW to this component in the near future)

To test this out just download this file and replace the one in your Program Files\SageTV\Common (or if your old school, it might be Program Files\Frey Technologies\Common) folder. You should back up the file you have first. Do this while SageTV is not running.

http://download.sage.tv/MpegDeMux.ax
http://download.sage.tv/myasyncflt.ax

Submit any bug reports here please:

http://sagetv.com/bugs.html

Enjoy!

Updates:

Oct 8, 2008
1. fixed the stuttering problem on a H.264 recording on some kind of hardware and video decoder combination.
2. fixed macro blocking, loss A/V sync when skipping back and forth.

Oct 17, 2008
version 2.0.1.13
1. fix picture stuck while watching live TV.
2. fix a crash bug
3. support ffdhsow audio, Cyberlink PowerDVD8 decoders.

Oct 23, 2008
version 2.0.1.14
Fixes:
1. a timeline indicator stops advancing randomly or at begin of a show while watching live TV.
2. playing stops at end of a show instead of moving into next one.

Oct 26, 2008
version 2.0.1.16
Fixes:
1) Fix for timeline frozen on some livetv recordings not recorded on an HD-PVR

Dec 11, 2008
version 2.0.1.19
Fixes:
1. fix seeking lockup (spinning circle)
2. optimize seeking performance

Dec 12, 2008
version 2.0.1.20
Fixes:
1. a bad PTS in a recording causes playing stop after FF/RW.

Jan 10, 2009
version 2.0.1.28
Fixes:
1. fix for jumping to wrong spot when seeking

Jan 21, 2009
version 2.0.1.30
Fixes:
1. seeking lockup
2. sound dropping off
3. Frequent no video or sound issues

Jan 23, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.31
myasyncflt.ax: version 2.2.1.2
Fixes:
1. MpegDeMux.ax: drop out bug
2. myasyncflt.ax: hangup and crash bug

Jan 25, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.32
Fixes:
1. accuracy problem

Jan 27, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.33
Fixes:
1. no video and audio on the first track

Feb 5, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.34
Fixes:
1. HDPVR choppy playback at end of stream

Feb 18, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.37
Fixes:
1. DTS audio and VC1 video support bugs

Feb 18, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.38
Fixes:
1. Fixed a conflicated tag

Feb 19, 2009
MpegDeMux.ax: version 2.0.1.39
Fixes:
1. Exposes buffer size and buffer number settings in registry for tweaking:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Frey Technologies\Common\DSFilters\MpegDeMux
BlockSize(DWORD)=64
BlockNum(DWORD)=128
default: 64K bytes per block, 128 blocks total.

[voidpt]

O great. Just gone through the withdrawal symptoms after no more beta's. Having a stable system a few weeks. Thought I had beat the habit, and now this... One little fix, keeping me happy before next round of beta's. SageTV, you're gonna be the death of me. Your the best I've ever had

Seriously. Already installed this little pill. And I will report back when getting through a few shows with ComSkip. Because I have had just the problems described here on accuracy. But never found any coherent pattern in it. Thanks again

One observation. I seem to have had better luck with ComSkip accuracy on the HD Extender (before this fix). Do the HD Extender DeMux on it's own? Or am I just hallucinating?

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by voidpt

One observation. I seem to have had better luck with ComSkip accuracy on the HD Extender (before this fix). Do the HD Extender DeMux on it's own? Or am I just hallucinating?

No need to put down the bong....you're not hallucinating. This was not a problem with the HD extender as you noticed; and what we actually did was roll those algorithms into the demux so the behavior should be basically the same as seeking on the HD extender is.

[pat.holder]

This is very exciting! Just having gone through the pains of setting the Nvidia demuxer to run my shows, I wonder how this one compares. Have you tested them side-by-side? Any idea what performance benefits this may have versus the nvidia one? Just wondering, I'll report back when I've done the same comparison.

Thanks for this great addition to an already awesome program!

[rubell]

I just set this up with PDVD 8 h264 and guess what? It works! I think. Letting it run for a while, but so far hardware acceleration + SageTV = a happy user.

well ive been using it for a couple hours now and only good news to report. i got one weird stutter loop thing but sage fixed itself within a few seconds. wonder if it was the hdpvr anyway. my hdhr shows are working great as are my videos (variety of formats). i did get blocky playback after skipping back on livetv a few minutes, but after reloading the player it went back to normal.

[stanger89]

Ooh, I'll have to try that. As Jeff knows, I'd been having trouble with PowerDVD 8 H.264 decoder and Sage

[ToxMox]

Preliminary findings are very good. Thank you! I'll report any quirks I find.

[Clift]

Works with CybeLink H264 Codec PDVD7.x but not PDVD8. So far so good. If this is the beta then I am very excited for the final product!

[ToxMox]

Works with PDVD8's h264 decoder for me. I have noticed a lot of spinning wheels since I installed the new demux. It isn't perfect yet. Still a couple seek issues here and there. Guess that is why it is beta

[voidpt]

Have a Notebook/Tablet with PDVD 7.3, looks very good. ComSkip seems to hit perfect on the few shows I've watched until now. Have PDVD 8.x on my Desktop, haven't watched any shows yet there. Will report back in a few days when I have had some more usage.

[nyplayer]

I added this to one of my clients and it keeps hanging.... then the client crashes. I then reverted back to the 6.48 demux and file plays fine. Crashes using either Nvidia or Sagetv Decoder with overlay and hardware acceleration.

Thu 9/11 7:52:00.883 VF.submitJob(VFJob[Play r=0.0 t=0 file=null ifn=null])
Thu 9/11 7:52:00.884 VF processing job VFJob[Play r=0.0 t=0 file=null ifn=null] nPlayin=true
Thu 9/11 7:52:00.918 VF processing on UI Thread VFJob[Play r=0.0 t=0 file=null ifn=null]
Thu 9/11 7:52:00.921 VF processing job null nPlayin=true
Thu 9/11 7:52:00.921 isRec=false rd=3588734 base=1050923
Thu 9/11 7:52:00.922 VF thread is now waiting for 0:42:17.561
Thu 9/11 7:52:35.186 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:52:35.937 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1502
Thu 9/11 7:52:36.688 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 2253
Thu 9/11 7:52:37.440 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 3005
Thu 9/11 7:53:06.516 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:53:07.267 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1502
Thu 9/11 7:53:41.001 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:54:14.076 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 750
Thu 9/11 7:55:17.650 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:55:18.401 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1502
Thu 9/11 7:55:19.153 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 2254
Thu 9/11 7:55:19.904 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 3005
Thu 9/11 7:56:08.199 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 750
Thu 9/11 7:56:08.951 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1501
Thu 9/11 7:56:09.702 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 2253
Thu 9/11 7:56:10.452 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 3003
Thu 9/11 7:56:23.715 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 752
Thu 9/11 7:56:24.482 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1519
Thu 9/11 7:56:25.233 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 2269
Thu 9/11 7:56:25.983 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 3020
Thu 9/11 7:56:26.735 VF processing job null nPlayin=true
Thu 9/11 7:56:35.726 isRec=false rd=3588734 base=1116818
Thu 9/11 7:56:35.730 VF thread is now waiting for 0:41:11.666
Thu 9/11 7:56:38.478 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 750
Thu 9/11 7:56:39.229 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1501
Thu 9/11 7:56:39.981 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 2252
Thu 9/11 7:56:50.498 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 750
Thu 9/11 7:57:23.271 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:58:06.578 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:58:11.679 Saving properties file to C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SageClient.properties
Thu 9/11 7:58:40.361 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:59:13.414 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:59:28.423 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 751
Thu 9/11 7:59:29.173 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 1501
Thu 9/11 7:59:29.924 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 2252
Thu 9/11 7:59:30.674 EventThread-SAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI Hang Detected - hang time = 3002

[JREkiwi]

I get a blank screen using the SageTV Decoder with hardware acceleration enabled. SageTV Decoder with hardware acceleration disabled works fine.

John

[ryttingm]

I was excited about this beta because I am in the camp where the powerdvd8 decoder does not work with the sagetv splitter. I can get great playback in powerdvd, windows media player, graphedit, and in sage if I use the Haali media splitter. It just doesn't work with the sage splitter. Unfortunately, it still doesn't play correctly with the powerdvd8 decoder. oh well, maybe the next rev.

-Mike

[korben_dallas]

Originally Posted by Narflex

It's a new Mpeg2 Demultiplexor DirectShow filter for Windows. This component is used when playing back any MPEG file in SageTV or SageTVClient for Windows.

Is this solely a demultiplexor filter, or does it affect the decoding filter as well? i.e. will it affect Nvidia Purevideo MPEG-2/DVD decoder?

[Clift]

PowerDVD 8 decoder works great for H.264 but not with the CyverLink audio Decoder.

[ryttingm]

Originally Posted by Clift

PowerDVD 8 decoder works great for H.264 but not with the CyverLink audio Decoder.

Which audio decoder do you use? I'll have to try using something different.

[ToxMox]

I use PowerDVD 8's h264 decoder with AC3filter

[rubell]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

I use PowerDVD 8's h264 decoder with AC3filter

Can you FF/Rew/Seek without issue? I'm using the MainConcept AAC Decoder with PDVD8 h264 decoder and can't do any of those things without resulting in blocky, unwatchable playback.

Maybe its my AC3Filter settings too though. I go from my HTPC to a receiver over HDMI. Anyone have a link to a quick guide on what AC3Filter config should look like?

Forgot to mention I can't play online videos either. YouTube just skips to the end immediately and with Google Video I get a critical error from the new demux and SageClient restarts.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by korben_dallas

Is this solely a demultiplexor filter, or does it affect the decoding filter as well? i.e. will it affect Nvidia Purevideo MPEG-2/DVD decoder?

That is what I use Nvidia Purevideo MPEG-2. I am currently using it in a client... to send the log to support. It keeps hanging eating up more memory. I have been watching a 1 hr show... for over an hour and its only 15 minutes into the show... keeps pausing and maxing out the cpu and memory.

[ryttingm]

Well ac3filter doesn't seem to support aac audio. I tried to install coreaac, it renders fine with coreaac in graphedit, but no such luck inside sagetv. For those who say they are using ac3filter, please link your dshowfiltergraph from the debug log so I can know what you are actually using.