HD200 microstutter

[matt91]

I have a new HD200 hooked up to my equally new 1080P 120Hz LCD screen.

I'm getting what I think are described as "microstutters" when viewing any of my HD recordings (720P, 1080i) or even standard DVD rips. I've also download a couple 1080P .mkv sample files, and those experience it too.

Playback is great (for any of these formats) for 45 seconds or so, then I'll get 2 or 3 seconds of the microstutter. It'll just look like it's dropping some frames. Then it goes away, and things are find again for another 30 or 60 seconds.

Not sure where to start troubleshooting this. I can watch all these shows/recordings stutter-free on my 720P LCD via my HD100.

Any thoughts on where to start looking?

Matt

Edit: Latest beta firmware on the HD200 and beta 6.5.12 on Sage server

[LehighBri]

What does your network setup look like and what router do you have?

[matt91]

Mostly gigabit network, but the router (Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT) is only 10/100. Gigabit switches connect most of my stuff.

The line feeding the HD200, however, is straight off the router.

I hadn't though that it would be a network issue since it seems to run fine otherwise. Also, the HD100 can play these same shows just fine.

I'll try to check the cable and make sure there are no issues there.

[Tiki]

Check to see if you have the slideshow screensaver running on another client. I have found that CPU usage spikes on the server when the slides transition causing stutters.

[doncote0]

If your router is set to dynamically adjust traffic flow based on the type of traffic, I would suggest turning that "feature" off. I used to have the same router until I upgraded to a gigabit DLink gaming router.

I imagine you have wireless turned on, which is why I upgraded. The unit was interrupting all traffic often due to minor changes in wireless transmit speeds and strength. The Linksys router seemed to run hot to the touch.

[kmp14]

matt91, did you ever get the microstutter thing solved? I am having the same issue, and I have a very similar network setup to yours. I am new to SageTV, but I am "this close" to being completely satisfied, if I could just get rid of the microstutter!

[Tomahawk51]

FYI:

I'm having more like constant stutter issues with my HD200 (HD100 is fine). I opened a support email communication, and I encourage you to do the same - so it gets heard!

So far nothing has helped my situation...

[sagetv5150]

I too have been noticing this micro stutter on my HD200. But I've only noticed it since upgrading to the latest firmware "20090702 0". I didn't see it on the previous non-beta firmware. I see this in both extender and stand-alone modes. It only happens on my DVD rips (VOB's, avi, mkv's, etc). It plays perfectly when used in extender mode watching DVR'd HDTV. And streamed online content plays fine.

I thought about the network/router possibility, but as I say, it was fine on the last firmware. I'd go back, but I like that the new firmware fixed the aspect ratio issue. I run a Buffalo router (WHR-G300N with dd-wrt), wirelessly to a Buffalo ethernet extender.

[Beefcake550]

also check your TV.....some have 120Hz feature. Samsung TVs like the one I have can be set to "none, low, med, high" with the feature being called "autoMotion". I have foudn this feature gives me micro studder when playing back blurays. I actually have to shut off this automotion when playing back 24p material to make it look silky smooth.

-Brian

[sagetv5150]

Originally Posted by Beefcake550

also check your TV.....some have 120Hz feature. Samsung TVs like the one I have can be set to "none, low, med, high" with the feature being called "autoMotion". I have foudn this feature gives me micro studder when playing back blurays. I actually have to shut off this automotion when playing back 24p material to make it look silky smooth.

-Brian

In my case, I have a model year 2003 Samsung DLP....720P. So LCD inferences there.

[kmp14]

DLP for me too.
I am considering trying an older firmware, just in case. Any recommendations on which
one to try?

PS - I put in a support request with Sage.

[sagetv5150]

Originally Posted by kmp14

DLP for me too.
I am considering trying an older firmware, just in case. Any recommendations on which
one to try?

PS - I put in a support request with Sage.

The firmware I had before upgrading to the latest was dated December 2008 timeframe. It didn't have this microstutter issue, but as I mentioned, I was forced into manually having to set 4:3 material to not stretch/fill the screen every time I watched 4:3 matl.
I'll have investigate how to re-apply that old firmware, and where to get it.

I too shall put in a support request.

[aflat]

I seem to have the same issue on some of my blu-ray conversions. Does anyone know of some software to clip some mkv files? I'd love to file a bug and submit a file sample if possible.

[MidnightJim]

Originally Posted by matt91

I have a new HD200 hooked up to my equally new 1080P 120Hz LCD screen.

I'm getting what I think are described as "microstutters" when viewing any of my HD recordings (720P, 1080i) or even standard DVD rips. I've also download a couple 1080P .mkv sample files, and those experience it too.

Playback is great (for any of these formats) for 45 seconds or so, then I'll get 2 or 3 seconds of the microstutter. It'll just look like it's dropping some frames. Then it goes away, and things are find again for another 30 or 60 seconds.

Not sure where to start troubleshooting this. I can watch all these shows/recordings stutter-free on my 720P LCD via my HD100.

Any thoughts on where to start looking?

Matt

Edit: Latest beta firmware on the HD200 and beta 6.5.12 on Sage server

I have the HD 200 and a PVR 150. During multiple recording and single play back I received this micro stutter problem as well. I turned QOS on my linksys router for the 2 ports the sage server is using and the problem cleared up in realtime. My wife was barely tolerating watching Rachel Maddow while I walked to the server room and made the tweak. She immediately noticed that the problem had stopped. We watched the rest of the show while also recording 2 others with no further issue. CPU was just pushing 12% utilization and the router reported low usage as well.

[sagetv5150]

Originally Posted by kmp14

DLP for me too.
I am considering trying an older firmware, just in case. Any recommendations on which
one to try?

PS - I put in a support request with Sage.

Just thought I'd provide an update. Sage support is trying to troubleshoot the issue, and have asked for debug logs. I provided the logs, but they then asked for me to provide just a short clip snippet to compare against (so they can reproduce as well I presume). Trouble is, when I edit one of my media files to something less than a minute or so to ease their troubleshooting, the stuttering isn't present in the same place it was in the complete file. Making troubleshooting quite difficult.
I've since reverted back to firmware stp200-20090218-1, and the stutter is gone.

[kmp14]

Since, at least for me, the microstutter is totally random (replaying the same segment does not result in stutter at the same place in the video), I can't see how sending a clip would be useful, but I guess they want to make sure there is not something wrong the video. I have it happen with TV recordings that are 1080i, 720p, and 480i from separate tuners (HDHR for the digital, and Haupaggue 1800 for the analog cable).

Now the possible good news. The latest beta firmware seems to, maybe, possibly have solved or improved the stutter. I am not officially saying it is fixed, but after getting the latest (August 14) beta, in a bit of watching TV, I am not seeing the stutter. The release notes do not say anything related to this issue, but I am hoping!

[kmp14]

Disappointed - further testing of the 0814 beta firmware has revealed that, although it might be improved a bit, the microstutter is still regularly happening.

I put in a support ticket, and they told me that I should try 0814 because "there are reports that it has helped". This tells me that the problem is in the firmware if a new release helps it. They have been pretty responsive with my support request, but I wish I knew if they have identified a problem specifically, and if it is even fixable.

What I really wonder is, if the problem is in the firmware, why are more people not discussing it on the forum?

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by kmp14

Disappointed - further testing of the 0814 beta firmware has revealed that, although it might be improved a bit, the microstutter is still regularly happening.

I put in a support ticket, and they told me that I should try 0814 because "there are reports that it has helped". This tells me that the problem is in the firmware if a new release helps it. They have been pretty responsive with my support request, but I wish I knew if they have identified a problem specifically, and if it is even fixable.

What I really wonder is, if the problem is in the firmware, why are more people not discussing it on the forum?

No studdering on either of my HD200's even with high bit rate Blu-Ray. I would imagine there is something with particular networks that the HD200 doesn't like. Just a guess though.

[kmp14]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

No studdering on either of my HD200's even with high bit rate Blu-Ray. I would imagine there is something with particular networks that the HD200 doesn't like. Just a guess though.

Paul, can you tell us what kind of routers/switches you are using on your network? Also, what firmware are you running?

[sagetv5150]

Originally Posted by kmp14

Disappointed - further testing of the 0814 beta firmware has revealed that, although it might be improved a bit, the microstutter is still regularly happening.

I put in a support ticket, and they told me that I should try 0814 because "there are reports that it has helped". This tells me that the problem is in the firmware if a new release helps it. They have been pretty responsive with my support request, but I wish I knew if they have identified a problem specifically, and if it is even fixable.

What I really wonder is, if the problem is in the firmware, why are more people not discussing it on the forum?

Another update. Sage Support asked me to ship some debug logs. And they asked me to try fw 505, to make sure that one was ok. Turned out that one was worse, to the point of video actually stopping at times (not just stuttering). Anyway, I created a 10 minute clip from what was an hour-long sample. And it appeared there were definite areas where the stuttering happened everytime. Repeatable.

So I played this 10 minute clip with fw 505 and got the log, then played the same clip with fw 0218 (which exhibits NO stuttering), and got that log. I sent the clip, together with both logs to Sage Support for review. Not sure if it was just me, but it did seem like the more recent fw's since 505 stutter "less" (the skip is less severe). Hard to say for sure though.

I am awaiting their response. btw..I don't seem to see any stuttering from tuner recorded content with SageTV (via extender mode obviously). Just my own encodes in both standalone and extender mode seem to stutter. Also worth noting that since recorded HDTV plays stutter-free (bitrate in the 15 Mbps range), and the fact that I tried my 10 minute clip on a USB stick plugged directly into the HD-200 and it still stuttered (bitrate ~ 3 Mbps), I do not think the network (router, etc) has anything to do with this (my issue anyway).