SageTVPlayer and Codecs Issues

[DON3k]

OK, I see this come up every once in a while, and it seems like all the usual and seemingly correct suggestions are made. However, I think that no one is really getting this issue fixed, and simply give up.

The issue? MKV playback.

Now, my Sage will play back anything I throw at it, and a normal MKV works well, meaning, if I rip one of my DVDs to a MKV, no problem. However, a 1080 MKV kills it. Jerky playback, inability to fast forward or rewind, or if it does, the image remains black and never returns.

When diagnosing the issue, while running Sage windowed, I noticed that for certain MKV files, no Tray Icons for the codecs ever load. But if I play the same files in any other player, the tray icons load, and the playback is fine. It's clear that Sage is somehow using it's own codec, or bypassing the system codecs, ignoring the merits and defaults.

Yes, I have DirectShow chosen for MP4 Playback. I also have selected these same two installed codecs in my Sage SETUP, in the H264 Codec selection. No difference. I edited the .properties file, and put the always_use_dshow_player=true... No difference.

I also removed every possible codec, except for two, both of which support MKV X/H.264 acceleration. My video card also support this acceleration.

Here's the proof of my situation:

Sage TV Displaying the Video File Info: IMAGE1 CPU Load During Sage Playback - IMAGE2

There is a noticeable load on the CPU, and the video playback in sage is terrible - unwatchable! Also, no codec filter tray icons appear. Not even AC3 Filter! Filter Tray Icons appears when playing any other types of files in Sage, even it's own MPG recordings. But these files, nope.

Here is the Graphedit mapping of the video file - IMAGE3

Here's DXVA Checker, listing the codecs capable of playing the same file - IMAGE4 - Notice only two codecs are listed - MPC and CoreAVC - MPC has the higher merit, and as you can see DXVA1 is supported.

Here is DXVA's Codec Playback Test, showing the CPU load during playback - Notice the load is almost nothing, and the video is playing back flawlessly, with no jerkiness or framedrops - IMAGE5 - Also of Note: Notice the Tray area? There's AC3Filter and the Matroska splitter. Can you guess the film?

Now, let me just double-click the file from my desktop. Windows Media Player launches, and the video begins playing perfectly. No frame drops, no lag, and notice, No CPU Load - IMAGE6 - In the screenshot, due to the output mode, the PrintScreen did not capture the video itself, but trust me, the same video playback was there. Also, if I played it full-screen, the playback remained perfect, and no additional CPU load appeared. And again, note that the AC3Filter and the Matroska splitter traytools appear fine. Here is the Video Properties shown in Windows Media Player for this file - IMAGE7

I also removed CoreAVC, leaving just MPC. I did the reverse, too. No difference.

So, what is going on here? Why does SageTVPlayer ignore the system's default codec settings, or even any you command it to use, but only for certain files?

Is there a way to fix this? Can this be forced?

I'm tired of having to minimize Sage just to play back these types of files. It's crazy that my machine can play these files, in all their full 1080 glory thru Media Player, Media Player Classic, VLC, hell, even Winamp! But Sage? No!

I have several of these 1080 MKV files, and they all act the same in Sage. A no-go.

I believe these screenshots, and my testing, proves that everying on my PC is setup for proper playback of these files. Now, if Sage would just see it that way.

I say this is a Sage Bug.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

[SWKerr]

If you convert it to a m2ts do you get the same problem?

Are you sure it is h.264 and not VC1?

What is the audio in the MKV? I always have an issue with True-HD audio in Sage even if the graph is right and it will play in another player. i downgrade the audio to DTS and it plays fine.

[Fuzzy]

What is the SOURCE of the MKV? meaning, was it transcoded, or is it straight from a disc?

Also, I'm pretty sure CoreAVC doesn't support acceleration (especially the version you've got, as shown by DXVA Checker).

[bhyman1]

System Specs? OS, etc...

[DON3k]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

What is the SOURCE of the MKV? meaning, was it transcoded, or is it straight from a disc?

Also, I'm pretty sure CoreAVC doesn't support acceleration (especially the version you've got, as shown by DXVA Checker).

This example video was a rip from a blueray.

CoreAVC was installed, just to see if this would resolve the situation. And yeah, I know that version doesn't support DXVA, but figured if it would fix the problem, I would happily use that codec.

I've since uninstalled it.

[DON3k]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

If you convert it to a m2ts do you get the same problem?

Are you sure it is h.264 and not VC1?

What is the audio in the MKV? I always have an issue with True-HD audio in Sage even if the graph is right and it will play in another player. i downgrade the audio to DTS and it plays fine.

Image 1 and Image 7 both show the video file's stats.

Now, it's possible Sage is misunderstanding the file, however, even as badly as it plays the file, it's in the correct aspect ratio, and the audio is correct, and the image is clear - when it's there. It's just not capable of playing it without a lot of lag, jerky frames, and audio / video pausing.

[DON3k]

Originally Posted by bhyman1

System Specs? OS, etc...

Windows XP SP3
2 GB RAM
Athlon AM2 X2 6000+ CPU
ATI HD3000 Series card

[DON3k]

I should also clarify that I have also set the Sage options to System Default for the codecs for playback, too, to see if this would fix it, but it's the same situation.

And again, this is only with some MKV files, but these same files playback without error or issue in any other media player I install on the system.

Clearly this is somehow tied to the fact that for these files, when Sage plays them, the codec filters do not appear on the traytool area.

In all other players, which play these files fine, the tray tool area shows the filter icons.

I will post some gspot info on the video file, to give exact file specs, later on today.

[Fuzzy]

Have you tried the 'native filters' in the beta forum?

[DON3k]

Here is the detailed info on that file. Note, I have a few others, and their specs are generally the same as what you see here:

General
Complete name : \\Gw-gt5064-pc\dvdimp\Movies 2\XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Format : Matroska
File size : 7.97 GiB
Duration : 1h 57mn
Overall bit rate : 9 705 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2008-09-02 18:33:52
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') built on Mar 4 2008

12:58:26
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 57mn
Bit rate : 8 872 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 9 059 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.241
Stream size : 7.28 GiB (91%)
Writing library : x264 core 61 r956M 7b71d58
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex

/ subme=6 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / brdo=0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=12 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 /

8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 /

mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 /

keyint=24 / keyint_min=1 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=9059 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=1.00

/ qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=38000 /

vbv_bufsize=30000 / ip_ratio=1.10 / pb_ratio=1.10 / aq=2:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 57mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 538 MiB (7%)
Language : English

Text #1
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : English

Text #2
ID : 4
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : Danish

Text #3
ID : 5
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : German

Text #4
ID : 6
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : Dutch

Text #5
ID : 7
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : Norwegian

Text #6
ID : 8
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : Swedish

I loaded this same file into GSpot Codec and it is able to test render the video file without issue. There is no playback problem there, either. In both cases, the MKV and AC3 filter icons appear in the system tray.

But as a test, I just went into Sage, and told it to play, and again, the playback begins, visually looks OK, but is slow and jerky, and the CPU load grows. Clicking Fast Forward or Rewind, the video will freeze, the audio continues, and it never resyncs. IMAGE8

Note that there's no filter icons in the tooltray, as there should be.

I assume this what Sage finds so confusing, from the details above:

Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@4.1

Why this causes no issues for any other player, I don't know. Apparently, checking other files I have, this is a common situation with files one may find floating around on the net.

Anyone know of a way to set this parameter to something Sage may like, if this is, in fact, the issue?

Is there a way to display what Sage is using for playback?

[DON3k]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Have you tried the 'native filters' in the beta forum?

Actually, I did try those, a while back. However, afterwards, no QAM channel would work. They would all just be black, and after a few seconds, would display No Signal. But if you went into the Channel Line-Up, selected a QAM channel, and did Preview, the Signal Strength Meter Bar would show 100%, but still no image would appear. Very odd. Putting the old files back, and this issue went away.

[Fuzzy]

my last suggestion would be to ensure you have 'Always_use_dshow' set to true in sageclient.properties (or sage.properties, if not using service mode).

[DON3k]

Always_use_dshow=true - I do have that set in the Sage.properties, but not the client.

I will add it there, and see what happens.

Thanks

[DON3k]

Wow! Just, wow!

sageclient.properties.... Why was this not made clearer, or suggested sooner!?

So, I go in, add the dshow=true, and sure enough, the tray tool icons appear! The video plays, but it still laggy, but it's working!

So, I go into the properties, and I tweak a few more settings:

always_use_dshow_player=true
optimize_local_client_playback=true
stream_buffer_size=131072
file_transfer_buffer_size=131072
ui/dxva_enable_options=true
videoframe/dvd_dxva_mpeg_mode=1
videoframe/dxva_mpeg_mode=1
videoframe/mpeg4-video_video_decoder_filter=MPC - video decoder
videoframe/msmpeg4v2_video_decoder_filter=MPC - video decoder
videoframe/use_vmr=true
mplayer/use_for_all_mpeg4_playback=true
mplayer/use_for_mkv_playback=true

A couple of these area shot in the dark, however, now all the videos are playing fine, no matter their format!

Boy, thanks for that last suggestion.

My CPU load, no matter what I'm playing now, is typically less than 5%! That MPC Codec is a miracle worker.

[Fuzzy]

well.. it IS in the manual... when running sage in service mode, the UI is run as a client. Therefore, it uses sageclient.properties, while the server maintains use of sage.properties. therefore, all playback/ui functions, are controlled in sageclient.