[Android MiniClient] Now in BETA

[BobbyDing]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Are you on Beta 10... if so, check the preferences and see if the debug option pts_seek_hack is enabled, if it's enabled, then disable it. I had this problem as well, but, I think it was caused by this pts_seek_hack that I added for another work-around with seeking.

Hi Sean, I am on 0.10-Beta of the miniclient, 9.0.4.220 of the server. I cannot find that setting in the miniclient preferences (before connecting to the server) or is this somewhere in the UI?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by BobbyDing

Hi Sean, I am on 0.10-Beta of the miniclient, 9.0.4.220 of the server. I cannot find that setting in the miniclient preferences (before connecting to the server) or is this somewhere in the UI?

I might have removed that open before uploading beta 10 I'm hoping to push out another beta on the weekend, so maybe that'll fix your issue of the play 1 second and stop.

[BobbyDing]

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Thanks!
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[Jabroni]

Originally Posted by stuckless

That sounds about right. By "fine" it was still broken It basically would stretch the image to filll the screen and ignore any AR information.

I suspect that resulting stream from the placeshifter is reporting the size as something like 640x480.

Maybe I'll look at adding an AR toggle in the UI (or maybe sagetv is telling me the AR as a separate update and I'm ignoring it).

Im attaching 3 pictures, local.png which refers to a local client playing the media, and 2 screenshots of running w/ placeshifter, all playing the same video, on same hardware

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17862/sagetv/local.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17862/sagetv/remote1.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17862/sagetv/remote2.png

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by Jabroni

Im attaching 3 pictures, local.png which refers to a local client playing the media, and 2 screenshots of running w/ placeshifter, all playing the same video, on same hardware

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17862/sagetv/local.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17862/sagetv/remote1.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17862/sagetv/remote2.png

Just so I understand Is 3 screenshots of the Android MiniClient?

So, anything "remote" will be transcoded on the server, so while the source is the same video, then transcoded result is NOT the same as the original. I'd have to dump a sample of a transcoded video (which I can do in development) and then run mediainfo on the files to see what the AR is reporting. I agree it's odd that if the source is 16x9 then the transcoded should also be 16x9 (and yet the player thinks it is not).

[Jabroni]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Just so I understand Is 3 screenshots of the Android MiniClient?

So, anything "remote" will be transcoded on the server, so while the source is the same video, then transcoded result is NOT the same as the original. I'd have to dump a sample of a transcoded video (which I can do in development) and then run mediainfo on the files to see what the AR is reporting. I agree it's odd that if the source is 16x9 then the transcoded should also be 16x9 (and yet the player thinks it is not).

Sorry for not making that clear.. yes the 3 screens are from the Android MiniClient, screenshots were taking directly on device, I left the screen overlay on so it would be easier to see the black bars. When running the video, I tried looking for an option to manually change/force AR ratio (as on the HD Extenders) however I couldnt find it on the Menu (mostly usable option when the channel watching is 4:3)

[SJL]

Hello,
I've tried sideloading this on the newer Fire TV, but with no luck. I've changed the setting to allow "Apps from unknown sources", and put the .apk on a usb key (I've also tried downloading it directly with ES File explorer, but that didn't work either). When I select the .apk, I get the listing of permissions, select install, and after a few seconds I get the message that the app failed to install. Is there some simple step I'm forgetting? Thanks for your time and help.

[Dargason]

Hmm... not sure, but it worked fine for me. I downloaded the APK to my google drive, and used ES File Explorer on the Fire TV to install it.

It's been a couple months, but I don't recall having issues.

I'll try again this weekend and see if I can help you out.

Edit: Yes, it's the new Fire TV. I got it during the black friday sale for $75!

[SJL]

What version did you install? I've tried the 9 and 10 beta, perhaps an older version will work?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by SJL

What version did you install? I've tried the 9 and 10 beta, perhaps an older version will work?

I haven't tried 9 or 10 on my FireTV yet, but I'll do that this weekend to make sure it still works. I install it differently because my FileTV is setup as a developer unit.

I recall someone else having issues with an older FireTV model. I thought that perhaps it might be related to the version of Android. But if you have the newer model, then, you should be running the same android version as myself.

[phantomii]

Now that I appear to have a fully functioning Version 9 Server install I have begun playing with the Android Client Beta 10. These are some early observations. I have not captured log info though I can if desired.

1. I have many DVD Movies ripped with DVD Fab in the standard DVD Format. None of these will play at all. When attempting to play a DVD I get the spinning circle for a few seconds and the application stops and drops me to the desktop.

2. I have many Blu-Ray disk I have ripped using MakeMKV then converted to MP4 files to save some space. While all these I have tried to play seem to play well, every video stream begins to lag and loses sync with the audio aroound 36:10 into the movie. If I stop the movie and restart it, it will then play fine again.

3. I am able to watch recorded TV without issues as near as I can tell. This is for basic viewing though I have not tested for long periods of time. Maybe an hour.

4. For the most part I can watch live TV though occasionally I believe there have been some video issues. Not sure though if these are server issues or Client issues. More investigation required.

5. I periodically see lagging or stuttering when playing some videos.

I am trying this on a G-Box Q which also has Kodi installed. When I get some time I will try to compare playback of the various file types between the two apps to try and confirm if some of the issues are device or app related. The device though is a quad core and seems to perform pretty well. Just an FYI....

[Dargason]

Originally Posted by SJL

What version did you install? I've tried the 9 and 10 beta, perhaps an older version will work?

I just checked and it is Beta 0.11.

I think I followed this guide to do it last December:
http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-a...ut-a-computer/

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by phantomii

Now that I appear to have a fully functioning Version 9 Server install I have begun playing with the Android Client Beta 10. These are some early observations. I have not captured log info though I can if desired.

1. I have many DVD Movies ripped with DVD Fab in the standard DVD Format. None of these will play at all. When attempting to play a DVD I get the spinning circle for a few seconds and the application stops and drops me to the desktop.

2. I have many Blu-Ray disk I have ripped using MakeMKV then converted to MP4 files to save some space. While all these I have tried to play seem to play well, every video stream begins to lag and loses sync with the audio aroound 36:10 into the movie. If I stop the movie and restart it, it will then play fine again.

3. I am able to watch recorded TV without issues as near as I can tell. This is for basic viewing though I have not tested for long periods of time. Maybe an hour.

4. For the most part I can watch live TV though occasionally I believe there have been some video issues. Not sure though if these are server issues or Client issues. More investigation required.

5. I periodically see lagging or stuttering when playing some videos.

I am trying this on a G-Box Q which also has Kodi installed. When I get some time I will try to compare playback of the various file types between the two apps to try and confirm if some of the issues are device or app related. The device though is a quad core and seems to perform pretty well. Just an FYI....

1. DVDs and/or video_ts folders are not supported... and likely will not be supported.
2. Not sure... I've watched about 20-30 movies so far, no audio/video sync issues (Although I have seen a few audio/video sync issues even on the HD300)
5. The current beta has a "lag" (IJKPLayer) which is fixed in my local environment. I tried to push out a quick fix, but had to roll it back. I should get it out this weekend though (hopefully)

[SJL]

Originally Posted by Dargason

I just checked and it is Beta 0.11.

I think I followed this guide to do it last December:
http://sideloadfiretv.com/sideload-a...ut-a-computer/

Thanks, I think I followed the same guide. Are you sure it's Beta .11 though? It looks like Beta 0.10 is the most current out as I type this. Maybe Beta 0.01.1 or Alpha .11?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by SJL

Thanks, I think I followed the same guide. Are you sure it's Beta .11 though? It looks like Beta 0.10 is the most current out as I type this. Maybe Beta 0.01.1 or Alpha .11?

There was a brief BETA-11, but I pulled it. The first post of this thread will always show the latest released version (which at the time of this writing is BETA-10)
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62805

[stuckless]

This is the first RC for the 1.0 release.

New/Noteworthy

• Added MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration in IJKPlayer
• Removed MPEG2 Pixelization when using Software Decoder (ie, no hardware acceleration)
• Fixed performance "lag" in IJKPlayer
• 4/3 Aspect Ratio should stretch by default
• Added Aspect Ratio toggle to the OSN
• Added Smart Remote Toggle to the OSN

At this point, I would strongly recommend that people use IJKPlayer. It has full hardware support for h264, h265, and MPEG2. For a while I was using ExoPlayer because I would have lag in the IJKPlayer when I would seek/pause/stop, but I found that bug, and fixed it. Exo and IJK should perform the same, but IJK will likely provide better results, for now.

I'll continue to work on ExoPlayer, but I strongly recommend that you use IJK player for best results, especially on a Phone/Tablet.

There is still a seek/resume issue using both players and PS/TS files. This is also being worked on, but will most likely, it will require an upgrade to v9 server for a full fix.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by stuckless

This is the first RC for the 1.0 release.

New/Noteworthy

• Added MPEG2 Hardware Acceleration in IJKPlayer
• Removed MPEG2 Pixelization when using Software Decoder (ie, no hardware acceleration)
• Fixed performance "lag" in IJKPlayer
• 4/3 Aspect Ratio should stretch by default
• Added Aspect Ratio toggle to the OSN
• Added Smart Remote Toggle to the OSN

At this point, I would strongly recommend that people use IJKPlayer. It has full hardware support for h264, h265, and MPEG2. For a while I was using ExoPlayer because I would have lag in the IJKPlayer when I would seek/pause/stop, but I found that bug, and fixed it. Exo and IJK should perform the same, but IJK will likely provide better results, for now.

I'll continue to work on ExoPlayer, but I strongly recommend that you use IJK player for best results, especially on a Phone/Tablet.

There is still a seek/resume issue using both players and PS/TS files. This is also being worked on, but will most likely, it will require an upgrade to v9 server for a full fix.

It still has a problem playing H.264 in TS format it starts breaking up after a few seconds.... and most cable companies are converting to H.264 in TS formats in the US. I can provide a test file if you like.

Test file is here.

http://71.193.161.66:9080/testfile/

Beowulf (2016) - S01E04 - Episode 104 -23429360-0.ts

[cncb]

Do you know yet if IJKPlayer will allow Dolby Digital passthrough for the Shield?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

It still has a problem playing H.264 in TS format it starts breaking up after a few seconds.... and most cable companies are converting to H.264 in TS formats in the US. I can provide a test file if you like.

All of my recordings are 720p h264 (I opted for that because back in the day, I was having issues with 1080i and HD200).

But, I played your file, on my phone, for about 5 minutes and it appeared to play fine.

What device are you using? Wired, Wireless? ExoPlayer, IJKPlayer? And maybe explain "breaking up" so I know exactly what to look for.

I have a number of test media files (about 15) of various types that various people have provided. I play all of them with each release, and so far, on my phone and any my TV, they all play fine.

Originally Posted by cncb

Do you know yet if IJKPlayer will allow Dolby Digital passthrough for the Shield?

I honestly don't know. I assume by the question that it is NOT doing the passthrough, correct? I'll do some research to see if IJKPlayer supports audio passthrough.

[nyplayer]

I am using NEXUS player wired IJKPlayer streaming mode Dynamic. They all play fine in Kodi... on the nexus player. Theres is no way I can record to 720P ... I have to take the stream the way the Prime gives it. ...720P or 1080I. It appears that Comcast has changed most 1080I to H.264 in my area.

Edit
After further investigation it might not be your problem but it might be the way OpenDCT is muxing the files.