Streaming features I would like to see...

[Tason28]

I just recently began using Mezzmo to stream my videos from my main PC to my PS3. Let me say that Mezzmo is by far the BEST streaming software I have tried so far for this application. Prior to finding Mezzmo I had tried WMP, TVersity, Twonky, Serviio, PMS, and others. ALL of these have been riddled with problems and stutter/playback issues. Even after adjusting advanced settings. I was so happy to find Mezzmo as I have much fewer issues with it! I still have slight stutter issues every now and then that I am trying to iron out but overall it has been great. The only other issue is that thumbnails for folders and files on the PS3 through Mezzmo are much slower to load than many of the other softwares I have tried. I do like that Mezzmo seems to pre-buffer the stream prior to playing it, which definetly helps with remaining stutter-free.

I am streaming over Wireless G/N and before anyone states it, I know hardwire would be better! My PS3 is on the other side of my home and I rent, so I cannot open up the walls to run wire! I am going to purchase some Powerline adapters soon however. I have been using the PS3 on my wireless network for 2 years now and I watch Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix daily with NO issues. When I stream HD movies through Amazon they play flawlessy. And before playing an HD video, Amazon tests your connection to make sure it will support HD, and my connection is always 4 bars full. The fact that Netflix and Amazon both stream flawlessly tells me my network connection is not the problem. This is why I cannot understand why I keep getting intermittent stuttering issues. I have an intel quad-core 2.66mhz processor and 12 gb of ram on my PC so I find it hard to believe that my PC is the problem either. Which leads me to believe that if Mezzmo, or any other softwares for that matter, would just buffer a little while longer before streaming the video, I would have flawless viewing. Mezzmo is the only software I have used so far that even appears to buffer before playing at all. Both Netflix and Amazon buffer for a short while before streaming, and I believe this is why I NEVER have playback issues with those.

So onto my suggestions:
Please consider making an adjustable buffer that users could change, that would allow longer pre-buffering before playback, as I feel this would greatly increase playback quality!
I would also like to see a progress bar displayed before playback that shows the buffering progress, and maybe the connection speed, just like Amazon and Netflix have. I would MUCH rather wait 30 seconds, or even a minute for a full movie, to start playing than have to deal with stuttering issues even once!! I am sure many other users out there would agree with that as well!

Otherwise, AMAZING software Mezzmo team!! I look forward to using Mezzmo for many months/years to come!!

[Paul]

Thanks for your kind words and your suggestions.

A few things to try that will help determine the cause of the stuttering:


When a file starts stuttering whils you are streaming it from Mezzmo server to your PS3, go to Mezzmo and look at the Transcoding pane. Is the file being transcoded on-the-fly while it is being streamed? And, is the speed of transcoding fast enough (it will tell you it is too slow and will be red if it is too slow)? If it is transcoding and it is too slow, then it suggests your computer cannot transcode it on-the-fly quick enough for real-time streaming. You can try pre-transcoding the file before streaming it to your PS3, and see if that plays without stuttering. To pre-transcode a file, right-click on the file in Mezzmo and clikc 'Pre-transcode Files'.
If the file is not transcoding, what is the FFMpeg information on the file that you are streaming? Right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Get FFmpeg Information' to get this information. The bitrate of the file may be too high for either your wireless network's bandwidth or for your PS3's firmware to render.

[Tason28]

So sorry I didn't reply sooner. My setting for email notifications upon replies must not have been set right as I didn't receive an email about your reply.

The couple videos I was streaming that had stuttering issues were not being transcoded on the fly as it wasn't necessary. Here is the FFMpeg info for the video that stuttered the most...


ffmpeg version N-40693-gc457a29 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers
built on May 15 2012 12:57:14 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 51.100 / 51. 51.100
libavcodec 54. 21.101 / 54. 21.101
libavformat 54. 5.100 / 54. 5.100
libavdevice 53. 4.100 / 53. 4.100
libavfilter 2. 73.100 / 2. 73.100
libswscale 2. 1.100 / 2. 1.100
libswresample 0. 11.100 / 0. 11.100
[mpeg4 @ 014720c0] Invalid and inefficient vfw-avi packed B frames detected
Input #0, avi, from '\\MyBookLive\Public\Shared Videos\The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy\Billy and Mandy - Season 7\Billy and Mandy - S7E10 - Wrath of the Spider Queen [p7].avi':
Metadata:
artist : [p7]
comment : The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
title : Wrath of the Spider Queen
Duration: 00:43:38.69, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1089 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg4 (Advanced Simple Profile) (XVID / 0x44495658), yuv420p, 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 23.98 tbr, 23.98 tbn, 23.98 tbc
Stream #0:1: Audio: mp3 (U[0][0][0] / 0x0055), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 128 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 5, 15
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 4:3


As I stated in my first post, I know my network is more than capable to stream this video as I have no problems streaming HD vids from Amazon On Demand and Netflix without problems.

A few questions:
* Why is the Mezzmo folder browsing so slow to respond on my PS3? Many of the other streaming softwares I had tried, (Twonky, Tvversity, etc..) were MUCH faster when browsing through the folders being served. Is there a way to speed this up?

* Is there a reason that pre-buffering (and buffer adjustments) aren't standard features in most streaming software?

* Is there anything I can do to enhance how fast/well my computer serves videos to stream? As I mentioned before, I have 12gb of memory installed in my PC and a processor that should be more than capable of streaming without issue. I have also checked into the networking status on my PC and I found no bottle necks or network hogs.

Thank you for your quick reply to my first post and I once again apologize I didn't respond sooner.

[Paul]

* Why is the Mezzmo folder browsing so slow to respond on my PS3? Many of the other streaming softwares I had tried, (Twonky, Tvversity, etc..) were MUCH faster when browsing through the folders being served. Is there a way to speed this up?

Have you upgraded to Mezzmo v2.6.7? That version does have some excellent speed improvements when browsing & streaming files.


* Is there a reason that pre-buffering (and buffer adjustments) aren't standard features in most streaming software?

Mezzmo server streams the video file as fast as possible to your PS3. As soon as your PS3 accepts the video data that Mezzmo server sends it, then Mezzmo server will be able to send more video data. So, your PS3 (acting as the DLNA client device) can buffer data if it's firmware has this capability and Mezzmo server will feed it with more video data as fast as your home network will allow.


* Is there anything I can do to enhance how fast/well my computer serves videos to stream? As I mentioned before, I have 12gb of memory installed in my PC and a processor that should be more than capable of streaming without issue. I have also checked into the networking status on my PC and I found no bottle necks or network hogs.

Given that the AVI file is being streamed directly to your PS3 without any transcoding, then your CPU & RAM will not be overloaded in any way. Thus, your PC's CPU & RAM will not be the bottleneck. The bottleneck will either be your home network (PC -> PS3) or the video file's characteristics that you are streaming is causing the PS3's firmware to struggle to play it (this is often caused by high bitrates, but the AVI you have posted seems to be OK). With regards your home network, try this: start streaming a video file to your PS3 and at the same time display Windows Task Manager on your PC. Go to the Performance tab and check if any processes are using too much CPU & RAM. Also, go to the Networking tab and check your bandwidth throughput whilst streaming. The throughput should be stable (i.e. quite linear with no peaks and troughs). Sometimes, wireless setups in homes can produce less than stable bandwidth and this can be a cause of stuttering or random stopping or slow browsing on your DLNA device.

[Tason28]

Thanks again for the quick response!

I just updated to 2.6.7 yesterday so I will see if that made a difference in folder browsing speed on the PS3

I will also check my PC performance and networking specs while streaming to the PS3 and see if I find anything per your suggestion

I will keep you updated