Transcoding & TC-L58E60 (TC-LXXE60)

[Elohim]

I have a Panasonic TC-L58E60. Mezzmo saw this device as a Viera 2011 device. The screenshots show 2 different mkv files, one at 1280/720 AC3, and another at 1920/1080 DTS. Neither of these files need to be transcoded. The TV will play them as is.

However, with the 2011 profile, Mezzmo attempts to transcode both files.

I changed the device profile to Viera 2013. That changed it such that the 1920/1080 mkv file did not get transcoded. However, the 1280/720 AC3 mkv file does. Why? Is there more control over how/when transcoding works? I still have yet to look at the xml structure for the profile - maybe something there can be changed.

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Thanks

[Paul]

Try the "Panasonic Viera (2011 models, DTS)" device profile and you may have more success.

[Elohim]

Try the "Panasonic Viera (2011 models, DTS)" device profile and you may have more success.

Thanks. That only partially works in that the DTS file doesn't get transcoded (which is the same as what the 2013 profile does). However, the 720p AC3 file still does and it doesn't need to. I'm wondering if there is a different way of controlling when/how transcoding works.

Thanks

[Paul]

Understand. Please post the FFmpeg information for the 720p AC3 file. Right-click on the video in Mezzmo and click 'Get FFmpeg Information'.

Also, does this file play natively on your TV? To test this, right-click on the video in Mezzmo and click Properties. On the Properties dialog, go to the Transcoding tab and delete any transcoded files listed there. Then click the 'Use Original File' button and choose your Viera TV in the Choose Device dialog. This tells Mezzmo to stream the file natively without transcoding. Now stream the video on your TV. If it plays fine, let us know and we'll tweak the Panasonic Viera TV (2013 models) device profile accordingly.

[Elohim]

Thanks, Paul. Yes, I've been deleting the transcoded files. I've also used another media server to test. Thanks for pointing out those settings.

So the setup now is to use the 2013 profile.

MKV
The 1080p file streams just fine.
The 720p file will get transcoded, but it really doesn't need to. So to be sure, I set it up to 'Use Original File'. With that the file doesn't transcode (Don't see anything in the transcode status window and I check the directory to see if a file is created). Below is the FFmpeg information on that file.

ffmpeg version N-50460-g393dcbf Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jun 27 2013 17:20:20 with gcc 4.6.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86_64 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=x86_64-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl64 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc64/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc64/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads --enable-zlib
libavutil 52. 17.103 / 52. 17.103
libavcodec 54. 92.100 / 54. 92.100
libavformat 54. 63.102 / 54. 63.102
libavdevice 54. 3.103 / 54. 3.103
libavfilter 3. 41.100 / 3. 41.100
libswscale 2. 2.100 / 2. 2.100
libswresample 0. 17.102 / 0. 17.102
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'D:\Video\<FileName>.mkv':
Metadata:
creation_time : 2007-09-25 03:47:26
Duration: 00:22:38.27, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3398 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 384 kb/s (default)
Stream #0:1(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x720, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
At least one output file must be specified

<MEZZMO>: Child process ended with code: 109, ExitCode=1


---> DB Level Info: 51, 100
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9 PAR=1:1

[Paul]

Thanks for the information. Please email us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we'll provide an updated device profile that will fix your problems.

[Elohim]

Thank you. Email sent.

[Paul]

Got your email - we'll send updated device profile shortly.

[Elohim]

Got the updated profile - seems to work. I did a diff with the previous file and saw that level="51" was changed to level="41". I was wondering what this controlled?

Thanks.

[Paul]

Glad that works :) Thanks for confirming it.

The level attribute in the device profile controls what H.264 profile level your device is able to decode and play. All devices can only play up to a certain H.264 profile level, and Mezzmo should transcode files beyond that profile level so they can be played on your device. 41 = level 4.1. 51 = level 5.1.

[Paul]

Just an update - Mezzmo v3.4.2.0 has been released and the fix for this issue is included in this update.

[Elohim]

Just an update - Mezzmo v3.4.2.0 has been released and the fix for this issue is included in this update.

Thanks, Paul!!

[Elohim]

I've noticed this issue again with the TC-L58E60. It will transcode mkv files, when in fact it doesn't need to. The TV can handle it fine. So what I've done for now is to "Turn off transcoding for all connected devices".

What is the proper profile for this Viera. I see 2 profiles Panasonic Viera (2013 Base Models), which is what it defaulted to. And then there is Panasonic Viera (2013 Models). What's the difference? In either case, it will transcode mkv files that don't necessarily need to be transcoded.

[Paul]

Please post the FFmpeg information for the MKV that your Viera model can play (but Mezzmo transcodes). Right-click on the MKV and click 'Get FFmpeg Information'.

[Elohim]

Here you go. Thanks for your help.

This is for one video

ffmpeg version N-59793-g7a8318f Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jan 16 2014 16:51:32 with gcc 4.8.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86_64 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=x86_64-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl64 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc32/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc64/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads --enable-libvpx --enable-libvorbis
libavutil 52. 62.100 / 52. 62.100
libavcodec 55. 48.101 / 55. 48.101
libavformat 55. 23.103 / 55. 23.103
libavdevice 55. 5.102 / 55. 5.102
libavfilter 4. 1.100 / 4. 1.100
libswscale 2. 5.101 / 2. 5.101
libswresample 0. 17.104 / 0. 17.104
Input #0, matroska,webm, from '\\DLINK-EC2101\Volume_1\DLNA\Video\xyz.mkv':
Metadata:
encoder : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
creation_time : 2007-10-06 10:13:39
Duration: 03:16:02.82, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 5798 kb/s
Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x528, SAR 1:1 DAR 80:33, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 640 kb/s (default)
Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: subrip (default)
At least one output file must be specified

<MEZZMO>: Child process ended with code: 109, ExitCode=1


---> DB Level Info: 51, 100
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 80:33 PAR=1:1
---> Duration: 03:16:02


Another video that it will transcode, but doesn't need to:

ffmpeg version N-59793-g7a8318f Copyright (c) 2000-2014 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jan 16 2014 16:51:32 with gcc 4.8.2 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86_64 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=x86_64-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl64 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc32/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc64/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads --enable-libvpx --enable-libvorbis
libavutil 52. 62.100 / 52. 62.100
libavcodec 55. 48.101 / 55. 48.101
libavformat 55. 23.103 / 55. 23.103
libavdevice 55. 5.102 / 55. 5.102
libavfilter 4. 1.100 / 4. 1.100
libswscale 2. 5.101 / 2. 5.101
libswresample 0. 17.104 / 0. 17.104
Input #0, matroska,webm, from '\\DLINK-EC2101\Volume_1\DLNA\Video\abc.mkv':
Metadata:
encoder : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
creation_time : 2007-09-25 03:47:26
Duration: 00:22:38.27, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3398 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 384 kb/s (default)
Stream #0:1(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x720, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
At least one output file must be specified

<MEZZMO>: Child process ended with code: 109, ExitCode=1


---> DB Level Info: 51, 100
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9 PAR=1:1
---> Duration: 00:22:38

[Paul]

The 'Panasonic Viera (2013 models)' device profile should not transcode either of these MKV files. One reason the MKV may be transcoding is to burn subtitles into the video.
The 'Panasonic Viera (2013 Base models)' device profile is designed for lesser featured Viera TVs (Panasonic change their DLNA streaming file format support depending which model you have from that particular series). It will transcode both these MKV files.

So, given you can play these MKV files without transcoding, then you should be using the 'Panasonic Viera (2013 models)' device profile.

[Elohim]

The subtitles are embedded for the 3+hour video.

In the attached screenshot, I unchecked all 3 options, and tried again. It still transcodes the video as shown in the second screenshot.

703704

[Elohim]

The subtitles are embedded for the 3+hour video.

In the attached screenshot, I unchecked all 3 options, and tried again. It still transcodes the video as shown in the second screenshot.

703704

Any ideas on this? For now, I will go with having transcoding turned off. For those that need transcoding, which should be seldom, I'll just pre-transcode it ahead of time.

Thanks.

[Paul]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. It's still strange that these MKV files are transcoding. One possible reason: Edit your Viera TV on the Media Devices dialog and go to the Advanced tab on the Device Settings dialog. Click the Default Settings button and save your changes. Try streaming your MKVs now. If they still transcode, then stop your Mezzmo server. Turn logging on (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/419-FAQ-How-to-turn-on-diagnostic-logging) and start your Mezzmo server. Stream the MKV again and when it starts transcoding, stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up all the logs and email them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.