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yubious
05-06-2014, 12:22 AM
Hi there,
been a user of Mezzmo for sometime on a Win 7 PC. I recently updated my computer to Win 8.1 but am finding MKVs seem to pixelate a little during playback, it isn't that noticeable but is a little distracting especially when it definitely didn't do it when i was running Win 7.
I haven't really done much in the way of setting the software up since installing Win 8.1, but I'm confident it is set up the same as it was before.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
Thanks,
James.

Paul
05-06-2014, 09:18 AM
Hi James,

Some questions:


What device (including model number) are you streaming to?
What device profile is assigned to your device in Mezzmo? Go to the Media Devices dialog to see this.
What is the FFmpeg information for a MKV file that pixelates? Right-click on the MKV in Mezzmo and click 'Get FFmpeg Information'.

yubious
05-07-2014, 10:19 PM
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the response,
Im streaming to an LG LX9900 47", using the profile LG TV (same profile as before)

the FFmpeg is as follows:

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:\My Files\Videos\New\Game of Thrones\Game of Thrones - 4x05 - First of His Name.mkv':
Metadata:
creation_time : 2014-05-05 02:16:25
Duration: 00:53:09.73, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3374 kb/s
Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x720, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Stream #0:1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 384 kb/s (default)
At least one output file must be specified

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


---> DB Level Info: 41, 100
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9 PAR=1:1

Paul
05-08-2014, 01:38 PM
Thanks for the information. Mezzmo is streaming this MKV directly to your TV without any transcoding, so the pixelation is not caused by transcoding. It could be caused by your home network being too slow and starving your TV of video data. This can result in stuttering or pixelation that you describe. Another possibility is that the MKV's video bitrate is too high and your TV's firmware is struggling to decode & play it in real time. The MKV video bitrate is 3Mb/sec - that's not too high, so should be OK. I suggest checking your network settings. If you are streaming over wireless, then check the signal strength. Here's an FAQ that discusses possible reasons for stuttering (or pixelation) - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/6538-Tutorial-How-to-reduce-excessive-stuttering-or-buffering-when-streaming-videos.

yubious
05-09-2014, 01:24 AM
Thanks for the information. Mezzmo is streaming this MKV directly to your TV without any transcoding, so the pixelation is not caused by transcoding. It could be caused by your home network being too slow and starving your TV of video data. This can result in stuttering or pixelation that you describe. Another possibility is that the MKV's video bitrate is too high and your TV's firmware is struggling to decode & play it in real time. The MKV video bitrate is 3Mb/sec - that's not too high, so should be OK. I suggest checking your network settings. If you are streaming over wireless, then check the signal strength. Here's an FAQ that discusses possible reasons for stuttering (or pixelation) - http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/6538-Tutorial-How-to-reduce-excessive-stuttering-or-buffering-when-streaming-videos.
cheers paul,
i am using homeplugs with a max speed of 200mbps, could this be the issue? but it is the exact same set up i had with the old operating system.

Paul
05-09-2014, 07:58 AM
Homeplug could well be the issue. You may have new/existing electrical devices on your mains power that are interfering with homeplug and that is dropping your bandwitdth or making it variable. Variable or low bandwidth on your homeplug would result in your device not getting enough video data and then starting to stutter / pixelate on your TV. Try viewing the bandwidth you are getting from your homeplugs. If it is low or it is constantly spiking/dropping, then this will be a problem when trying to stream media. As a test, try using an Ethernet cable and see if it works. Here's a homeplug post that may be helpful - http://www.avforums.com/threads/improve-homeplugs-speed-interference.953882/