Issues with streaming to Sony Bravia

[daveandris]

So far I am VERY impressed with this software!! As much as it pains me to say it, I may have found the first instance in several years where open source software just isn't as good as paid software.

That said, I am having one major issue with streaming to my Sony Bravia KDL 46HX800 TV.

After messing around with some of the settings, all of my files encoded with AVC are streaming perfectly using the Sony Bravia KDL (MP4) profile. The files encoded in VC-1 however are not. At this point I should clarify that both files are using the M2TS container. Using this profile (KDL MP4), I only get audio, but no video (that is if I don't get the file cannot be played error). If I use either the Sony Bravia KDL or KDL W profile, I get extremely choppy playback on ALL of my videos, but do get both audio and video on VC-1 encoded videos, but they are unwatchable.

Now down to the specs.

TV: Sony Bravia KDL-46HX800
Network: 100mB but I have a gigabit router and am just waiting on the card to upgrade the pc
PC: AMD Phenom x4 2.3 with 8GB ram, several TB storage free.

FFMPG info of a working file:

ffmpeg version N-31754-g64160ef, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Aug 4 2011 17:48:25 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-ffplay --prefix=/media/windows/ffmpeg --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 51. 11. 1 / 51. 11. 1
libavcodec 53. 9. 1 / 53. 9. 1
libavformat 53. 6. 0 / 53. 6. 0
libavdevice 53. 2. 0 / 53. 2. 0
libavfilter 2. 27. 5 / 2. 27. 5
libswscale 2. 0. 0 / 2. 0. 0
libpostproc 51. 2. 0 / 51. 2. 0
Continuity Check Failed
Last message repeated 1 times
Input #0, mpegts, from 'M:\Movies\Some Movie.m2ts':
Duration: 01:56:11.00, start: 599.958300, bitrate: 24932 kb/s
Program 1
Stream #0.0[0x1011]: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 90k tbn, 47.95 tbc
Stream #0.1[0x1100](eng): Audio: dca (DTS), 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 1536 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


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


FFMPG of a bad file:


ffmpeg version N-31754-g64160ef, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Aug 4 2011 17:48:25 with gcc 4.4.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-ffplay --prefix=/media/windows/ffmpeg --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --pkg-config=pkg-config
libavutil 51. 11. 1 / 51. 11. 1
libavcodec 53. 9. 1 / 53. 9. 1
libavformat 53. 6. 0 / 53. 6. 0
libavdevice 53. 2. 0 / 53. 2. 0
libavfilter 2. 27. 5 / 2. 27. 5
libswscale 2. 0. 0 / 2. 0. 0
libpostproc 51. 2. 0 / 51. 2. 0
Continuity Check Failed
[NULL @ 02dbb9a0] start time is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
Continuity Check Failed
Input #0, mpegts, from 'M:\Movies\Some Other Movie.m2ts':
Duration: 01:49:14.75, start: 11.650667, bitrate: 31143 kb/s
Program 1
Stream #0.0[0x1011]: Video: vc1 (Advanced), yuv420p, 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 90k tbn, 23.98 tbc
Stream #0.1[0x1100]: Audio: dca (DTS-HD MA), 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 1536 kb/s
Stream #0.2[0x1200]: Subtitle: pgssub
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 3, 3
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9

In conclusion, HELP!!!!!

[Paul]

Those VC1 files are being fully transcoded, thus the choppy playback (most likely transcoding is not fast enough).

If you turn off transcoding, do those files play? If they do, then we can add them to the device profile. If they don't, then please turn on logging (see this thread: http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...nostic-logging) then try playing that file again and once it starts to stutter, stop the server and send the logs to support (at) conceiva (dot) com and I'll check at what speed transcoding is going and if that's the reason of choppy playback.

[daveandris]

Logs Sent

When I turned transcoding off, the only files that would display on my device were the .VOB files from my DVDs. None of the .m2ts files showed up even though that is a supported file type for my device (Sony Bravia KDL 46HX800). So I turned transcoding back on.

I have tested both AVC and VC1 files under all three device profiles for the Sony Bravia KDL and have attached logs for each test. I will also update the thread with this info.

Sony Bravia KDL profile

VC1 File
First attempt gave File Could Not be Played error. Hit exit to return to file list and selected the same file immediatly.
Second attempt played with significant stuttering of audio and video.

AVC File
Played with significant stuttering of audio and video.


Sony Bravia KDL (MP4) profile

VC1 File
Played with no video and stuttering of audio

AVC file
Played FLAWLESSLY. No issues whatsoever.


Sony Bravia KDL W profile

VC1 File
Played but with HORRIBLE stuttering.

AVC File
Played but with HORRIBLE Stuttering

Obviously given the results of this testing, the KDL (MP4) profile is my best choice for streaming since my AVC files play flawlessly, but the worst choice for my VC1 files.


Thank you for your quick response in determining a solution to this issue.

[Paul]

Thanks for the logs - I'll get back to you via e-mail.