Live TV initial pause, pixelation, and long pauses

[FordGT90Concept 63]

Running Android TV Beta on NVIDIA SHIELD TV (gigabit wired to main switch) and Emby Server Beta. HDHomeRun EXTEND set to mobile profile.

https://youtu.be/jLw3J2R-Ld8

Four main areas of concern which the video above shows:

1) 0:04-0:15 the long time (~11 seconds) it takes to tune to a channel.

2) 0:20-0:25 the initial pause (~5 seconds) that is observed not long after beginning play. This has happened since I can remember using Emby.

3) 0:29-0:33 the spontaneous pixilation.

4) 0:41-0:44 the spontaneous pauses. I timed them exceeding 30 seconds in length at times.

 

I tried changing TVs and it didn't matter. When watching directly from the HDHomeRun tuner, #1 only takes 2-3 seconds, #2 doesn't happen, #3 doesn't happen, #4 happens rarely and extremely brief (<1 seconds).

 

Direct Play is not checked, it is down mixing to stereo, and bandwidth is set to Auto.

 

 

The above issues are easily repeatable. Users here would rather use HDHomeRun's app than Emby for Android TV because of these problems.

Edited May 7, 2017 by FordGT90Concept

[FordGT90Concept 63]

Any progress on these issues?

[Luke 38801]

Hi there @@FordGT90Concept, we're very sorry to hear about your live tv playback issue. We'd like to help you resolve it. In order for us to best help you, please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks !

[FordGT90Concept 63]

Logs only went back to May 8 so the original logs are gone. I reproduced #1, #2, and #4 on 14.1 just now and here are the logs from that.

 

#3 (pixilation) occurred during NHL and a horse sporting events. Sporting events tend to have higher resolution/frame rate so I suspect that had something to do with it. Unfortunately, nothing like that is on right now.

 

Further, the latest Android TV beta client apparently has an issue (apologies for the terrible picture, literally the best I took of four):

 

I did submit the logs from the SHIELD TV just now.

logs.zip

Edited May 11, 2017 by FordGT90Concept

[ebr 15425]

How did you get to the guide to produce that screenshot?

[FordGT90Concept 63]

It's set up to go direct to Live TV on that box. All I did was start Emby, back out to the guide, then clicked on what I wanted to tune. That's what showed up. This is on the latest beta (checked before running).

[mwongjay 66]

Unraid Server: v6.3.3

Emby Server: v3.2.15.0

Fire TV Box: v5.2.4.1

Fire TV App: v1.3.35a

 

I am also seeing this issue after upgrading to 3.2.15.0. I took a slow-mo video to easily see what is happening. The video is here: https://vimeo.com/217428313. This only applies to live tv. I am able to direct play/transcode movies/shows with no issues. It's more prevalent on action scenes. Also, when I wasn't direct playing media and it was transcoding I also experienced long pauses like the OP. Media would stream for 1-2 seconds, then pause for 3-4 seconds, then begin playing again.

 

I began experiencing this issue and my settings were:

 

Server:

Hardware acceleration: None

Transcoding thread count: Max

[  ] Enable throttling

H264 encoding CRF: 21

[  ] Automatically convert recordings to a streaming friendly format

 

Client:

Max streaming bitrate: Auto

Audio Output: Direct

[x] Direct stream live TV

 

I've tried the following tests:

 

Use different HDMI port for Fire tv streaming live tv - Issue remains

Connecting directly to HDHomeRun Prime using their software - No picture issues. Looks as it should.

Use Emby to stream movies - No picture issues. Looks as it should.

Use Emby to stream tv shows (downloaded) - No picture issues. Looks as it should.

 

Server: [x] Enable throttling, Transcoding thread count: Auto, H264 encoding CRF: 25, [x] Auto convert to streaming friendly format, 

Client: Max streaming bitrate: Auto, Audio Output: Direct, [x] Direct stream live TV

Result: Issue remains

 

Server: [x] Enable throttling, Transcoding thread count: Auto, H264 encoding CRF: 28, [x] Auto convert to streaming friendly format,

Client: Max streaming bitrate: auto, Audio Output: Downmix, [  ] Direct stream live tv

Result: Issue remains

 

Attached is a log earlier in the day when I was experiencing this issue. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by mjw06d

[Luke 38801]

Can you provide the emby server log as well? thanks.

[PremiumRed 62]

Hey Luke... having exact same issue here with Fire TV and Fire TV Stick

[Luke 38801]

Hey Luke... having exact same issue here with Fire TV and Fire TV Stick

 

hi @@PremiumRed, in order for us to best help you, please provide the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. thanks !

[PremiumRed 62]

Hi,

I sent the log via "Send Logs" directly from an Amazon Fire TV

[PremiumRed 62]

Forgot to write:

User: PremiumRed

TV Channel: Pick TV

Version 3.2.15.1 Beta

AFTV emby 1.3.35a

[mwongjay 66]

I'll have to get the logs later, but as a quick follow up for anyone experiencing similar issues, I've discovered the pixelation issue is directly related to streaming live tv in real time. Recording shows and streaming after the recording is complete works as expected.

[FordGT90Concept 63]

I'll have to get the logs later, but as a quick follow up for anyone experiencing similar issues, I've discovered the pixelation issue is directly related to streaming live tv in real time. Recording shows and streaming after the recording is complete works as expected.

I concur with this assessment. I've never seen the pixilation occur outside of Live TV.

[FordGT90Concept 63]

Watching Jeopardy on 14.1 KMEGA at ~6:20 and playback froze. Sent logs from SHIELD, attached logs from server.

 

Server: Version 3.2.17.3 beta

HDHomeRun: 20170512beta1

Android TV: beta (didn't check number)

 

Live TV is so broken.

logs.zip

Edited May 18, 2017 by FordGT90Concept

[FordGT90Concept 63]

Updated everything and tried Live TV again tonight.  Initial pause and pixelation was observed within a minute or two of starting Live TV.

[neptunepic 11]

I've experienced the same issue and found that disabling "allow hardware transcoding" in the Live TV--->hdhomerun settings solves the problem.

Give that a try and let us know your results.

 

I will say that for me, it's rather irritating that the only way to get smooth live TV playback is to disable the built-in hardware decoding for hdhomerun, but that's the only way I've been able to solve the problem.

[FordGT90Concept 63]

I tried it...

Long time to tune: fixed.

Initial pause: still occurred.

Spontaneous pauses and pixilation: much worse.

 

Leaving it enabled is better.  That said, the spontaneous pauses and pixilation could be caused by the wireless connection: MPEG2 requires about six times more bandwidth than MPEG4 mobile profile.  That said, all four issues occurred on MPEG4 wired or wireless.

Edited May 26, 2017 by FordGT90Concept

[neptunepic 11]

Is your server connecting to the network via wifi? If so you should fix that. Both the hdhomerun and server should be connected via at least cat 5e ethernet to the same network, preferably both directly connected to your router as opposed to another switch, extender etc.

 

Of course this is not practical for most people but the closer you can get to that config, the better off you'll be.

 

Currently my hdhomerun is connected via a powerline adapter, and my server is connected to a switch in a another room, and I'm still getting good performance.

[FordGT90Concept 63]

No, everything is gigabit wired (CAT6 FTP) except for that one SHIELD which is 802.11n.

[neptunepic 11]

Changing the transcoding temp folder to the same drive as recorded tv solved the problem for me.

[FordGT90Concept 63]

No change for me.  C: is an SSD (where Emby is installed) and E: is an HDD (where recordings are saved).  Performance for me should be slower on E: than C:.  Both tests I did, audio would skip briefly every 5 seconds or so and the picture constantly got pixelated blotches.  Updates seem to be making it worse, not better.

 

This test was conducted via my computer which is on the gigabit network, literally on the same switch as the server using the Windows Store app.

Edited May 28, 2017 by FordGT90Concept

[FordGT90Concept 63]

I don't know if it was because of an update to Emby or because of the things I tried above but now the problems are appearing in Live TV recordings too (observed via web portal).  Emby is rapidly becoming useless to me.

[FordGT90Concept 63]

I tried HDHomeRun's app and it was struggling too.  I changed the HDHomeRuns from MPEG4 mobile profile to none (MPEG2).  That made it even worse.  Then I tried MPEG4 heavy profile and HDHomeRun app is working great now.  Unfortunately, Emby didn't share the same benefit.  I'm thinking the latest spat of issues might be caused by HDHomeRun's 20170512beta1 firmware.  That said, Emby is struggling no matter what the tuners are set to.

[ebr 15425]

Can you please see if the specific issue of the stream pausing after only a second or two is improved with the beta version 1.4.10?  Thanks.