pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I just started setting up a new Mini-PC (Intel Z8350, 4GB DDR4, Win 10) to run Emby Theater, at first, everything seemed to be going fine (after watching 10 or so TV shows and a couple of movies) but all of a sudden I've noticed some videos seem to stutter quite a bit during playback, but not all of the time (Every once in a while playback is smooth). I've got all of my media streaming on its own network from a separate AP to avoid issues with other devices eating up bandwidth and this issue still arises while no other devices are streaming. I've got everything set to auto, and have tried enabling framerate switching to no avail. Playback is set to direct play. The last video I noticed the issue with was a 720p video, and when I enabled the stream info overlay I noticed stuttering at all different bitrates; anywhere from 3.8-8 or so, it didn't seem to matter. I'm unable to connect this PC with ethernet, so WiFi is my only option here. Would anyone be able to tell me what might cause this issue, or some settings that may be able to help me smooth playback without degrading quality too much? I don't watch anything higher than 1080p60. I'm still able to return the device to Amazon and buy a higher end machine, but I feel like these specs should be good enough for my needs, and would rather not have to fork out the extra cash for a higher end machine. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Pull up the stats, while playing. Is it dropping frames? Do you have deinterlacing set to yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 No frame drops, deinterlacing is set to auto. Also, I'm not sure if it's just coincidence, but when I leave it paused for a bit, afterwards it seems to play back fine. I don't know if it'll play back the whole show smoothly after pausing for a while, but the few minutes I tested it for, the studdering was gone. I don't have enough time to play a whole title to test this right now though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Can you post the details of the videos that don't play, well? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tur0k 143 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) Here, I perform the following: 1. Disable Intel speedstep/AMD cool’n’quiet in bios. 2. Set system power options to maximum performance. 3. Set video rendering to maximum performance in your GPU interface if the option is available. 4. I then ensure that the WLAN/LAN is set to disable the os from turning the nic on/ off. 5 If the mini pc supports onboard GPU transcoding I enable this in Emby theatre. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited January 23, 2019 by Tur0k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 @, I took this screenshot as the video was stuttering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hmmm....if the hardware was struggling, there would be errors. To test, can lower the refresh rate to 30Hz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Hmmm....if the hardware was struggling, there would be errors. To test, can lower the refresh rate to 30Hz Last night I enabled framerate switching which switched my tv to 24p to match the source video, but I still experienced the same stuttering issue (although in between stutters, the video seemed smoother than normal, but I just attribute that to the TV being set to match the video, instead of playing 24p video on a 60p screen). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 @ I just noticed that I'm still getting some stuttering (although not as much) while playing the title back using the Samsung TV app (direct play) on the same TV that my mini-PC is connected to, so I'm thinking my issue must be network related. I'm not sure what could be causing the issue though, since my computers and streaming devices are the only thing connected to this AP (through a separate router and SSID from all of my home automation devices, etc.), and there is currently nothing else streaming or using any wifi bandwidth from this AP and it's a good router (Linksys WRC 1900AC). I'm fairly ignorant when it comes to setting up networks, but I think I've got mine set up the best possible way for my scenario: INTERNET --(DSL Line to "DSL Port")--> ISP provided Modem/Router combo unit --("LAN Port" to "Internet port")--> D-Link Router [192.168.0.1 SSID: "Patrick-HA"] (Home automation devices are connected to this) --("LAN Port" to "LAN Port")--> Linksys Router [192.168.0.2 SSID: "Patrick"] (Computers/cellphones/etc. connected to this) The Linksys router has DHCP disabled to act as an AP and gets its IP's and internet connectivity from the D-Link router that's connected to my modem. Does this sound like the ideal setup? I've contemplated switching the two routers around, so that the Linksys router (Computer's and streaming) is the one directly connected to my modem, and my D-Link router (Home automation devices) connects to that, but I'm not sure if it would make any difference for me or not... Apologies for going off topic now, @@Luke feel free to move this thread if need be, as my issue now seems likely network related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Do you have the same issue over WiFi as you do when wired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 With a 1080p video the stuttering is much worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Do you have the same issue over WiFi as you do when wired? I don't really have the option to do a wired connection here, and my main TV has the server connected directly to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 @ actually, I just hooked up a temporary ethernet cable to test it out, and the stuttering hasn't changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I think there is something wrong with your mini PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 I think there is something wrong with your mini PC. This may have been user error on my part... After inspecting my routers and server PC I discovered that the ethernet cable connecting my server to the router had been unplugged, and it has been connected over wifi for who knows how long. After connecting my server via ethernet to my router again, the stuttering on my mini-PC (over wifi) seems to have stopped. I only watched about a minute of video so far without stutters, I'll continue to use it as normal for a couple of days and then report back whether this fixed my issue or not. Hopefully it was just the fact that my server needs to be wired that's causing the issue. It's strange, because my server is right next to the router, so I would've thought that wifi would be fine, but maybe it's the fact that it was sending video over wifi to the router, and then over wifi from the router to my mini-PC that was causing problems. Hopefully only having one end wired will be good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmac 132 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 Thanks! Lol. Me too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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