Help with stuttering

[taalas]

Hi everyone,

sorry if I miss the obvious but I tried solving my problem for quite some time now and couldn't get any further:

I use ReClock to speed up my 24p media to 25Hz on my HTPC.

Software used is MediaPortal 1.0.2, with MPC-HC codecs - on Vista 32 using EVR -> HD3200 -> HDMI

I could get ReClock to give me stutter free playback _most_ of the time. Sometimes it happens though, that a movie starts stutter free...then begins to stutter after a while. I can negate this effect by pausing and unpausing a couple of times.

I suspect this could have to do with VSync? I wasn't able to determine a working setting for the VSync setting in ReClock. I can't see any of the overlays (because of DXVA I assume). If I switch to VMR9 I can see the VSync test overlay but no settings seems to help.

I also suspected it had to do with AC3 encoding...I have now switched to an analog connection though, which seems to show the same problems...

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

taalas

 

[red5goahead]

with Media Portal it's normal. It a vsynch related issue

try to set reclock whti this setting



that slide position is mine. is it possible to need move vysnch cursor upper or lower than that position and find our your perfect position. CTRL+F9 to show the vsynch cursor and CTRL-F11 and F12 move it when the renderer will play the footage. usually the play start and in few seconds Reclock fix the vsynch to the default position.

 

[taalas]

Hi red5goahead,

thanks for your quick answer...

I had tried to adjust the VSync slider but with DXVA enabled I don't get the CTRL-F9 overlay. Will try again though and report back. Last time I couldn't find a position that solved my problems, as I understand it you want to find a position that's as far from your vsync as possible? If that's true it should be possible to find this without having the VSync cursor - or at least have the right "tendency" right?

Good to know though, that my problems are connected to MediaPortal and considered "normal".

I am using Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre 3 for BD playback. I have read that some people seem to have have problems reclocking that...but in theory BD playback should be reclockable fine right?

Many thanks

taalas

 

[midi]

Hi guys,

I have to report similar problems, I am using Zoomplayer though. I actually have more stutter with reclock than without and more with vsync correction than without. I have tried so many things to get rid of the stutter but mostly it seems to be a matter of luck. Sometimes it helps to pause playback, sometimes I have to do this a few times. this sometimes helps for a few minutes but then stutter starts again.

The vsync mark usually resides in between the vsync target position but still I get stutter.

I have tried numerous things to get rid of the problem from tweaking the timings in Powerstrip, changing the video renderer (VMR9,EVR,Haali,MadVR) to changing the audio renderer in reclock (for instance wave out seems to be much more stable than wasapi) but nothing really helps for all situations or movies.

Even if I get it to work for half an hour, rest assured that on the next day the problem is back again. Actually, to be honest, I get the smoothest playback without reclock and without the correct refreshrates but with simple 60HZ operation and 3:2 pulldown. Strange as it sounds but this at least does not stutter that much and gives a reliable and simple playback.

I don´t think my hardware is not up to the task, it´s a Core2Duo with 10krpm harddisc, gigabit ethernet (I am streaming from my server) and a new ATI 4770 videocard (had similar problems with older video cards). My projector (JVC HD1) should not have a problem with 23,976 HZ operation.

I even tweaked the registry to get rid of the Vista/Windows7 feature called "Network throtteling" (which limits network throughput during playback) since I am streaming video over the network.

I am not sure if this whole stutter issue is reclocks fault or not but so far I have not been able to get a really stutterfree system with reclock over the last few years. Compared with the small but steady and for most people hardly recognizable stutter that 3:2 pulldown will get you I am not sure if it is worth the hassle.

It may be a problem that I using my secondary screen for video playback and not the primary one (I have overread a few comments on this from some people on the net) but thats how I need it to work ...

Bye,
Alex

 

[leeperry]

in my experience, ZP6 is completely worthless w/ Reclock...the VMR/EVR implementations lose sync randomly, and the Haali's Renderer presenter is also pretty bad.

try KMPlayer using Haali's Renderer, now that's smooth!

or MPC HC in D3D exclusive mode

 

[Jong]

The thing that works 100% is MPC-HC in D3D mode. You must DISABLE MPC-HC's D3D GUI support. PowerDVD 7&8 work too, at least on XP; Good for Blu-ray disc playback.

Works with DXVA, if you enable it in Reclock vsync, although you are right, you cannot display the Reclock OSD.

I have not seen much of a difference with any slider position away from the extreme ends, but I use a position of Hex:18 (in registry).

 

[red5goahead]

Hi red5goahead,

thanks for your quick answer...

I had tried to adjust the VSync slider but with DXVA enabled I don't get the CTRL-F9 overlay. Will try again though and report back. Last time I couldn't find a position that solved my problems, as I understand it you want to find a position that's as far from your vsync as possible? If that's true it should be possible to find this without having the VSync cursor - or at least have the right "tendency" right?

w/o vsynch cursor is not possible. and with Dxva the cursor is not display (obviously). Anyway use a sw decoding codec such as CoreAvc or ffdshow even. try the best your position and switch over the previous dxva mode.
It should'nt no difference between vsynch position for sw and dxva mode.
please note: dxva mode is a wrong way to explain the related reclock setting because it's the NV12 colour space to be switched on or off with that checkbox. so with CoreAvc NV12 could be used as default colour space so it's possible to need set that setting on also in a sw based filtergraph. :agree:

 

[midi]

Hi !

OK, I have tried KMPlayer now and it was smooth with Haali. I rejoiced and thought I might dump Zoomplayer only to find out a few hours later that even KMPlayer with Haali had severe stutter problem all of a sudden.

So something else must have been the problem and I think I know what by now:

The problem seems to have been Mediaportal running in the background. I have no idea why but if it is running, even while doing nothing, it causes serious stutter problems in ZP or KMPlayer for that matter ...

I have never understood why everything was soo smooth in ZP while testing and tweaking timings but later, when actually watching a movie I had those severe stutter problems again. Testing was always done directly from within ZP while watching movies was done by first browsing the movie library in Mediaportal and then starting ZP from that interface as an external player.

Even though it may seem obvious now, it never occured to me that Mediaportal could be the cause for the stutter because I always thought that it is not doing anything anyway.

Ok, since it is not possible to close MP until ZP has ended when starting playback from MP, I have created a script solution that starts a script in MP instead of ZP directly, passes the chosen filename and then kills mediaportal. I can share that script if someone is interested and has a similar setup.

I am now using Zoomplayer with MadVR as a renderer and so far it has been really really smooth with reclock. I am just curious how stable my stutterfree environment will be in the long term ... :agree:

Thanks for leading me onto the right track guys !
Bye,
Alex

 

[Jong]

I had a similar problem with Meedio. As an alternative to your approach I have a pre-queue command (script) which reduces the priority of the meedio process to low and then raises it again when my external player exits via a post-queue command (script). Something else that you might want to consider. Likewise I'm very happy to share the script if it is useful to anyone.

 

[midi]

Hi Jong,

yeah, lets share scripts !
Here´s mine:

start_player.cmd:

@echo off&setlocal

IF /i %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%==AMD64 set Programme=%Programfiles(x86)%
IF /i %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%==x86 @IF DEFINED PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432 set Programme=%Programfiles(x86)%
IF /i %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%==x86 @IF NOT DEFINED PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432 set Programme=%Programfiles%

start "" "%PROGRAMME%\Zoom Player\zplayer.exe" %1 /F:2
taskkill.exe /F /IM mediaportal.exe
taskkill.exe /F /IM watchdog.exe
exit

In Mediaportal I have set the path to this script in the field where an external player application is supposed to be entered. I have left the parameters field the way it was: it contains the %filename% variable to pass the name of the file that was chosen.

Would be interested in your script !
Bye,
Alex

 

[Jong]

This is my "Lower Meedio" script and runs before launching my external player:

Const ABOVE_NORMAL = 32768
Const LOW = 64

    Set locator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
    Set service = locator.ConnectServer()

Set colProcesses = service.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * from Win32_Process Where name = 'meedio.exe'")



For Each objProcess in colProcesses

if false Then MsgBox _
    objProcess.Priority & " " & _
    objProcess.Caption & " " & _
    objProcess.Description & " " & _
    objProcess.CommandLine & " " & _
    objProcess.ThreadCount  & " " & _
    objProcess.Handle & " " & _
    objProcess.HandleCount, _
    MB_OK, "Meedio Priority Script Diagnostics"

 IF InStr(objProcess.CommandLine, "service") = false then objProcess.SetPriority(LOW) 
Next

This is a bit complex as I have two versions of Meedio running. The script has to lower the UI process, not the service process, which is already "low" priority and periodically running imports e.g weather, RSS. Yours may be easier if there is only one MP process running. The diagnostics, if enabled, canhelp to find a test condition.

This is my "Raise Meedio" script that runs after the external player has closed:

Const ABOVE_NORMAL = 32768
Const LOW = 64

    Set locator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
    Set service = locator.ConnectServer()

Set colProcesses = service.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * from Win32_Process Where name = 'meedio.exe'")

For Each objProcess in colProcesses
 IF InStr(objProcess.CommandLine, "service") = false  then objProcess.SetPriority(ABOVE_NORMAL) 
Next

 

[midi]

Hi Jong,

yeah, your solution is more complex. Where do you start the scripts ? From within Meedio I guess ?

Thanks for sharing !
Alex

 

[Jong]

It does mean that Meedio (or MediaPortal) stays loaded and when you have finished playing the file you are still where you were before.

Yes, Meedio plugin "Playmee" allows you to define a pre-queue and post-queue command both globally (applies to all players) and specific ones for each individual player you use (selected according to a variety of criteria such as location or file extension). But I imagine your approach of having a single file that reduces priority then runs the player and waits for it to finish then raises priority again would work too.