Is that UK HD channels? When I had a cube I saw zero issues with any UK steam using hardware it was fast and flawless. Just found the cube very cumbersome compared to the stick nicely hidden behind the TV
Aye - drops frames on Channel 5 HD, few others from memory. But BBC One HD, ITV HD are fine.
It would be helpful to know if the following apk plays back correctly on the 4K Stick with hardware mode enabled: https://github.com/mpv-android/mpv-android/releases/download/mpv-android-2020-10-13/mpv-android-2020-10-13.apk
Will side-load it tomorrow.
Hi @tmm1 thanks for responding.
I have downloaded the mpv apk and installed it on my firetv 4k.
I have tried using the Open URL option in MPV to open my hdhomerun stream, but it doesn't do anything (just a black screen, no error). Am I using the correct URL?
I am typing in (slowly with the remote!):
http://192.168.1.103:5004/auto/v103
Which is the URL for ITV HD shown via the http://my.hdhomerun.com/ web site. Clicking that link in Chrome downloads a v103.mpeg file continually, so seams to be the stream.
What am I doing wrong?
Do I need to do a recording and transfer it to the firetv 4k and then use mpv to play it locally on the firetv 4k in order to test, or should a URL work to stream Live TV in MPV?
The HDHR url should work, that's how I've tested it before. You could try a url to a recording on your DVR ie http://x:8089/dvr/files/XXX/stream.mpg
Or else copying a test file over might be the easiest
It does seem to be possible to use the Fire TV app keyboard with MPV, albeit no paste functionality. The URL did seem to work for me, make sure you include http:// as well
http://x.x.x.x:port/auto/v105
I tried it on a Cube, whilst the house was quiet, and saw the same problem with HW on some HD channels. When I can get into the room with the 4K Stick in a few hours, I'll test that.
I see the same. If you disable hardware decoding in the options, then it plays. Enable it again, same link, black screen.
Thanks @tmm1
I had a play this afternoon using the snooker on Quest HD.
I got MPV to play the stream OK; same as @imx though. If using hardware acceleration, you only get a black screen and no audio. MPV will not play the stream. Switch to software in MPV and it plays OK. You can toggle SW/HW on the remote whilst playing and as soon as you enable HW, playback stops. Re-enable SW, playback starts.
Channels displays the usual severe intermittent corruption.
VLC with hardware acceleration plays it perfectly.
HDHomerun also plays it perfectly, although I notice the quality is not as good as VLC.
So, @tmm1 what's the next step? We still need a fix for this issue in Channels. Let me know if you need anything from me to assist.
I've uploaded a beta build with a possible fix.
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Thanks @tmm1. I have downloaded the latest beta, and I am pleased to report that this has fixed the issue 
I re-tried the snooker recording that had tons of corruption in Channels standard, and confirmed corruption.
Tried in the latest beta - same recording, same place; no issues. Crystal clear hardware playback with no stuttering
Great work; how long until this will be updated in the main release?
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Looking good for me on my Stick as well, very limited testing but all seems to be fine. Great work, indeed. Much appreciated.
Hi,
I've just had a read over the comments in this post. Im using the latest Amazon Firmware on a 4K stick and the latest Amazon Fire TV Channels DVR app release with 2 HDHomerun "connect quatro" boxes.
I had some stuttering on channel playback... particularly on UK HD channels.
I found within the Channels DVR Fire TV app I had to select 3 options under the "advanced setting" for perfect playback of UK SD & HD channels:
Stretch to fit = No
Video decoding = Hardware
Refresh rate matching = On app startup
Ive just had a quick check of my channels & with the above settings do not have any issues regarding playback or recording.
Thanks @neild7744, your response has prompted me to re-test the non beta version of Channels.
Everything works perfectly now
I notice Amazon have updated the Firmware to 6.2.7.6 from 6.2.7.3 back on October 24th.
I had one stick still on 6.2.7.3 and can still see the faulty playback which @tmm1 fixed in the beta Channels, but now works perfectly on 6.2.7.6 firmware in standard Channels, so Amazon have fixed it via firmware also.
I can report that the beta version also plays back fine on both 6.2.7.3 and 6.2.7.6 firmware for playback, so probably worth keeping in place the Channels fix from the beta version for the next main Channels release in case Amazon firmware/Channels software combination causes the faulty playback again.
So I can now go back to the main app version rather than beta version.
Thanks all.
Channels has been working perfectly for me since I downgraded to 6.2.7.1 however I've just come back from a week away and now suddenly it keeps freezing when trying to use channels. This behaviour is the same on all 7 of my sticks. It is happening on the same channels as this original issue i.e the HD channels
Basically the channel is chosen, the picture come up for less than a second and then freezes the audio then continues broke in the background for about a minute then stops, the only way to get this working again is to restart the fire stick.
Putting it back into software it plays fine but with the continuous frame drops
I have also tested with the HDHomeRun app and it plays perfectly so the problem must be with the channels app?
Have you changed something recently that would cause this?
Thanks
Can you submit diagnostics?
Sounds like the workaround I added for 6.2.7.3 is affecting 6.2.7.1
The new 6.2.7.6 seems to work fine with or without the workaround
Diagnostics submitted, only problem is I'm not sure what you'll receive as once it's crashed I can't get back to submit diagnostics the whole app crashes eventually restarts and I can then get to submit diagnostics
Forgot to say I can't really upgrade to newer versions of firmware with what I've done to build a custom 6.2.7.1 setup. All OTA updates are disabled so things shouldn't really charge my end
I didn't see the diagnostics. Are you logged into a dvr or just using live tv app?