Seems like the Channels app on the iPhone also allocates the last tuner - same as the Channels app on Apple TV?
InstaTV uses the first tuner though, so if it’s also having problems that means the issue is with the network connection between your Apple TV and the HDHR.
Something of notice has just happened. I’ve been streaming the same channel (CNN HD listed as AVC HD) via the Channels app from the Apple TV4 and from my iPhone 7.
The Channels app on Apple TV4 was using Tuner 2, and the Channels app on iPhone 7 was using Tuner 1.
Video froze and stuttered EXACTLY the same way on both devices at the SAME TIME. Both devices did this in sync.
Does this help narrow down the problem?
Sounds like a wifi issue. Does the “system log” on the HDHR show any errors?
And, the same thing has just happened again. Both Tuner 2 and Tuner 1. Channels app on both Apple TV4 and iPhone 7 froze at exactly the same time as though they were streaming from the same exact source.
I’m not seeing any issues in the log.
The interesting thing is that if I stream from the Internet from the same Apple TV (for example streaming CNN from Hulu Live TV), I have no issues whatsoever. This has something to do with the HDHomeRun.
I’ve checked the interface errors in the path between the AP and the HDHomeRun. There are no interface errors.
I will try to upgrade the code on the AP.
I’ve upgraded the code on the AP, but the problem continues. I’d already changed the channel on the 802.11AC 5GHz band before I upgraded the code. Nothing has helped so far.
Have you guys heard of the happening? Could this be some sort of incompatibility between the AVC codec and the decoder in the HDHR Prime or is the HDHR Prime not decoding this stream at all?
Is the Channels app receiving H.264 codec from the HDHomeRun Prime? Are you guys using the standard Apple’s API for playing H.264 or is this your own code?
The PRIME does no decoding.
We use the Apple VideoToolbox h264 decoder on iPhone/iPad, and a software decoder on the Apple TV.
What’s strange is that h264 channels use less bandwidth than mpeg2, so network problems would be less prevalent with it.
If you run your test from before but with HDHR app and Channels, do they still both freeze at the same time?
No, HDHR app doesn’t freeze at the same time as Channels.
Is the Video ToolBool h264 the hardware decoder? If so, it’s weird how in sync the iPhone and the Apple TV are when they stream concurrently vis-a-vis freezes and pixelation. The artifacts are identical on both.
I will do more testing tomorrow morning. It seems that the freezing and pixelation is a lot more severe in the morning. I will run the Silicon Dust’s app on the Mac and the Channels app on the Apple TV to see if I can see any synchronization in freezes and pixelations.
Yes VideoToolbox is the H/W decoder. We’ve found it’s less resilient to errors in the stream, and I guess it could be causing issues like you’re describing if your source signal is not clean. See the bug report I filed here: http://www.openradar.me/35979205
The software decoder is much more resilient to errors, which is why we’re using it on Apple TV. On iPhone/iPad, the hardware decoder uses much less battery power so we still prefer it there.
I’ve read your radar submission. So, could this be why the Silicon Dust’s HDHomeRun app is not manifesting nearly as many freezes as the Channels app (both on iOS and tvOS)?
Because the concurrent streaming via the Channels app on Apple TV4 and on iPhone 7 display the artifacts in complete sync, it seems to me that the errors are in the H.264 stream encoded by Comcast. Is this your conclusion as well?
I believe the SiliconDust app uses VideoToolbox on both Mac and iOS. Does their iOS app freeze just like Channels on iOS?
You could record a sample off your tuner (http://IP:5004/auto/vCHANNEL?duration=300) and run it through ffmpeg to see if it shows errors. That would confirm it one way or the other.
It’s unlikely that the comcast source is bad. It must be getting corrupted somewhere along the way. What is your cable path like? Are you using splitters, amps, etc along the way?
What do I use to record the sample of the tuner?
I didn’t even know that SiliconDust had an app for IOS. I can check it out.
I don’t have any amps. There is one splitter on the outside of the house.
You visit that url in chrome and it will download video from your tuner. Replace IP with your HDHR IP and CHANNEL with a channel number.
Is this a feature of Chrome or any browser will do this? Just curious.
It’s just a url, you can use anything you want to download it.
Chrome will reliably save it to a file, whereas other browsers may try to open it and display the video even though they don’t understand the format.
My issue went away on its own. It must have had something to do with the cable provider. I even bought another switch to connect the ApoleTV via an Ethernet cable, but before I received the switch the issue resolved itself.
wow