Choppy video on RPi5 LineageOS 20 (Android TV 13)

Channels Android TV
#1

I know this is a fringe/bleeding edge client device (see Raspberry Pi 5 for info) so I'd normally be inclined to just pass on trying to troubleshoot this chanDVR-specific Playback problem and simply get by with the working chanDVR client on the TV's built-in Google TV, but ALL the other Apps (Plex, Tubi, PlutoTV, YouTube, HDHomerun, MLB.TV, Kodi, and more) installed here are absolutely KILLING IT in performance - fantastic problem-free video Playback and amazing App responsiveness. So, I'd really like to get chanDVR client app properly working on this device as well.

I've read the various Choppy video threads and tried all the fixes ... Turn off/on Surround Sound (System, Player, Both, Neither), Reinstalled App, Rebooted device, Tried switching Decode (Hardware, Hybrid, Software), Original Quality (both Direct and Stream tried), Tried different RPi5 Video Rez's, etc., etc., so forth and so on -- No Joy.

Client device is new RPi5 8gb on 1gb Ethernet LAN, modestly OC'd and fan cooled. (Underlying ARM architecture here should be similar to Shield, but updated.) chanDVR Server is newish 16-core Ryzen 9 with 64gb DDR4. All other concurrent on-premise chanDVR clients (1. aforementioned TV's built-in Google TV, 2. Google TV dongle on Wifi, and 3. two iPad clients) Playback just fine. So, this is a problem that is limited to this very specific chanDVR app on this very specific device. All of the (fairly disparate) Sources (HDHomerun antenna fed, Plex/Dizque channels, chanDVR Virtual channels, all other Custom channels incl. TVE channels) affected with very Choppy video and motion blurring - totally unwatchable.

Given that NO OTHER App (of the MANY others installed) is having such playback problem on this specific device, it would appear that a fix - if there is to be one - probably will come by tweaking something on chanDVR App or Server, or how the device specifically interacts with the App. Two diagnostic dumps (with and without Surround Sound) sent.

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments.

#2

Probably not a long term fix but have you tried setting playback quality in the app to 8mb? This will force a transcode and may help diagnose the issue. Also channels uses a custom player while many of those “other” apps use the native android player so not really a fair comparison.

1 Like
#3

No help really, but I also experimented with LineageOS on a Raspi4 8Gb as a Channels client and found the same issue, the video was choppy and unwatchable. I know it's not a supported device, so didn't pursue it, but was a bit surprised as to how bad it was.

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#4

Tried 8mb, same choppy result. Cranked down to 2mb, again, still choppy. So, guess for now, Channels-DVR Android App is incompatible with RPi5 running LineageOS 20/Android TV 13. (LineageOS 21/Android TV 14 was posted in Feb but version-compatible GApps still not ready yet, thus greatly limiting that version's usefulness.)

Really hope this gets resolved at some point, given the otherwise massive improvement in App performance. For example, Channel Guide (literally hundreds of channels) typically loads in about 1 sec (Ethernet connected) from cold start, whereas on built-in Google TV (also Ethernet connected) Guide takes about 3-5 sec to load. Individual channel load times are similarly much improved.

#5

Submit diagnostics?

#6

I submitted a first set at the outset, per opening message.

Just submitted a second set now. In this second set (did as 2 Log Dumps), I cycle thru Broadcast (OTA), Virtual Channel (of previously recorded OTA), and Custom Channel (m3u from Tubi) sources. In the first Log Dump, Decode is Hybrid, In the second, Decode is Hardware. (Software Decode has had same choppy Playback, so I didn't bother with running that again.)

Thanks!

Besides Choppy Playback, rendered images have a lot of motion blur and some sort of uniformly-spaced horizontal artifacts permeating each image.

In addition to Client Device Logs, following from Server: 2485cd45-b8a9-485a-9c3e-1d8166c895ee

In passing I note WRT to DNS, in the past I did switch to Comcast (my ISP) DNS in connection with troubleshooting a time-out/buffering issue with Custom Channels. Did NOT help! Problem solved by upgrading server from 10 yo 8-core CPU to new 16-core Ryzen 9.

On Remote Access, I do have Port 8089 "controlled" opened to approved remote client device, whose IP address is registered via DDNS (DuckDNS). I have whitelisted a few Channels-DVR IPs as well. Works pretty well, without leaving 8089 wide open.

#8

Huh this sounds like buggy OS

#9

As mentioned in OP, ALL the other Apps (Plex, Tubi, PlutoTV, YouTube, HDHomerun, MLB.TV, Kodi, and others) render perfectly fine, possibly even better than my Default "Approved" Device (i.e., built-in Google TV on 2023 Hisense U7, connected via Ethernet).

Since RPi5 has limited Widevine support (apparently only L1), I've not bothered fleshing out You Tube TV or other DRM-heavy sources. But we watch YT TV MUCH less often than chanDVR, mainly just use YT TV for non-OTA Sports. But device is otherwise a Registered Google Framework ID Device, per Google approved Portal/Procedure.

I should add/reiterate, the incentive to fix this here is that the RPi5 Android TV (Lineage 20/Android TV 13) has some MAJOR performance increase (like 5X) in UI Navigation responsiveness and in Stream/Channel loading times. Setting aside the rendering problem for a minute, the UI flow/Channel Loading in chanDVR UI on RPi5 Android TV is a "dream," near instantaneous. With all my other Clients (over time has included 2 Google TVs (1 built-in, 1 stick), 1 Sony Bravia, 3 Firesticks, 2 iPads, and 2 Android Tablets), the UI experience is sluggishly "tedious" (but obviously still worth the end result).