Experimental video driver: constantly dropping frames when 60fps

Channels Apple TV
#1

I'm seeing frequent dropped frames (at least 1-2 per second according to stats) for any stream that is displaying above 30fps. This includes deinterlaced OTA streams from an HDHomeRun and 60fps TVE streams (ESPN, MSNBC, etc.). A 30fps TVE stream (CNN) shows few or zero dropped frames in stats. Latest gen Apple TV 4K, diagnostics submitted.

Using different audio drivers don't seem to affect it, nor does the "Match content for live TV" setting. Sometimes a quick pause/resume seems to temporarily smooth things out, but after a few seconds the dropped frames start again.

The default video driver is consistently smoother.

#2

Possible improvements in v2021.11.10.1800 which is uploading now. Can you resubmit diagnostics with that build after you try it.

1 Like
#3

Here's the build:

#4

I see the dropped frames in your diagnostics and am shocked at how often it's happening. I don't see the same thing here on either of my TVs with 60fps content.

Curious what kind of TV you're using, and if this happens also with recordings playback?

#5

I didn't even think of my TV as being a possible issue since other apps playback smoothly and the default video driver seems OK. It's admittedly a very budget LG 4K TV. I'd love to get one of their OLEDs eventually but can't justify the price right now. The HDMI cable shouldn't be an issue either, it's one of the newer Monoprice ones.

Just so you have the full picture, here are my speedtest results. The Apple TV is wired to a Synology DS718+ on another floor with two unmanaged switches and two Moca adapters in between.

Diagnostics submitted again, still seeing dropped frames. It happens with recordings too.

#6

Not trying to suggest your TV is at fault, just curious why it would be so severe. What are your apple TV's HDMI settings set to?

I'm uploading v2021.11.11.0209 which has some changes that may help. Would like to see diagnostics from that build.

#7

Any luck with the new build?

#8

Haven’t had time to test yet! I’ll try it this afternoon and will be WFH all tomorrow if there are more builds.

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#9

I've only tested it briefly this evening but unfortunately no visible improvement. I submitted more diagnostics.

#10

Ok @tmm1 I submitted some special late-night diagnostics a few minutes ago. I clicked "Reset Video Settings" in the tvOS settings to bring things back to default and then changed only a few essential settings: resolution (4K HDR, 59.94), turned on match frame rate, match range, and color balance.

I still see dropped frames but much less than before. To my eyes it also seems a lot smoother... hopefully this helps narrow things down.

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Experimental Video / Deinterlacer drops frames
#11

I think I had this issue myself on 11/10 when watching a basketball game recorded from ESPN (TV Everywhere on 11/9). I fell back to watch the recording from YouTube TV as the Channels recording was unwatchable.

Playback Device Apple TV 4k (2017 model), set to NATIVE FPS output, connected to a 1080p Projector that will take 24/50/60 FPS input.

When I went to the stats for the video feed it showed a display FPS of 24 and a recording FPS of 60, resolution of 720p. The AppleTV was outputting 24 and the projector showed 1080p24. So basically the Channels renderer was taking a 720p60 recording but outputting as 720p24 which led to extremely choppy and unwatchable playback.

I haven't tried to watch a sports recording on that device since so it may be fixed now but was problematic on 11/10. I do not recall having this issue prior to 11/10.

Update 11/16, I tried to recreate this issue last night and it seems to only apply to that one particular recording. I checked other Basketball and football games recorded off ESPN and similar channels and they do not have this problem. This particular recording also shows a frame rate of 24.00 frame/second in properties when looking at the .mpg file in Windows explorer. The other files show either 59.94 or 60.00. So the issue seems to be a bad flag on that particular recording rather than a larger driver issue.