Pixelation on TVE Recordings

Channels DVR Server TV Everywhere
#1

I just whatched a TVE show that was recorded this past Monday 1/6 on the Science Channel (How the Universe Works). The show had many pixelated events that made it pretty unwatchable. I see there are some unhandled_packets and discontinuity_detected errors in the log (see below). I'm also seeing some of these same errors on other shows that I have not yet watched.

I'm running Channels on a Windows 10 dedicated box hard-wired to a gig Ethernet switch. Internet service is 400/20 and I haven't noticed any internet related issues.

2020/01/06 23:01:00 [DVR] Marking expired job 1578358770-37 How the Universe Works
2020/01/06 23:01:00 [DVR] Waiting 4h8m29.5382902s until next job 1578384570-ch6088 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
2020/01/06 23:01:01 [MTS] Statistics for "TV\How the Universe Works\How the Universe Works S08E00 Dark Secrets of Black Holes 2020-01-06-1959.mpg": skipped=0 unhandled_packets=1764 discontinuity_detected=2083 transport_errors=0 invalid_pts=0 invalid_dts=0 saw_pcr=false saw_pmt=true highest_pts=10904.689022
2020/01/06 23:01:01 [TNR] Closed connection to TVE-Dish for ch6110 SCIENCE
2020/01/06 23:01:01 [DVR] Finished job 1578358770-37 How the Universe Works

Here are a couple of other examples showing errors in the log, but I haven't watched these programs yet.

Impossible Engineering:

2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Marking expired job 1578535170-22 Impossible Engineering
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Marking expired job 1578535170-49 Almost Family
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Waiting 6m29.9476757s until next job 1578539250-ch6052 Bad Boys (1995)
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [TNR] Closed connection to 1078F140/2 for ch17.1 FOX17DT
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [SNR] Statistics for "TV\Almost Family\Almost Family S01E10 Courageous AF 2020-01-08-2059.mpg": ss=100% snq=100% seq=100% bps=11409344,1622816-13126912 pps=1084,160-1247
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Finished job 1578535170-49 Almost Family
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Waiting 6m29.4649759s until next job 1578539250-ch6052 Bad Boys (1995)
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [MTS] Statistics for "Movies\I Am Legend (2007) 2020-01-08-1959.mpg": skipped=0 unhandled_packets=0 discontinuity_detected=0 transport_errors=0 invalid_pts=0 invalid_dts=0 saw_pcr=true saw_pmt=true highest_pts=7320.163000
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [TNR] Closed connection to TVE-Dish for ch6086 AMC
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Finished job 1578531570-ch6086 I Am Legend (2007)
2020/01/08 22:01:00 [DVR] Waiting 6m29.0912073s until next job 1578539250-ch6052 Bad Boys (1995)
2020/01/08 22:01:02 [MTS] Statistics for "TV\Impossible Engineering\Impossible Engineering S07E02 Worlds Toughest Tunnels 2020-01-08-2059.mpg": skipped=0 unhandled_packets=777 discontinuity_detected=895 transport_errors=0 invalid_pts=0 invalid_dts=0 saw_pcr=false saw_pmt=true highest_pts=3706.715056
2020/01/08 22:01:02 [DVR] Finished job 1578535170-22 Impossible Engineering

The Explosion Show:

2020/01/08 23:01:00 [MTS] Statistics for "TV\The Explosion Show\The Explosion Show S01E02 FBI Bomb Squad 2020-01-08-2159.mpg": skipped=0 unhandled_packets=2285 discontinuity_detected=2504 transport_errors=0 invalid_pts=0 invalid_dts=0 saw_pcr=false saw_pmt=true highest_pts=7305.241389
2020/01/08 23:01:00 [TNR] Closed connection to TVE-Dish for ch6110 SCIENCE
2020/01/08 23:01:00 [DVR] Finished job 1578538770-15 The Explosion Show

Also showing errors on numerous Building Off The Grid Episodes:

2020/01/09 06:59:30 [DVR] Recording for job 1578571170-13 from TVE-Dish ch6101 into "TV\Building Off the Grid\Building Off the Grid S06E08 2019-02-21 Ohio Valley Hut 2020-01-09-0659.mpg" for 1h1m29.6133507s
2020/01/09 06:59:30 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1578571170-13
2020/01/09 06:59:30 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1578571170-14
2020/01/09 07:01:01 [MTS] Statistics for "TV\Building Off the Grid\Building Off the Grid S07E07 2019-11-24 Piney Woods Place 2020-01-09-0559.mpg": skipped=0 unhandled_packets=308 discontinuity_detected=386 transport_errors=0 invalid_pts=0 invalid_dts=0 saw_pcr=false saw_pmt=true highest_pts=3706.786000
2020/01/09 07:01:01 [DVR] Finished job 1578567570-13 Building Off the Grid

#2

After looking through my logs further, it seems the main errors are coming on DIY, Science, and the Discovery Channel. I think these are all owned by Discovery. Is anyone else seeing pixelation of recordings from these channels over the past week? It still seems to be ongoing for me.

#3

Can you click View Recording Log for one of these on the web UI, then file>save and email to [email protected]

#4

@tmm1, the log is 164MB for this one show, is that normal? Not sure I can email something that large. Is there another way to get it to you?

#5

You can zip it before you send to make it smaller and upload it to https://send.firefox.com and send us a link.

#6

Here is the link, please let me know if you can't access it.

#7

This is really helpful. Thanks for sending it! There's something funny going on for sure.

#8

Is it during a commercial break or during the show that you're seeing the issues?

Would you be able to send the video via https://send.firefox.com/ and email [email protected] with the link? I'd like to see what you're seeing.

#9

So here's something weird. I went back and watched the show in question to see if the issue occurred during a commercial or during the show and I am no longer seeing any pixelation. It plays just fine now. Not sure if there was a temporary issue with the Nvidia Shield playback? I watched others shows after that one was acting up and it worked just fine.

It still doesn't explain the unhandled_packet and discontinuity_detected errors in the logs. Are some of these errors normal? I guess I will just keep an eye on it for now and see if he problem comes back (unless you have any other suggestions on what the issue might have been).

#10

The discontinuity_detected= is totally expected in many TVE feeds and is something that we have put a lot of effort into handling correctly (it is inherent in how many of the TVE broadcasts are put together).

The unhandled_packets= should always be 0 in a well-formed feed. It appears that there is a segment that keeps being inserted at different points of the feed that is not well-formed. My best guess is that it's an ad that is corrupted.

Sorry we haven't been able to get to the bottom of the pixelation you're seeing, but it's good news that it went away.

#11

That makes me feel a bit better, thank you for the details.

No problem, I appreciate the time. When I saw the pixelation on the show and then the log showed numerous errors for that program, I jumped too quickly to the conclusion that it was a recording problem. I now believe it was a temporary playback issue with my Nvidia Shield. The problem hasn't repeated itself and a few of the other programs I watched (that had errors in the log) played back just fine.

I've re-seated the HDMI cable from the shield to the TV and restarted the device. So far, so good.

#12

I get this problem with A&E Network (LivePD) - other channels record great.

#13

I find that hard to believe as A+E Networks do not have online streams available to use with Channels' TVE integration ...

#14

Sorry, should have gave more info - I use HDHomeRun to pull in the signal into channels with Channels being used to play the content.

#15

Please start a new thread and explain what issues you're having.