Playback Stutters

Channels Apple TV
#1

I’m posting in the Apple TV forum, but it happens in the Web player and iOS too.

Every time I watch a show it stutters during playback. Hard to describe. Things get all pixelated for a second or two, the audio cuts out, then the picture and sound jump back to normal together. This is on recorded shows. It may happen live too, but I don’t watch much live TV, so I can’t say for sure it doesn’t happen.

Here is a shapshot of log files. It happened at 19:23. I suspect it might be “Dropped corrupted packet”

2018/04/23 19:17:40 [HLS] Pausing transcoder (out: 17m39.729833s, view: 15m55s)…
2018/04/23 19:17:41 [HLS] Resuming transcoder (out: 17m39.729833s, view: 15m56s)…
2018/04/23 19:19:21 [HLS] Stopping transcoder for file285-ip127.0.0.1 after seek to 17m40s (out=17m39.729833s, finished=true)
2018/04/23 19:19:21 [HLS] Starting transcoder for file285-ip127.0.0.1 at 17m40s from 127.0.0.1 (encoder=remux, resolution=, deinterlacer=, bitrate=10000)
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] start time for stream 3 is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] start time for stream 4 is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] start time for stream 5 is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)
2018/04/23 19:19:23 [HLS] Pausing transcoder (out: 19m19.663s, view: 17m47s)…
2018/04/23 19:19:31 [HLS] Resuming transcoder (out: 19m19.663s, view: 17m48s)…
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x7fa9a7008000] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)
2018/04/23 19:19:32 [HLS] Pausing transcoder (out: 19m31.925256s, view: 17m57s)…
2018/04/23 19:19:42 [HLS] Resuming transcoder (out: 19m31.925256s, view: 17m58s)…
2018/04/23 19:19:54 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/04/23 19:20:42 [HLS] Stopping transcoder for file285-ip127.0.0.1 after seek to 19m32s (out=19m31.925256s, finished=true)
2018/04/23 19:20:42 [HLS] Starting transcoder for file285-ip127.0.0.1 at 19m32s from 127.0.0.1 (encoder=remux, resolution=, deinterlacer=, bitrate=10000)
[mpegts @ 0x7fc053008000] start time for stream 3 is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
[mpegts @ 0x7fc053008000] start time for stream 4 is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
[mpegts @ 0x7fc053008000] start time for stream 5 is not set in estimate_timings_from_pts
[mpegts @ 0x7fc053008000] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x7fc053008000] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)

I’m running this on an iMac. The shows are stored on an external LaCie Rugged SSD. Connection is over wifi with a Netgear Orbi mesh router setup. HDhomerun is a Prime model with a cablecard from Xfinity.

Where do I begin my troubleshooting to identify the problem so I can fix it?

Thanks.

#2

Apple TV and the web player use very different playback methods. The Apple TV app should be downloading and playing the file directly.

First step would be to try an app like VLC on your mac to playback the recordings directly to see if it they show the same issue.

#3

I’ll try that. Thanks!

#4

I have this problem as well and I did check the .mpg on the DVR drive by watching it in Quicktime and the artifacting/stutter is in the original file. I’ve snipped out a couple of seconds showing what happens to me.

example

#5

You’re seeing mpeg2 macroblocking, which is usually indicative of a bad antenna signal, or packet loss over your home network.

Do you see the same issue when watching that channel live?

Check the signal quality and strength numbers on your tuner while watching via http://my.hdhomerun.com

#6

Ok, I think it is probably a network situation as my signal quality is 100%. The HDHR Quattro and the server are quite far apart and the quattro is on the same segment as my time capsule.

#7

Is everything wired?

Recording over WiFi, and recording to a network share can cause problems like this.

I’ve also seen issues when multiple switches are involved, so its always best to have the HDHR and DVR plugged into the same switch.

#8

All wired. But bingo on the same switch. There are probably 5 or 6 switches between the two. I’m gonna move them onto the same one.