Slow tuning and crashes (UK H264)

Channels Fire TV Troubleshooting
#14

Thanks for the link to the test version.

Firstly this version is MUCH more stable. I have had no crashes on my FTV2 in the last 20 mins with multiple SD an HD channel changes. Also the UI disappears as it should.

Secondly @tmm1 you are right. The old DVR beta was getting the DVR to deinterlace the streams. I thought it was meant not to but the log still lists a transcoder startup.

However the Gen2 without deinterlacing produces very acceptable video. So much so I have swapped out my ATV for the time being to help testing. I don’t do this lightly as “she who must be obeyed” would be upset if the video quality was noticeably worse. I will report back after some blinded wife and kids testing.

Hope DVR support is forthcoming soon.

#15

Out of interest - I’m just curious about everything - what is special about DVB feeds?

Will the new version update automatically on the FTV?

#16

There are some extra streams present alongside the video/audio/subtitles… not sure what they are aside from their types (“5” and “11”). The player was trying to probe them in case they were audio/video/cc and wasting a lot of time doing so. We were already ignoring type 5 before, and I added type 11 to the blacklist.

I just uploaded the new build. It seems to take Amazon’s servers an hour or so to process, after which it should update automatically.

On the About tab of the app, it should show “Channels Beta (11)” after the update.

#17

Thanks a lot. It’s 0100 here so I’m off to sleep. Still have beta 9 so hopefully will be able to look at the update in the morning.

I will test on FTV2 and 3 and report back.

#18

You are correct - didnt realize i still have mcrbuddy running it was transcoding everything to progressive

#19

LMK if you are seeing improvements to tuning speed or not.

#20

Yes it is definitely quicker. A bit pixelated for the first few seconds and sometimes a bit of a speed up in framerate before it settles down. Then it’s fine. Combing is visible on Gen2 in both HD and SD but as I said not unwatchable. Haven’t rigged up the Gen3 yet because the kids are hogging the TVs at the moment watching Netflix. Apparently Altered Carbon is very good according to my 13 year old. Once they have gone to bed I’ll plug it in.

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#21

Does the CPU speed have an effect on starting to play streams if FFMPEG has to probe the streams before handing the decoding off to the hardware? Perhaps that’s why the ATV 4K seems very quick compared to the FTV. I will also be interested in a side by side test with the FTV 2 vs 3 given that the 3 has a slower CPU (but better equipped GPU). I will let you know what I find later tonight.

#22

4 posts were split to a new topic: How many hours of guide data is there?

#23

How are things looking after a few days of use?

#24

I’ve uploaded a new FireTV build which has further improvements for tuning time for both 1080i mpeg2 as well as h264. Playback should now be smoother and more reliable, and video quality might be slightly improved as well.

#25

Much better. Quicker tuning and stable video. Thanks

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#26

Are you seeing faster tuning now as well?

#27

Today I plugged in my FTV3 which I haven’t used for about a week. It updated itself and I’m glad to say 1080i H264 and 576i MPEG2 (the 2 types of OTA video streams in the UK) now deinterlace properly.

I am using 1.0.3 on my FTV2 and FTV3. The FTV2 doesn’t deinterlace but is quicker to tune and is stable. The FTV3 still takes about 7 seconds to tune and there are still app restarts aplenty.

#28

Huh that’s strange. Can you tune a channel and then submit diagnostics.

#29

I’ve submitted a few app stop/restarts and a slow tune. The FTV3 is wired via the official ethernet adapter to the same gigabit hub the HDHR is connected to.

#30

Okay I see one issue. Can you open this in chrome and email me the file: http://192.168.86.38:5004/auto/v12?duration=30

#31

Please send me a sample when you get a chance.

#32

I’ve uploaded beta build 38 which should fix the 7 second tuning times you were seeing.

#33

Just tried it on my FTV2. Have to say it is BRILLIANT. The tuning is super quick. No crashes so far. And DVR playback is included. Amazing. Will try it on my FTV3 tomorrow.

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