Choppy video :(

[arathur]

I just bought a Boxee DSM-380 off ebay. The unit is in good condition. Today I started it up for the first time and updated it to the latest firmware (as of 3/23/2012). The first thing I want to mention is that I really like the interface; it's so nice and clean and my media was so ridiculously easy to find and set up. My movies (they're all 720p and in various formats like mkv, wmv, mp4 and avi) all start up quickly with no delay and everything seems to be perfect. The problem is that while the audio is perfect, the video is constantly choppy or lags. For example, if I'm watching a 720p soccer match that I have on my PC, it looks smooth when the players are running with the ball, but when the ball is kicked, it moves with a very choppy manner in the air and you can tell something is wrong with the video. The quality of the video is just fine and the lag/choppiness is the only problem.

Important information:
-Boxee DSM-380 (latest firmware)
-videos all 720p (mkv, mp4, avi and wmv)
-Windows 7 Ultimate, x64
-AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+, 2.30 GHz, 4.0 GB ram
-Nforce 430 with GeForce 6150SE (old, integrated video card)
-AT&T Uverse, up to 6 Mbps download.
-Running Netgear HDX101 powerline adapter from Uverse router to basement directly into Boxee box.


Although the computer is old, I'm assuming it's mostly a combination of the video card and the powerline adapters that is causing the problem. Can you guys give me any advice? Thanks.

[jasmeet_9sb]

Please post the video file's info using mediainfo .

Also computer's video card won't affect the video quality as long as you're accessing that file over SMB/AFP/NFS and not using a third party UPnP/DLNA server which decodes the video into a different format !

[arathur]

General
Unique ID : 229409543970004434403830392166915858158 (0xAC96ABC85C3B011F9103D62FF6F55EEE)
Complete name : D:\Videos\2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™\(7-2-10) Quarter-Finals - Netherlands v. Brazil, Nelson Mandela Bay-Port Elizabeth - Port Elizabeth, Match #57.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 2.19 GiB
Duration : 1h 37mn
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 3 204 Kbps
Movie name : fifa.world.cup.2010.quarter.final.holland.vs.brazi l.720p.hdtv.x264-fairplay
Encoded date : UTC 2010-07-02 21:22:49
Writing application : mkvmerge v4.0.0 ('The Stars were mine') built on Jun 6 2010 16:18:42
Writing library : libebml v1.0.0 + libmatroska v1.0.0

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 37mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 884 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 030 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 25.0 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.125
Stream size : 1.97 GiB (90%)
Writing library : x264 core 100 r1659 57b2e56
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3030 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=25000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00 / nal_hrd=vbr
Default : No
Forced : No

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 37mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 12ms
Stream size : 179 MiB (8%)
Default : No
Forced : No




*I wanted to add that I appreciate your reply. Also, I wanted to let you know that I use the Shark007 Windows 7 codec pack with the additional x64 components add-on. For someone who watches mostly 720p mkv files both ON the PC and via streaming, or even for all-pupose video-watching, is this a good codec pack?

[Prospero424]

Does your display support 25fps playback natively?

[arathur]

Sorry but I don't know much about the technical aspects of video, but here's my display: LG 55LD520 55in 1080p 120Hz Flat Panel LCD HDTV. Hope that helps.

I forgot to mention that I had video problems with other HD videos too. Some of my bluray backups, at frame rates of 23.976 fps, were also giving me some problems. It seemed to me that the video was a LITTLE fast but still kinda in sync. It's very hard to explain.

[M1ster_Happy]

Sorry but I don't know much about the technical aspects of video, but here's my display: LG 55LD520 55in 1080p 120Hz Flat Panel LCD HDTV. Hope that helps.

I forgot to mention that I had video problems with other HD videos too. Some of my bluray backups, at frame rates of 23.976 fps, were also giving me some problems. It seemed to me that the video was a LITTLE fast but still kinda in sync. It's very hard to explain.

I notice something similar with TruMotion turned on. Try turning it off if you haven't already.

[berwyn.lloyd]

Apologirs if this is the incorrect answer etc (I am not a techie person). But I had issues for ages with videos playing choppily, as if they were always buffering.. slight skipping in the pic. In the end, it turned out my Boxee was not automatically set to match framerates. You find it in the settings options. Video has been running perfectly smoothly since then!

[jasmeet_9sb]

...........................
General
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 37mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 884 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 3 030 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 25.0 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.125
Stream size : 1.97 GiB (90%)
Writing library : x264 core 100 r1659 57b2e56
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 /
.....................
*I wanted to add that I appreciate your reply. Also, I wanted to let you know that I use the Shark007 Windows 7 codec pack with the additional x64 components add-on. For someone who watches mostly 720p mkv files both ON the PC and via streaming, or even for all-pupose video-watching, is this a good codec pack?

@arthur please try the suggestions posted by other members. I hope one of them would work !!

If none of these help please have a look at this jira ticket reported by other users, the file info mentioned there seems pretty much same as yours, so its a known issue with Format profile: High@L4.1, please vote on the issue and post your logs there as well as open a support ticket with Boxee .

[arathur]

Wow, you guys came up with some good advice and I really appreciate it. I will try these things as soon as I get free time (probably this weekend) and I'll let you know what happens.

[arathur]

Here's an update:

As per "berwyn.lloyd's" suggestion, I checked and found out the option for matching framerates was already enabled. Next, I tried what "M1ster_Happy" said and turned OFF the TruMotion feature on my TV. After that, the judder was gone on my 720p (25 fps) soccer matches. Also, the "kinda fast video" effect on my bluray backups seems to be fixed as well. What I find strange is that I have never noticed any video problems when I watch HD tv shows and movies on cable TV (Uverse) or when I connect my laptop via HDMI to my TV; instead, I only encountered the TruMotion problem while using Boxee. Why is that the case?