@Afullmark, thanks for offering to test! For this, we’re looking to confirm if the issue is isolated to the PMS transcoder and if it will be resolved on the client-side when we release with ExoPlayer 2. If it’s resolved on the client side, then we’ll need to progress with the server team on a fix for transcoding.
In our internal testing with the sample files you provided, channel audio and frame rate changes didn’t cause issues when playing back using ExoPlayer 2, however we’re hoping your testing will help confirm this is true in environments outside of our testing. We’re also looking to confirm how dvb_subtitles work with it, in the wild.
@Afullmark, I’ve enabled your Plex account to use ExoPlayer 2. This is account wide for all Android TV and mobile clients you might use, and is reversible if you choose not to stick with the alpha. Here are some steps to get started with testing:
You might need to close the Plex app on your Shield for the account update to take affect
Go into the Android Plex settings and enable Display Info Overlay. This will show you with player you are using and confirm it is v2 you are testing
Turn subtitles off and play affected media, ensuring it can be Direct Played without subtitles and confirm playback is fine with ExoPlayer 2
Turn subtitles on and play affected media, confirm if playback is fine with ExoPlayer 2
If playback works with subtitles turned off but fails with subtitles turned on, then we would be confident that the issue will be resolved for Direct Play when we release with ExoPlayer 2, and that an issue remains with the transcoder for the server devs to solve.
@kinoCharlino said: @Afullmark, thanks for offering to test! For this, we’re looking to confirm if the issue is isolated to the PMS transcoder and if it will be resolved on the client-side when we release with ExoPlayer 2. If it’s resolved on the client side, then we’ll need to progress with the server team on a fix for transcoding.
In our internal testing with the sample files you provided, channel audio and frame rate changes didn’t cause issues when playing back using ExoPlayer 2, however we’re hoping your testing will help confirm this is true in environments outside of our testing. We’re also looking to confirm how dvb_subtitles work with it, in the wild.
@Afullmark, I’ve enabled your Plex account to use ExoPlayer 2. This is account wide for all Android TV and mobile clients you might use, and is reversible if you choose not to stick with the alpha. Here are some steps to get started with testing:
You might need to close the Plex app on your Shield for the account update to take affect
Go into the Android Plex settings and enable Display Info Overlay. This will show you with player you are using and confirm it is v2 you are testing
Turn subtitles off and play affected media, ensuring it can be Direct Played without subtitles and confirm playback is fine with ExoPlayer 2
Turn subtitles on and play affected media, confirm if playback is fine with ExoPlayer 2
If playback works with subtitles turned off but fails with subtitles turned on, then we would be confident that the issue will be resolved for Direct Play when we release with ExoPlayer 2, and that an issue remains with the transcoder for the server devs to solve.
@kinoCharlino said: @Afullmark, thanks for offering to test! For this, we’re looking to confirm if the issue is isolated to the PMS transcoder and if it will be resolved on the client-side when we release with ExoPlayer 2. If it’s resolved on the client side, then we’ll need to progress with the server team on a fix for transcoding.
In our internal testing with the sample files you provided, channel audio and frame rate changes didn’t cause issues when playing back using ExoPlayer 2, however we’re hoping your testing will help confirm this is true in environments outside of our testing. We’re also looking to confirm how dvb_subtitles work with it, in the wild.
@Afullmark, I’ve enabled your Plex account to use ExoPlayer 2. This is account wide for all Android TV and mobile clients you might use, and is reversible if you choose not to stick with the alpha. Here are some steps to get started with testing:
You might need to close the Plex app on your Shield for the account update to take affect
Go into the Android Plex settings and enable Display Info Overlay. This will show you with player you are using and confirm it is v2 you are testing
Turn subtitles off and play affected media, ensuring it can be Direct Played without subtitles and confirm playback is fine with ExoPlayer 2
Turn subtitles on and play affected media, confirm if playback is fine with ExoPlayer 2
If playback works with subtitles turned off but fails with subtitles turned on, then we would be confident that the issue will be resolved for Direct Play when we release with ExoPlayer 2, and that an issue remains with the transcoder for the server devs to solve.
@kinoCharlino I tried exoplayer v2 with the sample sample that i sent you. Once you get to the part with the swans (see screenshot) then everything runs in slow motion, image and sound. Further, the audio channels do not change from 2.0 to 5.1 (which they do fine using kodi and the plex add-on).
Thanks for the report. We’ve been able to reproduce the issue at the 2:47 mark where the swan is. With ExoPlayer v2 in Plex it slows down at that point. The recording at 2:47 also appears messed up when playing with VLC Player. Though, in VLC it’s not broken in quite the same way – audio cuts in and out constantly after 2:35. FFmpeg plays the video perfectly. ExoPlayer v2 is via FFmpeg though, so we probably have not reconfiguring it correctly during the audio change. We should be able to add support for this, but I am learning there is significant work needed on the server side to support these channels. I’ve updated our internal issue ticket with this.
We have another user in the UK testing ExoPlayer v2 on the SHIELD and they haven’t had these playback issues. Is the channel used to record this sample the only one that exhibits this? Do other recordings on this channel also break in the same or similar way?
@kinoCharlino - I’m also very happy to be an alpha tester as well. I’ve reported the issues on this forum that I’ve been having in the UK with HD content recorded and played back via Plex, Shield and HDHomerun, since I bought it in June.
@D-a-n-B said:
I’m also very happy to be an alpha tester as well. I’ve reported the issues on this forum that I’ve been having in the UK with HD content recorded and played back via Plex, Shield and HDHomerun, since I bought it in June.
Thanks for offering! I’ve enabled ExoPlayer v2 on your Plex account. No app updates needed, it will be transparent once you reboot your client device. Let me know how it goes for you.
Thanks for the report. We’ve been able to reproduce the issue at the 2:47 mark where the swan is. With ExoPlayer v2 in Plex it slows down at that point. The recording at 2:47 also appears messed up when playing with VLC Player. Though, in VLC it’s not broken in quite the same way – audio cuts in and out constantly after 2:35. FFmpeg plays the video perfectly. ExoPlayer v2 is via FFmpeg though, so we probably have not reconfiguring it correctly during the audio change. We should be able to add support for this, but I am learning there is significant work needed on the server side to support these channels. I’ve updated our internal issue ticket with this.
We have another user in the UK testing ExoPlayer v2 on the SHIELD and they haven’t had these playback issues. Is the channel used to record this sample the only one that exhibits this? Do other recordings on this channel also break in the same or similar way?
Done some more testing. All broadcast via BBC channels that have frame rate and audio channel change do the same thing. Blue Planet 2 does this too. Also, when enabling subtitles - thus transcode of video and audio - the audio channels do not change from 2.0 to 5.1 as they should at start of movie.
Hi guys, I’ve done some testing tonight with direct playing (and no subtitles). I get exactly the same slow motion issue with my recording of Blue Planet 2, but that is the only issue like that so far. Everything else I’ve tried (Have I got news for you, Grand Designs, Casualty, Handmaids Tale, etc - all BBC 1, BBC 2 or C4) have played fine, where previously they would either not start at all or the picture would be frozen. This is fantastic progress!!!
The only blip I found was if I quickly and repeatedly click the right-arrow to skip forwards a few seconds, after about ten or so it freezes and says it has lost connection with the server (which is also on the Shield), but if I click Retry it plays fine from the correct point. It feels like its input queue got swamped and so it stopped accepting inputs and hence the player thinks it’s not responding, then by the time I’ve clicked Retry it has caught up.
I’ll do some more testing over the next few days and let you know if I discover anything else.
It happens when the transcoder hangs. I had to reboot to fix it, and it’s only happened once since build 4401 whereas previously it happened almost consistently.
If it happens again, I’ll grab logs. However this is probably off topic for this thread, so I’ll post on the other.
I’m a little confused with my testing of Exoplayer2. I recorded The Apprentice - previously it wouldn’t play back correctly - audio would play but the video would freeze. Common issue.
Exoplayer2 has fixed playback - I get the same issue as mentioned in the previous post - pressing right several times in succession has issues - I got the same connection lost error.
Furthermore, can someone else confirm that The Apprentice (on BBC One HD) should have subtitles? My TS recording has none. Also everything appears to be recorded in stereo - I’ll try recording Blue Planet II when next on, as that appears to have both subtitles and 5.1?
And just to throw my other beef into the mix whilst all you UK folk are here - shows with 2 episodes per evening (Emmerdale & Coronation Street I’m looking at you…) only ever record the first episode because there is nothing to differentiate the episodes because they are listed as Month/Day and the only difference is the synopsis which doesn’t appear to be taken into account. So… I can’t use Plex to record the wife’s soaps. I’ve made a thread about it, and also logged it as a Gracenote issue using the form, but I’ve had no response, so dunno if it’s even been noticed.
I’d love to get this working properly primarily for recording live tv, because I’d like to post process and remove adverts and so on, but at the moment I daren’t even think of adding post processing into the mix given the current issues with it!
@psykix, 2160% looks like a new level of “doneness!” Can you get me full PMS logs please?
Furthermore, can someone else confirm that The Apprentice (on BBC One HD) should have subtitles? My TS recording has none. Also everything appears to be recorded in stereo - I’ll try recording Blue Planet II when next on, as that appears to have both subtitles and 5.1?
Plex DVR cannot capture UK dvb subtitles. They say they will correct this soonish:
@psykix, for the issue where the DVR gets stuck and the recording doesn’t save to the library properly, we’ve nailed down a root cause and are testing a patch right now. Looks promising. I’ve commented on our progress in that same thread you linked. I was just making sure this wasn’t something different.
Not sure if it is just me, but Exoplayer2 seems to not play nicely with movie playback. I get a regular stutter, both on 1080p and Ultra HD (although i’m playing on a Pioneer 1080p Kuro)
Can anyone else confirm or is everyone else working fine on movies?
I’ve tried several movies of differing resolution and differing sound formats and all seem to have a rhythmic stutter!
@psykix said:
Not sure if it is just me, but Exoplayer2 seems to not play nicely with movie playback. I get a regular stutter, both on 1080p and Ultra HD (although i’m playing on a Pioneer 1080p Kuro)
Movie playback on Shield with Exo2 is fine here. Do you have auto refresh rate enabled?
@psykix, one other thing. ExoPlayer v2 in Plex is pre-release, so it’s not entirely ready for prime time yet. I’m told that you could experience other issues with library playback, and that is to be expected at this stage. If you would like me to revert you, just say so and I’ll take care of it.
