Pixelation issues with MKV files

WD Legacy Products WD TV Live Streaming
1

Hello, I have been experiencing pixelation issues with my WD TV Live Streaming Media Player (WDBHG70000NBK-01) while trying to play MKV media files and to a lesser extent ISO files.  I believe that the ISO files may or may not be because of their resolution and the fact that I have the device using HDMI, however, I do not understand the issue with the MKV files.  I use the device strictly for animation and the files are 720p (the same resolution as my television) and all come from multiple sources.  I noticed that with the ISO and some of the MKV files the majority of the line art is crisp until there is movement or isolated in areas of movement.  These areas also display slightly washed out looking colours in and around the pixelation.  Other files are heavily pixelated when they work flawlessly on my pc.  I have tried switching the resolution and other settings from the menu and have updated to the latest firmware as well as downgraded to 1.03.10 and nothing seems to work.  I have had the device for about two weeks now and am trying to determine if I should take it back and exchange it or not.  I am unsure if the issue is with the media files or if the player itself is just a faulty unit.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

2

Please post the full TEXT output of MEDIAINFO for such a file.

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net

3

Hello TonyPh12345, thank you for the quick reply.  Is this the information that you wanted?  If it is the first is from a MKV file that has crisp lines until there is movement and the other is from one that is heavily pixelated.

General
Unique ID                                : 195563601503745036910627850213414805556 (0x93202DFB5E500614A9B2B73543B62034)
Complete name                            :
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 355 MiB
Duration                                 : 23mn 46s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 2 091 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2012-04-14 16:11:10
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v4.5.0 (‘Speed of Light’) built on Feb  1 2011 02:10:32
Writing library                          : libebml v1.2.0 + libmatroska v1.1.0

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames
Muxing mode                              : Header stripping
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 23mn 46s
Bit rate                                 : 1 889 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.085
Stream size                              : 321 MiB (90%)
Title                                    : Video
Writing library                          : x264 core 120 r2164 da19765
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / 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 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=18.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : Yes
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : Vorbis
Format settings, Floor                   : 1
Codec ID                                 : A_VORBIS
Duration                                 : 23mn 46s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 160 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 27.2 MiB (8%)
Title                                    : Audio
Writing library                          : aoTuV 20110424 (UTC 2011-04-24)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : Yes

General
Unique ID                                : 194678462296036308162195198705072302366 (0x9275B53FE6F4D0DF8A2247224E3B691E)
Complete name                            :
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 1
File size                                : 99.6 MiB
Duration                                 : 25mn 14s
Overall bit rate                         : 552 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2011-07-02 05:47:27
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v2.4.1 (‘Use Me’) built on Dec  5 2008 18:30:05
Writing library                          : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
Attachment                               : Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 25mn 14s
Nominal bit rate                         : 500 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 23.976 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.023
Writing library                          : x264 core 104 r1683 62997d6
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=8 / 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=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=500 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=17500 / vbv_bufsize=14000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00 / nal_hrd=none
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC
Duration                                 : 25mn 14s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Title                                    : English 5.1 Audio
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : **bleep**
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/**bleep**
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Title                                    : English OP/ED/Titles
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Menu #1
00:00:00.000                             : :00:00:00.000
00:02:02.998                             : :00:02:02.998
00:03:34.756                             : :00:03:34.756
00:10:17.575                             : :00:10:17.575
00:19:47.186                             : :00:19:47.186
00:21:19.778                             : :00:21:19.778
00:23:27.156                             : :00:23:27.156
00:23:42.171                             : :00:23:42.171

Menu #2
00:00:00.097                             : en:00:00:00.097 / en:00:00:00.097

4

I would say that its down to the very low bit rates on these videos. I’m not at all surprised that the second one is pixelated.

The first video: Bit rate: 1 889 Kbps

The second video: Nominal bit rate: 500 Kbps

5

Hello richUK, thank you for replying.  May I ask what a proper bitrate would be to use for my WD TV?  I did search for a higher one among my files and was able to find one with an overall bitrate of 1 974 kbps.  I put this file on a flash drive and played it with my WD TV and it was similar to the first.  This is somewhat disappointing though as the groups that I prefer all use bitrates between the 500 and 900 kbps range.  Or at least that is what I am seeing with MediaInfo.

I dont suppose that there is a workaround to the devices inability to play lower bitrate MKV files?

6

I would guess between 5-10 Mbps…

7

Well I found two other videos in the 1 900 kbps range, one being 480p, both of which are also similar to the first MKV file in quality.  I can see that this is most likely my issue and that I should stay in and above this range.

Thank you both for the assistance and mention of MediaInfo.