Just got my TV Live Plus unit and I am having problems with video pausing every 30 seconds or so, then after about 10 seconds playback begins, and then pauses again about 30 seconds. This repeat on a regular basis.
My test file is an MPG file. I have tried playback from (1) USB stick (2) USB HDD (3) network share drive (DNS-323 NAS) and the behavior is identical (regularly pausing of the playback as described above).
The test MPG file plays back normally from a PC, so there is nohting wrong with the file.
The WD TV Live Plus automatically under went two firmware upgrades when I first connected it to the network, so I think I am running the current firmware.
See the MediaInfo data on the test MPG file, as requested.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.
–Rob
General
Complete name : D:\Capture\TV\Hawaii Five-0_WCBSDT_2011_10_31_22_00_10.mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 7.03 GiB
Duration : 1h 3mn
Overall bit rate : 15.9 Mbps
Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@High
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Duration : 1h 3mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 15.2 Mbps
Nominal bit rate : 17.1 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : Component
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.245
Stream size : 6.72 GiB (96%)
Audio
ID : 128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Duration : 1h 3mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -83ms
Stream size : 173 MiB (2%)
Text #1
ID : 224 (0xE0)-608-1
Format : EIA-608
Muxing mode : A/53 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1
Stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)
Text #2
ID : 224 (0xE0)-1
Format : EIA-708
Muxing mode : A/53 / DTVCC Transport
Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1
Stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)
FYI, I tested in 720p30 MOV file and it playsback without Pausing.
The Pausing behavior may be specific to the MPG files, the source of which is Windows Media Center (broadcast QAM) via the WTVConverter (removes the WTV container and outputs a MPEG2 Program Stream container) from DVRSoft.
I opened a trouble ticket with WD. Based on their initial analysis of the file’s MediaInfo data (above) tech support indicated the file is compatible for the TV Live Plus player and should not exhibit the repetitive pausing behavior reported.
I was requested to reset the unit to factory defaults and retry. This had no effect on the problem. I am waiting a reply from Tech Support.
FYI, I took these same MPG files and used “tsMuxR” to place the contents in a MPEG Transport Stream (*.ts) container. The TV Live Plus player does not exhibit the repetitive pausing behavior for these TS files that it does when playing the Program Stream versions.
This is 60i video, straight from Windows Media Center recording of clear channel QAM (CATV). I am not sure why MediaInfo is not showing the “ScanType” parameter for this file. The G-Spot Video Appliance indicates interlaced, as expected given the CATV source.
The source files are MPEG-2 in the WTV container. (Vista Media Center TV Pack 2008)
Workflow: MPEG2.WTV => MPEG2.mpg
(Vista Media Center TV Pack 2008) => (DVRSoft’s “WTV to MPEG Converter”) => (TV Live Plus repetitive pausing on playback)
I am wondering if the WTV-MPEG Converter is sometimes creating a corrupted file. I have found (based on some spot checking) that the MPG files that display a ScanType parameter when analyzed by MediaInfo seem to playback without pausing with TV Live Plus, but those where a ScanType parameter is not displayed by MediaInfo exhibit the playback pauses with TV Live Plus. Same workflow as above. It seems my “test file” just happened to be one of these apparently corrupted MPEG Program Stream containers.
I will do more investigation and update the thread…
I have spent a little more time exploring this issue. It seems all the MPG files created from the Workglow above [(Vista Media Center TV Pack 2008) => (DVRSoft’s “WTV to MPEG Converter”)] exhibit the periodic pausing on playback behavior. It seems the MPG files that properly display the ScanType parameter within MediaInfo also freeze, but at a less frequent rate. Recall this behavior happens even for locally stored (USB connected) files.
Transport stream versions of the same files seem to play without the pausing behavior exhbited by the program stream versions (MPG). The transport stream creation wokflow is:
TS Workflow: MPEG2.WTV => MPEG2.mpg => MPEG2.ts
(Vista Media Center TV Pack 2008) => (DVRSoft’s “WTV to MPEG Converter”) => (tsMuxR) => (TV Live Plus playback OK )
I upgraded my WTV-to-MPG convering program (i.e., DVRSoft’s “WTV to MPEG Converter”) to the latest version (v3.6.2.144) and the playback pausing of MPG files has ceased. I have only tested this on a limited number of recordings, but it appears solid.
FYI, I also shared a sample MPG video with WD tech support for further analysis, although the current DVRSoft’s “WTV to MPEG Converter” now seems to be producing program stream output that is TV Live Plus friendly.
