Issues with bandwidth and other things

[gpapa]

I would like to talk about various things at this topic ( and after having read different topics ) and I will first of all say what my specs are

ps3 media server:

INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] Starting PS3 Media Server 1.72.0
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] by shagrath / 2008-2012
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] http://ps3mediaserver.org
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] https://github.com/ps3mediaserver/ps3mediaserver
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main]
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] Build: d9fd0a44c (2012-11-18)
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] Java: 1.7.0_13-Oracle Corporation
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.703 [main] OS: Windows XP x86 5.1
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.718 [main] Encoding: UTF-8
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:52.718 [main] Memory: 742 MB
...
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:53.093 [main] Using address /192.168.0.33 found on network interface: name:eth0 (Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport)
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:53.093 [main] Created socket: /192.168.0.33:5001
...
INFO 2013-02-16 22:10:59.890 [pool-7-thread-1] Renderer Sony Bravia 5500 found on this address: 192.168.0.155
INFO 2013-02-16 22:11:01.890 [pool-7-thread-1] Address /192.168.0.155 has an estimated network speed of: 48 Mb/s
...

pc: 4GB ram, cpu: intel core i5 760 @ 2.8GHz ( 4 cores )
os: win xp sp3
network switch: 1Gbps, the streaming pc is connected at 1Gbps to the switch ( WIRED )
TV: 32inch sony 5500 bravia kdl-32 recognized as sony bravia 5500 by ps3media server

- I have set as first engine tsMuxer ( no re-encoding ) because I noticed that the option to use tsMuxer if possible has been removed in this version.
- In general settings I've set maximum bandwidth to 600Mbps ( i believe that is the maximum practical bandwidth a 1Gbps connection can achieve )

Question 1: What ethernet card my tv has and what's it's connection bandwidth? 100Mbps or 1Gbps ? Does anyone know ? is there a way to find out ?

Question 2: I have two videos.

Video1: container: mp4, Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10) (avc1) Resolution: 720x404 Size: 256MBytes
Video2: container: mp4, Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10) (avc1) Resolution: 1280x536 Size: 812MBytes

Video1 plays fine in the TV, streamed by PS3 media server. Video2 only plays the sound, no video. The same goes for a higher resolution ( 1920x800 ) video. Does anyone know why ? ( no transcoding, just streaming from tsMuxer ).

Question 3:
In the common transcoding settings I've set:

buffer max size: 400MB
number of cores: 4
With MEncoder as engine i have used the following video quality settings for the aforementioned Video2 ( container: mp4, Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10) (avc1) Resolution: 1280x536 Size: 812MBytes ):

Setting1: keyint=2:vqscale=1:vqmin=2 --- Plays fine for 98% of scenes, in 2% fast moving, detailed scenes, or scenes with many people I get stuttering
Setting2: keyint=1:vqscale=1:vqmin=2 --- I get stuttering, bandwidth almost constantly near 40Mbps
Setting3: keyint=2:vqscale=1:vqmin=1 --- I get stuttering, bandwidth almost constantly near 40Mbps

The transcoding buffer status is FULL all the time ( so it's not an issue of the cpu not being able to transcode fast enough ). All the stuttering I see, is when the current bitrate during playback ( encoding ) reaches about 38-40Mbps ( megabit per second ).

So obviously, there is a problem with bandwidth ( which maybe tells us that t he tv-switch connection is 100Mbps ? ). Is it normal that the bandwidth goes up to 40Mbps for those settings ? So my question is why do I get these problems ? Are the settings too high quality ? I don't understand why full hd ( 1920x1080 ) blue ray plays fine from a blue ray player and never reaches 40Mbps and I'm having problems with a 720p video. Why should an MEncoder transcoded video reach 40Mbps ? What do you guys think ?

Question 4: Is there any chance that ps3 media server will move to C/C#/C++ ? I hate having java ( the definition of a security hole ) installed in my system just for streaming videos.


Question 5:
If I have a video which i stream through tsMuxer, but it has subtitles ( .srt ) does it mean it automatically gets transcoded despite the fact that I've chosen no transcoding ?



Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

[gpapa]

Sunday's update

for Video2 described above i tried :

keyint=5:vqscale=1:vqmin=1 /* Lossless quality */ and i get constant stuttering
keyint=5:vqscale=1:vqmin=2 /* Great quality */ no stuttering but the video skips the first 40 seconds or so

Another weird thing is that today ps3 media server says that the detected bitrate of the sony bravia is about 39Mbps ( yesterday it said 48Mbps ).

Last but not least, today the video does not start from the beginning but for some reason it skips the first 40-45 seconds. When this happens the transcode buffer goes to 0 from about 40MB and then starts again from 0 and fills up slowly.

I'm not sure I understand what's going on.

[jeanpierre92]

Debug.log tells me what connection speed my television has.

INFO 2013-02-17 16:39:05.262 [pool-5-thread-1] Renderer Philips TV found on this address: 192.168.0.199
INFO 2013-02-17 16:39:07.270 [pool-5-thread-1] Address /192.168.0.199 has an estimated network speed of: 85 Mb/s

Its 85Mb/s. Isn't that in your debug.log?

[gpapa]

jeanpierre92, yesterday it said 48 Mb/s ... today it says 39Mb/s ... any idea why it is so low compared to yours ?

[jeanpierre92]

Well, mine is always steady 85Mb/s. I portforwarded port 5001 and made an exception in my firewall. Also I have a big switch where I use the QoS ports. But you look like an experience user to me so I think you did the same?

The only problem that I face is that PMS sends 50Mbit/s sometimes but when I check that with Windows task manager its lower, around 25Mbit/s.

[gpapa]

i have a gigabit level1 switch. i will try to change the cable that goes to the TV to be cat6 ( though i don't think it will change anything ) ... what brand is your tv ?

[jeanpierre92]

Philips smart tv 6000-series 55inch.

[gpapa]

Hi guys, I hate to bump posts, but is there someone who could authoritatively give an expert opinion on these issues ?

thank you!

[meskibob]

The bandwidth reported by PMS is just a simple ping packet test and is not a realistic indicator of actual bandwidth. As for your stuttering issues (and other general questions), follow the FAQ - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3507&start=30#p42818