H.264 woes

sgbroimp

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#61

Post by sgbroimp » Wed Jul 05, 2017 2:00 pm

Interesting idea. Are you having issues on just the encoded (copy once) h.264 channels or all of them?

webminster

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#62

Post by webminster » Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:59 pm

Shark007 codecs can be used instead of the Microsoft foundation for live TV (e.g., using FFMPEG). However, it's guaranteed to not work on any DRM channels. Only MS' PlayReady-integrated EVR path will work on DRM'ed content.
-Alan

foxbat121

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#63

Post by foxbat121 » Thu Jul 06, 2017 1:26 pm

I'm on Cox and have no issue with H.264 copy-once channels on either my Intel HD video or Xbox 360. This issue only occurs on Comcast AFAIK. And 3rd party codec pack won't work because it will break the protected playback chain and no longer capable of viewing any copy-once channels.

Good luck. In the past Comcast has put blame squarely on Microsoft.

mpcookson

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#64

Post by mpcookson » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:34 am

I upgraded my Comcast channel pack yesterday to add more movie channels, never had a black screen + audio problem until now. I only had HBO before and its DRM'ed H264 which works fine (on the WMC PC, but not on the Xbox 360 extenders).

In trying to figure it out, it appears to be a problem of watching a DRM'ed MPEG2 channel after coming from a DRM'ed H264 or unprotected OTA channel. If I go to an unprotected MPEG2 channel, it works, and then I go to a DRM MPEG2 channel and it works.

So, if I want to watch Starz Encore, I have to go to Sundance and then I can go to Encore. It won't work if I go to Encore straight from HBO. Annoying for sure, but at least it works. I don't know about a recording, however, and I suspect that they won't actually record right (but maybe it's a playback issue). I don't usually record the movie channels, so hopefully I'll be able to live with this work around.

For what it's worth, I figured this out with the 4-1-1-info (control-d on keyboard) secret. That's a pretty cool info display. Anyone know of any other debug screens like that?

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#65

Post by foxbat121 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:48 am

mpcookson wrote:I upgraded my Comcast channel pack yesterday to add more movie channels, never had a black screen + audio problem until now. I only had HBO before and its DRM'ed H264 which works fine (on the WMC PC, but not on the Xbox 360 extenders).

In trying to figure it out, it appears to be a problem of watching a DRM'ed MPEG2 channel after coming from a DRM'ed H264 or unprotected OTA channel. If I go to an unprotected MPEG2 channel, it works, and then I go to a DRM MPEG2 channel and it works.

So, if I want to watch Starz Encore, I have to go to Sundance and then I can go to Encore. It won't work if I go to Encore straight from HBO. Annoying for sure, but at least it works. I don't know about a recording, however, and I suspect that they won't actually record right (but maybe it's a playback issue). I don't usually record the movie channels, so hopefully I'll be able to live with this work around.

For what it's worth, I figured this out with the 4-1-1-info (control-d on keyboard) secret. That's a pretty cool info display. Anyone know of any other debug screens like that?
This has been the WMC issue for very long time, separate from the h.264 issue on Xbox 360 and Intel GPU. Recording is not affected because it could careless what format the video is encoded as. The recorder just dump the raw video stream from tuner to the disk.

Space

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#66

Post by Space » Fri Jul 07, 2017 7:40 am

foxbat121 wrote:...

This has been the WMC issue for very long time, separate from the h.264 issue on Xbox 360 and Intel GPU. Recording is not affected because it could careless what format the video is encoded as. The recorder just dump the raw video stream from tuner to the disk.
Recording can be affected by this bug. The stream may be fine, but it appears that WMC cannot play back the recording due to it not knowing what codec the video portion is using (so you get audio with a black screen).

It's not clear exactly what triggers the issue, but watching an MPEG4 channel on a particular tuner can affect an MPEG2 recording that later uses that same tuner.

foxbat121

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#67

Post by foxbat121 » Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:02 pm

Space wrote:
foxbat121 wrote:...

This has been the WMC issue for very long time, separate from the h.264 issue on Xbox 360 and Intel GPU. Recording is not affected because it could careless what format the video is encoded as. The recorder just dump the raw video stream from tuner to the disk.
Recording can be affected by this bug. The stream may be fine, but it appears that WMC cannot play back the recording due to it not knowing what codec the video portion is using (so you get audio with a black screen).

It's not clear exactly what triggers the issue, but watching an MPEG4 channel on a particular tuner can affect an MPEG2 recording that later uses that same tuner.
That's the same playback issue as on live TV. Live TV in WMC is not exactly live, it plays from the live TV buffer.

JonB65

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#68

Post by JonB65 » Sat Jul 08, 2017 3:31 pm

Thanks for the responses. I honestly can't remember if I installed a codec pack many years ago to enable mkv files to be played back in WMC using ArcSoft's HomeTheater software. It's been so long! Going to hold off and not mess with it for now. I don't watch tv that often and now can't remember how to check the problem. It isn't apparent right now and I did install EPG123 on July 4th, so more variables, though that shouldn't matter at all except I altered my channel lineup. Lots of rambling here! If the issue appears again, I'll pay attention and post back. Thanks again.

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ExtraMedium

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#69

Post by ExtraMedium » Sat Jul 08, 2017 4:52 pm

This one has sucked. Happened for me for Comcast/Xfinity in Mont Co Maryland. I 1st had the cable card replaced. Then contacted Silicon Dust. They told me I needed to upgraded my graphics card. I looked on amazon and asked them if the "EVGA GeForce GT 1030 SC 2GB GDDR5 Low Profile Graphic Cards 02G-P4-6333-KR" would do the trick. They said yes, a bunch of people there have done this.

Ordered the equipment. Installed it. It actually flipped things around where before I was only getting non-HD premium and the HD stuff had no picture. Now I only get the HD ones and the non-HD stations don't get picture.

Wrote them again and I got a "Comcast has a bug where H.264 and MPEG2 will do this" and that I'm basically screwed.

So...... yeah. We're kind of stuck now. Eh? Comcast isn't going to fix this right? Unless it's happening to TiVo users too. Is it?

webminster

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#70

Post by webminster » Sat Jul 08, 2017 5:31 pm

Not the TiVo users. My Bolt+ has no issues with this. This and the extenders bug is WMC, and unless Comcast changes the signal they deliver to work around it (not the least likely) it's the new normal for WMC on Comcast.
-Alan

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#71

Post by Ken H » Sun Jul 09, 2017 6:46 pm

ExtraMedium wrote:
Wrote them again and I got a "Comcast has a bug where H.264 and MPEG2 will do this" and that I'm basically screwed.

So...... yeah. We're kind of stuck now. Eh? Comcast isn't going to fix this right? Unless it's happening to TiVo users too. Is it?
As a Comcast subscriber using WMC, yes, we are probably screwed. But there is a remote possibility of a fix.

I'm currently in a dialog with a Comcast representative at the Comcast Direct forum at DSL Reports. At least they are now aware of the problem officially. We shall see.

To be candid, WMC now seems like a never ending parade of issues to be dealt with. My patience is nearing it's limit and TiVo looks like the next stop on my TV ride.

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#72

Post by webminster » Sun Jul 09, 2017 8:28 pm

I'm now using my Bolt+ and Minis about 99% of the time anymore. Comcast ruined the WMC experience for me, except for using WMC as a music and Bluray/DVD library. I'd like to see signal changes that make WMC enjoyable again for me, but I don't expect any. The next real step I expect from them will be the IPTV rollout, and forcing people toward their X1 platform.

For me:
* The loss of premuim channels on the extenders;
* The worse picture quality, WMC seems to really expose how bad it looks (haven't figured out yet if it's poor Nvidia upscaling, or if TiVo has some extra processing to try to mask the quailty issues);
* 30-second skip doesn't work as well anymore on H.264 channels (picture takes longer to lock in and stop dithering, perhaps due to lower bitrate, not enough keyframes, something...).

Am just very sure that they have an agenda, and it's really not focused on customer satisfaction or picture quality. It's how much money that can make on their ISP side, and how much they can minimize losses on the TV side.
-Alan

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#73

Post by Ken H » Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:18 am

Latest Update: Comcast has a Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime on order to see if they can replicate the problem. More to come.

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Scallica

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#74

Post by Scallica » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:14 am

Ken H wrote:Latest Update: Comcast has a Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime on order to see if they can replicate the problem. More to come.
:shock:
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joelkirzner

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#75

Post by joelkirzner » Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:53 pm

3 out of 3 HTPC laptops I had suffered from the black screen/audio only with Comcast and premium movie channels.
All three of those systems had Intel-based GPUs.

Last week, I replaced two of the laptops with AMD and Nvidia based graphics and I no longer have any picture issues.

I don't see any resolution to this problem, other than replacing your entire laptop or desktop graphics card.

Does anyone know if Verizon FIOS has similar codecs for their picture?
My neighborhood is currently being wired for FIOS and I'm ready to jump ship to save some money and headaches.

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#76

Post by stuartm » Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:30 pm

Ken H wrote:Latest Update: Comcast has a Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime on order to see if they can replicate the problem. More to come.
That's good news. I still think the problem is a combo of Comcast MPEG2 stream parameters and WMC not recognizing the change when the tuner switched from MPEG2 to MPEG4 since there are reports of other Cable systems working properly in WMC when switching from MPEG4 to MPEG2. We know WMC can recognize the Comcast MPEG2 streams. I did a test test where I started up one of the problematic channels (in this case Encore Westerns) on a fresh start of WMC and it played properly and 411-info said the stream was MPEG2, I then tuned to an MPEG4 channel and it played properly and 411-info said it was h.264. I then re-tuned the MPEG2 channel and it was sound only and black screen, and 411-info said it was h.264! So I suspect that WMC did not try long enough and/or the markers indicating what stream type (don't know much about format of the data stream) don't occur often enough in a Comcast stream for WMC to detect the channel change had switched codec types.
I doubt Comcast can really do much about the Intel GPU not playing protected h.264 problem other than unprotecting all their h.264 ;)
One other obvious fix would be for Comcast to switch all their channels to h.264, but I doubt they are wanting to do that.
I'll be interested to hear what Comcast reports to you. Thanks for getting Comcast involved in looking at this problem.

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#77

Post by Ken H » Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:38 am

joelkirzner wrote:3 out of 3 HTPC laptops I had suffered from the black screen/audio only with Comcast and premium movie channels.
All three of those systems had Intel-based GPUs.

Last week, I replaced two of the laptops with AMD and Nvidia based graphics and I no longer have any picture issues.

I don't see any resolution to this problem, other than replacing your entire laptop or desktop graphics card.
It's not that simple.

I have 3 different PC's that I use for WMC. One is a desktop AMD CPU with nVidia GT 750 graphics card, one is a desktop AMD CPU with Radeon graphics R7 240 graphics card, and one is a laptop with Intel CPU and Intel integrated graphics. All 3 have the exact same problem.

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#78

Post by johndoug » Sun Jul 23, 2017 5:23 pm

Longtime Media Center user. A couple months ago without any changes on my end, i got error messages on tv through the HP media extender. I also lost my guide.

Through lots of reinstalls and troubleshooting, i've gotten it a little better.

I got my guide and can watch HD channels from the PC only. Non-HD shows a black screen on my PC, but will often play the audio of the newly selected channel.

But on the TV through the extenders, live or recorded shows, including the HD that i can see on the PC, i get the error message:

"Video can not be displayed" - "The format used for this video is not supported on this Media Center. To view this video, play it directly on your Windows PC"

I've had comcast technicians (plural) come out, swap cards a handful of times, do their troubleshooting, but it didn't help.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Moderator note: topic merged; search before posting]

stuartm

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#79

Post by stuartm » Sun Jul 23, 2017 5:40 pm

You are experiencing the problems all of us who have Comcast service are seeing with their switch to h.264.
See this thread for the whole sad story: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10486

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#80

Post by droopie » Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:59 pm

stuartm wrote:You are experiencing the problems all of us who have Comcast service are seeing with their switch to h.264.
See this thread for the whole sad story: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10486
I'm in the Memphis area and have been experiencing this. I have 2 HD Homerun Primes and bought a Aura X5 mini Win10 PC on Amazon for about $110 iirc. Other than not being able to record HBO and Starz it works fine. I've had a hard time getting my Harmony remote to do what I need to make it easy for the family, so I bought a cheap remote that has a full keyboard on the back. I think a few more hours of tweaking and it will be ready to go. Even though I can't record HBO, I think thru Comcast I can get the HBO app so I can watch reruns anytime. I'll put Netflix on it and if the family can navigate it, it might be time to retire the X360.

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