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Video Playback on SX
Hey all,
Recently I got an email from someone that was upset about playback on their SXLE. I hadn't been aware that there were problems with playback, and I wanted to ask the question here:
Are you guys having problems with files playing back?
Do you feel that the SX servers are too restrictive in what they play back?
How can we improve them, understanding that we can't do everything that you might ask for? :)
Please note two things:
First, we've had some recent patches that solved all known issues about files playing back late by 1-2 seconds. If you've got this problem, be sure you get the latest patch from us.
Second, back-to-back playback on the same output port is scheduled for the next release. This will allow you to play two files back to back with 0 frames in between, regardless of format and cue. This is a feature that we intended for the initial release. I can't give you a time line as to when that will be done, but I wanted to post it publicly because we've received the question a couple of times lately.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your feedback. It makes us better! :)
Andrew Alan Starks
Co-Founder, Tightrope Media Systems
(866) 866-4118, 201
www.trms.com
Recently I got an email from someone that was upset about playback on their SXLE. I hadn't been aware that there were problems with playback, and I wanted to ask the question here:
Are you guys having problems with files playing back?
Do you feel that the SX servers are too restrictive in what they play back?
How can we improve them, understanding that we can't do everything that you might ask for? :)
Please note two things:
First, we've had some recent patches that solved all known issues about files playing back late by 1-2 seconds. If you've got this problem, be sure you get the latest patch from us.
Second, back-to-back playback on the same output port is scheduled for the next release. This will allow you to play two files back to back with 0 frames in between, regardless of format and cue. This is a feature that we intended for the initial release. I can't give you a time line as to when that will be done, but I wanted to post it publicly because we've received the question a couple of times lately.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your feedback. It makes us better! :)
Andrew Alan Starks
Co-Founder, Tightrope Media Systems
(866) 866-4118, 201
www.trms.com
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Inappropriate?Andrew,
Good info. Thanks for letting us know what's coming!!!
As for playback problems, as reported in Case #2865, I'm sitting here importing a program into the SX at the same time a program is playing. The program that is playing is stuttering.
John M. Goran, NCE
Cable TV Coordinator
Brunswick TV 3
28 Federal St.
Brunswick ME 04011
Office 207.725.0614
Fax 207.725.6637
tv3@brunswickme.org
www.brunswickme.org -
Inappropriate?Importing or encoding?
It shouldn't to that in either case, but it'd be helpful to know.
Andrew Alan Starks
Co-Founder, Tightrope Media Systems
(866) 866-4118, 201
www.trms.com
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Inappropriate?John,
How exactly are you "importing"? Are you using DVD Import? Are you running it on the server or on a separate computer? Or, are you encoding?
As for problems I've seen, most are the standard codec issues related to programs encoded externally. I know of one SX system that gets a LOT of SXplater.exe errors that pop up, but other than filling the desktop with the errors, the system seems to handle it relatively gracefully as it doesn't stop plyback or crash the system. I spoke to Brandon about it a while ago and the next time I'm at the site i was going to grab a copy of one of the files and send it to you so the boys could analyze the stream.
Jonathan Einarsen
Contract Video Specialists, Inc
(A Tightrope Dealer)
www.contractvideo.com -
Inappropriate?Importing using DVD Import 4.5.9 Build 2, loaded on my office machine, networked via gigabit.
John M. Goran, NCE
Cable TV Coordinator
Brunswick TV 3
28 Federal St.
Brunswick ME 04011
Office 207.725.0614
Fax 207.725.6637
tv3@brunswickme.org
www.brunswickme.org -
Inappropriate?John,
So, with DVD Import installed on a separate machine, the server playback stutters during the import??? Are you running DVD Import off the server and over the network or is it installed on the workstation? Does the problem happen before DVD Import starts to actually transfer the completed file? If I remember, DVD Import processes the file in a local working directory and doesn't drop the file until it's complete.
Do a CTL-ALT-DELETE on the server during the import to open task manager and take a look at available memory and prosess CPU usage. Look for something hogging resources.
Jonathan Einarsen
Contract Video Specialists, Inc
(A Tightrope Dealer)
www.contractvideo.com -
Inappropriate?Jonathan,
DVD Import is installed on my office machine, not on the server. As for the rest of the questions, I don't have any answers. I'll put that on the never ending list, and get to it when I can.
John M. Goran, NCE
Cable TV Coordinator
Brunswick TV 3
28 Federal St.
Brunswick ME 04011
Office 207.725.0614
Fax 207.725.6637
tv3@brunswickme.org
www.brunswickme.org -
Inappropriate?Can the SXLE play QuickTime, Windows Media 9 and MPEG-4 H.264 directly from the SXLE?
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Inappropriate?
quote:Originally posted by Portmedia
Can the SXLE play QuickTime, Windows Media 9 and MPEG-4 H.264 directly from the SXLE?
The short answer is yes, but there are restrictions. Quicktime, for example, isn't so much a format as it is a "container" for any number of formats. The accurate answer is that the SX series servers will play certain formats that are contained within the Quicktime wrapper. "AVI" is a container format in the same way.
Your best bet is to refer to the "Supported Video Formats" table that is listed in the SX Server Setup Guide, which ships with each server, and can be downloaded from our website at [url]http://www.trms.com/community/documen...[/url]. Each of those formats have been thoroughly tested here at TRMS.
For example, in that table you'll see that to play back an h.264 format file, it must be contained within a quicktime wrapper, have a ".mov" file extension, have a 720x480 resolution, and must use the standard NTSC framerate (29.97 fps). If the file falls outside of this specification, it will not play.
I hope that helps! [:)]
-John
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John Reilly
Development Lead
Tightrope Media Systems -
Inappropriate?Thanks. So the SX Server Setup Guide table says 720x486 for size but I've tried at the specs you listed - .mov file extension, 720x480 resolution, and NTSC framerate (29.97 fps).
The video just stutters and eventually hangs. This happens after the update as well. Can't get .avi or .wmv to work either.
How many people are using the SXLE for non MPEG2 playback? -
Inappropriate?
quote:Originally posted by Portmedia
...
The video just stutters and eventually hangs. This happens after the update as well. Can't get .avi or .wmv to work either.
...
Hmm. If you can send us a file that isn't working, we'd be happy to take a look and see what the trouble is. Give us a call and we'll set something up.
Thanks!
-John
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John Reilly
Development Lead
Tightrope Media Systems -
Inappropriate?One thing to keep in mind about h.264: The SX servers use QuickTime to decode h.264 and QuickTime will not play just any file.
For example, I was all hot and bothered about Nero's format called, creatively, Nero Digital AVC. It's their implementation of h.264 and you can make an interlaced 29.97 fps, 720x480 file in it that perfectly conforms to the SX server's specification. However, when you try to play it in iTunes or QuickTime Player it's choppy and the processor runs near the max. That means it won't work in the SX.
Take the same source and run it through Slyfox CloneDVDMobile, and it plays fine in QuickTime... but they don't have a profile compatible with the SX servers.
Bottom line, in h.264 as in MPEG-2, not all implementations are equal. From my reading on the interweb, QuickTime's version is very limited.
When we meet with the maker of our cards, we'll talk to them about this issue and about AC3 support.
As for wmv and AVI (AVI must be DV, 25mbit, 720x4780, 29.97, 48khz audio), I've never seen that not play. That has me flummoxed and I would need to see those files.
Andrew Alan Starks
Co-Founder, Tightrope Media Systems
(866) 866-4118, 201
www.trms.com
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Inappropriate?I am seeing all over the place that the SX units only playback Quicktime H264 in 720x486 frame dimensions. How does Pixel Aspect Ratio come into play here? Is 720x486 the frame dimensions of the source file, or is that really the dimensions of what the final .mov has to be?
AFAIK, Quicktime only encodes with Pixel Aspect Ratio of 1.0, which would mean 648x480 if you're converting from a 4x3 NTSC video. 720x486 implies some horizontal stretching.
I would test with my own SX2 but it won't arrive for another 3-4 weeks.
Thanks,
Curtis -
Inappropriate?"x 486" implies closed captioning is in there, or at least the space for the lines needed for it.
Michael Dube
617-290-6453
trmsboards@mikedube.com
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