MKV Full HD Stutter

[#1]

I only refer to blu-ray’s (full HD). I only rip via mkv.remux , or m2ts passthrough (IE no compression / re-encode),  to maintain the best possible quality with no compromise. I never re-encode in any way preserving the original AVC or VC-1 transfer. I only play via a WD HDD directly connected via USB.

I prefer ripping to MKV as the WD media player (current & previous devices) is smoother to FF, or RW a MKV, & additionally I have more success when forced subs are required in the rip (ripping just the forced subs to external file) with MKV.

For some time now I have noticed some (normally minor) skipping, or stutter when watching some MKV’s. This is not a regular timed event (not a frame mismatch), & just intermittent, dependant on the scene in the transfer. I think I mostly see it on VC-1, & I read this can happen if the bit rate is too high.

My friend has this exact same issue too hence it occurs on his set up & mine which totally differ (IE we have different TV’s, & rip via different computers, & view via our own separate HDD’s whicj are USB connected. We both have our media library function disabled. Naturally he has WD media players too (including New Live).

Following are some facts I have noticed-

1/ MKV stutter occurs on new WD Live on latest firmware (again, only minor, dependant on the scene & only on some rips)

2/ If I rip to m2ts stutter does not occur

3/ MKV stutter WILL NOT occur on Old WD live on FW 1.04.17 & all earlier firmware’s

4/ Similar point to above, but MKV stutter WILL NOT occur on older WD HD TV player

5/ Interestingly, or coincidentally, this issue started when WD FW introduced “auto, match FPS”

6/ MKV stutter WILL NOT occur via my Seagate GoFlex media player (Realtek chipset)

7/ as a test I ripped a VC-1 blu-ray to MKV H.264 (which is very time consuming compared to straight MKV remux) & this fixed the stutter.

 I will not pretend to know half as much as most people on these forums. But points 1 to 7 are known facts to me (& validated by a second “tester”). And, I only raise this as WD Old Live 1.04.17 & prior was fine. This minor bug has just crept in with 1.04.22 (old Live), & still remains in New Live player on latest firmware, still today.

QUESTION – Are WD aware of this?? Can it be rectified considering earlier firmware’s / devices were immune to this ?? 

Many thanks, Wayne.

Extra Info As Requested -

Which Firmware??    WD TV Live Streaming 1.01.43 & 1.03.10. WD Live (old) all firmware from 1.04.22 to current (IE all firmware including & before 1.04.17 there is no fault)

What Happened??   minor stutter when playing some full HD MKV. Explained in more detail as above.

What Were You Doing??   Watching full HD MKV

Does This Happen Every Time??   Yes on the same files, but only effects some MKV rips (assume depending AVC vs VC-1, & the bit rate) - but only talking main stream popular blu-ray releases that i have personally purchase then ripped to the HDD

What Harware & Media Were You Using??   WD Live Streaming Player. WD  Elements 2TB HDD, USB connected. Problem also validated by my friend with same issue at different location. I have 10 different 2TB WD HDD's, all the same....

Did This Happen With Previous Firmware??   Yes on some, no on others IE  WD Live Streaming both 1.01.43 & 1.03.10. And, FYI on WD Live (old) all firmware from & inc 1.04.22 (on Old Live, 1.04.17 & earlier  do not have this issue)

Does Power Cycling the unit solve this??   No

Does resetting to factory defaults solve this??  No

Have you tried this on other devices??   Yes. I have no problmen with the Old Live on firmware 1.04.17 & earlier. Problem started on Old Live player on 1.04.22 & has remained even now in New Live Streaming player. Note - older WD HD TV has no problem either (1.01.77) Also please note Seagate GoFlex media player does not have this same problem either.

[#2]

1.06.04 no change, problem still remains.

ScorpioBlue, RE the old Live, correct  1.04.17 is the last FW i get smooth full HD MKV / VC-1 to work. Interestingly, the next  FW 1.04.31 (with the Jumpy Menu glitch) where they implemented auto / match FPS & from then on is when this happened. But this issue is not a regular FPS mismatch, as it is a random stutter which i see more in dark scenes. 

[#3]

I am also experiencing this stuttering / frame drop issue. It occurs when playing 1080p mkv files in 24p mode. As others have noted there isn't any timed pattern to it, but I have noticed one odd thing: The frame drops seem to occur at the same places, when you skip back and play the scene again.

The problem is the same when playing from local media or network (both samba and media server). 

I have tested this in fw ver. 1.03.10 and 1.06.04.

WD, please look into this and fix it. The SMP is a broken device as long as it can't play 1080p at 24p.

[#4]

New firmware seems to have somewhat reduced the stutter on mkv's. I still notice it on slow moving panning scenes.

As mentioned several times in this thread, this problem does not exist on my old WDTV live. 

[#5]

I am having exactly the same issue... even with the new firmware (1.07). I am still getting jerky playback on some mkv files. Again emphasising the points above, this problem did not exist on the 2nd generation HD Media player. Beginning to wish I kept the 2nd generation - played HD files brilliantly.

Cannot stress how important this issue is and that it should take top priority!

[#6]

I get this also especially with 1080p rips.. I usually switch between match frame rate on/off seems to fix it sometimes. But I think this is a very big issue that needs to be looked at it gets very annoying.

[#7]

Resolved;

I've been having this stuttering issue for some time now, with HD mkv files. I resolved the issue last night from the suggestions on this site. I first enabled the Flow Control on the NAS network card (Win Server 2008), but I think the fix lies in the fact that I put the HDMI output config in the WD Live to AUTO instead of whatever was there. I've replayed any movie without a hickup since. I have the latest firmware for the box.

[#8]

also reporting stutter here - ONLY with files that are 24,00 fps 

doesn't matter if it's 1080p or 720p - 24,00 fps seems to be problematic in my experience.

- 23,976 plays fine!

[#9]

I can confirm some 1080p MKVs stutter on my WD TV Live, but NOT on my AC Ryan HD mini 1. Why is this?? Isn't this supposed to be a better media player? I did buy this media player because of the positive reviews and I am really surprised my 3 year old AC Ryan handles MKVs better than my WD TV Live!

[#10]

By the way, I am using an external USB harddisk (Samsung S2 320GB) which is not fragmented. So this does not explain the stuttering. The MKV's play fine on another mediaplayer. So it has to be a firmware issue since I would expect the SIgma 8670 chip should easily handle full 1080p mkv files.

Until this ain't fixed I will not sell my older mediaplayer, sorry WD but I am sure you will sort this out soon!