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]

I am also experiencing this issue with a brand new SMP running the latest firmware (as of May 3rd, 2012), but it completely disappears if I switch to 60Hz mode rather than 24Hz or auto refresh rate.

[#3]

I cannot believe this issue has still not been resolved. How long do we have to wait?

[#4]

I posted this issue originally. No improvement with 1.08.17.

Since have bought a Xreamer Prodigy (realtek 1186) & that has no issues with any MKV  1080P VC-1.  - as a side not though, & just for general peoples knowledge -  the Xtreamer Prodigy plays the 1080P at 24FPS & not 23.976FPS, so this is a issue for people that want to play ripped blu-rays perfectly.  But my main point is movies that i have issue on WD (MKV 1080P VC-1)  play smooth (apart from the 24 / 23.976 issue) on the Xtreamer (Realtek 1186 chip)

Have also tested same files on a Dune media player HD (Sigma 8642) & all good there too. You pay a much larger price for this player (compared to WD) & it lacks mutch glitz & glammer (GUI) but it is absolutley rock solid with the play back of the uncompressed blu-ray rips.

Sadly, I keep using my old 2nd gen WD Live on 1.04.10 (FW) and it plays all my uncompressed blu-ray rips perfect including MKV / M2ts, & yes, the MKV 1080P VC-1 ones. 

[#5]

I have this issue as well playing HD encodes. The 1080p MKVs I've recently watched have been freezing/stuttering at random times. Gigabit network here as well.

[#6]

I can also confirm i switched my video output format to 1080p 60hz and the micro stuttering / judder is non-existent on the problem files. It appears it only occurrs in 24p mode and auto.

[#7]

Hi WD.

Please look into your PTS interpolation routines between the decoder and the vid renderer queue. I've had the exact same symptom on a different media player product (I work as a developer for a CE company) and the root cause of the bug was in incorrect interpolation of PTS values when adjusting them for the video output frequency.

[#8]

Sample linked here:

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Firmware/Mkv-stutter-judder-disgusting-behaviour/td...

On the latest firmware (1.09.10) still stuttering @ 60Hz, notstutter @ 24Hz.

[#9]

No fix on 1.09.10

Note - above mentioned to play on 60HZ. That does not solve my specific issue though which is specific to MKV / VC-1, & occures at irregular times (think bit rate issue???) And again, Old WD Live, on older firware (NOT the newer firmwares) plays fine.

But,  as a very general comment, when you play a 23.976  material on 60 HZ play back, overall you get no  noticable regular stutter, bit i notice (in panning scenes) that the camera movement is not 100% smooth . Maybe more noticable in a bigger TV. When you play 23.976 material at 23.976 it is "pefection".

[#10]

There seem to be multiple issues being reported here and a lot from misunderstanding about smooth framerates, particularly as some people say 60hz is smooth, which is not possible with a Movie MKV as you'll experience 2:3 puldown, so they're completely missing the point - and must be experience other issues. Only 24p playback will give smooth playback.

I can't see WD fixing this issue until it is clear exactly what the issue is. Shouldn't this thread be talking purely about 24p/23.976 playback - even just 23.976 playback as that's the majority of MKV files (24.000hz files are fairly rare)

Possibly what I reported in this thread with the 23.976 MKV files jumping frames, is not related to this issue reported here by WayneJJ as he's talking just about VC-1 (he doesn't specifically mention playing at 24p), but it sounds similar. My MKV files that skip work perfectly fine when remuxed to M2TS/TS, more than likely as the hardware is doing all the work, whereas with MKV files additional software written by WD is used to demux. What stoffer said sounds most promising. This issue I've encountered also existed on the old WDTV live after 1.02.

[#11]

M2TS / VC-1 no problems, yes, just when the VC-1 is in MKV the issue "can" occur (in the more recent firmwares)

I actually prefer to rip to m2ts but DVDFAB which i use handles forced subtitles better when "to mkv" (means job finished first go without me needing to play around with subs later etc).

YES, 24FPS is not so common.

I believe the current WD LIVE can not do 24FPS - & actually just does 23.976 (when you select 24). Very old firwares of the old live & the older WD HD TV both had 24, & 23.976 as seperate options in the settings.

If i play an actual 24FPS on the WD (which is rare), if I play it at 23.976 (its 24 setting) I find it quite bad,  as i believe it is playing 24, at 23.976. I play a 24 at 60 whick is "ok" ( not 100%) or via my other player (Xtreamer) which actually plays at 24. The Xtreamer has the opposite problem. While playing 24 at 24 is perfect, it also plays 23.976 content at 24 which results in  a 42sec studder. Hence i prefer to use WD for my full HD 23.976 blu-ray rip content.

Any MKV 23.976 VC-1 i play on my Old Live on 1.04.22 with no issues. 1.05.04 & newer (where auto frame rate was introduced) is were the MKV VC-1 issue can occur.