VLC 2.0: MPEG4 H264 AVC Videos pixelate badly

[nukedukem]

MPEG4 H264 AVC Videos captured with my Canon Ixus pocket camera pixelate constantly when watched using the new VLC version 2.0.0. I have never encountered this kind of issue before, so the problem should not be with my hardware. Older versions of VLC worked fine, Windows Media Player works fine, MPlayer Classic works, etc...

This new version 2.0 is quite pretty, nice and has many improvements, so I would really like to use it, but now I have no other choice than use the old version until you can fix the new.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Can you share the logs?

[VLC_help]

And can you share a sample file?

[nukedukem]

Can you share the logs?

I couldn't find any log files. Where are they?

[nukedukem]

And can you share a sample file?

Yes I can. http://db.tt/ix45tHeG
Download "video.mp4" that is a cut from a longer clip.

At least in my computer when using VLC 2.0 the video pixelates almost all the time.

[Roddude]

Pixelates on my machine too. 2.8 Ghz quad-core, 4gb RAM, 256MB is video memory. Also uses three times the CPU as Windows Media Player 12.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

WMP12 uses GPU decoding by default. Not a comparison.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Can you share the logs?

I couldn't find any log files. Where are they?

Message dialog. Because the file works fine for me.

[Roddude]

Here's what I got, if it helps:

main debug: processing request item: video.mp4, node: Playlist, skip: 0
main debug: resyncing on video.mp4
main debug: video.mp4 is at 0
main debug: starting playback of the new playlist item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'video.mp4'
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path 'C:\Users\Rod\AppData\Local\Temp'
main debug: `file:///C:/Users/Rod/Desktop/video.mp4' gives access `file' demux `' path `/C:/Users/Rod/Desktop/video.mp4'
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' location='/C:/Users/Rod/Desktop/video.mp4' file='C:\Users\Rod\Desktop\video.mp4'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 3 candidates
main debug: no access_demux module matching "file" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.818 ms - Total 0.818 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.818 ms)
main debug: creating access 'file' location='/C:/Users/Rod/Desktop/video.mp4', path='C:\Users\Rod\Desktop\video.mp4'
main debug: looking for access module: 3 candidates
filesystem debug: opening file `C:\Users\Rod\Desktop\video.mp4'
main debug: using access module "filesystem"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.539 ms - Total 0.539 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.539 ms)
main debug: Using stream method for AStream*
main debug: starting pre-buffering
main debug: received first data after 0 ms
main debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 10526 KiB/s
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 4 candidates
main debug: no stream_filter module matching "any" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.330 ms - Total 0.330 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.330 ms)
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
main debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.283 ms - Total 0.283 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.283 ms)
main debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='' location='/C:/Users/Rod/Desktop/video.mp4' file='C:\Users\Rod\Desktop\video.mp4'
main debug: looking for demux module: 55 candidates
mp4 debug: dumping root Box "root"
mp4 debug: | + ftyp size 32
mp4 debug: | + free size 8
mp4 debug: | + mdat size 50587118
mp4 debug: | + moov size 8639
mp4 debug: | | + mvhd size 108
mp4 debug: | | + trak size 2977
mp4 debug: | | | + tkhd size 92
mp4 debug: | | | + edts size 48
mp4 debug: | | | | + elst size 40
mp4 debug: | | | + mdia size 2829
mp4 debug: | | | | + mdhd size 32
mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 45
mp4 debug: | | | | + minf size 2744
mp4 debug: | | | | | + vmhd size 20
mp4 debug: | | | | | + dinf size 36
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + dref size 28
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + url size 12
mp4 debug: | | | | | + stbl size 2680
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsd size 140
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + avc1 size 124
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + avcC size 38
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stts size 24
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stss size 112
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + ctts size 24
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsc size 40
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsz size 1172
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stco size 1160
mp4 debug: | | + trak size 5417
mp4 debug: | | | + tkhd size 92
mp4 debug: | | | + edts size 36
mp4 debug: | | | | + elst size 28
mp4 debug: | | | + mdia size 5281
mp4 debug: | | | | + mdhd size 32
mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 45
mp4 debug: | | | | + minf size 5196
mp4 debug: | | | | | + smhd size 16
mp4 debug: | | | | | + dinf size 36
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + dref size 28
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + url size 12
mp4 debug: | | | | | + stbl size 5136
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsd size 96
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + mp4a size 80
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + esds size 44
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stts size 24
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsc size 1828
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsz size 2020
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stco size 1160
mp4 debug: | | + udta size 129
mp4 debug: | | | + meta size 121
mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 33
mp4 debug: | | | | + ilst size 76
mp4 debug: | | | | | + cnam size 33
mp4 debug: | | | | | + ctoo size 35
mp4 debug: ISO Media file (isom) version 512.
mp4 debug: found 2 tracks
mp4 warning: elst box found
mp4 debug: - [0] duration=41ms media time=-1ms) rate=1.0
mp4 debug: - [1] duration=12012ms media time=41ms) rate=1.0
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] read 286 chunk
mp4 warning: CTTS table
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] read 288 samples length:12s
main debug: selecting program id=0
qt4 debug: IM: Setting an input
mp4 debug: adding track[Id 0x1] video (enable) language undef
mp4 warning: elst box found
mp4 debug: - [0] duration=12000ms media time=0ms) rate=1.0
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x2] read 286 chunk
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x2] read 500 samples length:12s
mp4 debug: adding track[Id 0x2] audio (enable) language undef
main debug: using demux module "mp4"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 6.666 ms - Total 6.666 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 6.666 ms)
main debug: looking for a subtitle file in C:\Users\Rod\Desktop
main debug: looking for decoder module: 31 candidates
avcodec debug: libavcodec already initialized
avcodec debug: trying to use direct rendering
avcodec debug: allowing 5 thread(s) for decoding
avcodec debug: ffmpeg codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) started
avcodec debug: using frame thread mode with 5 threads
main debug: using decoder module "avcodec"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 7.273 ms - Total 7.273 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 7.273 ms)
main debug: looking for decoder module: 31 candidates
main debug: using decoder module "mpeg_audio"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.876 ms - Total 0.876 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.876 ms)
main debug: looking for meta reader module: 2 candidates
main debug: using meta reader module "taglib"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 3.204 ms - Total 3.204 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 3.204 ms)
main debug: removing module "taglib"
main debug: `file:///C:/Users/Rod/Desktop/video.mp4' successfully opened
mp4 debug: elst (0) gives 0ms (movie)-> 0ms (track)
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x2] does not provide Sync Sample Box (stss)
main debug: Buffering 0%
mp4 warning: elst old=0 new=1
mpeg_audio debug: MPGA channels:2 samplerate:48000 bitrate:128
main debug: recycling audio output
main debug: Buffering 0%
main debug: looking for audio output module: 2 candidates
aout_directx debug: Opening DirectSound Audio Output
aout_directx debug: found device: Primary Sound Driver
aout_directx debug: found device: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
aout_directx debug: found device: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
main debug: looking for text renderer module: 2 candidates
main debug: Buffering 33%
freetype debug: Using Arial as font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\arial.ttf
freetype debug: using fontsize: 2
main debug: using text renderer module "freetype"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.997 ms - Total 1.997 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.997 ms)
main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 18 candidates
swscale debug: 32x32 chroma: YUVA -> 16x16 chroma: RGBA with scaling using Bicubic (good quality)
main debug: using video filter2 module "swscale"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.900 ms - Total 0.900 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.900 ms)
main debug: Buffering 66%
main debug: looking for video filter2 module: 18 candidates
yuvp debug: YUVP to YUVA converter
main debug: using video filter2 module "yuvp"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.203 ms - Total 0.203 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.203 ms)
main debug: Deinterlacing available
main debug: Buffering 100%
main debug: deinterlace 0, mode blend, is_needed 0
main debug: Opening vout display wrapper
main debug: looking for vout display module: 6 candidates
main debug: Stream buffering done (400 ms in 16 ms)
direct3d debug: creating Vout EventThread
direct3d debug: DirectXCreateWindow
main debug: looking for vout window hwnd module: 2 candidates
qt4 debug: requesting video...
aout_directx debug: device supports 2 channels (DEFAULT!)
aout_directx debug: device supports 1 channel
aout_directx debug: Windows says your SpeakerConfig is stereo
aout_directx debug: creating DirectSoundThread
main debug: using audio output module "aout_directx"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 26.557 ms - Total 26.557 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 26.557 ms)
main debug: output 's16l' 48000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/4 bytes
main debug: mixer 'f32l' 48000 Hz Stereo frame=1 samples/8 bytes
aout_directx debug: DirectSoundThread ready
main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'s16l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 14 candidates
audio_format debug: f32l->s16l, bits per sample: 32->16
main debug: using audio filter module "audio_format"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.215 ms - Total 0.215 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.215 ms)
main debug: conversion pipeline completed
main debug: looking for audio mixer module: 2 candidates
main debug: using audio mixer module "float32_mixer"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.126 ms - Total 0.126 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.126 ms)
main debug: input 'mpga' 48000 Hz Stereo frame=1152 samples/969 bytes
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 1 candidate
scaletempo debug: format: 48000 rate, 2 nch, 4 bps, fl32
scaletempo debug: params: 30 stride, 0.200 overlap, 14 search
scaletempo debug: 1.000 scale, 1440.000 stride_in, 1440 stride_out, 1152 standing, 288 overlap, 672 search, 2400 queue, fl32 mode
main debug: using audio filter module "scaletempo"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.202 ms - Total 0.202 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.202 ms)
main debug: filter(s) 'mpga'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 14 candidates
mpgatofixed32 debug: mpga->f32l, bits per sample: 32
main debug: using audio filter module "mpgatofixed32"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.149 ms - Total 0.149 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.149 ms)
main debug: conversion pipeline completed
main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 48000 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: conversion pipeline completed
main debug: filter(s) 'f32l'->'f32l' 52800 Hz->48000 Hz Stereo->Stereo
main debug: looking for audio filter module: 14 candidates
main debug: using audio filter module "samplerate"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.400 ms - Total 0.400 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.400 ms)
main debug: conversion pipeline completed
main debug: End of audio preroll
qt4 debug: Video was requested 0, 0
main debug: using vout window hwnd module "qt4"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 149.615 ms - Total 149.615 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 149.615 ms)
direct3d debug: created video sub-window
direct3d debug: Vout EventThread running
direct3d debug: disabling screen saver
main debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1928x1107 window
direct3d warning: trying surface pixel format: YV12
direct3d debug: selected surface pixel format is YV12
direct3d debug: Using D3DTEXF_LINEAR for minification
direct3d debug: Using D3DTEXF_LINEAR for magnification
direct3d debug: Direct3D scene created successfully
direct3d debug: Direct3D device adapter successfully initialized
main debug: using vout display module "direct3d"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 201.669 ms - Total 201.669 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 201.669 ms)
main debug: original format sz 1920x1080, of (0,0), vsz 1920x1080, 4cc J420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0
main debug: removing module "freetype"
main debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1024x625 window
main debug: looking for text renderer module: 2 candidates
freetype debug: Using Arial as font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\arial.ttf
freetype debug: using fontsize: 2
main debug: using text renderer module "freetype"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 1.229 ms - Total 1.229 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 1.229 ms)
avcodec debug: using direct rendering
main debug: End of video preroll
main debug: Received first picture
main debug: Post-processing available
main debug: Decoder buffering done in 334 ms
main warning: PTS is out of range (-9975), dropping buffer
main warning: PTS is out of range (-33919), dropping buffer
mpgatofixed32 debug: libmad error: bad main_data_begin pointer
main warning: audio output out of sync, adjusting dates (103725 us)
main warning: not synchronized (103726 us), resampling
main warning: buffer too late (78746), up-sampling
main debug: auto hiding mouse cursor
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
main debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
main debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
main debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
main debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
main debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
main debug: finished input
main debug: removing module "avcodec"
avcodec debug: ffmpeg codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) stopped
main debug: killing decoder fourcc `h264', 0 PES in FIFO
main debug: saving a free vout
main debug: reusing provided vout
main debug: removing module "mpeg_audio"
main debug: killing decoder fourcc `mpga', 0 PES in FIFO
main debug: removing module "mpgatofixed32"
main debug: removing module "scaletempo"
main debug: removing module "samplerate"
main debug: removing module "aout_directx"
aout_directx debug: closing audio device
aout_directx debug: DirectSoundThread exiting
main debug: removing module "audio_format"
main debug: removing module "float32_mixer"
main debug: releasing audio output
main debug: removing module "mp4"
mp4 debug: freeing all memory
main debug: removing module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: removing module "filesystem"
main debug: Program doesn't contain anymore ES
main debug: dead input
main debug: changing item without a request (current 0/1)
main debug: nothing to play
main debug: destroying useless vout
main debug: removing module "direct3d"
direct3d debug: Direct3D scene released successfully
qt4 debug: IM: Deleting the input
main debug: TIMER input launching for 'video.mp4' : 24.698 ms - Total 24.698 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 24.698 ms)
direct3d debug: DirectXEventThread terminating
direct3d debug: DirectXCloseWindow
direct3d debug: WinProc WM_DESTROY
qt4 debug: releasing video...
qt4 debug: Video is not needed anymore
main debug: removing module "freetype"
main debug: removing module "yuvp"
main debug: removing module "swscale"


I tried the "Use GPU accelerated decoding" option, it didn't do any good.

[VLC_help]

Does it help if you set the FFMPEG threads to 4 from Tool -> Preferences?

[malungu]

Hi,

sorry for intruding, but may I draw your attention again to this posting? viewtopic.php?f=14&t=79953&p=329185#p328399

It seems to be the same problem with H.264 rendering. The setting that you suggested helps in my case (4 FFMPEG threads), but then MPEG videos (codec information "MPEG1/2 video (mpgv)") are not played, and I see only some flickering rectancles.

Any idea?

TIA,
malungu

[Lotesdelere]

I can confirm the issue and in fact this video is actually the only one that gives me macroblocks with VLC 2 whilst it's playing fine with FFplay, MPlayer and CoreAVC.
Changing the threads value has no effect.

Even though it's a Baseline profile video it has a high bitrate:

Code: Select all

General Complete name : E:\Test\Video\VLC-video.mp4 Format : MPEG-4 Format profile : Base Media Codec ID : isom File size : 48.3 MiB Duration : 12s 12ms Overall bit rate : 33.7 Mbps Movie name : video.mp4 Writing application : Lavf53.24.0 Video ID : 1 Format : AVC Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec Format profile : Baseline@L5.0 Format settings, CABAC : No Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame Codec ID : avc1 Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding Duration : 12s 12ms Bit rate mode : Variable Bit rate : 33.6 Mbps Width : 1 920 pixels Height : 1 080 pixels Display aspect ratio : 16:9 Frame rate mode : Constant Frame rate : 23.976 fps Color space : YUV Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 Bit depth : 8 bits Scan type : Progressive Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.675 Stream size : 48.1 MiB (100%) Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177 Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361 Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M Audio ID : 2 Format : MPEG Audio Format version : Version 1 Format profile : Layer 3 Codec ID : 6B Duration : 12s 0ms Bit rate mode : Constant Bit rate : 128 Kbps Channel(s) : 2 channels Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz Compression mode : Lossy Stream size : 187 KiB (0%)

[nycebo]

I am also getting artifact, pixelation, stuttering, and macroblocks when watching .mov files recorded on my Canon S100 camera at 720p resolution. The files play perfectly on every other media player, including Quicktime, WMP, GOM, etc. I have Win7 64bit, 6GB RAM, 2.8GHz Intel Duocore, etc. I have tried enabling and disabling GPU, raising and lowering threads, etc. All to no avail. I am using VLC 2.0. Might it be a 64bit issue?

[nycebo]

UPDATE: The most recent 64bit nightly resolved the issue with stuttering and pixelation. Awesome!