Choppy 4k playback on VLC 3.0.1

[Nima304]

Hey everyone,

I've been looking forward to VLC 3.0 for a long time now, as I thought it would solve the problems I had with playing 4k content on VLC 2.x. However, although the playback is less choppy, it still looks awful, and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Currently, I'm running on default settings, and am getting the following messages when trying to playback content (verbosity is set to 1):

wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008): digital pass-through not supported
main error: module not functional
main error: failed to create audio output
wasapi warning: cannot negotiate DTS at 768khz IEC958 rate (HDMI), fallback to 48kHz (S/PDIF) (error 0x88890008)
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008): digital pass-through not supported
main error: module not functional
main error: failed to create audio output
direct3d11 error: Could not Create the D3D11 device. (hr=0x80004001)
direct3d11 error: Direct3D11 could not be opened
direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
direct3d9 warning: trying surface pixel format: X8R8G8B8
chain error: Too high level of recursion (3)
main error: Failed to create video converter
chain error: Too high level of recursion (3)
main error: Failed to create video converter
chain error: Too high level of recursion (3)
main error: Failed to create video converter
Message repeats ~20 times
main error: Failed to create video converter
main error: Failed to create video converter
main error: Failed to create video converter
main error: Failed to adapt decoder format to display
direct3d9 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
main error: video output creation failed
main error: failed to create video output
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
direct3d11 error: Could not Create the D3D11 device. (hr=0x80004001)
direct3d11 error: Direct3D11 could not be opened
direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
direct3d9 warning: trying surface pixel format: DXA9_10
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
dxva2 warning: Unsupported profile 2 for HEVC Main profile
dxva2 warning: surface dimensions (3840x2176) differ from avcodec dimensions (3840x2160)
avcodec info: Using DXVA2 (Radeon RX Vega, vendor ATI(4098), device 26751, revision 192) for hardware decoding
main error: buffer deadlock prevented
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 60 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 61 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 59 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 59 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 59 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 304 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 262 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 379 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 338 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 296 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 254 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 214 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 134 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 92 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 60 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 59 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 59 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 193 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 151 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 112 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 71 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 29 ms)

My specs are the following:
CPU: 2xXeon E5-2667v4
RAM: 256GBs DDR4-2400
GPU: RX Vega 64 Liquid
Hard drive where video files are located: Samsung 850 PRO 2TB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Given those specifications, there's no reason why my hardware wouldn't be able to play this media. I've already tried setting VLC to Realtime priority, and am not running anything else that would consume a large amount of resources, so I'm assuming I have to modify my settings somehow. This happens on all 4k media I try to play, so it's not an issue with any given file.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Lotesdelere]

Set VLC to use DXVA3 aka D3D11:
Tools -> Preferences -> Video
Output = D3D11

Tools -> Preferences -> Input/Codecs
Hardware accelerated decoding = D3D11 Video Acceleration

Then save, exit and restart VLC.

[Nima304]

Set VLC to use DXVA3 aka D3D11:
Tools -> Preferences -> Video
Output = D3D11

Tools -> Preferences -> Input/Codecs
Hardware accelerated decoding = D3D11 Video Acceleration

Then save, exit and restart VLC.

That makes things way worse. Now I get the following errors, and no video at all plays, only audio.

wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008): digital pass-through not supported
main error: module not functional
main error: failed to create audio output
wasapi warning: cannot negotiate DTS at 768khz IEC958 rate (HDMI), fallback to 48kHz (S/PDIF) (error 0x88890008)
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008): digital pass-through not supported
main error: module not functional
main error: failed to create audio output
direct3d11 error: Could not create the SwapChain. (hr=0x887A0001)
direct3d11 error: Direct3D11 could not be opened
direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
main error: video output creation failed
main error: failed to create video output
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
direct3d11 warning: could not get a IDXGISwapChain3
direct3d11 error: invalid Pixel Shader (hr=0x80004005): C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,2126-2170): warning X3206: 'Sample': implicit truncation of vector type C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,2206-2250): warning X3206: 'Sample': implicit truncation of vector type C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,2286-2330): warning X3206: 'Sample': implicit truncation of vector type C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1454-1476): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1596-1618): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1718-1736): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1718): error X5608: Compiled shader code uses too many arithmetic instruction slots (70). Max. allowed by the target (ps_2_0) is 64. Consider increasing optimization level to reduce instruction count.
direct3d11 error: Failed to create the pixel shader. (hr=0x80070057)
direct3d11 error: Failed to allocate format resources
direct3d11 error: invalid Pixel Shader (hr=0x80004005): C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,2126-2170): warning X3206: 'Sample': implicit truncation of vector type C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,2206-2250): warning X3206: 'Sample': implicit truncation of vector type C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,2286-2330): warning X3206: 'Sample': implicit truncation of vector type C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1454-1476): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1596-1618): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1718-1736): warning X3571: pow(f, e) will not work for negative f, use abs(f) or conditionally handle negative values if you expect them C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\Shader@0x000000000FABF410(1,1718): error X5608: Compiled shader code uses too many arithmetic instruction slots (70). Max. allowed by the target (ps_2_0) is 64. Consider increasing optimization level to reduce instruction count.
[Message repeats a shitton of times]
direct3d11 error: Failed to create the pixel shader. (hr=0x80070057)
direct3d11 error: Failed to allocate format resources
direct3d11 error: Direct3D11 could not be opened
direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
main error: video output creation failed
main error: failed to create video output
main error: buffer deadlock prevented

[Lotesdelere]

Could you try with VLC 3.0.2 nightly build ?

[Nima304]

No change on default settings, using D3D11 I get the following messages:

wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008): digital pass-through not supported
main error: module not functional
main error: failed to create audio output
wasapi warning: cannot negotiate DTS at 768khz IEC958 rate (HDMI), fallback to 48kHz (S/PDIF) (error 0x88890008)
wasapi error: cannot negotiate audio format (error 0x88890008): digital pass-through not supported
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
main error: module not functional
main error: failed to create audio output
direct3d11 error: Could not create the SwapChain. (hr=0x887A0001)
direct3d11 error: Direct3D11 could not be opened
direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
main error: video output creation failed
main error: failed to create video output
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
direct3d11 warning: could not get a IDXGISwapChain3
chain error: Too high level of recursion (3)
main error: Failed to create video converter
freetype warning: DirectWrite initialization failed. Falling back to GDI/Uniscribe
direct3d11 error: SetThumbNailClip failed: 0x800706f4
direct3d11 warning: could not get a IDXGISwapChain3
avcodec warning: plane 0 not aligned: disabling direct rendering
main error: buffer deadlock prevented
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 704 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 694 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 661 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 862 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 829 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 804 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 815 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 773 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 749 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 727 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 704 ms)
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 666 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 638 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 608 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 583 ms)
avcodec warning: More than 11 late frames, dropping frame
main warning: picture is too late to be displayed (missing 405 ms)
avcodec error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
avcodec error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
avcodec error: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)
Same computer too slow, picture is too late to be displayed, and dropping frame messages continue indefinitely

[Lotesdelere]

Is that with VLC 3.0.2 nightly build ?

[robUx4]

The HDR tone mapping on 3.0.2 should fix some of the issues.

Also it seems your GPU can't decode HEVC 10 bits. So it falls back to software decoding, just like with VLC 2.2.

If you think your GPU is supposed to do that, it may mean your drivers our out of date.

[Nima304]

Is that with VLC 3.0.2 nightly build ?

Yes, I used vlc-3.0.2-20180320-0550 for that test.

The HDR tone mapping on 3.0.2 should fix some of the issues.

Also it seems your GPU can't decode HEVC 10 bits. So it falls back to software decoding, just like with VLC 2.2.

If you think your GPU is supposed to do that, it may mean your drivers our out of date.

I'm using an AMD RX Vega 64 Liquid, AMD's flagship consumer-grade GPU, running Adrenalin 18.2.2 (latest is 18.3.3). Pretty sure it's not an issue with the GPU or outdated drivers. The newest drivers just add performance in specific video games.

[robUx4]

You're using it under Windows 8.1 which doesn't support 10 bits rendering (apparently). Fallback to 8 bits has been added to the latest 3.0.2 nightly build.

[Nima304]

You're using it under Windows 8.1 which doesn't support 10 bits rendering (apparently). Fallback to 8 bits has been added to the latest 3.0.2 nightly build.

I'm running Windows 7. Could you link me to your source referring to Win8 not supporting 10-bit rendering? I'd like to look into it further.

[robUx4]

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=143280

[Lotesdelere]

You're using it under Windows 8.1 which doesn't support 10 bits rendering (apparently). Fallback to 8 bits has been added to the latest 3.0.2 nightly build.

But I get the swapchains error message with this video:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 66#p470366
which is 8 bits.

So are you sure this is Windows 8.x related ?

[Nima304]

This problem still occurs on vlc-3.0.2-20180409-0548 on the 64-bit build.

[HazMatt]

If you're playing movie files that take up large GBs of space try increasing your Video Cache.

How to increase seconds video cache:

Here’s how to increase file caching
Open Tools > Preferences [CTRL + P].
In Show settings select the All
In Advanced settings, click on the parent option that says Input / Codecs.
In Input / Codecs scroll down to the options under the heading Advanced.
Change the values for File caching (ms) from 300 to a higher value like 1000 or 2000. I used 2000.

[TheDave]

Change the values for File caching (ms) from 300 to a higher value like 1000 or 2000. I used 2000.

This worked perfectly and worked without going as high. 600 was enough for me but media with higher bitrates may require higher values.