Forced to use 2.2.8 for 4k playback - stuttering grey squares. Any solutions?

[pittyh]

I use a program called Pinup Popper, which uses VLC 2.2.8 to play videos, more specifically libVLC i think.

I think they continue to use 2.2.8 because of VLC transparecy support? not sure.

When a pinball table is loading or when playing, the game calls on VLC to play videos. 4K videos or 1080p upscaled probably.

On my PC I'm afraid it cannot handle these videos and as a result i get grey squares and very bad stuttering videos sometimes almost 10fps or less, yet my pc can run the pinball games in 4k60fps easily.

On some peoples youtube videos though the loading on thier PC's looks very smooth.

How can i improve my video playback? I thought it might be my PC, but it should be able to do this i think as it's a I7 4770K, 16gb ram with 1tb samsung SSD, and 1650super.

It's like my computer cannot handle multitasking to load a table and play a video at the same time.

The developer won't switch to newer VLC's due to this transparent video feature missing in VLC hardware playback.

Is my 4770K too old or something? do newer generation CPU's play VLC videos better due to some sort of decoding support my CPU doiesn't have? IF so i will upgrade

Any help would be appreciated,


Regards.

[pittyh]

Also can i log this somehow? At least some clue to go upon would be nice, totally in the dark at the moment.

[Lotesdelere]

Depends on the video codec being used and if your graphics card supports hardware decoding for this format and size.
4k HEVC in software mode is a no go.

[pittyh]

Depends on the video codec being used and if your graphics card supports hardware decoding for this format and size.
4k HEVC in software mode is a no go.

It's all software based rendering and decoding, due to hardware rendering not supporting transparency.

Pretty sure most loading videos made by creators are 1080p, then upscaled to 4k. few people use actual 4k videos I think

Looking at the file in VLC
H264 - MPEG-4 AVC(part 10) (avc1)
1920x1080 60fps

Here is the log, Mind you this is just loading the video straight, without any pinball engine loading in the background.

Can anyone see anything out of the ordinary ?


core debug: adding item `BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4' ( file:///C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4 )
core debug: processing request item: BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4, node: null, skip: 0
core debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
core debug: rebuild done - 2 items, index 1
core debug: starting playback of the new playlist item
core debug: resyncing on BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4
core debug: BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4 is at 1
core debug: creating new input thread
core debug: Creating an input for 'BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
core debug: Creating an input for 'BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
core debug: requesting art for BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4
core debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path 'C:\Users\Pinball\AppData\Local\Temp'
core debug: `file:///C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4' gives access `file' demux `' path `/C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
core debug: specified demux `any'
core debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='any' location='/C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4' file='C:\Pinupsystem\POPMedia\Pinball FX3\Loading\BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
core debug: looking for access_demux module matching "file": 12 candidates
core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates
core debug: no access_demux modules matched
core debug: creating access 'file' location='/C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4', path='C:\Pinupsystem\POPMedia\Pinball FX3\Loading\BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
core debug: looking for access module matching "file": 21 candidates
filesystem debug: opening file `C:\Pinupsystem\POPMedia\Pinball FX3\Loading\BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\Pinball\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\fetcher
core debug: using access module "filesystem"
core debug: Using stream method for AStream*
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher
core debug: starting pre-buffering
core debug: received first data after 0 ms
core debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 1000000 KiB/s
core debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "any": 6 candidates
core debug: no stream_filter modules matched
core debug: looking for stream_filter module matching "record": 6 candidates
core debug: using stream_filter module "record"
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher\tvrage.luac
core debug: creating demux: access='file' demux='any' location='/C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4' file='C:\Pinupsystem\POPMedia\Pinball FX3\Loading\BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4'
core debug: looking for demux module matching "mp4": 66 candidates
mp4 debug: added fragment moov
mp4 debug: dumping root Box "root"
mp4 debug: | + ftyp size 32 offset 0
mp4 debug: | + free size 8 offset 32
mp4 debug: | + mdat size 29880037 offset 40
mp4 debug: | + moov size 8464 offset 29880077
mp4 debug: | | + mvhd size 108 offset 29880085
mp4 debug: | | + trak size 8250 offset 29880193
mp4 debug: | | | + tkhd size 92 offset 29880201
mp4 debug: | | | + edts size 36 offset 29880293
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher\tvrage.luac
mp4 debug: | | | | + elst size 28 offset 29880301
mp4 debug: | | | + mdia size 8114 offset 29880329
mp4 debug: | | | | + mdhd size 32 offset 29880337
mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 45 offset 29880369
core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched
mp4 debug: | | | | + minf size 8029 offset 29880414
core debug: searching art for BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4
mp4 debug: | | | | | + vmhd size 20 offset 29880422
mp4 debug: | | | | | + dinf size 36 offset 29880442
core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + dref size 28 offset 29880450
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + url size 12 offset 29880466
mp4 debug: | | | | | + stbl size 7965 offset 29880478
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsd size 165 offset 29880486
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | + avc1 size 149 offset 29880502
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + avcC size 47 offset 29880588
mp4 debug: | | | | | | | | + pasp size 16 offset 29880635
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stts size 24 offset 29880651
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stss size 48 offset 29880675
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsc size 352 offset 29880723
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stsz size 7236 offset 29881075
mp4 debug: | | | | | | + stco size 132 offset 29888311
mp4 debug: | | + udta size 98 offset 29888443
mp4 debug: | | | + meta size 90 offset 29888451
mp4 debug: | | | | + hdlr size 33 offset 29888463
mp4 debug: | | | | + ilst size 45 offset 29888496
mp4 debug: | | | | | + ctoo size 37 offset 29888504
mp4 debug: ISO Media file (isom) version 512.
mp4 debug: found 1 tracks
mp4 warning: elst box found
mp4 debug: - [0] duration=30067ms media time=0ms) rate=1.0
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] read 29 chunk
mp4 warning: STTS table of 1 entries

[pittyh]

mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] read 1804 samples length:30s
core debug: selecting program id=0
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\Pinball\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\00_musicbrainz.luac
core debug: meta ok for (null), need to fetch art
mp4 debug: adding track[Id 0x1] video (enable) language eng
mp4 debug: fragment offset 29880077, data 4829880077, duration 0
core debug: using demux module "mp4"
core debug: looking for a subtitle file in C:\Pinupsystem\POPMedia\Pinball FX3\Loading\
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\00_musicbrainz.luac
core debug: looking for meta fetcher module matching "any": 1 candidates
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\Pinball\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher\tvrage.luac
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.luac
core debug: looking for decoder module matching "any": 43 candidates
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\fetcher\tvrage.luac
core debug: no meta fetcher modules matched
core debug: searching art for BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4
core debug: looking for art finder module matching "any": 2 candidates
avcodec debug: CPU flags: 0x0107d3db
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\03_lastfm.luac
avcodec debug: trying to use direct rendering
avcodec debug: allowing 4 thread(s) for decoding
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Users\Pinball\AppData\Roaming\vlc\lua\meta\art
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\03_lastfm.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art
core debug: no art finder modules matched
core debug: art not found for BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\00_musicbrainz.luac
avcodec debug: avcodec codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) started
avcodec debug: using frame thread mode with 4 threads
core debug: using decoder module "avcodec"
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\00_musicbrainz.luac
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.luac
core debug: looking for meta reader module matching "any": 2 candidates
core debug: using meta reader module "taglib"
core debug: removing module "taglib"
core debug: `file:///C:/Pinupsystem/POPMedia/Pinball%20FX3/Loading/BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4' successfully opened
mp4 debug: elst (0) gives 0ms (movie)-> 0ms (track)
mp4 debug: track[Id 0x1] using Sync Sample Box (stss)
mp4 debug: stss gives 0 --> 0 (sample number)
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\01_googleimage.luac
core debug: Buffering 0%
core debug: Buffering 2%
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.luac
core debug: Buffering 5%
core debug: Buffering 8%
core debug: Buffering 11%
core debug: Buffering 13%
core debug: Buffering 16%
core debug: Buffering 19%
core debug: Buffering 22%
core debug: Buffering 25%
core debug: Buffering 27%
core debug: Buffering 30%
core debug: Buffering 33%
core debug: Buffering 36%
avcodec debug: available hardware decoder output format 61 (dxva2_vld)
avcodec debug: available hardware decoder output format 128 (d3d11va_vld)
core debug: Buffering 38%
avcodec debug: available software decoder output format 0 (yuv420p)
core debug: Buffering 41%
core debug: looking for hw decoder module matching "none": 1 candidates
core debug: no hw decoder modules matched
core debug: Buffering 44%
core debug: Buffering 47%
core debug: Buffering 50%
core debug: Buffering 52%
core debug: Buffering 55%
core debug: Buffering 58%
core debug: Buffering 61%
core debug: Buffering 63%
core debug: Buffering 66%
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\02_frenchtv.luac
core debug: Buffering 69%
core debug: Buffering 72%
lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\03_lastfm.luac
core debug: Buffering 75%
core debug: looking for text renderer module matching "any": 2 candidates
lua debug: skipping script (unmatched scope) C:\Pinupsystem\VLC\lua\meta\art\03_lastfm.luac
core debug: no art finder modules matched
core debug: art not found for BALLY_Safe_Cracker.mp4
freetype debug: Using Arial as font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\arial.ttf
freetype debug: Using Courier New as mono-font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\cour.ttf
freetype debug: using fontsize: 2
core debug: using text renderer module "freetype"
core debug: looking for video filter2 module matching "any": 58 candidates
swscale debug: 32x32 (32x32) chroma: YUVA -> 16x16 (16x16) chroma: RGBA with scaling using Bicubic (good quality)
core debug: using video filter2 module "swscale"
core debug: looking for video filter2 module matching "any": 58 candidates
yuvp debug: YUVP to YUVA converter
core debug: using video filter2 module "yuvp"
qt4 debug: IM: Setting an input
core debug: Deinterlacing available
core debug: deinterlace 0, mode blend, is_needed 0

[pittyh]

core debug: Opening vout display wrapper
core debug: looking for vout display module matching "any": 11 candidates
core debug: Buffering 77%
core debug: Buffering 80%
core debug: Buffering 83%
core debug: Buffering 86%
core debug: Buffering 88%
core debug: Buffering 91%
core debug: Buffering 94%
core debug: Buffering 97%
core debug: Buffering 100%
core debug: Stream buffering done (616 ms in 5 ms)
direct3d debug: creating Vout EventThread
direct3d debug: Win32VoutCreateWindow
core debug: looking for vout window hwnd module matching "qt4,any": 3 candidates
qt4 debug: requesting video window...
qt4 debug: Video was requested 0, 0
core debug: using vout window hwnd module "qt4"
direct3d debug: created video sub-window
direct3d debug: Vout EventThread running
direct3d debug: disabling screen saver
direct3d debug: Direct3d Device: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4318 8583 161
core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1936x1119 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
core debug: using vout display module "direct3d"
core debug: original format sz 1920x1090, of (0,0), vsz 1920x1080, 4cc I420, sar 1:1, msk r0x0 g0x0 b0x0
core debug: removing module "freetype"
core debug: looking for text renderer module matching "any": 2 candidates
core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 1920x1080 window
freetype debug: Using Arial as font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\arial.ttf
freetype debug: Using Courier New as mono-font from file C:\Windows\Fonts\cour.ttf
freetype debug: using fontsize: 2
core debug: using text renderer module "freetype"
avcodec warning: plane 0 not aligned
avcodec warning: disabling direct rendering
core debug: End of video preroll
core debug: Received first picture
core debug: Decoder wait done in 660 ms
core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'mouse button' 0 t=8
core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'mouse button' 0 t=9
core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'double click'
qt4 debug: Qt: Fullscreen state changed
qt4 debug: Qt: Entering Fullscreen
core debug: VoutDisplayEvent 'resize' 3840x2160 window
qt4 debug: Recentering the Fullscreen Controller
core debug: auto hiding mouse cursor
core debug: auto hiding mouse cursor
core debug: EOF reached
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: waiting decoder fifos to empty
core debug: finished input
core debug: removing module "avcodec"
avcodec debug: ffmpeg codec (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) stopped
core debug: killing decoder fourcc `h264', 0 PES in FIFO
core debug: saving a free vout
core debug: reusing provided vout
qt4 debug: Qt: Fullscreen state changed
core debug: removing module "mp4"
mp4 debug: freeing all memory
core debug: removing module "record"
core debug: removing module "filesystem"
core debug: Program doesn't contain anymore ES
core debug: dead input
core debug: changing item without a request (current 1/2)
core debug: nothing to play
core debug: destroying useless vout
core debug: removing module "direct3d"
direct3d debug: Direct3D scene released successfully
qt4 debug: IM: Deleting the input
qt4 debug: Qt: Quitting Fullscreen
direct3d debug: Win32 Vout EventThread terminating
direct3d debug: Win32VoutCloseWindow
direct3d debug: WinProc WM_DESTROY
qt4 debug: releasing video...
qt4 debug: Video is not needed anymore
core debug: removing module "freetype"
core debug: removing module "yuvp"
core debug: removing module "swscale"

[Lotesdelere]

It's all software based rendering and decoding, due to hardware rendering not supporting transparency.

What do you call 'transparency' ? Transparency of what ?

Looking at the file in VLC
H264 - MPEG-4 AVC(part 10) (avc1)
1920x1080 60fps

I've just tried to play a similar file (bbb_sunflower_1080p_60fps_normal.mp4) in software mode on an i7-4790 and it's really playing fine.
What is your graphics card ?

And please upload a short sample of your original problematic file to Zippyshare.com or to WeTransfer.com and then post the link to the file here.
https://www.zippyshare.com
https://wetransfer.com

If needed cut it with DGsplit and read here about how to do it:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 35#p193335
200 MB max should be enough.

[pittyh]

It's all software based rendering and decoding, due to hardware rendering not supporting transparency.

What do you call 'transparency' ? Transparency of what ?

Looking at the file in VLC
H264 - MPEG-4 AVC(part 10) (avc1)
1920x1080 60fps

I've just tried to play a similar file (bbb_sunflower_1080p_60fps_normal.mp4) in software mode on an i7-4790 and it's really playing fine.
What is your graphics card ?

And please upload a short sample of your original problematic file to Zippyshare.com or to WeTransfer.com and then post the link to the file here.
https://www.zippyshare.com
https://wetransfer.com

If needed cut it with DGsplit and read here about how to do it:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 35#p193335
200 MB max should be enough.

Video card is a gtx 1650 super

Transparecy of 2 videos on top of each other playing. The top video has some trasparency so the bottom video shows through.
This all uses VLC, i think 1 specific colour plays in VLC as trasparent.

Here is an example of how VLC uses transparecy in Pinup Popper (It's basically a Frontend to load games)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZT8Qosin0c&t=13s

here is a link to the system that uses transparent videos (at the bottom of the page is the VLC explanation)
https://www.nailbuster.com/wikipinup/do ... oubleshoot

NOTE: Do NOT install or use new VLC versions (3.0+) with PuP or Popper!
We've been seeing people recommending to update the VLC in the PuP install to a newer version (or install a newer vlc on their system,etc).

This is BAD BAD BAD.

Simply put…there is a reason we say to NOT install any newer VLC and to only use the 2.2.8 version that is included with PuP which is using CPU mainly for video playback.

Using newer versions may cause instability as there ARE issues by using newer versions with both pup and popper.

These are mainly…but not limited to…. that newer versions of VLC forces the use of hardware acceleration (GPU) which can and will cause some known and unforseen problems. Using hardware acceleration DOES NOT work with transparency screens…at all.

In the past, it has also caused playback of videos to sometimes not be smooth or cause blinks between videos,etc.

We have recently tested using newer vlc and it's forced hardware acceleration with much better success…. again though… no transparency videos and the occasional odd glitches…and it definitely has caused problems with FP because FP uses exclusive fullscreen with 2 screens, and new vlc with hardware acceleration did NOT like that and would give a BSOD! There's a reason why it's called “exclusive”.

Using OpenGL or DirectX in PuP settings may or may not work better…but I've found that OpenGL won't always resize videos correctly,etc.

Also… while playing your tables…they use more GPU than CPU…so you benefit better by having more CPU usable for PuP-Packs and leaving more GPU to your demanding tables.

If after using a newer vlc, you go back to the older 2.2.8…. any previous settings that were at hardware acceleration may “possibly” still be applied… causing more confusion.

If you did/do have VLC 3.x installed and want to make sure all settings are 'default' do the following:

The loading videos are contained in this file
https://www.vpforums.org/index.php?app= ... file=12318

[Lotesdelere]

First, let's make it clear that you won't get any support for VLC v2.2.8 because it's way too old.
From what I've read, they suggest not to use VLC v3.x just because it uses hardware acceleration by default. Notice that you can disable hardware acceleration. But obviously, this will cause playback problems especially with 4k videos in software mode. 1920x1080 H.264 videos should play fine in software mode with an i7-4770K though.

I'm still not sure to understand what this transparency thing is, it looks like it's created by the so called PinUP player.
Anyway, we still need an original video sample file as requested before, because we are not going to download tons of stuff just to get one video file out of it.