best VLC version for streaming a Dreambox ts ?

About encoding, codec settings, muxers and filter usage
nobody.loopback
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best VLC version for streaming a Dreambox ts ?

Postby nobody.loopback » 11 Jun 2011 01:58

I thought this is something simple, but, it turns out, it is not:
I have a DM500 with a current Pli image, which I use to watch TV on the PC or Mac. Streaming to vlc or recording to NFS works most times reliable for hours.

Now, when I tried to use the box for watching TV via internet using a http stream using VLC I cannot build a reliable setup.
I tried several VLC versions from the current down to 0.9x, and all of them crash or lock up after 10 minutes. The Situation gets worse when I install VLC as a windows service, or, when I switch channels. The stablest results were delivered by using the asf container with the 1.1.10 version on windows XP, but, this fills 4 cores of my CPU with about 40% load.

I also found, that VLC 0.8.6i works reliable. It does not crash when switching channels, and, after a channel switch, it even continues to stream, so I dont have to klick the play button again. Also, it only uses 5% CPU. But, the picture quality is much less then with 1.1.10

An example line I tried with then 1.1.10 release is:

Code: Select all

vlc.exe --no-crashdump --extraintf http --http-host=0.0.0.0:8080 http://192.168.49.68:31344 :sout=#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=1024,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:http{mux=asf,dst=:10500/test} :no-sout-rtp-sap :no-sout-standard-sap :ttl=127 :sout-keep
or

Code: Select all

:sout=#transcode{vcodec=mp4v,vb=1024,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2}:duplicate{dst=std{access=http,mux=ts,dst=:8080}}
with the 0.8.6i version.

This is very basic I think, and, even If I tried other options, things did not get better.

With VLC 1.1.10, in the log the most messages are:
main warning: late buffer for mux input (639178)

With VLC 0.8.6i, the most messages are:
ts warning: invalid header [0x1:60:98:8d] (pid: 771)

I have not used the streaming options of VLC much in the past, I only used it as a player, so, I dont have much experience here.
It is possible, that the quality of the stream the box delivers is part of the problem, but then, why does it not crash if I use VLC just for viewing ?

My question: should this work, and, if, what is the most reliable VLC version ?

nobody.loopback
Cone that earned his stripes
Cone that earned his stripes
Posts: 109
Joined: 08 Mar 2005 01:20

Re: best VLC version for streaming a Dreambox ts ?

Postby nobody.loopback » 11 Jun 2011 12:49

Followup:
I now checked the 1.1.10 release on a new MacMini 2011, MacOSX 10.6.x:
With nearly the same parameters VLC never died (test run >1Hr). Also, channel switching is ok, the stream does not die.
However, the CPU is at 150% (75% of all CPUs), so, not something you can run easily in the Background. But picture quality is superb. If somone knows how to tune the reencoding in a way, that CPU load is <25%, even, with some loss of quality, that would be nice.
Still the warnings about "late buffer for mux input", but, no crash.

I am starting to believe there is something wrong with my Windows Machine, even if it does every other job without a hickup.
Or are the builds of VLC that different in quality across OS versions ?

nobody.loopback
Cone that earned his stripes
Cone that earned his stripes
Posts: 109
Joined: 08 Mar 2005 01:20

Re: best VLC version for streaming a Dreambox ts ?

Postby nobody.loopback » 13 Jun 2011 02:00

Turns out for me, that the windows version of VLC is not able to reliable stream x264 + AAC audio. Either, it crashes immediately, or after a short time. If I disable the audio the Windows version will also run stable.
I checked this also on another PC running Windows7. For me, this looks like a Bug in VLC.

If this helps someone, here, is the commandline I now use on the macmini to transcode a dreambox stream to two streams:
one for watching on a PC: http://ip.addr.of.macmini:11600/video
one for watching on a Blackberry: rtsp://ip.addr.of.macmini:5544/bb.sdp

Code: Select all

/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -I rc --loop --extraintf http --no-sout-rtp-sap --no-sout-standard-sap --ttl=127 --sout-keep http://ip.addr.of.dreambox:31344 --sout '#duplicate{dst={transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=1000,scale=0.75,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:http{mux=ts,dst=:11600/video}},dst={transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=180,fps=24,width=480,height=320,venc=x264{profile=baseline},acodec=mp4a,ab=96,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:rtp{sdp=rtsp://:5544/bb.sdp}}}'
If you have a spare macmini, and dont know, what to do with it, this is something to which will make use of it.
The CPU of the MacMini is at 90% when doing this job.


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