Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

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SubJunk
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by SubJunk »

Please try this version. It's a preview of v10. It should remux streams that match the transcoding goal when using FFmpeg https://www.universalmediaserver.com/up ... e4787b.exe
ajkessel
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by ajkessel »

This looks like a Windows build—I’m running UMS on Linux. Do you have a Linux link?
ajkessel
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by ajkessel »

I was able to get a linux build up and running (9.7.1-SNAPSHOT / 210743997) after a few missteps with the build process. (I've updated this report -- initially things weren't working because I hadn't copied over the "external-resources" folder to my build directory.)

I did a test run with four files. Log attached. Results from the PS3:
  • one.m2ts - plays, but when ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible = true, video shows frequent artifacts - random colored pixels and other distortion (if ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible = false, plays fine, but it is no longer streaming)
  • two.mkv - "this content cannot be played (800288E1)."
  • three.m2ts - plays fine
  • four.mkv - plays fine - but transcoded as expected due to subtitles; the "no transcoding" version in the transcoding folder shows up as "unsupported data"
Results from VLC running on a LAN windows box:
  • one.m2ts - plays with no audio stream
  • two.mkv - plays fine
  • three.m2ts - plays fine
  • four.mkv - plays fine, but transcoded as expected due to subtitles
I am using all default settings in UMS.conf (aside from tweaking ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible as noted above) and no custom renderers.
ums-2020-06-29v2.txt
Log of ps3 and vlc streaming attempts
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SubJunk
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by SubJunk »

My mistake building for the wrong OS. Good to know you can build though.
Can you give logs from trying to play it with tsmuxer disabled? I would expect it to mux one.m2ts with FFmpeg

Edit: Actually that won't stream on that build because you're building from master.
Can you switch to the branch "api-3" and test that with tsmuxer disabled?
ajkessel
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by ajkessel »

SubJunk wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 1:24 pm
Edit: Actually that won't stream on that build because you're building from master.
Can you switch to the branch "api-3" and test that with tsmuxer disabled?
I thought I did pull the api-3 branch—I intended to get the exact commit that corresponded to the Windows build you posted. Maybe I messed up—will try again tomorrow with a fresh git clone of api-3 and tsmuxer disabled.
ajkessel
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by ajkessel »

OK, I rebuilt the api3 branch -- definitely have the right code now.

I don't believe it's using tsMuxeR at all.

When I set ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible = false, everything plays fine, but it's transcoding everything.

When I set ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible = true, I get the same problem/behavior as before:
  • One - plays with video and audio, but video shows frequent artifacts
  • Two - "This content cannot be played (800288E1)"
  • Three - plays fine
  • Four - plays fine but is transcoded for subtitles; the non-subtitled version in the TRANSCODE folder shows up as "unsupported data"
I've attached a debug log with ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible as false (debug-1.log) and true (debug-2.log).
debug-1.log
ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible = false log
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debug-2.log
ffmpeg_mux_tsmuxer_compatible = true log
(1.14 MiB) Downloaded 365 times
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SubJunk
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by SubJunk »

Thanks for testing. Can you please add the following line to renderers/Sony-PlayStation3.conf and try again with tsMuxeR disabled:

TranscodeVideo = MPEGTS-H264-AC3

The outcome I am hoping for is that video streams that can be muxed will pass through FFmpeg with a copied video, if they match the video codec in the TranscodeVideo line
ajkessel
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by ajkessel »

That works nearly perfectly. Audio is still being transcoded for several formats, but that may be necessary for PS3. The only glitch I encountered was when I first tried to seek to a location in one.m2ts, it never started playing, but then when I returned to one.m2ts and skipped to 20 minutes in, it worked fine.

I noticed vc1 video (six.mkv) is still transcoded--perhaps also a limitation of PS3? At least according to Wikipedia, PS3 should support VC-1.

One other observation -- if I go to the "transcode" folder for content with subtitles, the first listed item (presumably corresponding to no transcoding) still shows as "unsupported data" on the PS3. Shouldn't it be possible to transmit the subtitle stream as a separate stream, without transcoding, for formats the PS3 supports? On a possibly related note, by default with this build, UMS is transcoding MKV content with subtitles even to VLC -- but if the user selects "no transcoding" from the VLC client, the subtitles come across fine as a separate subtitle stream that can be enabled/disabled from VLC. Can this be configured to be the default behavior with VLC, and is it possible to do the same (stream subtitle stream without transcoding) to PS3?

Debug log attached.
debug-1.log
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SubJunk
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by SubJunk »

ajkessel wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 2:56 am That works nearly perfectly. Audio is still being transcoded for several formats, but that may be necessary for PS3. The only glitch I encountered was when I first tried to seek to a location in one.m2ts, it never started playing, but then when I returned to one.m2ts and skipped to 20 minutes in, it worked fine.

I noticed vc1 video (six.mkv) is still transcoded--perhaps also a limitation of PS3? At least according to Wikipedia, PS3 should support VC-1.

One other observation -- if I go to the "transcode" folder for content with subtitles, the first listed item (presumably corresponding to no transcoding) still shows as "unsupported data" on the PS3. Shouldn't it be possible to transmit the subtitle stream as a separate stream, without transcoding, for formats the PS3 supports? On a possibly related note, by default with this build, UMS is transcoding MKV content with subtitles even to VLC -- but if the user selects "no transcoding" from the VLC client, the subtitles come across fine as a separate subtitle stream that can be enabled/disabled from VLC. Can this be configured to be the default behavior with VLC, and is it possible to do the same (stream subtitle stream without transcoding) to PS3?

Debug log attached.

debug-1.log
Thanks for testing. I have submitted the code to be reviewed and hopefully merged soon.

Can you test the vc1 video by playing the [No Transcoding] option? If so we can update the ps3 config

Can you let us know which subtitles format worked with VLC so we can update that config too?

I don't think PS3 supports receiving subtitles as separate streams unless they changed that in an update
ajkessel
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Re: Why can't m2ts (h264/dts) content be streamed rather than transcoded to PS3?

Post by ajkessel »

SubJunk wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:06 pm Can you test the vc1 video by playing the [No Transcoding] option? If so we can update the ps3 config
The [No Transcoding] option doesn't show up on the PS3--it appears as "Unsupported Data" from the PS3 menu, rather than any filename/description. In other words, there is no "[No Transcoding]" option on the PS3, since the item that would correspond to no transcoding is just "unsupported data." If I select it, it says "The data type is not supported". Same behavior with the "api3" github build as well as the latest stable release.
SubJunk wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:06 pm Can you let us know which subtitles format worked with VLC so we can update that config too?
hdmv_pgs_subtitle works -- is that the sort of format description you are looking for? dvd_subtitle is also rendered fine.
SubJunk wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:06 pm I don't think PS3 supports receiving subtitles as separate streams unless they changed that in an update
I'd be happy to test if possible, but it seems like I would need to select "no transcoding" for this, which, as noted above, is not currently possible.
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