Advice - live tv performance Vero 5

Help and Support Vero V
1

Hi, it’s been a while! Hope the OSMC team is well.

I’m after some advice if possible. I’ve been using an Odroid N2+ running Corelec, having retired my Vero 4K+ a while back.

It’s a good setup. However, the main issue I have with it is live tv…

After a few days of running tvheadend (rpi5 as server/ Corelec as client), small but consistent frame skipping develops and doesn’t go away until I reboot the client. Then all works perfectly again for a few days. Notice this on HD channels as that’s mainly what I watch. Had a HDHomeRun Quatro and Hauppauge dual tuner at various points, and eventually the same problem occurred with either device in the chain. Played with different Corelec dvb drivers - no difference.

Wish I’d tried recording when this was happening to see if the recording exhibited same behaviour, but never thought of it, and don’t have the motivation to try now. I’ve packed the Odroid away and am using my tv’s tuner.

My other issue is mpeg2 hardware acceleration with standard definition channels. Lots of skipped frames when watching football or motor racing on ITV4 SD - feels like a different type of frame skipping to previous issue as it’s not consistent, happens more on camera pans. Software interlacing works perfectly, but the picture, whilst fine, just isn’t quite as solid in my opinion.

However, recordings of hardware accelerated sd content mentioned above are perfect. Also, turning on http streaming (at the expense of time shift) also solves the SD frame skipping issue with hardware acceleration enabled.

I don’t know how similar Vero/ Odroid are, but have you come across these issues on Vero and managed to find a solution, given the bespoke hardware/sofware combination of Vero?

I ask as I’m very tempted to purchase a Vero 5, but it’s an expensive mistake to make if I end up seeing the same results. Thanks.

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My main use is also for TV - live and recording. I’ll be honest and say SDTV is not perfect 100% of the time but I’m not in a good signal area (no line of sight and a loft mounted aerial). HDTV is always good. This is using one OSMC tuner and one other attached to the Vero. Other devices all over the house play those streams just as well.

I’ll check out ITV4 when I’m awake. Not one I normally watch.

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Hi @Tee77

I hope you are well.

Should be fine. You can return the Vero V within 14 days of receipt for a full refund for any reason if it doesn’t meet your requirements.

Was going to ask about that, as obviously if the issue is present in a recording it’ll be easy to fix.

Unfortunately we’re not shipping until Monday, but if you want to get your hands on a Vero V before that and also want the same return guarantee you could buy from a reseller like CPC at https://cpc.farnell.com/osmc/vero-v/vero-v-uhd-media-streaming-box/dp/SC20252

Cheers

Sam

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Thanks both for the response. I forgot how good support is here.

Does Vero 5 only software decode mpeg2, and if so, is that because hardware acceleration doesn’t offer any increase in picture quality in your opinion?

Also, I only have an Xbox tuner but could also borrow a Haupauge dual tuner for testing. If I were to purchase a Vero 5, could I install a driver to make either of them play nice, or would you suggest ordering an osmc tuner as well?

1 Like
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I think a lot of chipsets have removed mpeg2 hardware acceleration to reduce licencing costs. RPi 4 and newer removed it as well.

Personally I’ve been running a roof mount aerial directly into a HDHomeRun FLEX 4K and using it as the sole live TV option on all my TV’s for a few years now. Each TV is running either a RPi 4 or a Vero V and the two are connected using the Zuki HDHomeRun addon (this does require you to pay for HDHomeRun’s guide data subscription) and both Live TV and PVR have been working quite well. I’ve no complaints with the picture quality of either SD or HD content. Seems to me to be pretty much on par with if I was using the TV’s built-in tuners. I’ve not felt the need to explore any transcoding options or step into anything more complicated. About my only complaint that I can think of is that channel switching can sometimes be a bit slow if your channel surfing, but that seems more of an issue with low bandwidth substations in my local area rather than a hardware or software issue with my setup. Bringing up the major stations will normally happen in under three seconds.

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We do hardware decoding on Vero V. By default we do this for HD and up but it’s completely configurable under the Settings → Playback menu. So you can flip between software and hardware decoding,

Xbox tuner will work out of the box. Hauppauges (most) will too but they do update the models from time to time.

I’d buy just the Vero V and if you need a tuner it’s only going to cost you two quid in additional postage to order it separately.

If you order from us directly and don’t mind waiting a few days, you can save a tenner by using this form: Order Upgrade Form

Cheers

Sam

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Awesome, thanks Sam. I think I’m going to check it out. No idea what my order ID is. I can share my email with you (private message?) if that would help?

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Just give me first and last name to sales@osmc.tv from the email you ordered from and I’ll pick it up.

@grahamh is saying that ITV4 SD is stuttering for him. Will look in to this shortly.

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Will do Sam, and appreciate you looking into this. Thanks @grahamh for checking!

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I wasn’t going to mention that until I’d checked it out today. Yesterday I was playing through WiFi. I’ve just sat through half of Magnum PI and some Kojak :smiley:, watching on the Vero that runs TVHeadend. No glitches with HW or SW decoding.

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Yeah I often have these programmes on in the background while working from home. I am working, honest. No issues for me either. But when it comes to sports on the same channel - touring cars, la liga highlights, I’d be interested to know if you see it then. Stuttering happens every time for me (with http streaming disabled and hardware acceleration enabled)

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I’ll watch King of the Roads tonight and see what happens.

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15

Out of interest, do you run both tvheadend server and client on your Vero? I’ve read comments from other developers saying you’ll always run into problems doing it that way, which is why I kept things separate.

If you do, and without issue, I may consider revising my setup, certainly while testing Vero 5 out.

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I’ve always run TVH and Kodi on the same box. Starting with RPi2/3 then vero 4k/+ and now vero V.

I have a spinning rust HDD attached via USB3 for recording and its caddy has two USB2 sockets where I attach two DVB USB tuners. It’s all worked well enough that I haven’t bothered trying a separate TVH server.

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Haven’t found that problem. I have a separate TVH server now but that’s for logistical reasons (i.e. aerial access) but never had an issue when it was all on one system

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Perfect - both with SW and HW decoding. Quite a bit of action, but the bikes are a smallish part of the screen a lot of the time. I guess football could have a lot more pixels changing at once so might be a better test.

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That’s really encouraging, thanks @grahamh. Placing my order now.

1 Like