Video stutters on 'busy' scenes

Help and Support Raspberry Pi
1

I am trying to pin down the cause of this problem which happens when the video includes what I can best describe as a ‘busy’ picture, the best example of which is a scene in which the camera pans across water, showing large amounts of white waves over a blue water background. It does not occur in normal dialog scenes. The picture stutters, then catches up again after 2-3 seconds. The problem is consistent, in that the same scene will always generate the same stutter.

The device is a pi 2 running the latest Kodi 17 build. Media is served from a Freenas server using smb, connected directly using a wired gigabit connection. It is an absolute vanilla installation, with no add-ons, and running default settings, apart from the MPG2 codec installed, purchased from the pi store a couple of years ago. Output is to a samsung television via HDMI connector.

The problem has been occurring for a long time, and I believe it started happening after one of the monthly updates, but I cannot estimate how long it has had a problem. I have simply ignored the issue until now. The system definitely used to work, but now I am currently watching a television series based by water, and the issue makes it unwatchable.

First question
I purchased an MPEG2 codec and I assume a WVC1 codec, but reviewing the codec information using vcgencmd, it indicates that MPG2 is installed, but that WVC1 is not. The email that I have from the pi store implies that the serial number should enable both the codecs, but it only enables MPEG2. Is that possibly the cause of the problem? I’m happy to re-purchase the key if necessary.

** Second question **
Reviewing threads for the word ‘stutter’, there seems to be an implication that there is an issue in Kodi 17, and there is possibly a fix in Kodi 18, should I try a nightly build?

Log Upload
Find the logs at Pastepin . Playback starts at 13:29:16.525 T:1926023680

MediaInfo
eneral
Unique ID : 218247054818020416995967729731110273963 (0xA430DA939BE856A3878ECDBAEF1583AB)
Complete name : C:\Video\Loch_Ness_S1_Disc_1\Loch Ness S01E01.mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 2.17 GiB
Duration : 46 min 19 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 6 701 kb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2018-03-01 00:46:25
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.12.0 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.12.0 (1.3.5/1.4.7) win(x64-release)

Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source medium : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings : CustomMatrix / BVOP
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : Variable
Codec ID : V_MPEG2
Codec ID/Info : MPEG 1 or 2 Video
Duration : 46 min 19 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 6 465 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 9 800 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Scan order : 2:3 Pulldown
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.780
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Closed
Stream size : 2.09 GiB (96%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Audio
ID : 2
ID in the original source medium : 189 (0xBD)128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 46 min 19 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 224 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 74.2 MiB (3%)
Title : Stereo
Language : English
Service kind : Complete Main
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Text
ID : 3
ID in the original source medium : 189 (0xBD)32 (0x20)
Format : VobSub
Codec ID : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info : Picture based subtitle format used on DVDs
Duration : 44 min 44 s
Bit rate : 6 524 b/s
Count of elements : 688
Stream size : 2.09 MiB (0%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Original source medium : DVD-Video

Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:Chapter 01
00:06:15.875 : en:Chapter 02
00:13:09.421 : en:Chapter 03
00:24:18.590 : en:Chapter 04
00:30:55.687 : en:Chapter 05
00:42:03.437 : en:Chapter 06

Thanks for such a great system

Mark

2

Do you have a Pi or a Vero? You posted in the Vero area and no codecs are required.

3

I’ll change the category.

4

Update and resolution

I upgraded the unit to a Pi 3B+ and repurchased the Codecs, but it still had exactly the same issue. Then I found This thread about wired network issues. Deliberately downgrading the connection from 1Gb to 100Mb again had no effect, so I used the wireless capabilities of 3B+ to connect, lo and behold the system works perfectly!

I definitely feel that some kind of issue has been introduced into the wired connection as it used to work fine, so perhaps this should be considered a bug report

5

There seems to be some problems with the Pi 3 B+'s Ethernet unfortunately.
We’re keeping a close eye on this.

6

Is there anything in particular we can do to help track this? I know on my 3b+ I finally just wiped the card, reinstalled the current OSMC, and then removed all the caching changes from my advancedsettings. Since then it’s been stable. I don’t get any stuttering or freezes while rebuffering anymore, although I do get more times that after I fast forward I have to wait a couple seconds while the buffer refills.

7

I just want to emphasize that this was not a 3B issue, my Pi 2 had exactly the same problem