MKV TO MKV issue

[cbrandon123]

Hi guys and sorry if this is in the wrong section, my first post.

I have recently bought a stand alone media player which takes a hard drive, has the Sigma 8623 chip and am trying to play H264 / MKV files.

It plays them but I have an issue with stuttering a lot.

Can someone maybe help me with this?

These are the setting on the file, it is not just this one but all of them
I was under the impression the chipset could handle these files.

Format : Matroska
File size : 2.04 GiB
Duration : 39mn 44s
Overall bit rate : 7 350 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2008-11-05 06:23:30
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') built on Mar 4 2008 12:58:26
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
Cover : Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes / Yes

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 9 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 39mn 42s
Bit rate : 6 600 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 6 895 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.299
Writing library : x264 core 60 r886M 1075536


Thanks so much guys and looking forward to some help.
Maybe is there some program to convert it back to MKV with settings that could be played smoothly?
Please, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[poisondeathray]

Which player? Tvix? You can re-encode it using ripbot264, or MeGui which have compliant profiles (presets)

[jman98]

Unfortunately, you have just assumed that your problem is video when in fact it may be audio. Playback of DTS or any of the high def audio formats that BluRay supports can be problematic on this type of device. Try converting the audio to AC3 and see if that fixes the problem.

I found the following comment on some device called a Myka BitTorrent set-top box. It has negative implications for your Sigma chip:

"I expect this is based on yet another Sigma 8623 platform with limitations in supporting BD backups in the future (not enough memory on board). Suspicion on the chip is taken from the player being limited to 1080i (not 1080p). DTS decoding (for people without receiver) is also missing it seems in decoding specs..."

[cbrandon123]

Hi guys and thanks for the information, what settings would you advise using Ripbot please?
Some files work ok, other stutter terrible. It is a player from China - we are looking at importing into our country.
Thanks again - really appreciated.

[poisondeathray]

The preset for PS3 works on other sigma 8623 related stand alone players like Tvix, popcorn hour (you can adjust/customize it - eg. use lower crf or higher bitrate - it's just a starting point). I have no idea if it will work on your imported unit.

Also post the mediainfo for the audio information, jman98 brought up a good point

[cbrandon123]

Ok here goes:
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 39mn 44s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Language : English

Text #1
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Language : English

Text #2
ID : 4
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Language : Greek


Would you lower the Bitrate or make it higher for stuttering?
Thanks again !!

[poisondeathray]

I seriously doubt ~6-7Mbps will pose a problem for any player that claims to be able to play HD material, the bitrate is usually not the issue

The stuttering is usually caused by too many reference frames, b-frames, b-pyramid or incorrect VBV buffer setttings. If you use the preset, all these will be fixed. Again I have no experience with your imported unit, so I cannot say that will be for sure. I know quality control on some of the portable handheld players from China is very suspect.

[cbrandon123]

Again thanks so much for your help, yes one could wonder about the quality unfortunately. So basically I must just use the preset for BD / HD /Sony and then use what mode and CRF setting please?
Audio - I am using XXcopy stream

[poisondeathray]

If it's anything like the other standalone units, crf mode should work, but to guarantee vbv proper settings, 2pass is more compliant

CRF is a 1pass quality based method based on frame complexity, ending filesize is variable depending on source complexity. 2pass is used for exact filesize. Most people use CRF 18-22, higher being lower quality/lower filesize. If you switch it to 2pass mode, just enter the bitrate. You can use a similar bitrate (~6-7Mbps) as your source which would give good quality for most material of that dimension and fps

[cbrandon123]

Wow man I thank you once again. I wish I had your knowledge on this stuff.

[dannyboy48888]

just to thow it out there, does your player support mkv simple blocks? if not try to remux it with simple blocks disabled (or enabled if they are disabled). worth a shot

[cbrandon123]

I wouldnt have a clue, I dont even know what simple blocks are

[cbrandon123]

Plays this perfectly although some it does not:
1) this plays fine (2) this does not
1)Format : Matroska
File size : 2.39 GiB
Duration : 39mn 56s
Overall bit rate : 8 559 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2007-08-21 22:34:35
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@5.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 39mn 54s
Bit rate : 7 571 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 7 918 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.343
Writing library : x264 core 55 svn-655
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / brdo=0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=7918 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 39mn 56s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz

2)Format : Matroska
File size : 2.96 GiB
Duration : 2h 6mn
Overall bit rate : 3 361 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-05-15 14:40:52
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.4.2 ('Oh My God') built on Jan 18 2009 17:30:28
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@4.0
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 5mn
Bit rate : 2 579 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 528 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.424
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.159
Writing library : x264 core 66 r1114M a933a3e
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=crf / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=25000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz

[poisondeathray]

Not sure, "on paper" those specs should work with players using the same chip. The only other "big" difference is #1 is full frame (1280x720) and #2 has black borders cropped. Some standalone BD players have difficulty playing non-standard resolutions, but that is not a problem for players like Popcorn Hour, TviX etc..

You might try searching for a forum with your model, but if it's a Chinese import I doubt you will have much luck.

You can try swapping containers, like m2ts with tsmuxer, or remux with mkvmerge into another mkv.

[cbrandon123]

Ok downloaded MKVtoolnix, do i just open and reconvert back to an MKV?
Thanks
On the TSmux, what should the output be? BLu Ray? What is Tsmuxing or M2TSmuxing?

[poisondeathray]

Yes, just re-wrap it with mkvtoolnix (no re-encoding)

For tsmuxer, try .m2ts. The filesize overhead is larger for the transport stream, but your player might "like" it better

The next test you can try is adding back the borders to full frame (1280x720) when you re-encode. This isn't necessary for WD Player, TviX etc... but yours might need it.

[cbrandon123]

Ok M2ts worked but the quality seems much lower is this right?
Thanks

[poisondeathray]

Nope. Tsmuxer doesn't re-encode. It will be identical to whatever your input file was, it just re-wraps it into new container. If it was re-encoding it would take hours, not minutes to complete

[cbrandon123]

Oh right I understand, yes to re wrap it took about 10 seconds, was very quick. Thanks again for your help.
Seems that MKV or H264 is really a problematic container?
Thanks again for your time and effort in helping me out.
When you are in South Africa, drop me a mail

[poisondeathray]

Maybe you can list the model# so others with similar problems with that unit can find help ?

Cheers