NextPVR weird Zoom issue with Kodi

[three6zerocool]

Hello, been fighting recently with NextPVR live TV and Recordings with Hauppauge Colossus 2 card.
Thanks to Martin and Sub, have resolved one issue I was having with severe flicker and strobing.

However, I still have this really annoying issue, where randomly the playing video or Live TV stream in Kodi will zoom up, to the extent it looks like viewing image thru a microscope.
Very hard to replicate, but it does it at random, but only from the STB channels.  (MySkyHDi)

It seems to do it whether I am using 720p or 1080i output from the STB.
It is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen Kodi do.

I am guessing it is somehow losing the aspect of both live TV and the recording, as if something in the video is triggering it.
I think it is some kind of video corruption occuring in the stream, as I notice that Kodi has issues resuming the recordings, and sometimes can not even start playing them.
Then, if I try again, it does play them once more.

Any ideas?.  I know this is a really vague issue, but for me it only started doing this behavior when I replaced my original Hauppauge Colossus card with Colossus 2.

I was watching a recorded show NextPVR recorded rom Sky STB.  3 or 4 times the weird zoom issue happened.
I played back the same recording using Martin's NextUI client (UIDroid), and it does not appear to exhibit the strange zooming issue that occurs when viewing in Kodi.

If I say selected 'Recordings Auto Transcode' in NextPVR server preferences, could this help correct any video stream errors.?

[mvallevand]

Kodi issues need Kodi debug logs. There is bug in Kodi Omega skipping and resuming.

If the issue is random even on the same file it might indicate another issue not a problem with the file.

Personally I wouldn't use auto transcode for this issue but you are free to try anything you'd like and it won't help LiveTV

You should have posted this in the Kodi sub-forum.

Martin

[three6zerocool]

I would have posted in Kodi sub-forum, except for the fact that I don't believe it is a Kodi issue..
I suspect it is a capture issue, else the same weirdness would have occurred with the colossus 1 card.

Kodi does indeed have its quirks. One I have with Nexus is with DTS audio... terrible sync issues. Install Omega alpha 2, and problem gone. Put Nexus back on and DTS completely up the smeg again.
Anyway, thanks for the response, and I will continue looking at this odd issue.

[mvallevand]

If uidroid doesn't experience the effect why do you think the source is faulty? If you are using Omega there are many problems with skipping resume not working etc and it is not recommended at this time.

Martin

[three6zerocool]

I was just testing Omega to see if it resolved the audio sync issues that seemed to creep in with later Nexus builds. (and it does)

Matrix was always good for me, but for whatever reason nexus caused a lot of Audio delay issues with my particular Av Setup.

Omega seems to have resolved the audio sync issues.  Latest Nexus build just released is supposed to have audio improvements to EAC3, but thought it might resolve some sync issues for me, but it has not.
I have a few different devices, so have omega on one  for test purposes only.

Yes, not sure what is occurring re: the weird zoom issues, so kinda grasping at straws, and trying various settings in the NextPVR config file area of HDPVR.
As the STB exclusively uses the Colossus, I was kinda starting there.

I noticed the settings include aspect commands in the HDPVR tree.   SD is set to 4x3  and HD to 16x9.
I changed SD to 16x9, and so far no weird zoom thus far, but will keep observing.

I 'think' UIdroid does not exhibit the zoom behaviour, but to be honest the issue is so unpredictable and rare, that I just don't know.  Only thing I am certain of is that it ONLY occurs with Sky Channels via the STB, which leads me back to the only changed thing.. the colossus 2 card.

(grin) one leap forward, 2 backwards.






.

[mvallevand]

The best bet would certainly be having the STB output fixed resolution and aspect ratio. Having two threads on this issue doesn't help and really without the required Kodi debug logs and the fact that it is rare and not directly reproducible really means there is little point in continuing this simply as a discussion.

Martin

[three6zerocool]

Sorry, I apologize for the double posts.  My mind is not as ordered as yours!

To me the interlace and zoom issues are separate.
Your suggestion of changing h264 level has fixed one.

Tho, both appear to be related to the same STB source.

As you suggest, I will check the STB's settings for aspect.
The MySkyHDi box has two sets of options for SD and HD.
I will look into this thanks.

I will try and supply kodi debug logs.
Tomorrow there is a show on that often seems to trigger the zoom, which I record every week, and is shown a number of times as repeat on Sky.

I watched last weeks ep which zoomed 2 or 3 times on live TV and the recording.
The live repeat I watched last night did not zoom, and that was after changing the HDPVR settings in the config file to SD=16x9. (previously was set to 4:3 by default)

Might just be co-incidence, but will tell after tomorrow after I watch the recording.

[mvallevand]

I like that you opened a new thread for the likely unrelated Kodi issue, referencing this one causes mixup. I suspect based on years old experience SD will more likely switch between 16:9 and 4:3 then HD because there isn't as much 4:3 HD content. Here in North America our 16:9 SD is typically letterboxed which is actually another zoom issue, in the UK you had 16:9 for years before digital.

Martin

[three6zerocool]

Update:

OK, been watching quite a bit of Live TV via my STB and colossus 2 card, including a recording of a weekly show that has always exhibited the weird zoom issue a number of times throughout the show.

Happy to report that after changing the HDPVR aspect setting for SD content in the NextPVR config file, that I have had zero occurrences of zoom issues in Kodi.

So, it is looking very positive indeed that this issue could now be resolved, and I should be able to confirm that with a little bit more viewing time.
I only tried the option, as my other interlace issue was resolved by another setting in the HDPVR section of the config file, so I figured 'what the hell, might as well try it'

Will post a further update as to how I get on.

..Dean..

[three6zerocool]

Update 2:

Well, after a week of viewing both Live TV from my STB, and recordings from the STB.
I am happy to report I no longer have the strange zooming issue when using Kodi with NextPVR server.

Seemingly altering the SD aspect in NextPVR config's HDPVR configuration indeed worked.