EWA Version for GBPVR v1.0.16 & TWEAKING!

[geekdout]

Hi!

I can't use the latest GBPVR for my purposes, and am currently running v1.0.16. What version of EWA came in that download, and how can you otherwise tell? Would it be advisable to follow the wiki instructions and load the latest EWA with GBPVR v1.0.16 instead?

The video I'm getting streamed on the localhost (where the primary GBPVR system and capture card are) using default settings is pretty low res. I had hoped to stream from my GBPVR server with the same quality that you get from HULU - but the output I'm getting so far is much worse. I'm certain that with the way I have it config'd now it'll be even worse on a remote PC.

There's lots of tweaker settings on EWA and VLC. What can I do to improve the picture quality? The remote is connected to my router using wifi G at 54 MBs, and HULU streams fine from the internet (3 MB download through Charter Pipeline) - both in response and quality. Not perfect, but definitely good enough. The remote PC has a high-end graphics card connected using VGA to drive my 42" LG LCD at 1900 x whatever it is. Why would my GBPVR server streaming wirelessly at 54 MBs using EWA and VLC on my local network be slower and have less quality than another internet video source coming in on the same network link?

Thx!

[UncleJohnsBand]

Hi!

I can't use the latest GBPVR for my purposes, and am currently running v1.0.16. What version of EWA came in that download, and how can you otherwise tell? Would it be advisable to follow the wiki instructions and load the latest EWA with GBPVR v1.0.16 instead?

The video I'm getting streamed on the localhost (where the primary GBPVR system and capture card are) using default settings is pretty low res. I had hoped to stream from my GBPVR server with the same quality that you get from HULU - but the output I'm getting so far is much worse. I'm certain that with the way I have it config'd now it'll be even worse on a remote PC.

There's lots of tweaker settings on EWA and VLC. What can I do to improve the picture quality? The remote is connected to my router using wifi G at 54 MBs, and HULU streams fine from the internet (3 MB download through Charter Pipeline) - both in response and quality. Not perfect, but definitely good enough. The remote PC has a high-end graphics card connected using VGA to drive my 42" LG LCD at 1900 x whatever it is. Why would my GBPVR server streaming wirelessly at 54 MBs using EWA and VLC on my local network be slower and have less quality than another internet video source coming in on the same network link?

Thx!

Hover your mouse over the GBPVR logo in the upper left hand corner for the Table based views or over the copyright in the lower-right of the CSS based screens....this will show what version of EWA you are running.

The most recent version of EWA has more features than in available with what was shipping with 1.01.16. You need to follow the instructions on the wiki for loading EWA....HOWEVER....if you are staying with the 1.0.16 version of EWA then you should not delete the ajaxpro2.dll from the bin directory.....if you do the gbpvr auto-repair will kick in and revert EWA back to what ships with 1.01.16.

A lot of things impact video quality....first the speed of the PC that is doing the streaming.....you need a good amount of RAM and a strong processor that is not being overtaxed by other processes.

When you stream via EWA your native file is being read and then converted to whatever format you specified to be stream.....all that takes time and energy on the sever PC.

Video bitrate will impact your picture quality.....if you are streaming local and your network is not taxed you should be able to set it to LAN.

This is what I use and the image quality is excellent via wireless.....I am using A rather than G wireless but the speed is the same......there is just less interference issues with A in my environment.

HULU appears to be using a FLASH based converted file....I am sure that they are trans coding on the fly like is happening with EWA.

Also....the viewer on the client that you are using play into the quality alot.....I use VLC as my client viewer.

[geekdout]

Thanks for the info, I'll upgrade EWA on both my server and remote using the instructions - and I REALLY appreciate the tidbit on ajaxpro2.dll. The poor quality I was observing wasn't on the remote PC (haven't gotten that to work yet), but on the primary PC accessed via the localhost URL.

Here's my system specs, which appear to be sufficient based on your recommendations:

PRIMARY GBPVR:

Dell Dimension 2400 PCI bus
Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.20GHz
Processor Speed 2.14 GHz
Memory (RAM) 1536 MB
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
GBPVR v1.0.16
Hauppauge PVR-350
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller - running at 100 MBs/Full Duplex
hardwired to Wifi G router

GBPVR legacy (PVR-350 TV Out support) runs in the foreground with the recording service on autostart. This system does NOTHING else except rip/burn an occasional DVD, and the firewall and virus protection have been removed - along with all the other little programs that suck up resources needlessly. This used to be the family PC, but I've moved everyone off to other workstations that I have. When streaming, would it be advisable to close GBPVR legacy?

VLC is installed/runs on both the Primary and Remote PC's as the streamer/player of choice. Typically speaking, these are the only two systems that are usually active on my network at the same time. I have a print server and another laptop that are hardwired, but are used infrequently.

I guess that the VLC player options need to be set to match the streaming server config? I'll install the latest EWA on both the primary server and remote, apply the tweaks, check the video quality on the localhost, then try to get the remote up.

Thx!

[geekdout]

I've got streaming to the remote up and it's OK - after modifying the stream settings a little. Playback is pretty smooth, my scale is 1.0 and I'm using MPG4 only. The client dies unexpectedly every now and then. I couldn't really tell any difference whether GBPVR was running in the foreground or not - but maybe it should still be off when streaming? The video resolution could be better, and I'd like to see what it looks like actually full screen. I know that ultimately the latter may not be possible over a 54 MBs wifi link, but I'd like to try - what else can I tweak? I'm config'd for LAN, and also increased the buffer from 5000 to 6000.

[UncleJohnsBand]

If you have the option to select Play rather than Stream.....Play will create a Playlist that VLC can read and when you open up the playlist it will play the recording in its full non-transcoded format.....on a LAN this is not normally an issue.

Streaming really comes into play when you are outside of you LAN and your external facing upload speed is controlled....i.e. some ISP's only offer 768kpbs upload speeds....which will not be good enough for raw playing.

Try using the Play instead of Stream for your internal network viewing.

Let me know how this works for you.

[geekdout]

Playing doesn't work at all from EWA on the remote PC, and it tries to use WinAmp instead of VLC to read the playlist. How do I fix this? However, I can use the VLC player on the remote PC to open the file over the network share - which doesn't run nearly as smoothly as EWA streaming.

[UncleJohnsBand]

Playing doesn't work at all from EWA on the remote PC, and it tries to use WinAmp instead of VLC to read the playlist. How do I fix this? However, I can use the VLC player on the remote PC to open the file over the network share - which doesn't run nearly as smoothly as EWA streaming.

To fix the file association of the playlist I think you just need to reinstall VLC and select to associate to all file types....I think by default it does not do that....it is an option in the install process.

If you can not play the file over the network that tells me you have a bad or slow network connection.

Is the host PC also connected to the network wirelessly?

[geekdout]

I'll work on fixing the file association types for VLC. I CAN play the file over the wifi connection, just by either using EWA to stream OR running the VLC player standalone to open the file over a network share (unacceptably slow, but does work). The GBPVR is hardwired at 100 MBs.

I have noticed that for some strange reason, a file copied (MS XCOPY, not FTP) from the server to remote workstation over either the wireless OR wired link takes almost 3 times as long as the same file being copied from the remote back to the server. It's almost like I need some sort of network filesharing/transfer speed setting, drive performance, or other tweak on the server or hardwired NIC. A 1.5 GB file copies from the wireless remote to server in less than 1 minute, whereas copying the same file from the server back down to the remote takes over 3 minutes. Any ideas?

[geekdout]

CORRECTION: that wasn't a 1.5 GB file, it was 1.5 MB! Hey, if it had been 1.5 GB I wouldn't be having probs...

[gEd]

I use a wireless g network and just use the "play" option in EWA to playback recordings (in VLC) without alteration (720x576 PAL).

Copying a 1.5GB file would take me 20mins over my G network. I am at a loss as to how you can possibly transfer 1.5GB/m on a 54Mb/s network.
[edit]: ah, that explains it!
If it takes you a min to transfer 1.5MB you network is messed up. I just transfered 16MB in 30secs. But maybe you know that already and that is why you are trying to stream !