Slow Playback Start NextPVR Plugin on Jellyfin

[Zetriq]

Hello NextPVR Community,


I'm experiencing an issue with the NextPVR plugin on Jellyfin and would appreciate some help.

When I attempt to play live TV through the Jellyfin NextPVR plugin, there is a significant delay before the video player starts. It typically takes about 20-30 seconds for the player to pop-up. After this delay, the player enters a loading state for another 40 sec ( that's not a problem).

I've noticed that some users, thinking that their initial press of the play button did not register, end up clicking the play button 6-7 times. This results in multiple instances of FFmpeg being started simultaneously and is keeping my CPU usage spikes up to 90%, severely affecting the performance of the server.

System Information:

• Jellyfin Version: 10.9.6
  
• NextPVR Plugin Version: 11.0.0.0
  
• Server Hardware: i7 6770k, 16gb ram
  
• Operating System: Windows Server 2022
  
• Tuner: Hauppauge WinTV-dualHD DVBC Tuner
  Video demonstration: https://streamable.com/ui7iaq
  

Thank you in advance for your help!

[mvallevand]

Without logs there is little to go on. Your video doesn't show the long delay you are wrote about and is something that watching in a browser is expected. How is the NextPVR browser experience on the same channel?

The plugin supplies a URL quickly so it should be streaming as soon as data is available. How Jellyfin deals with any transcoding it needs or a UI during the loading would be a question for their forum. Certainly the more the UI allows a user to start multiple instances of FFmpeg (and multiple streams from NextPVR) the slower the CPU will be increasing the delay so don't click while it.

Realistically you should be using a Jellyfin or NextPVR direct play client if you don't want transcoding delay especially if users are clicking play often.

Martin

[Zetriq]

Without logs there is little to go on. Your video doesn't show the long delay you are wrote about and is something that watching in a browser is expected.  How is the NextPVR browser experience on the same channel?

The plugin supplies a URL quickly so it should be streaming as soon as data is available.  How Jellyfin deals with any transcoding it needs or a UI during the loading would be a question for their forum.  Certainly the more the UI allows a user to start multiple instances of FFmpeg (and multiple streams from NextPVR) the slower the CPU will be increasing the delay so don't click while it. 

Realistically you should be using a Jellyfin or NextPVR direct play client if you don't want transcoding delay especially if users are clicking play often.

Martin

Hi Martin,

Thank you for your insights. As I'm new to this, I appreciate your patience.

I tested the same channel on the NextPVR browser app and experienced the same loading time. The issue seems to be that Jellyfin does not display the "Starting Device. Please Wait..." message that appears in NextPVR. Instead, it looks like the play button was not clicked at all during this period.

Is there a way to speed up the "Starting Device" process or keep the device awake all the time? I'm using a Hauppauge WinTV-dualHD DVBC Tuner. The transcoding process starts after the device has started, but this initial delay is quite noticeable.

I don't mind the loading time; I just want the player to pop up when the play button is pressed so that users don't spam it thinking it's unresponsive.

Thanks for your help!

[mvallevand]

It looks like your tuner does take quite a bit of time to tune a channel.

2024-06-17 10:33:12.409 [INFO][4] Got POST request: /stream/start?slipseconds=60&target=LIVE%26C%3A%5CUsers%5CPublic%5CVideos%5Clive-PRO%20TV%20HD-3928-260.ts
...
2024-06-17 10:33:20.757 [DEBUG][4] locked=1, present=1, strength=58, quality=100 (took 3031ms to check)

so for the NextPVR perspective it's a hardware time. You probably see the same delay in WinTV.

How fast is tuning cable on the TV, I suspect it is a few seconds too.

You can prime the tuner so it doesn't retune but that really won't help when you change frequencies.

As for LiveTV I do get a spinner right away but it probably starts after video is received. A change like this would need to be in Jellyfin.

Martin

[Zetriq]

It looks like your tuner does take quite a bit of time to tune a channel.

2024-06-17 10:33:12.409 [INFO][4] Got POST request: /stream/start?slipseconds=60&target=LIVE%26C%3A%5CUsers%5CPublic%5CVideos%5Clive-PRO%20TV%20HD-3928-260.ts
...
2024-06-17 10:33:20.757 [DEBUG][4] locked=1, present=1, strength=58, quality=100  (took 3031ms to check)

so for the NextPVR perspective it's a hardware time.  You probably see the same delay in WinTV. 

How fast is tuning cable on the TV, I suspect it is a few seconds too. 

You can prime the tuner so it doesn't retune but that really won't help when you change frequencies.

As for LiveTV I do get a spinner right away but it probably starts after video is received.  A change like this would need to be in Jellyfin.

Martin

On my TV, tuning cable channels directly takes around 1-3 seconds, which isn't noticeable.

I'll try reinstalling the drivers for the Hauppauge tuner to see if that makes any difference. Additionally, I'll explore what adjustments can be made in Jellyfin to optimize this process.

Thank you for your time and assistance!