13.7.0 and ffmpeg

[Alan56]

The above version brokes transcoding of LPCM audio via ffmpeg in Panasonic smart plasma TV 50VT50 2011 model. All works perfectly in 13.6.0 version.

[mik_s]

Could you post your logs so I can see what is happening? See the section in red above.

[Alan56]

Sorry, I didn't read the guidelines carefully.
I post the logs in attachment:
13.7.0 = No audio when transcoding LPCM track with ffmpeg to Panasonic Viera VT50 model (Panasonic Viera.conf renderer)
13.6.0 (and previous versions) = All works flawlessly.
In both cases I installed the two versions with "restore default options" checked.
Thank you for your help.

[mik_s]

I do see a minor change in the transcoding command, in the one that is working it is using AC3 whereas the not working one is just copying the original audio.
These are the 2 commands, bottom one is from the working logs.

Code: Select all

Starting "C:\Program Files (x86)\Universal Media Server\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -y -loglevel info -i G:\BDMV\STREAM\00003.m2ts -filter_complex [0:v][0:s:0]overlay -map 0:V -map 0:a:0 -bufsize 7000k -maxrate 6000k -crf 23 -ab 192k -c:a copy -c:v libx264 -preset superfast -level 31 -pix_fmt yuv420p -f mpegts \\.\pipe\ffmpegvideo_116_1701019883989
Starting "C:\Program Files (x86)\Universal Media Server\bin\ffmpeg.exe" -y -loglevel info -i G:\BDMV\STREAM\00003.m2ts -filter_complex [0:v][0:s:0]overlay -map 0:V -map 0:a:0 -bufsize 5000k -maxrate 4000k -crf 23 -ab 192k -c:a ac3 -c:v libx264 -preset superfast -level 31 -pix_fmt yuv420p -f mpegts \\.\pipe\ffmpegvideo_112_1701020273600

There is a change to the bitrate as speed tests were different from both logs but they are both very slow at 5-7mb/s. The speed tests can vary depending on other network traffic.
From what I can tell videos 1, 2, 9, and 12 are streamed but the others are being transcoded as they have PGS subtitles which are not supported by that TV, or the bitrate is too high for the measured network speed. They might be able to be streamed if you try playing from the #--TRANSCODE--# folder and choose "No transcoding"
(if you do not see it, enable "show the #--Transcode--# folder" in the GUI on the navigation tab, in the web GUI it is in the "virtual folders/files" section)
but I would not be surprised if you get playback problems too as it can't receive the data fast enough.

I don't know why UMS is using different audio options in the transcode command, maybe in the one that was not working it thought there was enough room to just copy the audio stream while in the working one there was not enough room so is transcoding that stream at a lower quality. It could also be because of a bug where is should not be copying the audio stream. I reported something similar not that long ago that might have been related to this, and that fix should be in the next version.

I think one thing that will help the most is to find out why the speeds are so slow. I can see you are using a wired connection on your computer but is the TV connected via wifi?

[Alan56]

Thanks for your help.
TV is connected via wi-fi to 5GHz network and PC via ethernet. My LAN has a good speed (is a fiber-optic line), but the TV adapter probably does not support high speed, so the transfer rate is limited, but enough to cast blu-ray's m2ts files flawlessy, without stuttering or others playback problems.
Yes, I needed to transcode the m2ts files as the PGS subtitles apparently were not supported by my TV model. Just now, however, looking here and there after your clarification I noticed that in the Panasonic-Viera.conf renderer, which UMS assigns as default renderer for my TV, the subtitles section is empty and no subtitle format compatible with my TV is listed. So I modified the renderer by copying and pasting the lines about subtitle compatibility from another similar model Panasonic renderer and now UMS streams m2ts files with subtitles without need to transcode anything!
Usually I use ffmpeg because If I choose VLC as transcoding engine on one side nothing is a problem with audio but on the other side, if the file has multiple subtitles, then VLC streams them all at once, regardless of which one you choose when transcoding (I read some topics in past months and other people seems to have this issue transcoding via VLC to Panasonic TV).
So, here's the situation, with UMS 13.6.0 and Panasonic-Viera.conf renderer modified adding subtitles compatibility lines (the file I used as example has two LPCM audio tracks - one is master audio with english subtitles and the other is a commentary without subtitles):
Choosing to streams directly to TV = now UMS streams video, master LPCM audio and subtitles.
Choosing "No transcoding" from #--TRANSCODE--# folder = UMS streams only video, no audio and no subtitles (a red small audio icon appears on the top of the Panasonic DLNA Media Server GUI before video begins).
Choosing Transcode video, LPCM master track and subtitles with ffmpeg from #--TRANSCODE--# folder = UMS streams video, audio and subtitles (only video and subtitles and no audio with 13.7.0 version).
So, for now, I stay with 13.6.0 version...

[mik_s]

Yeah your TV probably has a slow network interface but not that slow, especially if it is using 5ghz wifi.
I suspect it is using 2.4ghz wifi due to the age. Usually the interfaces they used on older TVs were 100mb/s, at least wired. Wifi should be similar.
Try and move the router closer to the TV, preferably within line of sight to get the best signal. Even better try using a wired connection.

When using "no transcoding" UMS streams the video unaltered so if anything is missing or don't play correctly it is because the TV does not support that format, or is not getting the data fast enough. That is probably what the red icon means.

If you don't use subtitles you could turn them off in the transcoding options instead of editing the conf files.

It is better to use FFmpeg anyway as it is better supported, I have not used any of the other transcoding engines myself though.
VLC should not be displaying all the subtitles at once though. If you can recreate this then would be good to see it happen in the logs so it can be fixed.

If 13.6.0 works well but 13.7.0 does not then it will be best to stay on the old version.