HW video acceleration problem with 4.3

Search This thread

Nuno_PT

Member
Oct 22, 2010
23
12
Hi,

I've noticed that since android 4.3 something changed in terms of hardware video acceleration.

I used to watch movies on my Galaxy Nexus and the same movies that played nicely with 4.2.2, now stutter or lag with 4.3

I've tried with the latest MX Player and BS Player and even the internal stock video player. All do the same.
I used to play HD 720p videos and some 1080p videos without a single glitch, as long as HW or HW+ (MX Player) were enabled.

Now, after a few reencodes and tests I've come to the conclusion that the reference frames can't be higher than 5. An AVC video with ref frames of 6 and higher play with stuttering, but when in SW mode, they play OK.

You may download the samples to test:
H.264 HD 720p High@L4.1 ref frames 5
H.264 HD 720p High@L4.1 ref frames 6

Ref frames= 5 plays like it should, no problems with HW acceleration
Ref frames= 6 stutters, lags. Only plays nice with SW mode.

I've tried with a Galaxy Nexus of a friend, also with 4.3 and it happens as described.

Anyone would know why would Google break the acceleration, or how can I report this?

Thanks

Nuno
 

AgusL

Senior Member
Aug 12, 2013
83
53
GT-i9250
Nexus 7
Hi, I just registered because I have the same problem. I even searched and tried a lot of apps and it doesn't matter, the result is always the same. My GNex plays some files very choppy.

I downloaded both videos you linked and tested with MX Player (with custom codec ARMv7 NEON)

Ref. frames 5 = Plays fine with HW+ and SW.
Ref. frames 6 = Plays choppy with HW+ and plays fine with SW.

I have a lot of playback problems with most video files, specially TV series rip from the scene (for example HDTV 720p rips from DIMENSION and other scenes group) and some other 720p BluRay releases and it stutters like hell in HW+. Some times HW it doesn't even work and with SW plays fine 10 or 20 seconds and then starts to stutter a lot to the point it is unwatchable.

Then if I test some 1080p movies (even 15gb files and over LAN) they play excellent. Some don't.

I tried everything, even forcing min. CPU freq. for MX Player with Franco Kernel and it's always the same.

I have Android 4.3 (clean install) and I tried with and without Franco Kernel and it doesn't matter.
 
Last edited:

Misledz

Senior Member
Jun 1, 2011
6,273
8,309
Cebu City, Philippines
You have to understand 4.3 API is not easy. It's been almost a month since the release of 4.3 and there hasn't been a stable ROM, kernel yet. If that doesn't drop some enlightenment then you have to realize 4.2.2 took 8 months to perfect and reach where it is. Rather than blaming 4.3 how about you understand the coding that goes on behind it. The app developers never meant to focus solely on 4.3 they need to make sure that it doesn't cause instability for 4.2 and below, as there are tons of devices from different oem that react differently to small changes. Just be patient and the dev will sort it out. Quit making like little girls 'daddy I want it NOW NOW'. Be patient and eventually it will be fixed.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
 

Nuno_PT

Member
Oct 22, 2010
23
12
Misledz, nobody's whining.
Both me and AgusL just pointed something that I haven't found discussed anywhere else.

The purpose of this thread is just to share one's experiences with this subject. I perfectly understand this is either a bug or a intended feature of 4.3. I just hope it's a bug because I'm used to watch a lot of movies on my GN and now they are unwatchable (battery-wise)

Would you be so kind to share your experience with your Nexus 4? Does it affect it also? I am just trying to figure out if this is PowerVR SGX540 related or if the Adreno 320 is also affected.

Thanks

Nuno
 
T

Thyrus

Guest
Using the Android Video Player and MX Player, I have no stuttering or lag on either of these 2 videos.
I have used MX Player and switched between HW and SW decoding and cannot see any issues.
 

madd0g

Senior Member
May 8, 2010
2,841
872
I wish that people who discuss possible bugs and problems would firstly install Google stock Nexus image and test there, before flashing incomplete nightly ROM's and judge how the new system is.

FFS.
 

fux0r99

Senior Member
Jul 28, 2013
326
99
No problem playing videos with latest MX player pro on stock 4.3 here, I think the problem is probably rom related if using a custom 4.3 rom.
 

Vinni Sanders

New member
Mar 7, 2012
3
6
Factory resetted Galaxy Nexus with OTA updated 4.3 firmware, and then reflashed to stock 4.3 firmware, and another GN OTA updated to stock 4.3, both displays severe glitches in hardware video decoding mode. Tested in the Dice Player and VLC Player with HW decoding enabled.

Video track info from the problem files:

Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames

Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 6 frames

On the Nexus 10 and the Nexus 7 (1st gen) both with stock OTA updated 4.3 firmware exactly the same files played well in HW decoding mode.
Only Galaxy Nexus seems to be affected.
On the stock 4.2.2 firmware and CM 10.1.2 problem does not exist.
 

Misledz

Senior Member
Jun 1, 2011
6,273
8,309
Cebu City, Philippines
Misledz, nobody's whining.
Both me and AgusL just pointed something that I haven't found discussed anywhere else.

The purpose of this thread is just to share one's experiences with this subject. I perfectly understand this is either a bug or a intended feature of 4.3. I just hope it's a bug because I'm used to watch a lot of movies on my GN and now they are unwatchable (battery-wise)

Would you be so kind to share your experience with your Nexus 4? Does it affect it also? I am just trying to figure out if this is PowerVR SGX540 related or if the Adreno 320 is also affected.

Thanks

Nuno

My apologies I didn't mean to make it sound like it's whining. I just see so many posts saying 4.3 is bad in the general section that they just get shut down. Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, what I meant from experience was the 4.3 API just has a few restrictions unlike the open breeze the previous builds had. People and paranoia just request so many things that what's not broken ends up being broken due to changes. I felt it was unfair if I had not shared the experience.

On the GNexus and N4 I don't have that issue. I assume this was supposed to be kernel related since we are playing with builds that weren't supposed to be released for us. I've tried downloading a 1080p MKV file (I am Legend) and streamed it off an SMB server, and it played flawlessly on DicePlayer (GNexus) I had no stutter, subtitles loaded perfectly and I still got to see Will Smith fire some rounds in the air.

Have you given DicePlayer a go? I promise it's something not to look back upon
 

Vinni Sanders

New member
Mar 7, 2012
3
6
On the GNexus and N4 I don't have that issue. [...] Have you given DicePlayer a go?

You see, not all files have this glitches. There is a problem only with specific video coding, I.e. ref.frames=6 or 8.
Do you tried examples from Nuno_PT post?

Just tried examples from top post and "ref frames 6" definitely have problems with Dice Player v.2.0.35, but "ref frames 5" playing well.
Latest MX Player Free not playing "ref frames 6" in HW mode, but does fall-back to software decoding (and displays HW mode icon simultaneously - that is bug, obviously) and playng in software, with corresponding CPU load and battery drain.
Galaxy Nexus with stock 4.3 firmware.

Youtube videos playing perfectly.

Video files with ref frames = 1, or 2, or 3 - all playing well.

Trailer "Prince of Persia - Sands of Time" in 1080p for example, have video track:
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : avc1

And, of course, playing well.
But video files with ReFrames = 6 or 8 definitely not playing well in HW mode on stock GN 4.3.
SW playback does too much battery drain, so it is a problem.
 

Nuno_PT

Member
Oct 22, 2010
23
12
First I would like to say that I am glad this is not a problem with only my phone. It pleases me to know that affects all Galaxy Nexus with stock 4.3, and it looks like CM 10.2 is also affected.

I came to the conclusion, along with Vinni Sanders, that this only affects HD encodes with ref frames higher than 6.
Most scene movies you find over the internet where encoded with 12 ref frames, or at least higher than 6.

The thing is that with stock 4.2.2 this didn't happen and I could play videos with 12 ref frames with HW acceleration, as far as I can remember.

At first I didn't know what was the trigger, but after messing around with re-encodings of movies I came to the conclusion that it were the ref frames.

I haven't made tests with 1080p, so I can't state how many ref. frames would trigger the stuttering with HW acceleration. But I do remember watching high bit rate 1080p movies with HW acceleration when I had stock 4.2.2

My question is, what's the next step? It surely looks like a regression. How can we correctly report this to Google?

Nuno
 

AgusL

Senior Member
Aug 12, 2013
83
53
GT-i9250
Nexus 7
and ianncer

Well, I come with some updates. I tested a movie on my Nexus 7 (2012) and my Galaxy Nexus, both Android 4.3 stock. This is the media info:

Format: MPEG-4 - Base Media / Version 2
File size: 1.40 GiB - Duration: 1h 20mn - Overall bit rate: 2 497 Kbps

Video
Format: AVC / High@L3.1
CABAC: Yes - ReFrames 5 frames
Bit rate mode: Variable - 2 100 Kbps
Width: 1 280 pixels - Height: 720 pixels - Frame rate: 23.976 fps - Color space: YUV

Audio
Format: AC-3
Bit rate mode: Constant - Bit rate: 384 Kbps
Channel count: 2 channels - Sampling rate: 48.0 KHz - Bit depth: 16 bits

Nexus 7 -> MX Player on H/W+ plays perfect, no frame drops at all.
Galaxy Nexus -> MX Player on H/W+ very laggy. H/W is the same. S/W plays perfect.

Also, some 1080p movies play fine on my Nexus 7, but on my Galaxy Nexus will only play (laggy) on S/W mode only. H/W and H/W+ gives me an decoding error.

So, the problem is Android on this particular device, and not an Android global bug across all devices.

Is there a way to test at what percent the GPU is used when playing a file on Android? I tried through Developer options, but some of you can do more serious tests.

Please forgive about my english writing :)
 

elma_illusion

New member
Aug 15, 2013
1
0
Got the exact same issue with my Galaxy Nexus stock 4.3. Alle players have major stutter when using differnt mkv files. Same codes as described below. Alle scene stuff from the interwebs.

There is the official issue tracker for Android: code.google.com/p/android/issues/list
 

Nuno_PT

Member
Oct 22, 2010
23
12
Issue 59020 - Android Open Source Project Issue Tracker

Hi,

I've opened Issue 59020 at the Android Open Source Project Issue Tracker.

Feel free to comment there in hope that Google can do anything about it and hopefully release a 4.3.1 update with this issue fixed.

Nuno
 
  • Like
Reactions: dzl and yashade2001

derschlambi

New member
Aug 16, 2013
2
0
Hi guys,

I am having the same problem with my Galaxy Nexus and 4.3. Videos with HW Accelaration stutter like hell, unfortunately the Software Decoder is not completely smooth, so that is not an option for me. In addition to the video issue, my phone felt much slower than before.

I downgraded to 4.2.2 yesterday and I am very happy with the fact, that the phone runs so much smoother now and I can watch videos again. I don't see any reason right now why I should upgrade to 4.3 soon. Maybe to 4.3.1 when Google fixed these problems.

I can recommend anyone to go back to 4.2.2 again. The phone is wiped, that is true. But it also runs much better than before. It will cost you some hours fixing everything back up, but I don't regret it.

Cheers,

DS
 

GldRush98

Senior Member
Jun 3, 2006
2,309
338
Taylorville, IL.
www.GldRush98.com
I was able to reproduce OP's issue on stock 4.3 with MX Player.
Very odd. Fortunately I use my Nexus 7 to watch tv/dvd/br rips so I hopefully won't really run in to this issue during my regular use, but it is definitely there.
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 8
    Hi,

    I've noticed that since android 4.3 something changed in terms of hardware video acceleration.

    I used to watch movies on my Galaxy Nexus and the same movies that played nicely with 4.2.2, now stutter or lag with 4.3

    I've tried with the latest MX Player and BS Player and even the internal stock video player. All do the same.
    I used to play HD 720p videos and some 1080p videos without a single glitch, as long as HW or HW+ (MX Player) were enabled.

    Now, after a few reencodes and tests I've come to the conclusion that the reference frames can't be higher than 5. An AVC video with ref frames of 6 and higher play with stuttering, but when in SW mode, they play OK.

    You may download the samples to test:
    H.264 HD 720p High@L4.1 ref frames 5
    H.264 HD 720p High@L4.1 ref frames 6

    Ref frames= 5 plays like it should, no problems with HW acceleration
    Ref frames= 6 stutters, lags. Only plays nice with SW mode.

    I've tried with a Galaxy Nexus of a friend, also with 4.3 and it happens as described.

    Anyone would know why would Google break the acceleration, or how can I report this?

    Thanks

    Nuno
    4
    On the GNexus and N4 I don't have that issue. [...] Have you given DicePlayer a go?

    You see, not all files have this glitches. There is a problem only with specific video coding, I.e. ref.frames=6 or 8.
    Do you tried examples from Nuno_PT post?

    Just tried examples from top post and "ref frames 6" definitely have problems with Dice Player v.2.0.35, but "ref frames 5" playing well.
    Latest MX Player Free not playing "ref frames 6" in HW mode, but does fall-back to software decoding (and displays HW mode icon simultaneously - that is bug, obviously) and playng in software, with corresponding CPU load and battery drain.
    Galaxy Nexus with stock 4.3 firmware.

    Youtube videos playing perfectly.

    Video files with ref frames = 1, or 2, or 3 - all playing well.

    Trailer "Prince of Persia - Sands of Time" in 1080p for example, have video track:
    Format : AVC
    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : Main@L4.0
    Format settings, CABAC : No
    Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
    Codec ID : avc1

    And, of course, playing well.
    But video files with ReFrames = 6 or 8 definitely not playing well in HW mode on stock GN 4.3.
    SW playback does too much battery drain, so it is a problem.
    2
    I wish that people who discuss possible bugs and problems would firstly install Google stock Nexus image and test there, before flashing incomplete nightly ROM's and judge how the new system is.

    FFS.
    2
    Factory resetted Galaxy Nexus with OTA updated 4.3 firmware, and then reflashed to stock 4.3 firmware, and another GN OTA updated to stock 4.3, both displays severe glitches in hardware video decoding mode. Tested in the Dice Player and VLC Player with HW decoding enabled.

    Video track info from the problem files:

    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : High@L5.1
    Format settings, CABAC : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames

    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : High@L4.0
    Format settings, CABAC : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames : 6 frames

    On the Nexus 10 and the Nexus 7 (1st gen) both with stock OTA updated 4.3 firmware exactly the same files played well in HW decoding mode.
    Only Galaxy Nexus seems to be affected.
    On the stock 4.2.2 firmware and CM 10.1.2 problem does not exist.
    2
    Issue 59020 - Android Open Source Project Issue Tracker

    Hi,

    I've opened Issue 59020 at the Android Open Source Project Issue Tracker.

    Feel free to comment there in hope that Google can do anything about it and hopefully release a 4.3.1 update with this issue fixed.

    Nuno