[mythtv] HD Video frame drops with Android Frontend on Fire Stick

[Peter Bennett]

On 6/26/19 7:00 PM, OpenMedia Support wrote:
>>>
>>> On 6/24/19 5:14 AM, OpenMedia Support wrote:
>>>> Currently running with -
>>>> mythfrontend-20190414-arm-v30.0-43-g5a67176bf90.apk
>>>>
>>>> Hardware - Fire TV Gen 3 Pendant version.
>>>>
>>>> I've followed the setup guide under
>>>>    -https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Android#Amazon_Fire_TV_Stick_4K
>>>>
>>>> This option isn't present in this build
>>>>    -  Advanced Playback Settings -> Allow YV12
>>>>
>>>> I've tried this option on and off and I still get a lot of frame drops
>>>>    -  Advanced Playback Settings -> Extra stage
>>>>
>>>> I've also tried with/without the de-blocking filter and it doesn't make
>>>> a
>>>> different.
>>>>
>>>> To reproduce the issue set the playback profile as per the guide above
>>>> and
>>>> then via the setup wizard try to play "Test High Definition"
>>>>
>>>> Let me know if there is any more debug information I can provide.
>>>>
>>> If you use a fire stick (non-4K) you will have a lot of dropped frames.
>>> That is a known issue that will be addressed when we get to direct
>>> rendering (That is being worked on by Mark Kendall, see 2019-render
>>> branch).
>> Just to clarify - I'm testing with the Fire TV with 4K Ultra HD and Alexa
>> Voice Remote,
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Fire_TV#Third_generation
>>
>> This is a slightly earlier model to the current Fire TV Stick 4K
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Fire_TV#Fire_TV_Stick_4K
>>
>> I actually have both of these devices and they are running exactly the
>> same firmware. From an overall hardware specs perspective I was hoping
>> that the Android build would behave the same on both units.
> Just re-testing with the latest build -
> mythfrontend-20190625-arm-v30.0-60-gb9c1b41a6c0.apk
>
> I'm also getting these frame drop errors on the Test Standard Definition
> sample.
>
> 06-26 17:52:31.690  3074  3410 I MediaCodecLogger:
> org.mythtv.mythfrontend.HW.video.avc Dropping frame
>
>
> If  I change my playback profile to OpenGL Normal the Standard and Hi Def
> samples play without issue, but other 720p and 1080 videos still produce
> the Dropping frame errors.
>
>
>
It seems the fire tv pendant is no longer manufactured and has been 
replaced by the 4K fire stick. Probably it is less powerful than the 4K 
fire stick. Mark Kendall is working on direct rendering and that should 
improve things when it is ready. That code is currently in the 
2019-render branch.