Lightbox beta report thread

Forums › Sky, Neon, Lightbox › Lightbox beta report thread

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1107054 12-Aug-2014 14:06

StarBlazer:
So back to the question, does the video buffer in packets and if so what length? I would have thought if I had received a video block, regardless of how long it took to arrive, it should still play smoothly - is this wrong?

Thanks

Andif it buffers, can the buffer be set to allow more locally cached content please?

Netflix seems to allow 5 minutes to be locally cached, and this DEFINITELY helps to even out occasional 'blips' that happen when streaming on a lower-than-optimal speeds (like my 1mb/s) or slightly flakey copper (most rural connections), and would ALSO help the niche clients (GZ'ers and their families) who have done VPN or DNS geo-evasion at the router or device level?

Please also post the levels that the downscaling is done at (e.g. 240p/360p/480p/720p/1080p like youtube, or some other stepping progression?

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1107160 12-Aug-2014 16:47

solaybro:
Inphinity: Minor point, but if you set a profile to limited ratings (e.g. G and PG) it can still browse the full selection of items, just not play it. Since some of the titles and or cover images may potentially be 'not suitable' it means it's not really possible to log the kids in as their profile and let them go for it. Sure, it says "You're not permitted" or such if they try to play it, but it would be nice to at least have the option of not showing the content at all.

This is the same issue that some people had on the Xbox 360. Some guys daughter signed into her profile and was met with this image.

Thanks for 'fixing' this :)

I see now that all the advertised shows have G-rated pics... happy to say I can now log in without asking my 5 year old to leave the room "in case" the path to the Cartoons has any dodgy content shown enroute.

I'd even be happy for you to advertise M rated content if the language and especially pictures were G-rated anyway (take the current Vikings add as a good example)

Lightbox

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lightbox

#1107162 12-Aug-2014 16:52

PhantomNVD:
StarBlazer:
So back to the question, does the video buffer in packets and if so what length? I would have thought if I had received a video block, regardless of how long it took to arrive, it should still play smoothly - is this wrong?

Thanks

Andif it buffers, can the buffer be set to allow more locally cached content please?

Netflix seems to allow 5 minutes to be locally cached, and this DEFINITELY helps to even out occasional 'blips' that happen when streaming on a lower-than-optimal speeds (like my 1mb/s) or slightly flakey copper (most rural connections), and would ALSO help the niche clients (GZ'ers and their families) who have done VPN or DNS geo-evasion at the router or device level?

Please also post the levels that the downscaling is done at (e.g. 240p/360p/480p/720p/1080p like youtube, or some other stepping progression?

Adaptive streaming works by serving up small segments of the video, constantly adjusting the bitrate from one segment to the next. Segments are sensitive to packet loss and bad connections, like any traffic over the open internet.

I can't off the top of my head tell you what our video buffer is, but it's pretty strictly mandated from content providers, who are wary of actual files residing on customer hardware. I'll check into it, though.

Our formats run across 1080p/720p/360p as the bandwidth degrades.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

Lightbox

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lightbox

#1107170 12-Aug-2014 17:06

PhantomNVD:

Thanks for 'fixing' this :)

I see now that all the advertised shows have G-rated pics... happy to say I can now log in without asking my 5 year old to leave the room "in case" the path to the Cartoons has any dodgy content shown enroute.

I'd even be happy for you to advertise M rated content if the language and especially pictures were G-rated anyway (take the current Vikings add as a good example)

I can't promise it'll stay that way, though.

We want to filter all the content based on parental controls (like you suggested), but had to leave it out of scope for launch.

Lightbox - we are online TV.

solaybro

628 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1107192 12-Aug-2014 17:56

Lightbox:
We want to filter all the content based on parental controls (like you suggested), but had to leave it out of scope for launch.

How quickly do you think you will be updating and adding new features? Can we expect the service to have a decent amount of features added in the first 3 months?

StarBlazer

961 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1107200 12-Aug-2014 18:09

Lightbox:
PhantomNVD:
StarBlazer:
So back to the question, does the video buffer in packets and if so what length? I would have thought if I had received a video block, regardless of how long it took to arrive, it should still play smoothly - is this wrong?

Thanks

Andif it buffers, can the buffer be set to allow more locally cached content please?

Netflix seems to allow 5 minutes to be locally cached, and this DEFINITELY helps to even out occasional 'blips' that happen when streaming on a lower-than-optimal speeds (like my 1mb/s) or slightly flakey copper (most rural connections), and would ALSO help the niche clients (GZ'ers and their families) who have done VPN or DNS geo-evasion at the router or device level?

Please also post the levels that the downscaling is done at (e.g. 240p/360p/480p/720p/1080p like youtube, or some other stepping progression?

Adaptive streaming works by serving up small segments of the video, constantly adjusting the bitrate from one segment to the next. Segments are sensitive to packet loss and bad connections, like any traffic over the open internet.

I can't off the top of my head tell you what our video buffer is, but it's pretty strictly mandated from content providers, who are wary of actual files residing on customer hardware. I'll check into it, though.

Our formats run across 1080p/720p/360p as the bandwidth degrades.

Thanks for the reply - I guess that's where it gets complex in the delivery. At the end of the day, I'm receiving the same motion issues whether on US VPN, Work VPN, US DNS or plain old Vodafone DNS. Any feedback from the test I performed earlier?

So in root-cause analysis all data is good data (IMO) - here are some speed test results from my home PC;
Local DNS (Vodafone): Ping/Down/Up 8ms / 49.11 / 2.14
Work VPN: 9ms / 48.71 / 2.12
Unotelly DNS: 9ms / 49.19 / 2.13
US VPN (California): 350ms / 12.27 / 1.94

For each of the tests I selected Wellington Vodafone - performed again selecting Auckland Spark with no noticeable difference.

So were I to use the US VPN I would expect an increased likelihood of latency/buffering issues, apart from the ping (which I don't play games) the DL speed is not poor - note that I have not used this for proper testing however when I have used it I found the video to suffer the same stuttering and the resolution the same - hard to compare not being able to run side by side.

I will leave it to you and your technical team to extrapolate results from these or ignore them if they are irrelevant.

Cheers.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

Porboynz

110 posts

Master Geek

#1107208 12-Aug-2014 18:23

Mmmm nice, managing to watch the Rake episodes I missed. VDSL equipped so no bandwidth issues. Using iPad and AppleTV mostly on a big LCD, video quality OK, mostly good experience once I figured out the iPad gotchas like activating Do Not Disturb and setting Auto-Lock to never. The iPad app seems to need restarting on occasions (app memory leak?) or maybe related to changing WiFi AP's or SSID's, I have 3 or 4 to choose from) The iPad app needs a Resume button badly, but if you note the timeline its easy enough to drag the slider to where you left off.

I got to work Monday morning and discovered my iPad had used my monthly 3Gig allowance and its only half way through the month! Oops, sorry Simon. Looks like the iPad lost WiFi Sunday night and played on using 4G. New learning, disable cellular data to avoid upset.

Lightbox works just fine on an i5 PC running Win 7 64bit but it feels slightly dodgy watching TV on a PC, so back to the living room TV and iPad Apple TV combo for me. Go Lightbox!

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79296 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1107229 12-Aug-2014 18:54

I have been playing a couple of Boston Legal episodes and noticed some jerky motion - not a fluid panning in large scenes. I tried Doctor Who as suggested by StarBlazer above as well and noticed the same.

It happens with either the Vodafone DNS or UnoTelly DNS.

From the player I see "ApiLoader: We elected to playback the url: http://tdvott-s.akamaihd.net/ondemand/production/media/2014-07/4174-53b8ea4…l=/*~hmac=d513ffd2e1343c170b9cb7836be37a3deb7879ab6bf1fcaeb191d1f1c507568a with the transport: AdaptiveStreaming"

NSLOOKUP returns this for Vodafone:


Server: ns1.acld.clix.net.nz (Vodafone DNS)
Address: 203.97.78.43

Name: a997.w5.akamai.net
Addresses: 203.97.86.218
 203.97.86.224
Aliases: tdvott-s.akamaihd.net

NSLOOKUP returns this for UnoTelly:


Server: MP264.home (router with UnoTelly)
Address: 192.168.2.1

Name: a997.w5.akamai.net
Addresses: 119.161.91.136
 119.161.91.144
Aliases: tdvott-s.akamaihd.net

My IP is on 203.97 as well as the akamai node address returned by the Vodafone DNS above. Both HTPC and laptop using 1Gbps ethernet, service is 130 Mpbs cable.

syousif

41 posts

Geek

#1107371 12-Aug-2014 23:26

freitasm: I have been playing a couple of Boston Legal episodes and noticed some jerky motion - not a fluid panning in large scenes. I tried Doctor Who as suggested by StarBlazer above as well and noticed the same.

It happens with either the Vodafone DNS or UnoTelly DNS.

From the player I see "ApiLoader: We elected to playback the url: http://tdvott-s.akamaihd.net/ondemand/production/media/2014-07/4174-53b8ea4…l=/*~hmac=d513ffd2e1343c170b9cb7836be37a3deb7879ab6bf1fcaeb191d1f1c507568a with the transport: AdaptiveStreaming"

NSLOOKUP returns this for Vodafone:
Server: ns1.acld.clix.net.nz (Vodafone DNS)
Address: 203.97.78.43

Name: a997.w5.akamai.net
Addresses: 203.97.86.218
 203.97.86.224
Aliases: tdvott-s.akamaihd.net
NSLOOKUP returns this for UnoTelly:
Server: MP264.home (router with UnoTelly)
Address: 192.168.2.1

Name: a997.w5.akamai.net
Addresses: 119.161.91.136
 119.161.91.144
Aliases: tdvott-s.akamaihd.net
My IP is on 203.97 as well as the akamai node address returned by the Vodafone DNS above. Both HTPC and laptop using 1Gbps ethernet, service is 130 Mpbs cable.

have same issue with Boston Legal and Doctor who but no issues with Breaking Bad.
but the issues are not visible when using Ipad app, only on Chrome and Safari.

I have WXC fibre, and Unotelly DNS programmed in router.
haven't tried with WXC DNS yet.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1107422 13-Aug-2014 08:16

Choppy playback issue:

Snap fibre 30/10; checked the speed at the time and it was fine
DNS: experienced issues initially with Getflix DNS; problems remained with ISP's DNS
VPN: no
Device: iOS
iOS app
Viewing on iPad Air
12/8/14 - c.9pm - c.11.30pm
24, Series 1 Episodes 3-5
Problem occured throughout these episodes, however earlier watching (8-9sh) had been error-free.
Problem: choppy playback of video; video freezed frequently for periods ranging from a micro-second to 3-4 seconds. There was no buffering symbol and there appeared to be no reduction in (the good) image quality prior, just sudden stops to the streaming. Sometimes occured every few seconds, making the watching experience really frustrating.
No error code

Playback experience: just to reiterate earlier comments re the lack of a 'resume' function, and the automatic progression to the following episode even when the episode one is watching isn't complete - this is a deal-breaker for me; I just wouldn't be willing to pay for a service with these issues. It's incredibly frustrating that I can't pause a video, go check my email, and come back to the same spot (not sure if this is hindered by the iPad's lack of memory?). Also, happy to use Airplay to send to TV via Apple TV, but again would not sign up to pay for the service if the app isn't improved so the screen can be off and/or the app not to the foreground. Sort these problems and I'd be tempted to purchase the service; my wife, on the other hand, will still want to stay with Netflix unless you can offer her her Bollywood movie fix!

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1107439 13-Aug-2014 08:21

interestingly, my 5 year old went to switch apps in the middle of a movie, and I notice the IOS app switcher maintains the video (and audio) even when the app is being switched (dbl click 'home') but doesn't continue/resume even if it's the appyou immediately return too?

Lightbox

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lightbox

#1107453 13-Aug-2014 08:57

solaybro:
Lightbox:
We want to filter all the content based on parental controls (like you suggested), but had to leave it out of scope for launch.

How quickly do you think you will be updating and adding new features? Can we expect the service to have a decent amount of features added in the first 3 months?

We'll be expanding and improving the service continuously. What exactly happens in the first three months would also depend on whether anything significant breaks in the aftermath of the launch.

/Jakob

Lightbox - we are online TV.

trig42

5814 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1107457 13-Aug-2014 09:08

Yep, I had a quick play over the weekend, I am pretty impressed by the startup offering.
I watched a couple of Episodes of Black Books.. Using iPad3 airplay to AppleTV3, Telecom DNS, Telecom ADSL2.
The first episode I watched took a while to get going (play 3 seconds buffer 2) but once going was fine.
The second one, (I think S4Ep2), where there was a cut to advertisements in the original, it played blank air for about 30+ seconds (I moved the progress bar along and it resumed).

Quality was fine.
For me to sign up and pay for it, it needs:
- App on iPad to be able to run with screen locked, or in the background (don't know if that is possible, maybe with iOS8?).
- Resume from where you stopped ala Netflix (Side note, I notice Netflix now automatically starts playing the next episode in a series after finishing the current one, didn't do that 2 weeks ago, does it now).

Not needed, but would help with the decision (and would be 'needed' later on):
- SmartTV or AppleTV apps
- Dolby 5.1 Audio from either of the above

But, as I said, a good start (much better than what Quickflix offered), and I hope to be able to support it.

dclegg

2806 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1107503 13-Aug-2014 10:59

Has anyone else had issues with a paused stream not restarting? We see this consistently when streaming from our iPad Air to our Apple TV3, via our Telecom ADSL2 connection.

If we pause playback for a long enough duration (not sure of the exact cut off point, need to do more diagnostics there), when we resume playback it will only continue up until the amount of content that was buffered prior to pausing.

To resolve this, we need to exit out of the episode, select the episode again (because the next one in the season will now be selected), and move the scrubber to the position where playback stopped.

Stu

Hammered
8344 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1107509 13-Aug-2014 11:09

Same issue using Chrome or IE under Windows 7. Long duration pausing or any kind of hiccup during pause means reload the page and start over.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

Referral Links: Sharesies - Backblaze -

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? If so, please consider supporting us by subscribing.

No matter where you go, there you are.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12