TV3 problems in Mediaportal and a solution

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justinbyoung

55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#72503 27-Nov-2010 12:19

A few other people on the MP forum have had this issue as well.

On Thursday my HTPC started misbehaving badly when playing TV3. It started stuttering terribly and became completely unwatchable. I was pulling my hair out trying to sort out the problem. My CPU and GPU usage was minimal. I replaced my system HD as I was a bit suspicious and also tested my Timeshift drive but no problems there. No change to playback. So I checked the MP forums and it was mentioned that setting Prefer AC3 in the TV settings fixes the problem. Set that and what do you know, TV3 is playing back properly again. So before you spend several hours trying to fix your hardware try the above fix.

It would appear that TV3 have changed something with their AAC encoding that can break playback in MP. Anyone else had this problem? I hope TVNZ don't make the same change as they don't offer an AC3 audio channel.

Justin

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55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#410187 27-Nov-2010 12:22

I should have mentioned I am receiving TV3 via Freeview DVB-T.

fatsimon

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#410208 27-Nov-2010 13:42

Hi Justin,

Thanks for the post - I had exactly the same problem and your suggestion fixed it!

I doubt I would ever have guessed it either

regards
simon

jakoora

23 posts

Geek

#410240 27-Nov-2010 16:45

hi where about do u set up that in wmc windows 7 because I am haivng problems with TV3 channels including plus and C4 when played in extended monitor.

justinbyoung

55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#410345 28-Nov-2010 09:48

I don't have any experience with WMC but are you able to switch to an alternative audio stream in WMC? TV3 broadcast both an AAC stereo and AC3 5.1 stream, and it is possible (at least in Mediaportal) to switch between the two. AC3 is working fine in MP.

jakoora

23 posts

Geek

#410379 28-Nov-2010 12:29

not alot of tweaks you can do in wmc. I dont think you can change audio stream.

joedirt

39 posts

Geek

#410405 28-Nov-2010 15:22

in WMC push the right button on your remote and scroll across to language and select the other audio stream

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salb001

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#410986 30-Nov-2010 08:07

Hi Justin,

I had the same issue and thanks to your great detective work I can get back to enjoying all the channels! I had been pulling my hair out for a couple of days already.

Cheers,

Scott

justinbyoung

55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#411132 30-Nov-2010 12:29

Not a problem. Glad I could help.

alexconduit

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#412371 3-Dec-2010 09:20

Hi - I've tried changing to the AC3 audio stream in Media Portal, but get complete silence - it appears that my TV does not support the AC3 format.

My PC is using the Monogram AAC codec - and the stutter on TV3 is shocking - can anyone recommend an alternative (preferably free) AAC codec that would work with all Freeview chanels??

Cheers.

darkness

59 posts

Master Geek

#412379 3-Dec-2010 09:33

Dude that is awesome. Thanks for the post, I've been having the same problem lately on my mediaportal and couldn't figure it out.

Will try the fix when I get home.

justinbyoung

55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#412506 3-Dec-2010 13:59

Hi alexconduit. TV3 definitely do broadcast an AC3 audio channel. I would check your TV codec setup. The AC3 codec for TV is configured separately to the video AC3 codec.

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Dingbatt

6804 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3694

Lifetime subscriber

#412540 3-Dec-2010 16:02

justinbyoung: Hi alexconduit. TV3 definitely do broadcast an AC3 audio channel. I would check your TV codec setup. The AC3 codec for TV is configured separately to the video AC3 codec.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't AC3 = Dolby Digital. If that is the case, unless your TV has a DD decoder built in it won't produce any sound...

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

justinbyoung

55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#412559 3-Dec-2010 16:46

Yep AC3 = Dolby Digital, however a AC3 codec like AC3filter or FFDShow will downmix it to stereo and output through any audio output on your PC.

alexconduit

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#412678 3-Dec-2010 22:36

Thanks for the advice.

I'm rather new at post-processing in media portal - I had a go at the AC3 filter (no joy, and no settings), the FFDShow had losts of settings - is anyone able to give some guidance on the correct settings to downmix the AC3 feed to a stereo feed that my tv may be able to understand?

justinbyoung

55 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#412726 4-Dec-2010 07:42

How do you get audio to your TV? Analog cables or HDMI?

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