[MisterT87]

Hey Guys I am not sure if this is a bug or another "setup User Error" - Thats why I am post a thread before making a bug request...

I am Using Kodi v18.0 on Android and I have Video playback stuttering if hardware accelaration is enabled (doesnt matter which decoder I use - same result everytime).
Only when all hardware acceleration options are disabled the stuttering is gone...
I realize video stuttering in .avi files mostly (mkv files for example I didnt recognized it).
If hardware acceleration is off I realized more CPU usage in debug logging but less till no video stuttering - I hope it will be fixed because with more cpu usage my battery gets more killed ;D

Phone: Google Nexus 5x (with Stock Android 8.1 and newest patches)
Kodi v.18.0

I cant test other devices for now because they didnt update to kodi v.18.0 (example Libreelec).

Do you know if there is similar problems with video stuttering on hardware acceleration or any bug requests / Workarounds ?

Have a nice day folks

[jonomite]

I have the exact same issue on my Fire Stick 4k. For certain older mpeg4 codecs, HW acceleration is causing this issue. Disabling HW acceleration works, but then of course you loose it for other codecs where it may be very helpful. I have asked about this and was told that the decision was made to enable HW acceleration for all of these codecs and it is what it is.

Ideally, it would be nice to have the option to disable the hardware decoder for certain codecs in advancedsettings.xml but that seems to have been removed as well.

[MisterT87]

OK, there is hope if more than me has the exact same problem

Give me some time - I will gathering some more information and ask about it also in IRC channel of kodi

[MisterT87]

I am now in touch with one Kodi dev about this.

I will post a link here if we nailed my details then you keep track on it!

[MisterT87]

@jonomite - here you got the link for tracking the problem:
15405 (GH issue)

Hint: in this link there is a rebuild from fritsch... dont install it and wait - that rebuild only solves hardware acceleration for mpeg2 codec

[jonomite]

@jonomite - here you got the link for tracking the problem:
15405 (GH issue)

Hint: in this link there is a rebuild from fritsch... dont install it and wait - that rebuild only solves hardware acceleration for mpeg2 codec

 Thanks for the update and passing this info along.

[jonomite]

@jonomite - here you got the link for tracking the problem:
15405 (GH issue)

Hint: in this link there is a rebuild from fritsch... dont install it and wait - that rebuild only solves hardware acceleration for mpeg2 codec

Good news. The latest test build uploaded by @fritsch has done the trick for me on this!

[MisterT87]

Yep I know - he told me that before
But keep in mind: this is only a workaround if I understand that correctly. He only disabled hardware acceleration for mpeg2 and mpeg4 - so that you have hardware acceleration enabled in kodi settings but on this both codecs it will be ignored

[jonomite]

Yep I know - he told me that before
But keep in mind: this is only a workaround if I understand that correctly. He only disabled hardware acceleration for mpeg2 and mpeg4 - so that you have hardware acceleration enabled in kodi settings but on this both codecs it will be ignored

 Yes, understood. So, do you know if this workaround is going to be included in future nightlies?

[MisterT87]

I think so - its hosted on github and these platforms do this auto normally

So any previous changes made (that have to be accepted by other devs) also get in future nightlies.

[jonomite]

@MisterT87

I've been watching the conversation on GitHub and it's hard to see how this will shake out.

Are you still experiencing this issue in the test build? The test build I downloaded fixed the issue for me.

[MisterT87]

Yep I do.
My issues didnt fixed with this build on github someone other has also stuttering with xvid4 codec.

till Kodi v.17.6 hardware acceleration was desabled by default on any android devices but somehow it was mitigated till 17.6 (didnt understand that).
But since version 18 code and driver changes made this mitigation useless and not working anymore.

And I dont think it will be ever correctly fixed from kodi side becuase: mediacodec and mediacodec (surface) hardware acceleration is a part von Android API from Google (See: Google Developers - Mediacodec )

The Problem here: because of Mediacodec is still only an API of Google and every Android Device (FireTV and suich devices are also android based) has different CPU / SoCs (example some companys using broadcom SoCs and some are using rockchip etc etc).
Thats why every company implements the whole Mediacodec thing in different ways u know ? there is now standard way to do it for alle devices
And the problem have to be fixed on the company side (not kodi ones) - really complicated :/

So MY Opinion then: it would never get fixed coz its not standardized...

and the last 3 or 4 comments on this issue are more less a discussion howto fix on other ways (maybe)...

[MisterT87]

for now If u really WANT to get that fixed with working hardware acceleration: is to buy another media player for kodi

I cant test that because I didnt have the hardware. But I heard from peole using Nvidia Shield TV (using also android - but with Tegra SoC from nvidia directly) and my people said that is the only android device they really passthrough DTS and other dolby audio format anything working nice on audio side (I think they have better driver support)...
And maybe on Nvidia Shield TV mediacodec is work properly as it should - but if u want buy that device I really advice to ask ppl here or kodi related forums to get more infos about nvidia shield tv.

Generally saying: Everytime its better to use x86 (and x86_64) bit devices / CPUs - because code is more implented and rock solid u know ? I mean in such specific topics like hardware acceleration - beside that: I also heard from other forums that hardware acceleration is really bad implemented (mostly).

[jonomite]

for now If u really WANT to get that fixed with working hardware acceleration: is to buy another media player for kodi

I cant test that because I didnt have the hardware. But I heard from peole using Nvidia Shield TV (using also android - but with Tegra SoC from nvidia directly) and my people said that is the only android device they really passthrough DTS and other dolby audio format anything working nice on audio side (I think they have better driver support)...
And maybe on Nvidia Shield TV mediacodec is work properly as it should - but if u want buy that device I really advice to ask ppl here or kodi related forums to get more infos about nvidia shield tv.

Generally saying: Everytime its better to use x86 (and x86_64) bit devices / CPUs - because code is more implented and rock solid u know ? I mean in such specific topics like hardware acceleration - beside that: I also heard from other forums that hardware acceleration is really bad implemented (mostly).

It seemed like there might have been a solution offered at one point to whitelist certain codecs for software decoding. Not sure if that's going to be implemented though. I see Leia 18.1 just got released and was hopeful to see something new there, but no luck.

[tormentoman]

Hi there, aame problmens here.
I'm running Kodi on a Philips 65OLED873/12 (Android 7 | ARM Chip). I have tested both v.18 (from the Play store), and 18.1 RC from the repository, with identical results.

I been trying to adjust / modify some of the player parameters activating / disabling one or both of the "MediaCodec" and "MediaCodec (Surface)" options.

Depending of the different combinations and the played files (from SD to 4K), outcome is different: from a very unpleasant playback, up to a some decent, smooth playback, but getting those small frame drops / stuttering time to time, but with a constant: as bigger the file, as smoother the playback. Smaller SD, 720p are really hard to watch, while 4K files rarely drops / stutter any frame.

Any ideas about what could be the issue / solution?