[metaron]

In my case, deinterlace still doesn't work 100% reliably for PVR use cases using OMX player (skipping forward/back over changes in aspect ratio causes OMX to lock up, although MMAL is now fixed).

Can you find a way I can reproduce this? E.g. do you get this from a recording that includes an aspect ratio change.

IMO OMX still has slightly better picture quality and smoother playback with the files I use (UK DVB-S/S2/T/T2 recordings).

The pixels arriving at display should be bit identical between omx and mmal. It is possible that one or other may drop/skip frames which could result in less smooth playback.
Again if it can be reproduced from a recording I can investigate.

OK - bug report 1st - supporting files later (once I get time to trim them down to a reasonable size for upload)

I've tested two different systems both with the following common settings:
* Millhouse #820
* Adjust refresh = always
* Sync pb to display = on
* HDMI video + sound
* clean boot (i.e. Interlace = auto)
* pvr.mythtv client (based on Janbar's 4.6 'doityourself' with some tweaks to timer management of my own)
* RPi mpeg2 codec license
* mythtv 0.27.4 + fixes backend + DVB-T2 usage tweaks (in use for > 2 years)
* playback of files using pvr.mythtv 'recordings' list
* demux within pvr.mythv client turned on (historically seems to be the more stable option)

• RPi zero (no overclock):
  * system + storage on a recent noobs SD card
  * connection to MYSQL and mythtv backend via USB wireless dongle
  * OMX off, MMAL on (initially)
  

• RPi B (mild 850 overclock):
  * system on sandisk class 10 SD, storage NFS mounted (hard disk)
  * connection to MYSQL, mythtv backend and storage via wired ethernet
  * OMX on
  

Test Scenarios
1) 20 Questions Murder Mystery (1965) (Talking Pictures TV) recording from DVB-T2 dongle, mpeg2, ts (16:9 adverts, 4:3 film)
B:
Smooth playback
'Long step forward' (up arrow) from 16:9 advert to 4:3 b&w film causes playback to continue in 16:9 format (stretched)
Short skip forward/backwards within 4:3 section correctly sets aspect to 4:3 and playback continues
Same behavour in reverse if skipping from 4:3 to 16:9 section
If resuming playback from within a 4:3 or 16:9 section correct format is used.
Zero:
Smooth playback
Wrong shape used when jumping across 4:3 / 16:9 transition, small jump within a 4:3 or 16:9 section doesn't fix it
Zero with OMX enabled:
Smooth playback
Aspect ratio doesn't change on 16:9/4:3 transition during normal playback or during skip across transition.
Small skip within a 4:3 / 16:9 section fixes this, but sometimes results in playback being 'paused'. Another short jump within the section allows playback to continue.

2) Rio Olympics opening ceremony (BBC One HD), DVB-T2 dongle recording, h264, ts (all in 16:9)
B:
Smooth playback
Zero:
Juddery start, seems to be skipping frames, audio drops out occationally. Looks like buffering / throughput / interrupt issues.
Zero with OMX player turned back on:
Slight judder at start, then continues with smooth playback. Looking good then full 100% lock up. Can't even ssh into the zero. Wifi dongle light still flashing but green zero light on solid. suspect some sort of interrupt conflict between wifi usb / sd card read and video playback. I know pvr.mythtv can hit the sd card looking for icons during playback (??) so this might be why.
My wife (who uses this set-up more than I do) has reported regular 'lock ups'. Currently considered 'not good enough'.
Power cycled the zero and tried to reproduce, but playback remained smooth this time.

3) Artists In Crime (UKTV Drama), DVB-T2 dongle recording, mpeg2, ts (16:9 adverts, 4:3 feature)
B:
Smooth playback
skip from 16:9 to 4:3 section correctly changes to 4:3 size but playback is 'paused'. Another small skip within the 4:3 section allows playback to continue.
Zero:
Smooth playback
skip from 16:9 to 4:3 section works correctly without 'pause'. Note that a small jump within a 4:3 section sometimes causes a 4:3 -> 16:9 ->4:3 transition (in quick succession / flicker) - I assume this is because playback initially started from a 19:6 section of the recording and the player is defaulting to 16:9 on jump before detecting (correctly) that this section it is playing is actually still 4:3.

Can someone recommentd a good 'free' upload site (preferably without having to give them my e-mail) for video files of this nature? The hosting I have access to has a 100mb limit, and I'm already using 80% of it...? Trimming the files down to upload while still including the sections to demonstrate the behaviour will take a while... will try to get something uploaded this evening. Let me know if one of the 3 files is considered more interesting.

If I haven't mentioned a scenario it's because I didn't test it with this build (yet). If you want me to try something else, just ask.