[hdmkv]

Okay, just watched the first 40 minutes of 'Sin City 2' and not a single freeze or buffering until the 31 minute mark, then picture freezes for about 3 seconds and resumes, after a quick speed-up. I think not bad, maybe fixable by VidOn, but again another freeze (buffering) at the 36 minute mark.

I'm wondering, can something be done via XBMC advanced settings XML to increase buffer? Never tried, but I've read about people doing this with Fire TV and other players that choke with BD rips. Maybe some gurus here can advise.

Found this on using advanced settings to increase the video cache; will try it out.

I've done more tests, with both the stock Frodo VidOn XBMC and their alpha Gotham build. Buffering is pretty bad in both . I added this advancedsettings.xml, but made zero difference...

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <network>
    <buffermode>1</buffermode>
    <cachemembuffersize>157286400</cachemembuffersize>
    <readbufferfactor>20</readbufferfactor>
  </network>
</advancedsettings>

Used 'Sin City 2' 3D to continue testing. After the 40 minute mark, the buffering gets more frequent and worse (like every 3-5 minutes). Unwatchable!

I'm thinking bitrate test files and watching 20-30 minutes for reviews (myself included for doing this) isn't reliable. This box is able to handle up to 65Mbps for bitrate tests, but can't handle 30-35Mbps about 1/3 into the movie?! Apparently not. Don't know if the buffering issue is fixable; hopefully.