Choppy video when watching sports

Hello,

I just purchased the 4 tuner tablo box and have everything setup.

Apple TV and Tablo box connected through wired connection to Asus RT-AC68U. when watching tablo on the Apple TV app it seems that the video is a little choppy. On normal shows it seems ok but watching sports is terrible. It seems like I am streaming video over the internet on a slow connection. is this the normal behavior for this? so far this is my only complaint with the setup. I guess I was expecting something a little better since everything is hardwired on the same network.

Because you’re on a wired network that should support it, you might try changing your max recording quality to the highest setting. HD1080, 10 Mbps. It’ll use more storage space, but if you have a decent size hard drive, that may not be an issue for you. The max quality setting applies to live TV as well as recordings.

If that setting works, you might try backing off on the quality setting to see what the minimum setting is is that gives you acceptable video.

To be honest, I don’t like using the ethernet switch built into the router any more than necessary. Many of them use a software stack to handle moving packets between ports, which bogs them down. I would get an inexpensive (< $20) gigabit switch and plug both the Tablo and the AppleTV into it, and then connect it to the router. That way all the ethernet traffic between the Tablo and the AppleTV doesn’t go through the router at all.

Something like https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QUA6R0/

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I tried the highest and the recommended. Both have the same issue. Recommended might be a little better but still not
watchable.

I don’t record much and I have a 1TB hard drive so drive space shouldn’t be an issue.

Thanks for your reply.

thanks for the suggestion. My original configuration had a TPLink GB network switch in between and that has the same issue.

FlyingDiver’s suggestion is a good one, and would eliminate any networking issues with your router. You might try a router reboot in the meantime, but I like the idea of using a switch.

Another possibility is an issue with the signal coming in off your antenna… if it’s marginal, that could cause some issues that perhaps are more noticeable with fast moving video. Do you have any splitters between the antenna and Tablo? If you do, try removing them. The Tablo has an internal 4 way splitter, so it’s best not to further attenuate what’s coming in. Do sports behave the same way on all channels? If not, maybe an issue with just that one station. I assume the video looks okay if the antenna is connected directly to your TV?

As an aside, I originally had a splitter ahead of the Tablo, and had an interesting problem with channel 8.2 in my area. I was getting 8.1 and 8.3 okay, and could see 8.1, 8.2 & 8.3 on my TV, but Tablo would not see 8.2 in the scans. It was only when I removed the splitter that Tablo was able to see it.

Same problem with both live and recorded?

thanks for the reply. yep, same with both

I might not be describing the issue the best. its really not that choppy but its just dropping frames and its not smooth. I have the antenna hooked up to Samsung tv and a splitter to the tablo. the video using the tv tuner is smooth but when using tablo it isn’t. it is on all channels and all programs, its just more noticeable on sport evens since there is more motion.

I suspect your TV is doing some sort of motion smoothing with it’s tuner data, but not for HDMI sources.

I was thinking about that too but Sling TV, Directv Now and the NFL app all work ok all running on the Apple TV.

I just set mine up and I’m having the same experience as Chris. I’ve got my settings up to the highest quality but I’m watching football and it’s choppy. It’s easiest to notice when the ball is hiked or a pass is thrown. Other high def shows look good honestly. It’s just the sports that make it more noticeable.

I have several sources for my TV and all are smooth except this. I’m afraid this is the best it’s going to get.

I had similar issues and chose the five meg live stream instead of eight meg and the problems went away

I don’t think @Chris_Dodgson is talking about buffering issues, but rather “pixelated” video on fast movement with sports.

I see this problem when recording 2 shows at highest quality while watching a previously recorded highest quality show at the same time. I think I’m running into disk bandwidth issues with my USB 3.0 drive. It’s most obvious on source material that is 1080i versus 720p. It doesn’t really bother me, but causes me to be aware of the program source encoding.

The reason some networks broadcast in 720p versus 1080i was because they broadcasted a lot of sports content.

Most of the newer televisions also have setting(s) that is suppose to smooth out some motion in various sports broadcasts. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

I had the same issue when I bought the original Tablo. Problem was due to frame rate (fps). Sports are broadcast 60 fps, but at least at the time, Tablo only streamed at 30 fps. It was very noticeable to me as well during passing plays. I ended up getting a TIVO as it displays the broadcast at whatever the broadcast is sending and for sports its just as I’d expected.

I came on the forums today because Tablo announced the QUAD. I was wondering if the FPS issue for sports viewing have been fixed (I thought it was fixed via FW previously) and if the new QUAD will load channel guide and channel faster (closer to set top box experience). Im hoping it does as always looking for new options for cutting the cord.

If it’s a 1080i channel, there just isn’t anything the Tablo can do. It’s going to be 30FPS.

But if your channel broadcasts at 720p, then the current firmware already supports 60fps, if you set the quality to the highest resolution.

I don’t expect changing channels to be any faster or the channel guide to be any faster. It sounds like it uses the same chips as the Tablo Lite.

“If it’s a 1080i channel, there just isn’t anything the Tablo can do. It’s going to be 30FPS.”

Why not? My Homeworx 150 shows sports to perfection on CBS (WGCL, channel 46 in Atlanta) which is 1080i. Ditto on NBC (WXIA, channel 11). No skipping or stuttering whatsoever 30 FPS. Of course the Homeworx has a direct connection via HDMI to the TV. 1080i for fast moving sports (football on CBS, hockey on NBC) is picture perfect through this one DVR!

What is the REAL problem with the Tablo for fast moving sports??? It’s not 1080i or 30 FPS since the Homeworx functions to perfection with both! Not only displaying the game perfectly but recording it at the same time. Why does a $30 box beat a $200 box at this game?

For two years I’ve been waiting for a straight answer…:confused:

I don’t need a solution from Tablo because I have a $30 solution. Perhaps Nuvyyo should ship a Homeworx with a Tablo as a “sports package.”

PS My intuition tells me sports stuttering on the Tablo comes from dropped frames in the transcoding process. I’ve been able to simulate on the Homeworx this condition by putting in a very slow USB flash stick with no buffer for recording a football game. In examining the raw file through a video editor one spots dropped frames. Replaying the file shows the stuttering.

One sees this same situation in Kodi at times until one starts playing around with buffers and GPU hardware acceleration. Then stuttering problems go away for any resolution. The problem is not the source but the transcoding process.

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The answer is pretty simple. The Homeworx captures the native MPEG2 file, while the Tablo has to transcode. Just watch a WatchESPN football or basketball game or a hockey or baseball game on Sling. When you transcode interlaced video, it is going to affect the quality. You don’t have that issue in native mode.

720p broadcasts don’t have interlaced video, so the Tablo can capture it at quality almost identical to the native (there is still a little loss, but I can’t tell).