Video choppy durring panning scenes

Red Squirrel · 12-14-2021, 04:56 PM

Honestly not sure if this is new or I just started to notice it but I cannot unnoticed it anymore and it actually makes me a bit nauseous.

Basically any time I'm watching a video and there's a panning scene or even just something moving, it "chops" there instead of doing a smooth transition. It's almost like stop motion.

Is there any way to fix this? My monitor only supports 60hz, could that be part of the issue? They are 4k Asus Tuff Gaming monitors. Does it on both so that rules out a cable or port or monitor issue.

Os is Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon.

I have Hardware acceleration turned on in FF. Turning it off comes with other issues, such as not being able to play much if any 4k content. Even now some 4k content won't play as it will basically be like a power point presentation. Kinda sucks having a decent machine but being software limited. Is there a way to make this better? Here's some info that might help:

Code:

System:    Kernel: 5.11.0-41-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
           Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B350-PLUS v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5407 
           date: 12/31/2019 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: AMD Ryzen 3 1300X bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Zen rev: 1 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 27946 
           Speed: 1547 MHz min/max: 1550/3500 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1547 2: 1547 3: 1547 4: 1547 
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] 
           vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.0 chip ID: 1002:67df 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: amdgpu,ati unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa 
           resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz, 3840x2160~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Radeon RX 580 Series (POLARIS10 DRM 3.40.0 5.11.0-41-generic LLVM 12.0.0) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.0.3 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.1 chip ID: 1002:aaf0 
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 09:00.3 chip ID: 1022:1457 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.0-41-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 
           bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 342.81 GiB used: 212.30 GiB (61.9%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: M4-CT128M4SSD2 size: 119.24 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 0309 
           scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37240G size: 223.57 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 71E0 
           scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 116.38 GiB used: 22.14 GiB (19.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 55 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 279 
Info:      Processes: 277 Uptime: 6d 56m Memory: 15.56 GiB used: 5.71 GiB (36.7%) Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
           gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 8/9 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

business_kid · 12-15-2021, 11:24 AM

It sounds like your video performance sucks. That, btw is coming from someone whose video REALLY sucks!

The screen isn't redrawn where the value hasn't changed. In a panning scene, all the video changes, so it does some this frame, some the next, and you notice the choppy effect. 4k has 4 times the dot density of hdmi. Go figure.

I don't know your video card, but proprietary drivers are inclined to be better than Mesa ones, if your card is still supported.

Red Squirrel · 12-15-2021, 05:29 PM

Card is a Radeon RX 580 Series and there are no proprietary drivers available for it. From my understanding it's a decent card, at least it should be decent enough for basic playback. Or do I really need to get something even more powerful to get better video playback quality?

business_kid · 12-16-2021, 03:45 AM

Try it. Drop speed or refresh speed.

ondoho · 12-18-2021, 03:52 AM

What you describe sounds very much like screen tearing.
It's not necessarily a media playback problem.
Can you reproduce the tearing when e.g. you grab a non-maximised window with your pointer and wiggle it from side to side?
Do you experience it in your browser only, or also when you watch video with a media player?
Does it happen with horizontal panning only, or also vertical?

Red Squirrel · 12-18-2021, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Try it. Drop speed or refresh speed.

It's already low, it's at 60hz. Any lower and it's basically a power point presentation. :P My monitor only supports 60hz so can't go higher either. That was a tradeoff with going 4k, as 4k monitors that support higher refresh rates are very expensive.

I will have to try to notice if it happens with GUI stuff too but seems to be mostly video. (not home right now to check) Basically anything that moves does not seem to move smoothly. I don't think it's screen tearing, that's when one half of the screen does not update at same rate as the other half right? I used to have that problem but I think having a monitor that supports vsync fixed it.

I may need to take a video of it to show what I mean.

business_kid · 12-18-2021, 12:53 PM

OK reduce to hdmi resolution, which is ¼ of the workload.

EDIT: I have never heard of a monitor that will not do more or less than 60Hz. Have you checked it on Tom's hardware? Seriously nobody would let a POS like that out the door in the 21st century. Max 60Hz@4k I can imagine, but I'm sure it would drop to 50. There's a synch pulse which can pull the refresh ±5Hz anyhow

Red Squirrel · 12-25-2021, 11:13 AM

Oh it can drop lower, but I can't see how that would solve anything. 60hz is as low as I'd want to go and it can't go higher, as like I said, 4k monitors that can go higher are very expensive.

I don't want to reduce resolution as it defeats the purpose of having 4k. I do lot of coding and need the real estate.

Took a video to show what is going on, purposely videoed it vs screen cap, to show exactly what I see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1rDOG8etTA

It's noticeable when I follow the panning with the camera. It's almost like it bounces and chops as it pans.

business_kid · 12-25-2021, 01:19 PM

It's very simple. As we said in the early posts of this thread, your video card isn't redrawing fast enough, and probably would be if you weren't using 4k.

Replace, upgrade, improve your software or do with reduced expectations. The fact that you want a certain standartd doesn't mean your box will provide it. Go figure, of do without. We're going in circles here.

Red Squirrel · 12-25-2021, 10:09 PM

Is the card I have not sufficient enough to playback HD video at 4k? (this happens to HD video) It's a Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590 (I think it's the 580 but I don't remember for sure)

What kind of software upgrades can I do to make it better? I have Linux Mint 20.1 it's not really that old...

Going without does not answer any question, I'm asking on how I can fix it to make it work. No circles, just asking for a solution. Do I really need a more powerful GPU? Seems odd to me, this is not that old of a card.

Is there some kind of diagnostic tool I can run that will provide useful output to troubleshoot this more?

SW64 · 12-26-2021, 02:04 PM

I watched your youtube video. Maybe it's trying to 'double up' the frame rates. 12 or 20 fps pretending to be 60 fps. Or maybe it's fps dropping because it can't keep up the bitrate or something like that. Please post here the output of the 'ffmpeg -i that-4k-video-you-are-using.mp4/mov' in a code wrapper.

Code:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4

Red Squirrel · 12-26-2021, 11:08 PM

That was just a random youtube video but I found an actual video file to try it on, this is the output:

Code:

ffmpeg version 4.2.4-1ubuntu0.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2020 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 9 (Ubuntu 9.3.0-10ubuntu2)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=1ubuntu0.1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --disable-filter=resample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-nvenc --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
  WARNING: library configuration mismatch
  avcodec     configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=1ubuntu0.1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --disable-filter=resample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-nvenc --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared --enable-version3 --disable-doc --disable-programs --enable-libaribb24 --enable-liblensfun --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libtesseract --enable-libvo_amrwbenc
  libavutil      56. 31.100 / 56. 31.100
  libavcodec     58. 54.100 / 58. 54.100
  libavformat    58. 29.100 / 58. 29.100
  libavdevice    58.  8.100 / 58.  8.100
  libavfilter     7. 57.100 /  7. 57.100
  libavresample   4.  0.  0 /  4.  0.  0
  libswscale      5.  5.100 /  5.  5.100
  libswresample   3.  5.100 /  3.  5.100
  libpostproc    55.  5.100 / 55.  5.100
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'THE_POLAR_EXPRESS 2004 BDRip 720p x264 AC3 Ch Multi Zippy-UG.mkv':
  Metadata:
    title           : THE_POLAR_EXPRESS 2004 BDRip 720p x264 AC3 Ch Multi Zippy-UG
    encoder         : libebml v0.7.8 + libmatroska v0.8.1
    creation_time   : 2015-11-16T18:34:33.000000Z
  Duration: 01:39:56.54, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3102 kb/s
    Chapter #0:0: start 0.000000, end 307.473000
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    Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1280x532, SAR 1:1 DAR 320:133, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 48003.07 tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 640 kb/s (default)
    Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: dvd_subtitle, 1280x532
    Stream #0:3(eng): Subtitle: dvd_subtitle, 1280x532
    Stream #0:4(fra): Subtitle: dvd_subtitle, 1280x532
    Stream #0:5(spa): Subtitle: dvd_subtitle, 1280x532
At least one output file must be specified

I looked for a scene that had panning to see if it does it and it does. It really seems to be any panning in any video that is an issue. It's like the panning bounces instead of just going smooth and it creates a weird fluctuating choppiness feeling.

SW64 · 12-27-2021, 12:57 PM

It's a 720p video and its bitrate is 3102 kb/s. A lightweight. It should be super easy for your RX 580 and its 8GB to play it back.

This video is 23.98 fps and 24 fps is kind of low and noticeable when stacked up against 60 fps. Perhaps you've gotten used to higher frame rates that 24 fps is now noticeable and undesirable? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24p#Disadvantages_of_24p

Either that, or it's a driver issue. Have you try using the driver directly from the company? I hope you know how to recover from a failed graphic card driver installation. https://www.amd.com/en/support/graph.../radeon-rx-580

I noticed this in the Specifications section at the bottom of the second link.

Code:

Supported Rendering Format
HDMI™ 4K Support: Yes
4K H264 Decode: Yes
4K H264 Encode: Yes
H265/HEVC Decode: Yes
H265/HEVC Encode: Yes

Connectivity
DisplayPort: 1.4 HDR
Dual Link DVI: No
HDMI™: 4K60 Support
VGA: No

So, no native 120 fps on that card.

Red Squirrel · 12-27-2021, 05:13 PM

Not sure how to switch drivers, as nothing shows up under "available drivers". From what I've been told it's normal for that card as the open source driver is the best available driver. But if there is a way to change it I'd be willing to try it, just not sure how.

antithesis85 · 12-27-2021, 07:35 PM

Some points:

Quote:

I have Hardware acceleration turned on in FF. Turning it off comes with other issues, such as not being able to play much if any 4k content. Even now some 4k content won't play as it will basically be like a power point presentation. Kinda sucks having a decent machine but being software limited.

I generally try to avoid playing things directly in a web browser, as that adds another layer of overhead (not to mention that I'm old enough that I can't stop associating web browser playback with how horrible the implementation of Flash-based video players in browsers were). If you play the URL directly in mpv (and assuming you also turn on mpv's hwaccel option) it should eliminate nearly all of that overhead. It's not always a solution, but it's one of many little things that can add up.

Hardware acceleration will only work if the card itself has a decoder for the compression formats the video was encoded with. From the description, the 4K content it still has problems playing back are more than likely VP9 or AV1, neither of which that card can do hardware decode of; those are purely CPU-bound. Any content like that you'll have to explicitly force to the correct hwdecode-capable format first (either make the player request the correct format, or transcode it yourself after downloading it to local storage).

Quote:

Oh it can drop lower, but I can't see how that would solve anything.

Video doesn't benefit from display refresh rates over the Hz it was recorded at. A disparity between those values can lead to judder if the values don't evenly divide (so 24Hz would need either 48 or 72, not 60; 30Hz would be okay with 60). Software players often have the ability to set the display mode to match the video's framerate so that it reduces or removes the issue (in mpv this is set by using --video-sync=display-resample and turning on its simple internal interpolation mode). Still, 24fps is going to have a certain stiltedness to it, as that's inherent to the low framerate. It is kind of possible to augment it by having your software player do much more complex motion interpolation to insert additional frames in to smooth out motion (many modern TVs also have an option like this, under a variety of different trade names, but the unnaturally smooth motion - aka the 'Soap Opera Effect' and even an optical illusion of added sharpness is a dead giveaway that there's 24->60 interpolation happening). That kind of interpolation can sometimes be done on the graphics card, but usually on a PC that's going to force it into only using the CPU, so you'll have to drop the resolution of the video if it's higher than 1080p (and dropping to 1080p might not even be enough).

Because the camera wasn't staying still, it was impossible to tell what panning was in the original and what was in the camera recording it. My gut reaction is that what I could see in the video sample was that it almost looked like the video fields were playing back with the wrong parity, which would normally only be an issue for interlaced video.