topic Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos in Streaming

Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 16:17:19 GMT

I use YouTube, Prime, Disney and Crave. They all give drop frames, I first saw it with my eyes and on YouTube I confirmed with the stats. It's continuous and very annoying.

I tried to change the system resolution and refresh rate, none works.
My Streamer gets 360Mbps network speed, I have a fiber connection.
I have tried a few HDMI cables.

The TV is a Samsung S90D. I have tested the same apps the Samsung OS and on Fire stick, they have zero drop frames. On a second TV (2017 Panasonic 1080p) the drop frames are there too.

So my tests confirm the issue is not from the TV, not from network and not from the HDMI protocol.

More info: Regarding YouTube: there's another bug probably linked: in the stats the viewport is always "1920x1080" on 4K content. In comparison, on YouTube on fire stick and on Samsung OS the viewport is "1920x1080*2.00".

So why is the google streamer outputting 1080p and why is it having drop frames continuously? Visually it looks like a hiccup every 8 to 20 seconds.

Anyone else?

What could be the issue? Is there a firmware bug? Any fix coming?

EDIT: Steps to reproduce on Youtube and see data showing the issue:

Open youtube on the Streamer plugged on a 4K TV
Play a 4K video
Display the "stats for nerds" in the Player options (or "advanced stats" depending of your language)
BUG 1: Viewport is stuck to "1920*1080"
BUG 2: dropped frames keep increasing. Test at least 5 minutes.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 16:20:54 GMT

Please acknowledge reception

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

chaconmorales — Sat, 05 Oct 2024 19:07:05 GMT

Hi Skywalker27k,

I appreciate you taking the time to post this over the community space. I am sorry that your Google TV Streamer is not working as expected and is dropping frames in different apps. But no need to worry, help is here.

Our team is aware of this issue and is actively investigating to find a fix. In the meantime, please file your feedback in the Google Home app.

This is really helpful.

Best,

Mario

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Tony26 — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 07:01:30 GMT

What about Deinterlacing? It seems that the new Google Steamer does not support Deinterlacing. Due to this, deinterlacing does not work in videos! This is very sad.

I remember this problem was on the first Nvidia Shield 2019 firmware, but that was 5 years ago! Do Google developers really not know such basic things?

Can you take note of this and add deinterlacing support?

Screenshot - https://radikal.host/i/lLkfze

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 16:30:35 GMT

Thank you. Please keep us informed.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:48:54 GMT

Just open youtube, play any video. Display the advanced stats and you'll see the 2 issues.
- Drop frames keep increasing.
- Viewport is stuck at 1080p

This picture was taken after 4min20 of playback. See low viewport and excessive dropped frames. (note: I paused and resumed at 4min, that's why the network bars have a little gap.)

I don't know about viewport in other apps, but I can see the drop frames in all apps.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

ByronP — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 17:42:24 GMT

Hi Skywalker27k,

Thank you for your response and the detailed information. I really appreciate the effort to troubleshoot the issue. Help's here.

Another suggestion for frames is to adjust the display settings from your Google TV Streamer. Here are the steps:

Turn on your Google Streaming device, and then at the top right of your TV screen, go to All settings.
Select Display & Sound.

You can adjust the following display settings, depending on the features available on your TV:

Resolution: Select your preferred screen resolution.
Text scaling: Enlarge or decrease the onscreen text size.
Dynamic range and color format: Select your preferred formats.
Match content frame rate: Use this setting to allow your streaming device to match the frame rate to the source content you're viewing.

Let me know how it goes and keep me posted.

Regards,

Byron

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 20:55:34 GMT

Hi @ByronP ,

This is not an issue with my settings. I have already checked those settings.
I am actually an Android TV software engineer, the Google Streamer is among the devices I use for my testings.

Try to reproduce the issue at least on youtube please:

Open youtube on the Streamer plugged on a 4K TV
Play a 4K video
Display the "stats for nerds" (or "advanced stats" depending of your language)
BUG 1: Viewport is stuck to "1920*1080"
BUG 2: dropped frames keep increasing. Test at least 5 minutes.

Other devices are able to have viewport at 4k or sometimes it is written "1920x1080*2".
Other devices have zero dropped frames.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

ByronP — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:17:35 GMT

Hi Skywalker27k,

Thank you for posting. I really appreciate your insights about the device and the situation about the drop frames.

Here are a few suggestions to consider with Google TV Streamer:

If you're currently casting content to your Google TV Streamer, disconnect the cast session and then re-cast:
- Mobile Device:
  - Open the Google Cast-enabled app you’re currently casting from > select the Cast icon > Click Disconnect or Stop Casting.
  - Try casting your content again by pressing the Cast icon, selecting your Google streaming device, and then starting the video.
- Chrome Browser:
  - In the top right corner of your Chrome browser, click the Cast icon and select Stop Casting.
  - Close the Chrome tab.
  - Relaunch the Chrome tab and open the same website/content you were previously casting.
  - Cast the tab again by clicking the cast icon in the top right corner of your Chrome browser, select your streaming device, and start playing the video.
Toggle Wi-Fi off/on the casting device (make sure to reconnect to the same Wi-Fi network that your streaming device is connected to).
Decrease the distance between the TV, casting device (phone, tablet, or computer), and Wi-Fi router

The streaming device and Wi-Fi router should be less than 15-20 feet (5-6 meters) apart, ideally within the same room.

4. Reboot the streaming and your Wi-Fi router. Here are the steps:

Open the Google Home app.
Tap Favorites or Devices.
Select the streaming device.
Tap Settings, then Reboot.

5. Reboot your router. Here are the steps for an alternative option:

Unplug the router from the power outlet and leave it for at least 2 minutes.
If there is a battery pack, remove that as well, and make sure no light is turned on.
After 2 minutes, plug it back in and wait for it to completely reboot.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Byron

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 07:41:40 GMT

Are you a bot @ByronP ? This is not helpful.

It seems like you did not read my last message.
I gave you steps and asked you to reproduce so you can see by yourself the Streamer is underperforming.

Please reproduce, or transmit to developer team. Here are the steps again:

Open youtube on the Streamer plugged on a 4K TV
Play a 4K video
Display the "stats for nerds" (or "advanced stats" depending of your language)
BUG 1: Viewport is stuck to "1920*1080"
BUG 2: dropped frames keep increasing. Test at least 5 minutes.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

ByronP — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:11:02 GMT

Skywalker27k,

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

I'm here to help in any possible way to isolate any situation and provide steps to fix your concern.

We are always looking for improvements. I really appreciate the steps you provided. Please share your feedback, your experience, and your thoughts so we can address it better for future updates.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Byron

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 16:18:09 GMT

@ByronP it seems you did not read my message because you did not confirm reproducing the steps I gave.

This is very bad support.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 02:05:39 GMT

@ByronP You are still not trying to reproduce the specific steps I gave?
You need to try and confirm if you get the same result.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

pabulous — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 22:03:53 GMT

Getting the same problem with dropped frames on my new Streamer. My old Roku works fine.

Also I don't think the viewport matters - that refers to the resolution of the UI, which remains at 1080p. It's the same on my Roku.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Skywalker27k — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 16:12:46 GMT

Your Roku should show "1920x1080*2", not "1920x1080"? I have never seen "1920x1080" on a 4K device except the Google Streamer.

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Ray14 — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 19:49:38 GMT

Yes, there are visible frame drops on this device. If you turn qms and vrr off and keep only frame rate switching on, and do a fresh restart it's better but there are still visible frame drops Evey 20-30 seconds.

Ggctw had similar issue but it was fixable by disabling hardware overlays, this fix is not working on this device.

This definitely is an issue which makes the device unusable for a daily streamer

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

Kralj3gs — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 12:31:10 GMT

I have the same problem, is there any new news or will it be fixed, it's very frustrating?

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

djaani — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 21:17:44 GMT

Same problem here. Switched from Chromecast to the Streamer and noticing this now too. Very annoying and finally found a post where people are experiencing the same thing, dropped frame(s) every 10-20 seconds resulting in a short stutter in my content. I'm on a Samsung 90c.

I'm not getting my hopes up that Google will fix this though, they will not.

Happy to hear some potential workarounds from the community though...

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

carlcamper — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 10:21:54 GMT

Same problem here, will try a factory reset

Re: Google TV Streamer drop frames on all videos

carlcamper — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 10:44:20 GMT

Same results, dropped frames in Google TV Streamer Youtube stats for nerds, unlike my LG WebOS Youtube app, which has none.