How about de-interlacing in the new Google TV Streamer!?

[Tony26]

New Google TV 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?

If the Google TV Streamer software developers are reading this, please add support for deinterlacing video.

 

 

[GoogleNestTeam · Accepted solution]

Hey all,

Appreciate everyone who has flagged this concern. We're aware that some are encountering unintended behavior when viewing content that is interlaced. The team is looking into it and hope to have a fix soon. Thank you for your patience.

[Tony26 · Accepted solution]

They fixed it. We are waiting for a firmware update.

 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/386547961?pli=1

[Tony26 · Accepted solution]

Today the update arrived. Deinterlacing was not added! This is just unbelievable! I'm shocked!

Four months of waiting - all this way for nothing!

 

[Scott25]

I agree. Didn’t experience this with the original chromecast but the deinterlacing, particularly when watching live tv over the air through Plex, the interlacing is horrendous.

[Tony26]

Not only in Plex. In any player. I really hope that this will be fixed.

[JillG]

Hello @Tony26 , @Scott25 

I've escalated this to our support specialists for the Community and they will respond here... Please send feedback via the Streamer in the meantime.

thanks for posting!

[Scott25]

A whole thread about it over at reddit as well if that helps.....https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/1frfkeu/google_tv_streamers_deinterlacing_is_completely/...

[reillysc]

Hi @JillG, it seems you are a link to the support specialists, which is good to see. You asked to provide feedback through the streamer (I have done this via help > feedback). I bought the streamer mainly for the purpose of watching deinterlaced OTA streams. This is what I used my CCWGTV HD for and I also have a family member using the CCWGTV 4k for this purpose also. It seems odd that Google could make such an oversight, for something that had already been implemented on previous gen devices and something that many customers depend on. Some technical details which may help the support specialists: The streams I am receiving are MPEG-4 1080i25 (UK Freeview OTA via HDHomeRun). The CCWGTV HD and CCWGTV 4k deinterlaces these to 50 fps which is needed in particular for sports. If there are some nuances of the new hardware that Google needs to overcome then this should really be communicated to customers with a clear timeline for when the fix will be applied. As an aside: in the Android 14 Compatibility Definition Document (https://source.android.com/docs/compatibility/14/android-14-cdd) it states : 

"Television device implementations MUST support MPEG-2 decoding, as detailed in Section 5.3.1, at standard video frame rates and resolutions up to and including:

[5.3.1/T-1-1] HD 1080p at 29.97 frames per second with Main Profile High Level.
[5.3.1/T-1-2] HD 1080i at 59.94 frames per second with Main Profile High Level. They MUST deinterlace interlaced MPEG-2 video and make it available to third-party applications."

If the Google TV Streamer lacks this deinterlacing capability, it could be seen as a failure to comply with a requirement for Android 14 TV devices. Interestingly the Compatibility Definition Document does not address interlaced MPEG-4, but I imagine this applies to MPEG-4 also.. for regions such as UK and Ireland.

[reillysc]

Hopefully this gets sorted soon. My Chromecast HD w/GTV deinterlaces HDHomeRun streams perfectly (MPEG-4, 1080i25 > 1080p/50). With no deinterlacing I will have no use for the Google TV streamer.

[reillysc]

I got speaking to Google Chromecast technical support via a call back. The agent was not aware of issues raised relating to interlaced video. I have been assured that my feedback has been passed to their engineering team who are "working diligently" on a solution. I said I would appreciate a response covering two points: will this be fixed, and if so when. Chromecast support assured me that I will get an update from the engineering team within 24-48 hours. I made it clear that I will have no choice but to return the streamer without answers to my questions with the return window closing in a few days. Has anyone else here been in touch with them? 

[KoenC]

Just want to add that I see the same issue in Europe; the TV streamer doesn't deinterlace 1080i50 content (i.e. local tv broadcasts). I hope this can be fixed in a future firmware upgrade.

[tjc2005]

Wow you're right. I use hdhomerun and it's absolutely horrible quality on the TV streamer. I had no such issue on the fire TV cube 3 I just sold to get this thing.

Desperately needs to be fixed.

[reillysc]

I ended up returning the streamer as I did not hear back from Chromecast Support before the return window closed. As it stands, we have no confidence that this will be fixed. 

[mchromes]

I really hope this gets fixed promptly. I watch a lot of OTA content and this issue makes it borderline unwatchable. I don't understand how other Google TV/Android TV devices have no issue yet Google drops the ball on this with their latest product.

[EduLpz92]

The same thing happens to me. I see that this is from 3 weeks ago and they still haven't fixed it...

[tjc2005]

Has anyone heard if Google are working to fix this or not?

[reillysc]

Nothing from my end. I contacted Chromecast Support almost 3 weeks ago and their response was that their engineering team are "working diligently" on a solution, which to me means long grass. I followed up twice by email, and once by call back and it feels like a waste of time - I get the same robotic responses (when/if they respond). If this is to be sorted, Google first needs to recognise that the issue exists and they have not done this yet. Huge disappointment, but I only blame myself - I should have waited for firmware updates before buying this thing. Fortunately I got it returned before the window closed.

[Hecke15292]

@JillG I am sorry, but isn't it embarrassing this is still not fixed?

[Hecke15292]

 @Ashepherdson @David_K 4 weeks and still not fixed?

[Ashepherdson]

@Hecke15292 you are tagging PEs .. we are not Google employees and have no control over how quickly things get fixed sadly.  Google is working on it, but for now it's a matter of waiting until they can identify what the problem is exactly.  This is already escalated to the googlers , fingers crossed it's updated soon.

[Hecke15292]

Thank you mate. Sorry, thought Product Experts are Google Employees.

[tjc2005]

What's more, I go through all the steps to report and issue, finally managed to get to contact Google, via chat. And the link is broken. Absolute joke these companies are putting you through hoops so you can't contact them properly.

I sent a link to this forum on their Facebook post. I'm going to just keep doing that.

[Hecke15292]

I sent them this problem via mail and they told me I shall contact them via chat...

[tjc2005]

Well I can't even open the chat link it just takes me to a broken page.

[reillysc]

We cannot expect Google to "fix" this. All we can hope for is that they will eventually include it, as they did with previous Amologic-based GTV devices i.e. Chromecast. The GTV Streamer uses the MediaTek 8696 chipset, and this is not very common in the Android TV space. As far as I know, the only other similar devices using it are the new Firestick HD and Firestick 4k Max 2021 and 2023. I am guessing that deinterlacing is working fine on these devices, perhaps someone can confirm that here. If it is, then Google really doesn't have any excuses. As I say, I wouldn't count on them providing a "fix". What would be nice, however, is some sort of communication on the issue i.e. (1) do they recognise that hw deinterlacing is missing (2) if so, will they include it and (3) approximate timescales. The most important question right now is (1) and until they answer this, I would not be expecting a fix anytime soon. Pretty absurd that 4 weeks have passed and still no communication, but perhaps this is how they operate. 

[Hecke15292]

One more week passed and still not fixed.

[reillysc]

I see over on reddit that Google has released a firmware update. Perhaps folks here can check if deinterlacing is sorted? I no longer have a streamer as I returned it, but I may consider purchasing again if deinterlacing is included.

[Hecke15292]

Not fixed

[KoenC]

I've just updated the TV Streamer and it seems fixed with 1080i50 video (in Europe).

[Hecke15292]

Why not for me? 🤔

[reillysc]

That's encouraging. However, @Hecke15292 and others on Reddit saying no??

[tjc2005]

I'm in Europe (UK) and it definitely isn't fixed.

[reillysc]

Hi @KoenC, for others here and on various reddit threads, they are saying that deinterlacing has not been fixed with the recent update. Could you please share a little more about your setup? Do you use HDHomeRun as your source and if so, are 1080i25 streams being successfully converted to 1080p50?

[Danny_]

Updated mine to the latest version today, but the issue is still there, not fixed - content is beeing played @ 25 FPS, interlaced

[Hecke15292]

Wtf is Google doing?

[Valhall453]

Glad I came across this.  Was about to purchase the streamer 4k but am now reconsidering since my main use would be HD Homerun which needs deinterlacing.

[Hecke15292]

Still not fixed.

What is Google doing?😂

[Tony26]

The previous update was very minor. Now we are waiting for a major update. If they don't fix it in the next major update, it will be a complete failure for Google.

[Hecke15292]

It’s honestly absurd to even defend Google in this situation. I couldn’t care less whether they call it a minor or major update—when such a glaring issue exists, it simply needs to be fixed. Their reluctance to address it properly shows how little they care about the user experience. Excusing this kind of negligence is laughable

[reillysc]

I decided to buy the new Firestick HD to see how it handles interlaced content. It deinterlaces all my MPEG-4 1080i25 and 576i25 streams perfectly in Tivimate. I am guessing that the 4k and 4k max Firesticks do the same. As noted in my previous post, these devices use an identical chipset to the Google TV Streamer i.e. MediaTek 8696. So Google have no excuses, they are simply not interested in including this feature. Unfortunately for many customers they purchased the Streamer thinking it would be included as standard.

[Headbenga]

Thank you for your input. I also tested it on a cheap Mi Stick with 1GB of RAM from 2021, and it deinterlaces without any issue.

I still have a week and a half to return this product, and I’m seriously considering doing so.

Yes, the design is slick, super responsive, plays 4K 60fps smoothly, and has Google Home integration.

However, I’ve encountered two major problems:

1. Deinterlacing (this whole post).
2. The custom button is broken and doesn’t open the Google Home panel.

I had a chat with Google support for about an hour and a half. It was a 5-star kind of support experience where we tried everything to fix these two problems, but no solution was found. The issue has now been escalated to the engineering team. It’s been three days, so if it takes longer than a week to even get slight feedback like “we are addressing the issue in the next update,” I’m returning it.

[Ashepherdson]

Just for some input here... The Google team is aware of the custom button Google home issue and is working on it right now...Im trying to get an answer about the deinterlacing as well, will update once I know more!!