Frequently Asked Questions
v0.20


1. PS3 Media Server does not appears on XMB
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First of all, you need to make sure UPNP network discovery is enabled on your computer.
On Windows XP, it's a service called "SSDP Network Discovery", on Vista, it's just called "Network Discovery".
More infos here:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/02/12/turn-on-and-enable-upnp-or-network-discovery-in-windows-vista/
http://www.bitwiseim.com/wiki/index.php?title=Using_UPnP_on_Windows_XP#Enabling_UPnP_in_Windows_XP

If it's the case, you may have a problem with your router, have you enabled port forwarding ?
The default port of the application is 5001. You can also try to change this default port,
or force the IP of your computer in the "General configuration" Tab (you need to restart, after modified and saved values)
Also, the application isn't exempt of bug, see Help at the end of this file.


2. My video playback is stuttering. What can I do ?
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The answer depends on the video type, your network configuration, and cpu power.
For almost SD/DVD videos, transcode should be fine. But if you are using default settings, and willing
to play HD videos (or very, very good looking SD videos) on a WiFi/CPL connection, the stuttering is normal.
You'll need to set a limit to the bandwidth used by the program, in the "Transcoding Settings->Encoder settings
->Maximum Bandwidth" textbox. A value of 14, or 15 (in Mbits) is an average value for Wifi/CPL. But you can set more or less,
depends on the strength of your network. Please also be advised that reducing the bitrate will stress even more your CPU.

That's why, if after setting a fair value for your network, or if you are on a wired connection, stuttering still occurs,
it may be caused by an old (or not shiny anymore :p) CPU. Actually a Core2Duo CPU is enough to transcode 1080p with default
network/quality settings, but a P4 is the very low limit in order to play a 720p video. If you stand
between these two, you can adjust the video quality settings ("Transcoding Settings->Encoder settings")
and test the examples provided in the drop down (you can also play with the parameters vqscale, vqmin, etc.)
It's also recommended if you are on Windows, to try the AviSynth/Mencoder trancoding engine, as you could play your videos
with CoreAVC, a fast H264 decoder (see Readme for instructions).
Try also to reduce the number of channels. By default the application output a 5.1 channel video, so if you switch to
stereo, the transcode will be a little faster. The good behavior of the transcoder is dependant on many parameters.
It's up to you to find the most adapted ones to your configuration !


3. I've got picture quality loss compared to other conversion tools !
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If you haven't changed any network related / quality parameters, and are playing some AVI/MPG/MPEG2/MP4 video files, I'm not sure
there are visible differences with the source. But it can happens if your are playing some AVC/H264 files with the Mencoder engine,
as there's an option here called SkipLoopFilter, enabled by default, which could slightly degrade video quality.
This option allows Mencoder to decode H264 videos faster, but can also introduces some artefacts. If you CPU can handle it,
it's recommended to disable it. Btw, it's only a matter of time before Mencoder supports multithreaded H264 frames decoding.
Also, if you've downsized the network maximum bandwidth, you can also have a reduced quality (there's no free lunch, see question 1.)


4. I've got a black screen or "unsupported data" message when I launch a transcoded video file
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	4.1 with MEncoder alone

If this is happening with Mencoder, the culprit would be most likely the inter communication process between java and mencoder, as
Mplayer/Mencoder is a great app who takes virtually anything you throw at it. So, either your video must be really messed up,
or there's a bug or a wrong configuration/incompatibility with your system. In both cases, looking at the debug.log file is the only solution.

	4.2 with AviSynth/MEncoder

You can first check if the video is playing in Windows Media Player / Media Player Classic. If yes, maybe you are
using some srt/sub subtitles files and haven't installed VobSub (the VSfilter.dll must be in the path, elsewhere you can copy it in the
AviSynth plugins folders). If this is not the case, you obviously met a bug, see question 3.1.

	4.3 with tsMuxer

tsMuxer has not a large codec type support on PS3. It accepts AVC/H264, MPEG2, MP2, AC3, PCM codecs and MPG, TS, M2TS, MKV as input.
Also, H264 encoded with level 5 or exotic settings (reduce to Level 4.1 is just a header change, with no success garanty)
will not play on the PS3, hence your black screen maybe.


5. Can I transcode subtitles without reencode ?
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Unfortunately you can't. PS3 does not support soft subtitles while streaming videos, expect for DivX
and their proprietary XSUB format (managed by a program like AVIAddXSubs), which I think isn't very used by many people
(maybe for a future release)


6. I've got A/V out of synch on some of my files !
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	5.1 with MEncoder alone

Try unchecking the "A/V out of sync correction" checkbox in the "Transcoder settings->Mencoder Player Tab".

	5.2 with AviSynth/MEncoder

You should have the same out of sync when playing the file in Media Player. Check your video. Try also to uncheck the
convertfps parameter on the AviSynth settings tab (useful only for variable framerates).

	5.3 with tsMuxer

Try unchecking the "Force FPS" checkbox in the "Transcoder settings->tsMuxer Tab".

	5.4 with any Web streaming engine

Could be. Not really focusing on web streaming right now



Help
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You can drop an email at ps3mediaserver@gmail.com, but if you are joining a debug.log file,
please indicates your computer configuration, network type, name and type of faulty video/audio, etc.

