Fullscreen and audio delay question

Furion · 2011-12-07 20:48

Hey guys,

I'm just wondering why XBMC is minimizing when you bring the focus onto another window on another screen (obviously when you're not using the fake fullscreen)?
Other playback software, such as VLC media player, just keeps showing the video in fullscreen when I do that.
I'd love to use real fullscreen because the video playback is smoother, especially HD 24p material.

Another question:

I've read it often, but never found a solution that worked for me...

I've connected my PC via HDMI to an AV-receiver. Everytime I'm starting video playback or resuming from pause in XBMC, the audio needs ~2s to come out of my speakers (it's perfectly in sync though)

And again -> when I try the same thing in VLC, there's no such problem...
I tried disabling all kinds of sound improvements in my AVR and even tried "SilencePlayer" to keep the audio channel to the AVR "open".

I always had those problems with XBMC, with every version... is it a bug or a feature?
Are there any solutions/workarounds for those 2 problems?

Please let me know, because I love XBMC and really want to keep using it.

Best regards,
Furion

PS: I didn't provide any hardware-specific information, because I think that all the XBMC users should have those problems in the described scenarios.

**DDDamian** · 2011-12-07 21:15

This thread explains why you may be getting some audio delay at a stream start. Not sure if VLC player "injects" some silence to avoid this...

[HTML]http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116165[/HTML]

YodaEXE · 2011-12-07 22:48

Regarding your first question, VLC uses a fake fullscreen. That's why it stays in fullscreen even when focus is lost. It would have the same problem if it used a real fullscreen display. That's just part of how things that use DirectX work.

Furion · 2011-12-07 23:30

@YodaEXE thanks, that's the anwer I expected most... so that's just a normal thing and not XBMC-specific... nevertheless, the VLC "fake" fullscreen works better for me, performance wise

@DDDamian when I change the output to WASPI... will the audio stream be closed while a movie is paused? I guess it will (without testing), because you didn't mention that there's a solution for "my" problem Sad

Is there a plugin or extra software to fix this (/to "inject" the silence)? It should be possible, because VLC can handle it already.

**DDDamian** · 2011-12-07 23:36

Hey Furion - I'm using WASAPI and don't get the pause when I (ahem) pause and restart a video or music. The only time you should see it is on a start of a new stream.

Sorry, I've never seen a way around it - would have to be hard-coded in...

Furion · 2011-12-08 00:23

oh... XBMC suddenly froze while skipping through a movie...

//edit: sometimes the audio plays immediately after jumping, sometimes 2secs delay... it's just random...
btw. am I the only one with instability problems while skipping/jumping/searching/forwarding through a video? (latest nightly)

GranCanaria · 2011-12-14 12:51

I just got my first AV receiver, an ONKYO and with most audio formats what work in pass through mode ( not PCM ) I have the same problem over HDMI.

"I have a new ONKYO HT-R390 what gets all his input from a HTPC (I7 sandy bridge 2.2 GHz and a NVIDIA 540) via HDMI.

The problem is there is a good 2 second audio delay on every pass through audio signal. This delay is also when the video is paused, or jumped back or forward.

The ONKYO manual states on page 45:
The beginning of audio received by an HDMI IN can’t be heard
Since it takes longer to identify the format of an HDMI signal than it does for other digital audio signals, sound may not be output immediately.

Is this only an ONKYO problem or do other receivers have the same problem?"

I tried different computers and different players, same problem.
I think the only solution for the receiver not to have to re-sync the audio would be to have a second, identical format, silent audio stream active during the pause or jump backward / forward mode.

Furion · 2011-12-15 16:33

GranCanaria Wrote:I think the only solution for the receiver not to have to re-sync the audio would be to have a second, identical format, silent audio stream active during the pause or jump backward / forward mode.

That might be the right approach. There should be the possibility to write a plugin for XBMC that does that.
Is there a section in this forum called "plugin requests" or smth? Big Grin

YodaEXE Fan Posts: 454 Joined: May 2010 Reputation: 0	2011-12-07 22:48 Post: #3 Regarding your first question, VLC uses a fake fullscreen. That's why it stays in fullscreen even when focus is lost. It would have the same problem if it used a real fullscreen display. That's just part of how things that use DirectX work.
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Furion Junior Member Posts: 25 Joined: Oct 2011 Reputation: 0	2011-12-08 00:23 Post: #6 oh... XBMC suddenly froze while skipping through a movie... //edit: sometimes the audio plays immediately after jumping, sometimes 2secs delay... it's just random... btw. am I the only one with instability problems while skipping/jumping/searching/forwarding through a video? (latest nightly) (This post was last modified: 2011-12-08 00:27 by Furion.)
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