HD Streamming with DLNA

[wmurwin]

I been attempting to stream HD (MPEG4) file from a Pentium 4 (2.6 GHz) DLNA server (Nero MediaHome) to a DLNA Client (Playstation 3).

I have had success streaming DVD quality video (MPEG2) 6Mbps bitrate with no issues.

However when I stream HD (MPEG4) 11-20 Mbps bitrate files, I get 2 seconds of clean video (No Blocks/Pixelations) but then 0.5-1 sec pause. I assume this is packet jitter, and not packet loss.

I have checked the CPU of the server (spikes of 50% CPU), and re-prioritized DLNA Server to High.

I am connected DLNA Server ---1 Gig Link--> Switch ---100 MB---> HomePlug AV Bridge ---85 MB---> HomePlug AV Brigde ---100 MB---> PS3.
Could my jitter because by Flow Control ???

I am in the attempt of creating a long Ethernet Cable to run directly from the DLNA server to the client to see if the LAN is causing the packet jitter.

Any suggestions ??? How much delay between packets can lead to Video Jitter ?

 

[thiggins]

You should first check to see what your end-to-end link supports. Run a long ping to check for latency variation.

You can use iperf or jperf to check to see what you're getting for throughput.
Measuring Network Performance - Jperf

 

[wmurwin]

Got It Working!

I finally got it working...not sure of root cause, re-installed DLNA server, force link to 1000 Full Duplex, etc. Now I am streamming MPEG4 1920x1080p @ 15 Mbps.

I did run Jperf, which proved I had more than enough bandwidth, ran 100 MB for 30 sec...and got anywhere from 40-80 MBps; but the thing that concerns me is why did I get such Peaks & Valleys...I would have expected a constant rate of say 65 Mbps...I am running a Dell PowerConnect 2716...it should have more than enough throughput to sustain a constant stream of 65 Mbps.

Thanks for your help!

 

[thiggins]

why did I get such Peaks & Valleys...I would have expected a constant rate of say 65 Mbps...I am running a Dell PowerConnect 2716...it should have more than enough throughput to sustain a constant stream of 65 Mbps.

Unless your content was encoded at a constant bitrate, it's natural for the stream's bitrate to change depending on the content.

 

[wmurwin]

Unless your content was encoded at a constant bitrate, it's natural for the stream's bitrate to change depending on the content.

It wasn't the Video's bitrate that I was referring to, I would expect that.

It was JPERF's Bandwitdh results/graph. In your article your screen capture of JPERF's graph is almost a horizontal line around 18,000 KBits....My results jump up and down any where from 40 MBits to as High as 80 MBits....I was expecting a to sustain a high traffic rate, and not experience such spikes of throughput. And this was for a UDP test not TCP.

 

[thiggins]

It was JPERF's Bandwitdh results/graph.

Oops. Sorry. Not sure what would cause that. Do you get the same variation measuring TCP?