MP4 To M2TS HWplayer playback issue !

[ToiletDuck]

About playback problems:

I don't think its the encode process thing, but rather an "MP4" mux thing (after the recodes)..

Correct, but the encoding settings can influence the muxing settings.

 For sure, if you mean that the encode settings have to meet BD compliant standards for to work in HW / strict players .. ie: Ref frames, Min/Max bitrate , Display resolution etc etc..
Albeit, in my experience there's some room to deviate from that ↑ for sure ..  And the content STILL will play flawless on the most strict demanding players (sony brand players comes to mind ) 

About playback problems:

ONLY when i started to change the output container (ts) to mp4 at the base panel in hybrid .. all of a sudden these playback issue started to happend.. 

Not really surprised by that, since Blu-ray players often, as stupid as it sounds, support different stuff depending on the container. Depending on the player video stream support can be more strict or more lose depending on the container.

The container compatibility is the main thing on HW strict players for sure ..  Like on some of the hwplayers i own, mkv files and all the contents would play just fine on one player but on another player only the video + audio would display, not the subtitles or anything else.. even though the subtitle format is *.pgs or even Txt based *.srt format .. 

Hence i always go for Ts container, thats the widely adopted and most compatible format for Bd players that alway's will work from a disc structure or single file..

About playback problems:

1. If you have pdvd installed on your pc...
2. Create an mp4 file through hybrid
3. Then remux the file to an Bluray Structured folder (not an single ts file mind u). 

Regarding:
1. I do not. So testing is up to you.
2. What settings are you using? (Are the settings Blu-ray or AVC-HD compatible?)
3. What tool are you using?

1. Fine by diz duck MY king / My Royal Majesty ..  
but DASbut, how do you know for SURE that you have reproduced the same results / issue's if you don't test/watch the content aftwards ?  Just by reading the naughty details (rrrr.. 😏) from the debug Logs 🤔 ?

Mind you, players such as mpc, vlc lan etc.. are just too forgiven and won't pose the same playback problems like strict players ...  Therefor, you won't be able to reproduce / see the issue while watching it..  Hence my suggestion to atleast us pdvd, the closest thing to a HW player for you to reproduce this issue..

Since hybrid did actually did completed the job just fine form a to Z, the problem is.. some flaws in tools/software with wich you created the media file will only surface when you actually playback and watch the content on certain players . Like in this case / my case for example...  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. Have done dozens of projects using pretty much the same settings , so far play just perfect on any HW player i have tested.. even the most stuborn players 😅.
And again, there are certain settings from wich you can slightly deviate and still will be 100% BD compliant though.. 

3. Usually TSmux works just fine, in rare cases i use another tool for testing purpose actually.

Additionally, you enabled either 'Config->Container->MP4->FFmpeg instead of MP4Box'.

Hybrid created the following calls:

• audio extraction:
  
  "C:\Program Files\Hybrid\64bit\MP4Box.exe" -raw 2 "C:\TEMP\00000.mp4" -out "C:\TEMP\iId_3_aid_0_lang_en_2024-09-29@20_03_54_0010_01.ac3"
• video extraction:
  
  "C:\Program Files\Hybrid\64bit\MP4Box.exe" -raw 1 "C:\TEMP\00000.mp4" -out "C:\TEMP\00000_new_1_2024-09-29@20_03_54_0010_02.264"
• mkv muxing of the video (since ffmpeg has problems with raw H.264 streams):
  "C:\Program Files\Hybrid\64bit\mkvmerge.exe" --ui-language en -o "C:\TEMP\2024-09-29@20_03_54_0010__03.mkv" -d 0 --default-track 0:yes --color-matrix-coefficients 0:-1 --color-range 0:-1 --color-transfer-characteristics 0:2 --color-primaries 0:2 --default-duration "0:24/1fps" --fourcc 0:MP4V --no-chapters --compression -1:none --forced-track 0:yes --field-order 0:0 --no-audio --no-subtitles "C:\TEMP\00000_new_1_2024-09-29@20_03_54_0010_02.264"Here is the problem, which causes the crash.
  
• audio&video muxing call:
  
  ffmpeg -y  -r 24/1 -i "C:\TEMP\2024-09-29@20_03_54_0010__03.mkv" -i "C:\TEMP\iId_3_aid_0_lang_en_2024-09-29@20_03_54_0010_01.ac3" -metadata encoding_tool="Hybrid 2024.06.16.1" -c:v copy -c:1 copy -map 0:0  -map 1:0 -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -vtag avc1  -aspect 1920:1080 -r 24/1 "C:\TEMP\00000_new.mp4"
  This one looks fine, but is never executed since the previous call crashes.
  

I chose to use ffmpeg instead of mp4box to check out if mp4box wos causing the playback problems (black screen/no video) in any way, shape or form.. 
So do i read you correct, and it crashes because ffmpeg isn't able to work with raw 264 streams ?

I could have sworn, that i have used ffmpeg 6 in the past to remux media files with x264 streams just fine.. but i could be wrong..


Here's the interesting part.. The same playback issue that i have on the bd HWplayer, you also can reproduce in pdvd ...  ie: open the file, play , Fast forward , stop and press play to continue playback.. bam black screen..

Now, here's the funny part... this ↑ ONLY happends when i remux the mp4 hybrid-created file into a TS using Tsmuxer manually (outside hybrid) .  The fresh created mp4 does play fine ..! 

That said, THIS ↑ is exactly why i suspect mp4box of doing something to the container &/or content that prevents me from remuxing it to an working ts file using other tools beside mp4box (→ for extraction ... the root of the problem mayhap ?! ←) ..

 

a small sample which allows reproducing the problem

Instead of an .mp4 file, you shared a .mkv file in your sample.zip.
So I assume that this .mkv can be used to reproduce the problem for you.

You asumed correct, and i have reproduced the crash/playback error using the very exact sample i have posted 😉👌.

Side note:
According to the debug output of the first post, the sample you tried to re-mux was not encoded with bluray compatiblity options turned on.

Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=34 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=cbr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2200 / ratetol=2.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=2200 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

So it would not be too surprising if a Blu-ray player would not play back the file properly.
Cu Selur

Again, have reproduced the crashes using the sample i have posted though !
Not only that but you can watch the same playback problems i have had on my stand alone hwplayer in pdvd aswell.. PDVD shows the exact SAME issue !


Steps:

fired up hybrid, using defaults except and ONLY  for: 

A. path locations:

1. output path to source paths & 2. Temp path to Output path = Enabled



B: base tab:  

Video encoder x264 : default settings
Audio encoder : default settings / auto add first


Now.. for the crucial part: .. cause this is causing things to break imo..

Default container :  set to MP4 ... auto generate output file name V=enabled 

now using this ↑ preset, it will create an mp4 from the mkv sample just fine using mp4box (important) as extractor  ..


NOw take that fresh created mp4 file and remux that through tsmuxer using nightly builds or last official build (doesn't matter realy).
Try to play that ts file in pdvd or hw player, fast forward , press stop and play to continue playback bam .. BSOD.. black screen of death 😅..

Here's the interesting part, take that fresh created mp4 file and play that instead in pdvd, do the same thing, play,ff,stop, play.. what dya know, A+Video do get allong and play nice ...


Also, go back to hybrid and change the setting under config→containers→mp4→ enable ffmpeg instead of mp4box .. bam crash WILL or should happend using the sample.. using the very same and pretty much using for 99,99% the default settings for the encode and mux process in hybrid (ie: custom profile settings is out of the equation imo, since all standard settings were used)   

 
.. debug from the entire process untill crash using sample is in the attachement..


Ta Ta
TD