Seamless branching not working with Blu Ray's

Discussion in 'ZIDOO X9S' started by Nice Monkey, Mar 14, 2017.

  1. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    Seamless branching is the provision to make storage jumps on the source medium within a playlist. When a playlist makes these jumps the player must be able to buffer enough data to enable a fluent playback without stuttering or even a pause with loss of media stream connectivity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamless_branching

    The most common point where DVD's would show problems with seamless branching in the past would be the change of the physical layer (0 => 1). Obviously media players don't need to have a problem there.
    Seamless branching is used also for other purposes on BD and DVD like interactivity, multiple versions like Directors Cut and Extended Editions next to the original theaterical version on the same disc etc.

    The current FW 1.3.0 (and all before) has seriously problems with all instances where seamless branching is implemented. It will at least stutter seriously but it may pause loosing image and sound up to several seconds.
    Want to try it yourself? Use any 1:1 Blu Ray copy with multiple versions, you will see immediately where the extra's/differences start and end. I use normally Avatar with the long versions on it for this pupose, but "The Magnificent Seven 2016 US-release" is also an excellent choice.
    Here they mixed the standard movie with director comment fragments . This happens here so often that it makes watching the movie as a whole unpleasant. If one does not use the new BD Menu option to play this movie then one gets the wrong playlist with all director comments inserted. The "Age Of Adeline" is also an excellent choice as it even won't sequence scenes correctly without Full Menu support.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2017
  2. nikos_a

    nikos_a Active Member

    All 3D movies I watch are from ISOs. Since day one I never had an issue (in the past I had issues with seamless branching in my med600x3D so MakeMKV became my best friend). If you want, you can recommend a specific example, I mean including the release name in full as someone can "find it".
     
  3. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    I do like 1:1 full copies for BD so MKV is not an option for me and many others. Never saw any 3D movies with seamless branching, so indeed never a problem.

    Finding a complete BD with multiple versions on it should not be a problem. They all have the same problems. Gave 3 examples and who does not own Avatar (not being the 3D version of course)? If somebody still needs an URL please PM me, these files have random names and are password protected too.

    Just got my Egreat A10 today. Has no problems what so ever with seamless branching, it proves it can be done under Android! But this box also has other flaws which X9S does not have. Good to have both.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2017
  4. nikos_a

    nikos_a Active Member

    I can confirm the issue. I tried The Magnificent Seven (2016) BD ISO, I chose not to use BD Menu but start the movie directly and at some point where the video meets the first branch, it starts playing completely wrong section. You can see this in the following video

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8SLZyU3x_wJRUNDQ2l1VFJKbUU

    Seems like the playlist is wrong and starts playing a completely wrong video and also with major hickups. I decompressed the iso, went to the folder with the video files, found the first video of the movie (it is split in many) and indeed, the hickup and change to the wrong section on the above video is exactly after the end of the first video of the movie. So instead of going to the proper one that is in the correct playlist (00355.MPLS in the case of this movie), it goes somewhere else.
     
  5. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    In fact this is a correct playlist. This BD has 2 main playlist choices: The Movie, The Movie with inserted comments by the actors/director. Obviously the second playlist is the longest hence selected by default choosing play directly. Going via the BD menu the Movie only playlist can be selected also.

    Both playlist choices have the same problems when jumping from scene to scene, this is fluent on a good player supporting seamless branching but here it restarts playback when jumping from stream file to the next stream file. The BD has many stream files instead of a single big one for the main movie plus comment inserts. I do see this more and more on (UHD)BD's so this problem will only get bigger. Just burn it to a disc and pop it into a HW BD player and you will see how it should look like. Some media players can play it flawless too. The reverse is also true as some real DVD/BD disc players do neither support seamless branching (not so easy to jump files without producing any hick-ups)
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2018
  6. OlivierQC

    OlivierQC Well-Known Member

    Hi all,

    is there any news about the problem of seamless branching with Zidoo ?

    A person using an X9s with FW 1.5.0 still has seamless branching !!!

    see you
     
  7. Nice Monkey

    Nice Monkey Well-Known Member Beta test group

    It never worked with any Zidoo model (using DVD, BD or UHD) but now it becomes more important as it is commonly needed with many new UHD's.
    It is not something that got broken with FW updates.
     
  8. OlivierQC

    OlivierQC Well-Known Member

    ok thanks Nice Monkey
     
  9. ursiel

    ursiel Active Member

    This is another issue I really wish could be corrected. This will be a big problem for many UHD discs, and also affects many blu-rays. This is not a minor issue.
     
  10. gadgetman

    gadgetman Active Member

    Can we have confirmation you are working on this?
     
  11. nikos_a

    nikos_a Active Member

    Tried to watch Coco from 3D BD ISO last night. Unwatchable due to seamless branching :(
     
  12. gadgetman

    gadgetman Active Member

    Yep soon this media player will be for the bin Unless zidoo very quickly sort this problem out (which seem to be very quiet on the issue) expect many more movies in the future (this is the reason this is now implemented) to jump more.

    If you have a oppo blu-ray player seamless branching works.
     
  13. Rumootje

    Rumootje Member

    @nikoa_a

    What is the problem with Coco BD-iso 3D? I have the same iso file and I’m curious where the problems start? Just been watching the movie for the first 10 - 15 minutes without any hiccups.

    Furthermore I have been watching several UHD iso’s without issues except for Close encounters the third Kind where the menu is not working. I know this a UHD where should be able to choose between the theatrical version and directors cut.
     
  14. gadgetman

    gadgetman Active Member

    Yes close encounters i have the same issue no menu. Coco not got that but if you have rouge one in 3D that will show you the problem or the martian uhd two titles of the top of my head.
     
  15. Rumootje

    Rumootje Member

    I also have Rogue One in 3D, just tested it but cannot find a problem. Where to look for?
     
  16. nikos_a

    nikos_a Active Member

    Starts after that unfortunately. And near the end it gets worse.
     
  17. gadgetman

    gadgetman Active Member

    have you watched the complete movie doing a couple of minute tests is no good.
     
  18. Rumootje

    Rumootje Member

    I did some extra testing and indeed I came upon issues.
    In Coco, around minute 55, sounds is lost for a few seconds, this repeating several times after that, maybe also before (not tested). Picture is still OK when sound is gone.

    Indeed something that should be fixed by Zidoo.
     
  19. DELUCAS

    DELUCAS Well-Known Member

    Yes on a £650.00 oppo 203 4K blu ray it should your paying £551.00 more than a £99.00 mobile phone operating system so its not going to be perfect
    And you cant compare the to .

    If you want close to perfection you need to stick with an oppo sadly .

    Or wait ...........
     
  20. Rumootje

    Rumootje Member

    To be honest, I do like the Zidoo with all little malfunctions is has now. Overall it is a damn good player which for 99% fulfill my needs. If waiting is the thing to get seamless branching solved, that't the thing I'll do.
     
    DELUCAS likes this.

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