Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). Updat

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Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

Ok, so I've done some playing around using different settings, and I've discovered that the only way I can get zero frame drop with backlighting on is to run XBMC in a fullscreen window rather than true fullscreen.

Why does Ambibox seemingly have no problem with this, but then all of a sudden gets performance issues when switching XBMC to fullscreen?

The GDI modes are even worse, dropping video performance down to 9fps and chewing CPU usage up to 45%. It's the worst of both worlds, and Windows 8 mode doesn't even wanna work in full screen mode to start with.

I'm not really happy leaving it as a fullscreen window, because now the UI performance is really crappy and noticeably more choppy than true fullscreen.

Are you telling me that absolutely nobody can run XBMC in true fullscreen using XBMC direct and have no frame drop? Because if others are able to achieve this, I want to know the reason why I can't. It's clearly not my hardware, because according to the debug dialog, I have more than enough spare RAM and the CPU is hardly being chewed.

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

Great, I've just realized another problem I have by switching it to 'fullscreen window'. I have a button on my MCE remote that launches XBMC from the desktop, except now when I press it, it launches XBMC with the taskbar over the top of it, requiring keyboard/mouse intervention to bring XBMC back into focus.

This isn't acceptable at all.

Have you got any other solutions?

KenV99
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by KenV99 »

Rant much? I'm glad I don't work in customer service. Knowing I can just walk away from this at any time gives me great comfort.
Corvus wrote:So what you're saying is that all the hard work you've done trying to fix this fault on my end was for nothing?
We troubleshot your issues with profile selection and having the script turn the lights on and off appropriately for you. I made no promises of anything, especially performance improvement.
Corvus wrote:If I can't have videos playing at their full 24fps, then it means I spent $400 on materials (including poly fabrication of a frame for the LEDs) for nothing.
There are other solutions out there for XBMC and ambient lights. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116331. They are just not as user friendly. And you sacrifice some other bells and whistles that you don't use like switching profiles and ColorMusic.
Corvus wrote:Look, all I want is to play my videos with no frame skipping with my backlight running. Is there a way to achieve this?
If you are not using the script at all and you are dropping video frames while both are running independently, then it's purely a performance issue on your system. Look at the settings in the Ambibox program and play around with throttling: Profiles -> More Settings -> Decrease the FPS. You don't need every video frame rendered to the LEDs for it to look good.
Corvus wrote:Ok, so I've done some playing around using different settings, and I've discovered that the only way I can get zero frame drop with backlighting on is to run XBMC in a fullscreen window rather than true fullscreen.
Yep, if you look back through this thread, the author of the windows program has previously stated that this is the case for modes other than XBMCDirect except PlayClaw.
Corvus wrote:I'm not really happy leaving it as a fullscreen window, because now the UI performance is really crappy and noticeably more choppy than true fullscreen.
I find no difference in UI performance in fullscreen windowed mode versus true fullscreen.
Corvus wrote:Are you telling me that absolutely nobody can run XBMC in true fullscreen using XBMC direct and have no frame drop? Because if others are able to achieve this, I want to know the reason why I can't. It's clearly not my hardware, because according to the debug dialog, I have more than enough spare RAM and the CPU is hardly being chewed.
I can easily run XBMCDirect in true fullscreen with no dropped video frames and AmbiBox capturing at the equivalent of the video frame rate.
Image
This is using XBMCDirect with the max FPS set to sixty. Ambibox reports that it is capturing 24 fps when playing 24p video. If I drop down to a regular window, I am displaying at 60fps and ambibox is capturing at 60fps. I'm sorry but troubleshooting the performance of your hardware is not a road I am likely to want to wander with you.
My HTPC hardware: i7-920 at 2.67GHz, 8Gb RAM, 120Gb SSD running the OS, NVidia GTX 660.
Corvus wrote:Great, I've just realized another problem I have by switching it to 'fullscreen window'. I have a button on my MCE remote that launches XBMC from the desktop, except now when I press it, it launches XBMC with the taskbar over the top of it, requiring keyboard/mouse intervention to bring XBMC back into focus.
.
Install AutoHotKey and run this script at startup: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/816 ... linOne.ahk. It will take care of refocusing and bringing the window to the front. The launchkey in the script for XBMC is Cntrl-Alt-Enter so make sure that whatever button you have mapped on your remote issues that key combo. I provide this script purely as a courtesy. I will not be providing support for it. Google is your friend.

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

I get the feeling that you're beginning to get frustrated. Please understand that I don't have any frustration towards you. In fact, quite the contrary - I greatly appreciate everything you've done to help me so far!

I'm just trying to understand where the problem lies.

You say it's likely that my system isn't powerful enough. If this were the case, then wouldn't my CPU usage peak in debug mode? It never even goes above 50%.
RAM always stays at around 2.5Gb/3.5Gb too.

If my system isn't powerful enough, which component is the bottleneck?

KenV99
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by KenV99 »

If you drop video frames when running both ambibox and xbmc at the same time then you have a bottleneck somewhere.
You ask about your hardware, but you don't spec it out. This is why I'm not going there. I didn't write ambibox, and I inherited the script.
You are the one who is frustrated and it shows in the way you post...

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

If you drop video frames when running both ambibox and xbmc at the same time then you have a bottleneck somewhere.
Yeah that's cool. I'm just asking where?
You ask about your hardware, but you don't spec it out.
My apologies, I thought the XBMC logs contained my specs inside it.

I'm running an AMD Phenom II X2 550 (3.11Ghz) with 4Gb of DDR2 memory (no dedicated graphics).
I built it around 4 years ago, so I've got no problem upgrading if that's where the problem really lies.

Just confused about something though - why do I only get a performance hit while running the XBMCdirect plugin under true fullscreen rather than windowed fullscreen? Shouldn't true fullscreen actually demand less of the system resources?

I'm not being facetious or rude, I'm genuinely curious.

KenV99
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by KenV99 »

I think its likely your lack of a dedicated graphics card, but don't get one and blame me if it doesn't help. My GPU is utilized at 30% just running the GUI without AmbiBox. NewEgg has a great return policy.

If you want, replace default.py in the script directory with this version and see if it helps. Expect to see a decrease in the capture frame rate within Ambibox.
https://db.tt/nMwg4CCB

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

I think its likely your lack of a dedicated graphics card
Does having dedicated graphics help only the video processing, or Ambibox too?

In your opinion, if I choose to upgrade my system to an Intel core i3 system (Haswell), would I be able to run XBMC in true fullscreen with the XBMCdirect plugin with no frame loss? I don't do any gaming or PVR, just XBMC.
If you want, replace default.py in the script directory with this version and see if it helps. Expect to see a decrease in the capture frame rate within Ambibox.
I appreciate that, but Ambibox already only puts out on average around 9fps already, and I can definitely notice the lag, especially when whatever I'm watching switches scenes (LEDs sometimes take a millisecond to catch up). I realise there's a 'delay' slider within ambibox, but since the problem is low fps, the delay isn't constant.

KenV99
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by KenV99 »

If you upgrade, include a video card. I have no way of predicting what will work. I only have my own two systems to test on.
See this discussion here: http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.ph ... &start=405. The author is basically stating that achievable frame rates for both video and ambibox are highly dependent on the video card and that as you increase the capture frame rate in ambibox there is going to be a reciprocal drop in your video frame rate.

You may still want to try the file I linked to. You can edit it with a text editor and change the value of 'time2pause' to see if you can get an acceptable LED frame rate with a decrease in video frame loss. Each time you change it, you need to restart XBMC.

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

If you upgrade, include a video card.
Even if it's a Haswell chip with built-in hardware acceleration?
If so, I'm surprised. I had no idea these things required that much horsepower.
I'm hesitant to get a video card, since I'm currently using a small case, and getting one would mean I'd need to also buy a bigger case. Also, it would add to the noise that the system uses due to the card's built-in fan.
You may still want to try the file I linked to. You can edit it with a text editor and change the value of 'time2pause' to see if you can get an acceptable LED frame rate with a decrease in video frame loss. Each time you change it, you need to restart XBMC.
Thanks, I'll give it a go tomorrow.

KenV99
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by KenV99 »

Again, I have no way of knowing. Let us know what you find if you upgrade.

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

Might do so in a few weeks time.
Thanks for your patience, You've really helped me a lot and I really do appreciate it!
Have a great day.

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fikri_m
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by fikri_m »

Hello, Mr Corvus and Mr Ken.
First, I'm going to give a viewpoint about my personal report. Yes, I got performance hit, when one of this particular setup (XBMCDirect or PlayClaw, with Adalight 50 zones) up and running. Especially when I'm playing full HD content. Stuttering and FPS drops immediately pop out and seems inevitable. It's really hurts my eyes. So let's get down to the business, my PC's specification is pretty much the same with Mr Corvus had. I got Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93 GHz), on board VGA, 4GB DDR2 Memory(DRAM Freq. ~400MHz). Here it is my reports:
Screen capture method : PlayClaw 5 and XBMCDirect.
NOTE : When I'm using PlayClaw 5, I temporarily remove XBMCDirect adds on first.
Benchmark : Full HD content; GoPro HERO3
spec#1: Core 2 Duo E7500, 4GB DDR2, On board VGA
result: Heavy duty lag, stuttering, FPS drops.
spec#2: Core i5 2430M (2.4 Ghz), 2GB (SDRAM) DDR3, Nvidia Geforce GT540M (VRAM: 2GB)
result: Heavy duty lag, stuttering, FPS drops.
spec#3: Core i3 (1.8GHz), 4GB (SDRAM) DDR3, Nvidia Geforce GT620M (VRAM: 2GB)
result: everything smooth, no lag, no stuttering, works perfect.
Hope this will give you a sense.

KenV99
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by KenV99 »

I want to also let everyone know that the script was accepted into the official repo, so in the future, updates will be pushed to you machine. I will post here once the most recent revision is in the repo (should be in the next few days). Users may need to install/update using the addons page and install the repo version to be able to get updates.

I have also started a thread for discussion/help in the XBMC forums. This should be more accessible than this forum.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=198173

Corvus
 
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Re: Program AmbiBox for Adalight (for Windows users only). U

Post by Corvus »

Hi fikri,

Thanks for your info.
spec#2: Core i5 2430M (2.4 Ghz), 2GB (SDRAM) DDR3, Nvidia Geforce GT540M (VRAM: 2GB)
result: Heavy duty lag, stuttering, FPS drops.
spec#3: Core i3 (1.8GHz), 4GB (SDRAM) DDR3, Nvidia Geforce GT620M (VRAM: 2GB)
result: everything smooth, no lag, no stuttering, works perfect.
This seems very confusing to me. Why would the i3 have better performance than the i5? Are these both Haswell processors?

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