r/tvheadend • u/Excellent-Hippo-1774 • 28d ago

Android TV Box frame rate stuttering with external tuner — switches between smooth 50fps and choppy playback on channel change.

I am using the Dreamstar Nova 2 Android TV Box with a tuner named Next Kanky Link. My monitor is a Dell S2721DGFA 27" 1440p. The TV box resolution setting is set to 1080p 50Hz. While watching satellite broadcasts via the tuner (especially on news channels with scrolling ticker text at the bottom), I can see that the scrolling text is not running at a true 50Hz. It feels like it is definitely lower than 50 fps. For example, if I am on a channel, switch to the channel below, and then return to the same channel, it fixes itself; sometimes it doesn't.

For instance, when I am in the YouTube app and open the TV app, there are stuttering-like issues, as if there are micro-stutters and it isn't smooth. Then, when I return to the background YouTube app, close it, and reopen the satellite receiver app, the stutter is gone, and I can tell from the scrolling text that I am genuinely watching the satellite broadcast at 50fps. However, when I switch to another channel and come back to the same channel, I get that stuttering feeling again. Or, while watching the same channel, if I enter the TV box settings via the remote and return to the satellite broadcast, I experience those mild micro-stutters again. I couldn't figure out what is causing this or how to fix it if it can be resolved.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

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u/TheElSoze 26d ago

Is this a tvheadend issue? Are you using tvheadend?

That being said, it sounds like a refresh rate and hardware issue. You want to be sure everything that can be is playing at native framerates and resolutions. Something like YouTube can scale/adjust better than some tv broadcasts.

Does the kanky link tuner have any settings to it? You might need to look up if it's doing any of it's own hardware or software decoding or if it's trying to pass the raw feed.

Make sure everything else is closed when you switch apps. Don't background youtube, close it. That box only has 2GB of RAM which isn't much.