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Question

Video stuttering and skipping frames above 60 fps

  • 24 April 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 2191 views
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Application type (Windows)

Shadow Client Version (Official + Beta)

Local Device: i5-4440 CPU 

Local Device: R9 280 

Paris Datacenter

Datacenter speed: 1000 Mb/s

When using Shadow the frames are smooth but skipping at regular intervals (roughly about 4 times a second making it unplayable for gaming. The problem occurs on both UDP and TCP although it is less frequent on TCP (once every couple of seconds or so). It also occurs regardless of the frame rate as I found using UFO Test. My local broadband speed is quite fast (usually around 100 - 200 Mbps) and the problem occurs no matter what bitrate I set in Shadow settings. The only way I can remove the skipping effect is to set frame rate in Shadow settings to 60, but I have just bought a 144hz monitor (1080p) for the purpose of playing at higher frame rates on Shadow so would like to use the full 144.

 

 

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4 replies

Jim29er
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

It might be a limitation of your local decoding/rendering performance.

Can you post the same screenshot, but with the TestUFO top pane also set to 144FPS, and HEVC (H.265) streaming enabled?

Using UDP is imperative, but it appears you were indeed using that during your first screenshot.

My display only supports 120Hz, but it’s smooth for me.

 

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Thanks for the reply,

Tried that but still getting the same stutter effect. I’ve tried changing the refresh rate of my monitor in windows settings and it seems to be stable up to 75 hz. The next setting up is 100 hz but stutters start to set in there. I tested running UFOtest at 144 hz locally on my machine there’s no stuttering at all.

May I ask what hardware you’re running on if 120 is stable for you?

 

 

Jim29er
Userlevel 5
Badge +4

Thank you @AstroFlux … I mainly wanted to see the bandwidth graph, as the jaggies imply that the client is trying to pull more, but the network isn’t supporting it. If you reduce the max bitrate, does that bring more smoothness? In other words, try lowering the max bitrate until that bandwidth graph becomes consistently smooth.

Running the Test UFO locally removes the need for decoding the Shadow stream, so it should be smooth and error-free (it’s a lightweight test that just cycles through static images). That’s actually the reason it’s good for testing Shadow streaming, because there is no “effort” on the Shadow VM side to generate the video...no dependence on Shadow GPU performance within a game.

I have a gaggle of devices for testing with Shadow, but I only have three which support 120Hz (using an LG C7 TV, which does 120Hz @ 1080p) - a PC with a 1080 Ti, another with a 1050 Ti, and an Nvidia Shield TV. The 1080 Ti performs the best...that’s the computer I want to get rid of with cloud gaming :grinning: . The 1050 Ti and Shield do have more stuttering at 120Hz w/ Shadow, although it’s also highly dependent on Internet network quality at the time. I tend to use 1920x1080@60Hz to avoid problems. We also don’t have a proper Quick Menu on Android, so no way to view the nice overlay when using the Shield.

The bottom line is, the quality of high-framerate streams is going to be highly dependent on local decoding and network performance.

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Thanks @Jim29er so at lower bitrates the bandwidth graph does seem to stabilise. I guess without a hardware upgrade its probably unavoidable but I can still play at 75 hz comfortably so at least that's something. Thanks for the help!

 

 

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