OMXplayer won't play content

[vilago]

Greetings all. Got the RBPi 4 set up (4GB) in Raspbian Buster without much fanfare this weekend. In trying to watch some content in the Chromium browser, there is tearing. Come to find out this issue is "normal" and there are a couple workarounds for mainstream content, netflix BBC iplayer etc. However, I am trying to view live sports from the following websites, which work in Chromium (but with the usual tearing), but do not work in OMXplayer or the Minimal Kiosk Browser at all:
reddit dot com/r/NHLStreams
soccerstreams100 dot com
home dot nflbite dot com

While the pages load, the streaming video that is there says it's not playable in the current browser. Does anyone have any ideas how I can get this content to work with OMXplayer? If not, does anyone have any recommendations how to get this content working sans tearing?

Thanks.

[LTolledo]

have you tried increasing the RPi4B-4G's GPU memory to at least 192MB?
that can further reduce some tearing on 1080P videos on youtube

I've tested that using this youtube content set to 1080p, full screen viewing on 1920x1080 resolution screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mdgDIpAKxI&t=1011s
I got 43 frames dropped out of 3143
definitely no tearing that I can discern...
am also using a RPi4B-4G (unit am using to post to this forum)

[vilago]

Yeah I did try that up to 640. It didn't really help much, and in fact if it's set too high the pages won't load and will crash Chromium. It's the fast movement and constant camera panning in sports which really makes the tearing noticeable. Also you have to be careful messing with that GPU split because if it is set too high, it'll crash and Raspbian won't boot without editing the config file in another OS (which happened to me and I panicked at first lol).

[vilago]

bumping just to make sure no one has any ideas

[jamesh]

What format are the files that won't play? OMXplayer will do up to 1080p60 H264, but not H265, or 4k H264 for that you need to use the latest VLC.

[vilago]

no they aren't 4k. at best 1080p most of them are 720p. It almost seems as if the GUI player for the content isn't compatible. they are live streams after all, and not pre-recorded like a youtube video. does that make any difference? how do I check the format of the stream? I tried this originally but failed to get any meaningful info from Chrome.

[gkreidl]

no they aren't 4k. at best 1080p most of them are 720p. It almost seems as if the GUI player for the content isn't compatible. they are live streams after all, and not pre-recorded like a youtube video. does that make any difference? how do I check the format of the stream? I tried this originally but failed to get any meaningful info from Chrome.

omxplayer -i URL

[vilago]

I used that command and got HTTP error 403 not authorized. I am thinking there is no fix for this.

I realize that the intent of the RBPi isn't for media streaming. However, if the hardware is up to the task, why hobble it with half-baked software? I understand that making X windows double buffered is "years of work" but why not just do it? I'm not the only one trying to use this device as a media center...
I mean, not even VLC works as well as on a mac or windows machine. it just seems to me that there is a lot of potential in this device, but i regret buying one now because it just doesn't do what i thought it would.

having to do absolutely everything in a terminal aside (not my idea of a good time, but i can manage it), i think simple internet streams and media from a hard drive should simply work in Raspian and not have caveats.

[jamesh]

I used that command and got HTTP error 403 not authorized. I am thinking there is no fix for this.

I realize that the intent of the RBPi isn't for media streaming. However, if the hardware is up to the task, why hobble it with half-baked software? I understand that making X windows double buffered is "years of work" but why not just do it? I'm not the only one trying to use this device as a media center...
I mean, not even VLC works as well as on a mac or windows machine. it just seems to me that there is a lot of potential in this device, but i regret buying one now because it just doesn't do what i thought it would.

having to do absolutely everything in a terminal aside (not my idea of a good time, but i can manage it), i think simple internet streams and media from a hard drive should simply work in Raspian and not have caveats.

Lots of people use it as a media centre just fine, so rather than blame 'half baked software', perhaps it's better to find out what you are doing wrong? Thinking there is no fix is giving up before you start!

And you are aware that a Mac cost about 50 times more than a Pi? So complaining a Pi isn't as good seems a little harsh.

Bearing in mind that the streams you are quoting that don't work appear to be illegal, have you got any links to streams with legitimate content that we would be able to test with? We would not be able to test with anything illegally produced. If these streams are in fact OK, then please confirm.

[vilago]

I am not accusing anyone. "just fine" doesn't include a shaky, studdering and flashing screen when watching content. if a user doesn't care that's one thing but i wouldn't call the operation "fine." I understand the price difference, however advertising it as equal or close to equal, as it seems to be touted, just isn't true. Like I said, even VLC can't play the media from my hard drive properly. it will occasionally flash with strange green and purple pixellation, often enough as to be annoying. if price is such an issue, why not simply have one that works as a media center for $200? I would have paid that.

i will test some other publicly available live streams later today and see if there is the same issue, though I am not confident there is a resolution as I have tried several workarounds with no success.

[jamesh]

I am not accusing anyone. "just fine" doesn't include a shaky, studdering and flashing screen when watching content. if a user doesn't care that's one thing but i wouldn't call the operation "fine." I understand the price difference, however advertising it as equal or close to equal, as it seems to be touted, just isn't true. Like I said, even VLC can't play the media from my hard drive properly. it will occasionally flash with strange green and purple pixellation, often enough as to be annoying. if price is such an issue, why not simply have one that works as a media center for $200? I would have paid that.

i will test some other publicly available live streams later today and see if there is the same issue, though I am not confident there is a resolution as I have tried several workarounds with no success.

Have you tried Kodi?

[vilago]

Sorry if I am offending anyone I am just frustrated. Not my intention to get anyone upset here.

I looked into Kodi but they do not have a fully functional browser correct? A fully functional browser is needed to view the content for which is 50% of the reason I bought the device unfortunately.

[gkreidl]

Sorry if I am offending anyone I am just frustrated. Not my intention to get anyone upset here.

I looked into Kodi but they do not have a fully functional browser correct? A fully functional browser is needed to view the content for which is 50% of the reason I bought the device unfortunately.

You can install Kodi on Raspbian.

[dustnbone]

Try Kodi, there are probably several sports streaming plugins for it. You wouldn't need a browser for that.

[vilago]

here's an example of something that works noticeably poorly on chromium, which also has the same issue working in OMXplayer
https://www.abbeyroad.com/crossing

you can see noticeable stuttering and screen tearing when viewing the live cam. and sometimes, the cam won't even load and crashes with the "oh snap" screen.

[vilago]

Try Kodi, there are probably several sports streaming plugins for it. You wouldn't need a browser for that.

i highly doubt there is a plugin for these websites. espn.com, nbcsports.com, bein, sky sports etc. probably have plugins, but not these sites.