Troubleshooting Video Playback Issues ?
There are many factors impacting the playback of video in a PCoIP environment. Factors that influence video playback are:
- PCoIP Thin Client or Software Client local hardware capabilities.
- PCoIP can require a lot of processing power not available on re-purposed PC or thin client systems.
- The more powerful your client, the better the video playback experience.
- The version of PCoIP Agent on the PCoIP host.
- The PCoIP Agent in VMware Horizon is a single-threaded service with limited frame rate, especially when using full screen video playback use cases.
- HP Anyware Agent (2.7 or greater) includes multi-thread support greatly increasing the encoding capabilities.
- HP Anyware Agent (19.05 or greater) includes PCoIP Ultra enhancements which support frame rates up to 60 frames per second using CPU-Offload or GPU-Offload.
- The CPU clock speed, the display resolution of the PCoIP host.
- The single threaded versions PCoIP Agent in VMWare Horizon is highly dependent on the clock speed of the CPU.
- HP Anyware video performance is dependent on the number of cores allocated to a host and whether PCoIP Ultra enhancements are configured.
- The Hardware assist options that are enabled.
- System that use GPUs or hardware assist cards such as the Workstation Access Card may perform better than systems that do not have GPUs offload capability.
- The network conditions
- Insufficient network bandwidth or high packet loss can cause video performance issues.
HP Anyware
Most HP Anyware environments should be able to achieve video playback at 1080p at 30 fps. As the playback size increases the frame rate may drop depending on the system.
On a system utilizing Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2643 v3 @ 3.40GHz processors, HP Anyware PCoIP Graphics and Standard agent have had performance up to 55+ frames per a second for 1080p playback and two screen 1080p packback at close to 30fps per a screen.
Note: Video is a 2d playback. A GPU is not required for playing back video. The exception here is newer codecs such as HEVC (x.265) maybe very processor intensive and would benefit from a new generation GPU that supports HEVC device.
Note: The default frame rate in HP Anyware is limited to 30 fps. This needs to be changed via GPO to achieve higher frame rates
Video playback issues
| HP Anyware issue | For more information |
|---|---|
| Poor video playback with a GPU | If you are using a GPU, ensure the driver is supported. Verifying the Nvidia GRID driver in use by the PCoIP Graphics Agent. |
| Inconsistent frame rate and occasionally blurry video | Check that your PCoIP session is not experiencing packet loss. How to identify network issues in PCoIP Logs |
| The video clip starts with a low frame rate before building to a normal frame rate | When a PCoIP session starts, the estimated available bandwidth is low. When video playback occurs, PCoIP limits the frame rate to fit inside the available bandwidth. This bandwidth will gradually ramp up over time when there is no packet loss. If there is guaranteed available bandwidth, the PCoIP floor maybe set to signal to PCoIP that there is a certain amount of bandwidth available at all times. What are PCoIP session variables for HP Anyware in Windows OS? |
| PCoIP Software Client is experiencing poor playback | Check the CPU on the client is not overloaded and no other software is interfering such as Anti-Virus or Intrusion detection software. If available test on a PCoIP Zero Client or more powerful software client. |
VMware View
When playing video such as youtube video in window mode, you should expect full frame rate and good video playback. When enlarging the window from either partial or full screen you should see a slight reduction in frame rate. All of this relies on having adequate network bandwidth, a properly configured network, properly encoded video, etc.
If you experience poor video playback performance in your View environment, please investigate the following scenarios:
| View Scenario | For more information |
|---|---|
| Verify the VMX file actually matches the vram, 3d and other settings that were made on the VCS server. During upgrades and slow vcenter database performance, the vmx files can get messed up. | http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2010359 |
| Re-install the VMware tools and VMware agent. | Why is my virtual desktop experiencing poor display or video performance after installing or updating VMware software? |
| Enabling 3d on the pool but not having the Aero shell enabled in the virtual machine (VM) will cause poor display performance. Run the Aero troubleshooting tool and verify that windows flip is working (windows+tab). If it is you should see better display performance immediately. Note: If your showing live security camera feeds (likely .h264) then the VM must have full 3d Aero shell enabled. |
Why is my virtual desktop experiencing poor display or video performance after installing or updating VMware software? |
| Make sure that the .mks polling rate is optimized. This is a very common issue that has fixed a lot of dual monitor performance issues. | http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2010359 |
| Make sure that you have the proper supported versions of VMware software installed. | VMware ESXi, Horizon View, and PCoIP software compatibility matrix lists http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/documentLinkInt.do?micrositeID=null&externalID=1014508 |
NOTE: For GPO variables in a VMware PCoIP session refer to the VMware documents on GPO session variables contained in each release of VMware Horizon. For example see the PCoIP Policy Settings for VMware Horizon 7.12
See also: PCoIP TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS: VMware View Virtual desktop performance