High GPU Render usage and micro-stuttering on Intel Sandy Bridge

No source file, test, or entry point is identified in the issue. Reproduce windowed and fullscreen playback on Intel Sandy Bridge while running intel_gpu_top and vainfo, then establish whether hardware decoding is active; done means the rendering or decoding cause of the micro-stuttering is supported by evidence.

Hello,

First of all, thank you for the great work on the Linux version. Version 1.0.2 is a significant improvement over 1.0.1 on my system.

However, I'm still experiencing slight micro-stuttering during video playback.

System:

• Linux Mint (X11)
• Stremio 1.0.2 (Flatpak)
• Intel Sandy Bridge (Gen6) integrated GPU
• VA-API is installed and working correctly (vainfo attached below)

Behavior:

• Video playback is much smoother than in 1.0.1.
• The Stremio interface is now very smooth.
• In fullscreen, playback is almost perfect, with only occasional micro-stutters.
• In windowed mode, playback stutters much more noticeably.

While playing a video, intel_gpu_top reports:

• Render/3D: 100%
• Video: 0%
• Blitter: 0%

This makes me wonder if hardware video decoding is actually being used on Intel Sandy Bridge, or if rendering is still being handled almost entirely by the 3D engine.

vainfo output:

libva info: VA-API version 1.14.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_10
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.14 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) Sandybridge Desktop - 2.4.1
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264StereoHigh : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc

If you need any additional logs or if there are any debug options I can enable, I'd be happy to help.

Thank you!