Hulu Some shows, seasons, and even episodes 396p or 480p

[ingen]

I've run across several shows/series that are still 480p or less. Which can be a whole series, just a season, or even just a few episodes.

This has been persistent through many of the StreamFab updates, since at least 6.1.5.2. I figured now was a good enough time to mention it using the latest version and retrying a sample of the shows.

Note, for some shows StreamFab will give a warning that it may not be available in 1080p, this seems to relate to the first episode analyzed and won't catch other seasons or episodes if the resolution differs.

Here's a list of shows I've come across in low quality or not 1080p:

396p
- A Certain Magical Index (Full Season)
- Death Note (Full Season)
- High School DxD (Full Season)
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 5

480p
- Dragon Ball Z Kai (19 out of sequence episodes in season 1, like Ep02, Ep03, and Ep05)
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Seasons 1-4

720p (I included these since they differed from the rest of the seasons)
- 30 Rock: Starting at Season 3 Ep9, through Season 7 Ep6)
- Archer: Seasons 2 and 3


Setup:
StreamFab Version: v6.1.8.9
Platform and OS: Win x64, Windows 8 Pro
Region/Country: USA

Steps to reproduce the issue:
-Just selecting the desired show or episode. Nothing out of the ordinary.

[ingen]

I'm not sure if my log file uploaded. I had to zip it because the normal file was a bit too large to attach. So I'm trying again.

Also, this gives me a chance to add one more show to the list I forgot.

480p
- Futurama: Only episodes S02E04 and S04E05

[CocoJambo]

Before you post something like this, i strongly recommend to you first try to play video and please check available resolution...
I made test with first one from your list: A Certain Magical Index.
Seems to be correct.

[ingen]

I appreciate the response and you looking into it. I was only posting what I perceived as a possible issue following the sticky on how to post issues. When StreamFab was having drm issues earlier this year, there were resolution problems which have been mostly fixed. I was guessing maybe it was a residual effect of that.

And I don't know how to check the available resolutions as you showed, other than the options shown in StreamFab. Is this from the streaming site or StreamFab? I would like if you shared how you checked the resolutions for those of us not as savvy so we can be more educated. As hinted it may save an unnecessary post and be a big help!

[CocoJambo]

I appreciate the response and you looking into it. I was only posting what I perceived as a possible issue following the sticky on how to post issues. When StreamFab was having drm issues earlier this year, there were resolution problems which have been mostly fixed. I was guessing maybe it was a residual effect of that.

And I don't know how to check the available resolutions as you showed, other than the options shown in StreamFab. Is this from the streaming site or StreamFab? I would like if you shared how you checked the resolutions for those of us not as savvy so we can be more educated. As hinted it may save an unnecessary post and be a big help!

Most simple way, when you play video check for .mpd link in dev tools network tab or you can use some extension, copy and paste this url in your browser and hit enter, will download mpd file, open with notepad or notepad++ and you will see something like this width="704" height="396" this resolution i mention now was for "Death Note" it's best resolution they got for this series.

[ingen]

Thanks so much for sharing how to get a mpd file and what to look for in it!

It took me a bit to get it, because of my pc setup not your instructions, which were spot on. I was able to see the same results for Death Note as your image. Which makes me thankful being more knowledgeable how to verify some of this information.

Out of curiosity, I also tried Dragon Ball Super which can be downloaded from SF in 1080p. The mpd showed it at max 720p. I'm guessing this is because of the limitations on browser resolution. But leads me to believe that a 720p result may not actually be the highest resolution available, unless that information is also included and I just didn't know what to look for.

[CocoJambo]

Hi, just checked Dragon Ball Super episode 1, in mpd file i see maxWidth="1920" maxHeight="1080"

[ingen]

Well that gives me a little less confidence that I know what I'm doing or at least that I need to figure out a few more things.

There was an ad that played before the show, the file I got maybe related to that. I did see those other lower resolutions, but couldn't tell if the 720p entries had different bit rates.

My computer is a little old and doesn't have the latest OS which also goes for my browsers, maybe thats a factor. So I tried on an up to date Linux computer with a fresh browser installed. Sadly the mpd I got from it had similar resolutions, no 1080p.

But I do appreciate you once again checking!