Multichannel setup issues

[sisoffi]

update Beau.

each client has 2 channels and 2 display one front view and one lateral view. I noted that if I close the lateral view server can serve 30fps stable on the client, if i open the lateral stutter and frame varying from 15 to 30.
Like the fps need to serve in some moments for both displays....

[pierrevw]

Hello Simone,

Did you find a way to fix stutters and low fps in multi-channel mode ?

I'm running a multi-channel config with 6 computers: 1 server and 5 clients (each client is driving a HD projector).
All of these 6 computers are high-end machines, with i7 CPUs running at 4.5 GHz. I updated all computers to P3D v4.4 a few days ago, hoping (once again) that a new release would bring solutions... Well...

Anyway, I still have stutters and low fps on heavy sceneries (for example, I get 10-15 fps in KLGA just with native scenery). If we use AI traffic (IVAO), it sometimes looks like a slideshow with 2 or 3 fps !! Wonderful.

The host computer is set to the lowest display parameters, no v-sync, no fps limitation.

Client computers are set with higher P3D parameters (all sliders to high or max) because we expect each of them to achieve 1 single HD image fast and easy (4.5 GHz is a pretty high cpu frequency, isn't it?).

I tested and tried a lot of things: v-sync on/off, limited fps in sync with projectors, FrameSyncRate=30/60/120, etc.

Nothing is better.

Maybe something wrong somewhere? If anyone has ideas, suggestions, tricks, advices... welcome !

Kind regards,

Pierre

[Godatum]

Very interesting reading. What fps are you getting on your server? Do you have a full 1 gbps network?

[pierrevw]

Hi P3D world,

Now running P3D v4.4 in multichannel: 1 host + 5 clients. Powerful computers i7 7700k overclocked at 4,8 GHz.

I performed more in deep tests and now I get an unexpected conclusion: on my end low fps, long frames and stutterings are not (completely) related to the rendering power of the computers. It's a multi-channel / network issue.

How this conclusion ? I tested all client-computers in stand alone mode, each working with the same rendering parameters and view settings. Well, then I get easily 80-100 fps and smooth views. But as soon as the computers are linked in multi-channel mode, fps drop to 18-24 fps and stuttering is back.

Then I conducted network tests but i didn"t find weaknesses there. Good and strong Gigabyte network.

I tested some different parameters in the network.cfg file (FrameSyncRate=), nothing changes.

Beau or LM support staff, if you read this, can you explain this behaviour and give advice to fix this problem ?

Happy 2019 everyone !

[pierrevw]

Guys,

I drop the multichannel, I give up this endless fight! I spent days and weeks trying to make it work fast and smooth: to no avail.
My solution ? WideView. Instead of hanging out at 20/22 fps -when all is well-, I'm over 100 fps with all the sliders to the max. I knew my computers with their i7 7700K were able to perform a high level of display, but it's even better than my highest hopes!

Could someone at LM tell me how to configure a multichannel in an efficient way, maybe I'll change my mind, but all tests converge to show a significant weakness in the system architecture.

Hope my experience will help some of you, desperately seeking for fps !

Pierre

[Godatum]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have heard mixed things about Wideview. Do you sync external weather and AI? Do you have to install scenery on all client PCs?

[pierrevw]

Weather is ok 90% of times. It sometimes happen that clouds are not depicted the same on some computers, but it's not a big issue to me because I'm happier with a smooth image at high frame rate, so it's a small price to pay. If this problem occurs and is problematic (for example you set a CAT III but the front window shows the runway - which I never had, it's just a worse case anticipation), you can still trigger a manual update of the weather from the WideView server.

About sceneries it's the same with multichannel:you have to install them on all computers. No change.

AI seems ok, but I didn't test it a lot yet.

Another advantage is that the reloading of an aircraft position is 5 to 10 times faster ! With the multichannel config repositioning the aircraft at 10 miles final (for example) took 45 to 60 seconds. Now it's 5 to 10.

[BirgitGalbraith]

1.There is no correct synchronization with the frame between the two PCs. both work perfectly in single mode with 30fps. But while the server is constantly working at 30fps, the client crashes at 12fps at some moments with obvious stuttering.
2. im using custom sceneries area via CFG editor, and its difficult to switch to every area for all pc. Do you use a sort o f remot pc to change in each pc the correct area or there is another solution?