Bluetooth issue when remote and sound bar are connected

PicoPix Max Technical Topics
1

Gave a first try to my PPM last night - pretty good experience overall!

I noticed something a little funky tho around the sound during my Netflix session, here are the scenarios:

  1. sound is fine: the sound bar is connected via Bluetooth but remote is IR only.

  2. sound breaks and lag (not compatible with watching the movie at all): the same sound bar is connected but the remote is also connected via Bluetooth.

  3. sound is fine: Bluetooth remote and integrated speaker of the PPM

I played back and fourth with restarting the different components of this scenario and it seems that the Bluetooth adaptor in the PPM is having a hard time processing those two Bluetooth devices at the same time!
Or Neflix app is the trouble?

For now I will use IR only.

2

Yes I have noticed this occasionally happens even when playing a movie via USB. So it’s not Netflix app problem. This happened only on software v1.0.25, on 1.0.24 there was no problem.

Our team is working on a solution, waiting on the China team at the moment.

4 Likes
3

I encountered this problem today and I couldn’t switch on Bluetooth on PPM at all. Any solution?

4

Hello @Philips_Support_P, any news on when this issue will be fixed?

I’ve been using PPM mostly for YouTube and VLC Player (MP4 files on microSD) for more than a month now. Audio is via one Bluetooth speaker. I do encountered this issue occasionally. Sometimes it doesn’t happen at all for the whole 2-hour movie. Sometimes it happens after playing the move for an hour or so.

Anyway, now I want to enhance my movie viewing experience with better stereo sound separation. So instead of just one speaker in the center, I want to place two speakers on the far left and right. So I bought a pair of JBL Flip 5 speakers that can be paired in stereo mode. The PPM connects to the left speaker only. The left speaker is paired to the right speaker in stereo mode.

Guess what - now the sound breaks all the time. Within seconds into a movie, the sound will start to stutter.

Once I unpair the AirMote, the problem goes away. The sound stuttering comes back when I pair the AirMote back again.

I did another test - I switched off the right speaker which basically disables the stereo mode. The problem also goes away with AirMote still connected.

Appreciate it if you could help look into this issue and implement a fix soon.

Thanks.

3 Likes
5

This happens to me as well! I have a couple of Sony SRS XB30 which can also work like that but… I can’t use them in stereo mode because audio stutters every 3 seconds or so.
I hope this issue is fixable.

2 Likes
6

I am really loving my PPM and am enjoying watching my favourite movies again on a huge 100-inch screen. I know it can’t be a full cinema experience because surround sound is not possible but I really hope to at least enjoy the movie in stereo.

@Philips_Support_P, please help to prioritise a fix for this issue. Thank you very much.

7

Hello @williammuk

I haven’t a solution for your bluetooth issue with 2 speakers.

But, if you have the right equipment, you may improve your Cinema experience with the workarounds I gave in another thread :

1 Like
8

Hi guys, I agree I have faced this issue too. I will prioritise it, though we are a bit limited because the problem comes from the immature Bluetooth 5 chip. I hope the supplier can improve the performance. We were told that the issue is in the driver, not the hardware module. So there’s hope!

4 Likes
9

Hello @Philips_Support_P, thanks for the reply. I did more tests using other Bluetooth devices. Let me share my findings.

  1. Apple AirPods (1st Gen) - Did not encounter the sound stutter issue.

  2. Xiaomi Haylou GT1 Bluetooth Earbuds - Did not encounter the sound stutter issue.

For both the above tests, the AirMote was connected. I also have another portable Bluetooth keyboard connected to the PPM. The Bluetooth earbuds seems to work well with PPM.

Then I connect back the JBL Flip 5 and almost immediately, the sound stutter happens again.

Interestingly, once I remove the batteries from the AirMote, the sound stutter stopped with few seconds. When I put back the batteries into the AirMote, the sound stutter started again. I repeated the test and am able to confirm that when the AirMote is connected, it does have an impact on the sound performance over Bluetooth.

The question is how come there are no sound stutter issue as I still have the Bluetooth keyboard connected? Is it possible that the issue is actually with the driver for the AirMote?

Perhaps you can test this (i.e. remove AirMote batteries when sound stutter starts) to verify if my findings are correct.

Thanks.

3 Likes
10

Interesting test findings! :+1:t4:

The 1st Gen AirPods and the JBL Flip 5 use Bluetooth 4.2, the Xiaomi Haylou GT1 use Bluetooth 5, so that doesn’t explain enough.

The different connections may be using different Bluetooth profiles though, which may interfere or cause laggy handling of the communication.

11

Thanks for your extensive testing, at least we have repeatable bug. We will test with exactly your setup to identify the problem.

I have experienced it with Echo Show 5, to add another data point.

3 Likes
12

Good findinds! I can confirm two of them with my setup (two speakers in stereo mode, one of them paired with PPM):

  • As soon as I remove batteries from remote, stutter goes away almost instantly. Once I replace them again AND press some key, stutter comes back again and actually… PPM shutdowns in less than a minute (?!)
  • Everything works fine if I use a bluetooth mouse instead of PPM remote.
  • If there is only one speaker involved, audio is fine. Stutter only happens when both speakers and remote are involved.
2 Likes
13

Just for an extra data point, does this behaviour also happen when you connect only one of the two speakers?

I’m gonna try these test cases out myself tonight, see what I find.

1 Like
14

If there is only one speaker involved, audio is fine. Sttuter only happens when both speakers and remote are involved.

2 Likes
15

Thank you for the confirmation. I got tired of going into the Bluetooth settings to Unpair the AirMote and then have to Pair it again after the movie. So I thought the easiest way is simply to remove a battery from the AirMote. And I have been using this as a workaround until Philips can fix this. Haha :joy:

16

Last night, I watched two MP4 movies via VLC Player.

First movie was 2.5hrs paired with AirPods 1st Gen. Perfect experience. No audio stutter. Zero audio lag. Good stereo separation. Only that the bass is not great.

Second movie was 2.0hrs paired with JBL Flip 5 (one unit only). Again no audio stutter. Indistinguishable audio lag. Maybe just a tiny little bit. Great bass but only mono audio.

1 Like
17

I have just ordered the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones. It should have excellent stereo separation and great bass. Hopefully no audio stutter or lag. Will report back my findings.

1 Like
18

Excellent choice, you won’t be disappointed! :sunglasses::+1:t4::headphones:

I have them myself and often use them with the PPM without any issue whatsoever. The other day my wife was watching a show on the tv, I took the PPM and projected on the wall behind her and watched my show with the 1000XM3 on.

Thanks for the other data points also by the way!

1 Like
19

This topic is of interest to me although I haven’t received my projector yet, as I plan on using not only bluetooth speakers but also a compact Logitec Bluetooth keyboard that I already have and of course the airmote as well, so far from all the comments it sounds like the picopixmax can only connect to 2 different bluetooth sources at once, and I hope this issues can be resolved,
now can someone explain in more detail in how bluetooth 5.0 works, the maximum number of devices that can be connected to it, and how it works and integrates and the compatibility with older bluetooth devices that are on 4.0 etc thanks.

2 Likes
20

Hi @IvoGrijt, I searched the forum and found another post where you talked about this Sony WH-1000MX3 too. Thank you so much for the feedback. Now I am comforted to know that it will worked well with PPM. Can’t wait for it to be delivered. :blush:

Here is another data point - last night was a 2+hr movie via VLC Player. Bluetooth paired to Xiaomi Haylou GT1 earbuds and AirMote. No audio stutter but a very noticeable audio lag. Took out a battery from the AirMote and the audio lag becomes almost negligible. Next, I paired PPM with the Alcatroz Xplorer Dock2 Bluetooth keyboard. With this, the audio lag remains almost negligible and I could watch the whole movie without further issues.

So I am wondering - what is it with the AirMote that it impacts the Bluetooth performance of the PPM? The Bluetooth keyboard worked fairly well and didn’t have the same issue that the AirMote caused. Hmmmm… :face_with_monocle:

2 Likes