From 8dfeeacecd2900e7cbd97df7ecb9a09bca340b5a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: JohannesItten <mrjitten@protonmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2026 19:50:09 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] fix ndi->decklinkout slowdown

---
 nodes/decklinkout/main.cpp | 10 ++++++++--
 nodes/ndiin/main.cpp       | 13 +++++++++----
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/nodes/decklinkout/main.cpp b/nodes/decklinkout/main.cpp
index 7e02987..e70e629 100644
--- a/nodes/decklinkout/main.cpp
+++ b/nodes/decklinkout/main.cpp
@@ -114,8 +114,9 @@ class DeckLinkOutNode : public dmf::NodeBase {
         uint64_t frame_count   = 0;
         uint64_t invalid_count = 0;
         uint64_t late_count    = 0;
-        auto wall_start    = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
-        auto last_log_time = wall_start;
+        std::chrono::steady_clock::time_point wall_start;
+        bool     timing_started = false;
+        auto last_log_time = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
 
         // --- Main loop ---
         while (dmf::g_running.load(std::memory_order_relaxed)) {
@@ -169,6 +170,11 @@ class DeckLinkOutNode : public dmf::NodeBase {
                     video_reader, video_index, &video_grain, &video_buf);
 
                 if (vst == MXL_STATUS_OK) {
+                    if (!timing_started) {
+                        wall_start    = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
+                        last_log_time = wall_start;
+                        timing_started = true;
+                    }
                     if (video_grain.flags & MXL_GRAIN_FLAG_INVALID) invalid_count++;
                     sender.submit_frame(video_buf, video_stride);
                     frame_count++;
diff --git a/nodes/ndiin/main.cpp b/nodes/ndiin/main.cpp
index 8a0138b..71196bf 100644
--- a/nodes/ndiin/main.cpp
+++ b/nodes/ndiin/main.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include <chrono>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
@@ -96,19 +97,23 @@ class NDIInNode : public dmf::NodeBase {
         dmf::NDIReceiver::AudioInfo audio_info;
 
         while (dmf::g_running.load(std::memory_order_relaxed)) {
-            // Drain all queued NDI frames before writing one MXL grain.
+            // Drain available NDI frames before writing one MXL grain.
             // With audio enabled, many audio packets may be queued ahead of a video frame.
-            // Calling capture() once per grain window would starve video reception.
-            // Strategy: blocking first call (5ms), then non-blocking drain of remainder.
+            // Budget: drain for at most half a frame period so the grain clock stays on time
+            // even when catching up from a startup audio backlog.
             try {
+                const auto drain_deadline =
+                    std::chrono::steady_clock::now() + std::chrono::milliseconds(20);
                 bool first = true;
-                while (dmf::g_running.load(std::memory_order_relaxed)) {
+                while (dmf::g_running.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) &&
+                       std::chrono::steady_clock::now() < drain_deadline) {
                     auto kind = ndi.capture(latest_video.data(), video_stride,
                                             audio_buf, audio_info, has_audio,
                                             first ? 5 : 0);
                     first = false;
                     if (kind == dmf::NDIReceiver::FrameKind::Video) {
                         have_video = true;
+                        break;  // got video — write grain now, remaining audio deferred to next window
                     } else if (kind == dmf::NDIReceiver::FrameKind::Audio && has_audio) {
                         mxlMutableWrappedMultiBufferSlice slice{};
                         if (mxlFlowWriterOpenSamples(audio_writer, audio_index,