FfmpegEncoder resolved the encoder name into its OWN StreamHealth instance, while the view
model read CurrentHealth — a different object. So every recorded session was filed as
"unknown", and the rate history's encoder key (evidence about NVENC says nothing about QSV)
had nothing to key on. The name now travels on the encoder interface and the pump forwards
it: IFfmpegEncoder.VideoEncoderName -> FramePump.EncoderName.
Caught while adding it: reading _framePump.EncoderName from RefreshRateProposal throws,
because that call runs at MainViewModel ctor line 354 and the pump is built at line 468.
Eight tests failed with the same NullReferenceException, which took a while to see because
the harness's test output is buffered — the first honest look at per-test logging named it
in one line. Guarded; the history falls back to the last session's encoder for that tier,
which is exactly the pre-first-session case the fallback already existed for.
Tests: FramePumpTests gains the encoder-name assertion (null before start, h264_nvenc
after), and the three fake encoders implement the new member.
675 pass, 0 warnings.
A quality step-down now closes the named audio pipe before stopping/flushing the
pump, then opens a fresh server before restarting the pump. This prevents ffmpeg
from waiting on the old audio input and avoids reconnecting to a broken pipe.
EncoderRestartTests pins the audio-stop → video-stop → audio-start → video-start
order. 616 tests green, clean build with 0 warnings.
Slice 3. 589 green, 0 warnings.
- **`FramePump.ChangeEncoderAsync`** is a full pump stop/start, not an encoder swap. A swap leaves an
in-flight submit pointing at a disposed process, and that faults the loop — which ends the
broadcast, the one thing a quality step-down must never do. `StopAsync` already awaits the loop and
flushes, so this reuses the tested path and costs one short freeze, which the ladder accepts.
- **`MainViewModel.StepDown`**: one planner per broadcast, subscribed to `StatsReported`, unsubscribed on
every stop path. The pump thread only decides; the restart is posted to the dispatcher, because the
act stops the loop that raised the event.
- **The creator's choice is not rewritten**: `_encoderTierOverride` changes what the encoder emits while
the dropdown keeps showing what they picked, and the badge adds `· lowered` so the two never disagree
silently.
- Copy comes from `StepDownPlanner.Describe` (machine cause owns it, upload cause blames the upload);
the log gets the cause-tagged line for support.
Test: `EncoderRestartTests` runs a real pump with a fake encoder, changes the tier, and asserts a NEW
encoder started at the new fps/bitrate and produced a frame — the regression that would otherwise ship
as "it lowered the badge and the stream died".
Remaining for 33: shed our own capture cost before the fps step, and the session-report line.