Is Direct play disabled for all Browsers?

[crshbndct 0]

I have a pretty unique setup, apparently.

 

First off, hardware specs:

 

i7-4790K

16GB DDR3

Media is stored on an SSD

R9 290 (Using FOSS Driver)

Ubuntu 15.04, Fresh Install

Chrome 44.x

Connected to a 42' TV via HDMI, and to AUX on my old stereo via the line out. (I am going to get a proper receiver for this soon, but for now this will do)

Using the web interface to play media, everything is defaulting to transcoding. 1.5 Mbps for 720p Media, 2.7Mbps for 1080p, and it looks terrible.

Sound quality is good

 

It is super frustrating. It is playing on the same system that the Media is stored on. I know that the browser can handle the format natively (h264, AAC) since when I drag and drop the file in a browser, it just plays, and plays really well)

 

I want to use my browser as the client, as this is my main HTPC, which means that I use it for youtube, the MotoGP website video player, Netflix, my local TV stations streaming site, Spotify webclient, etc etc. I like just using the webclient for this, and also like having my media arranged and organized for me.

 

But no Media server I have tried so far has the ability to play my media, without either needing a much more powerful PC than I have to transcode it at a decent quality(which is ridiculous, since its not a terrible PC) in a browser. I don't mind using Kodi, but it is a pain having to ssh in, reboot the computer in order to shut down kodi, then restart the emby service manually, to watch a youtube video or whatever, and then having to open it again to carry on watching, until such time as I want to do something else, at which point I will have to repeat the whole process.

 

Is there a way to make videos play as if they were stored on the same machine that is trying to play them?(Because they are)

 

Many thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

Oh, and BTW, emby is freaking amazing besides this one issue. Much better than the other one :-P

Edited August 1, 2015 by crshbndct

[Luke 37007]

no, we direct play whenever possible

[astraldragon 7]

I think I ran into a similar problem.  I set up network shares for each of my media folders.  Then I set up path substitution entries in the emby configuration for each.  Then you should be at least direct streaming as far as I know. MKVs and such will still transcode.