Nebular Nerd 2 Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Hi everyone, Quick Background: I've been using the orignal MediaBrowser Android App with MXPlayer on my FireTV Stick since the Stick was released and pretty much anything I could throw at it would play happily including my direct BluRay rips without any need to transcode, however since the rebrand to Emby the pure Android app runs poorly on the FireTV Stick so I decided to switch over to the dedicated app the other day. What's Wrong The latest Emby FireTV App has VLC built in which is meant to reduce the need to transcode but the performance is terrible, even 720p content just stutters and locks up, does the VLC component have the ability to use hardware decoding like MXPlayer or is it relying soley on CPU horsepower which the Stick lacks? It really sucked to pay to unlock the app (I had installed the older pre VLC builds which were equally no good so it had expired) to then find that it was still unable to play my content. Is there any chance we can have the 'Play in external' feature so that content could be streamed directly to MXPlayer for example which has no performance issues? I'd happily go back to sideloading the pure Android App if it was not so laggy when trying to browse my library, at present I'm having to use ES File Explorer to find what I want to watch and then play it in MXPlayer, might have to try a later build of the Android App and see if the lag goes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Give me the email address associated with the device and I can add you to the beta for the Fire. It has a newer version of VLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebular Nerd 2 Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Hi ebr, I've PM'ed you my email address, thanks for letting me try the beta. Once it updates I shall conduct someplayback tests and let you know if that improves things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebular Nerd 2 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Hi ebr, I downloaded the beta (1.1.00) and that just made things much worse, now it just flatly refuses to play any content just spews up 'Cannot play this file' and sits there with a spinning circle until you back out. I tried fully uninstalling both Emby and the Beta version and installed from fresh but it decided it wanted me to pay again to unlock it, not done that yet but not a good sign that the unlock does not carry over. Going about things the other way I sideloaded the regular Android apk (2.4.13) and while not suited at all to being navigated (or even running smoothly) on the FireTV Stick it did manage to play in VLC my content, stuttering badly like 1.0.80a2 did. To give some context here's the media data for a couple of files that refuse to play. GeneralUnique ID : 184774150376469551894476516940536345081 (0x8B0234F870555545AE00BDB0E8B7F1F9)Complete name : \\Alarm\TV & Movies\TV\Mythbusters\Season 16\16x05 - Supernatural Shooters.mkvFormat : MatroskaFormat version : Version 2File size : 1.09 GiBDuration : 41mn 30sOverall bit rate : 3 749 KbpsEncoded date : UTC 2015-08-16 02:01:15Writing application : mkvmerge v7.9.0 ('Birds') 32bitWriting library : libebml v1.3.1 + libmatroska v1.4.2DURATION : 00:41:30.528000000NUMBER_OF_FRAMES : 77829NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 119545344_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP : mkvmerge v7.9.0 ('Birds') 32bit_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC : 2015-08-16 02:01:15_STATISTICS_TAGS : BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTESVideoID : 1Format : AVCFormat/Info : Advanced Video CodecFormat profile : High@L4.1Format settings, CABAC : YesFormat settings, ReFrames : 5 framesCodec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVCDuration : 41mn 30sBit rate : 3 290 KbpsWidth : 1 280 pixelsHeight : 718 pixelsDisplay aspect ratio : 16:9Frame rate mode : ConstantFrame rate : 29.970 fpsColor space : YUVChroma subsampling : 4:2:0Bit depth : 8 bitsScan type : ProgressiveBits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.119Stream size : 977 MiB (88%)Writing library : x264 core 148 r2579 73ae2d1Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=18 / lookahead_threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=300 / keyint_min=30 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=21.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00Default : YesForced : NoColor range : LimitedMatrix coefficients : BT.709AudioID : 2Format : AC-3Format/Info : Audio Coding 3Mode extension : CM (complete main)Format settings, Endianness : BigCodec ID : A_AC3Duration : 41mn 30sBit rate mode : ConstantBit rate : 384 KbpsChannel(s) : 6 channelsChannel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFESampling rate : 48.0 KHzCompression mode : LossyStream size : 114 MiB (10%)Language : EnglishDefault : YesForced : No AND GeneralUnique ID : 230167438322697048130013010731464892530 (0xAD28A2DBF659C2D1848B2FCC6303A072)Complete name : \\Alarm\TV & Movies 2\Movies [HiDef]\El Mariachi [1992]\El Mariachi.mkvFormat : MatroskaFormat version : Version 4 / Version 2File size : 3.66 GiBDuration : 1h 21mnOverall bit rate mode : VariableOverall bit rate : 6 434 KbpsEncoded date : UTC 2015-08-29 16:03:34Writing application : mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bitWriting library : libebml v1.3.1 + libmatroska v1.4.2DURATION : 01:15:44.164000000NUMBER_OF_FRAMES : 468NUMBER_OF_BYTES : 12816_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP : mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC : 2015-08-29 16:03:34_STATISTICS_TAGS : BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTESVideoID : 1Format : AVCFormat/Info : Advanced Video CodecFormat profile : High@L4.1Format settings, CABAC : YesFormat settings, ReFrames : 2 framesCodec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVCDuration : 1h 21mnBit rate mode : VariableBit rate : 6 114 KbpsMaximum bit rate : 9 504 KbpsWidth : 1 920 pixelsHeight : 1 080 pixelsDisplay aspect ratio : 16:9Frame rate mode : ConstantFrame rate : 23.976 fpsColor space : YUVChroma subsampling : 4:2:0Bit depth : 8 bitsScan type : ProgressiveBits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.123Stream size : 3.48 GiB (95%)Language : SpanishDefault : YesForced : NoAudioID : 2Format : AC-3Format/Info : Audio Coding 3Mode extension : CM (complete main)Format settings, Endianness : BigCodec ID : A_AC3Duration : 1h 21mnBit rate mode : ConstantBit rate : 192 KbpsChannel(s) : 2 channelsChannel positions : Front: L RSampling rate : 48.0 KHzCompression mode : LossyStream size : 112 MiB (3%)Title : Spanish AC3 AudioLanguage : SpanishDefault : YesForced : YesTextID : 3Format : UTF-8Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain TextTitle : English SubtitlesLanguage : EnglishDefault : YesForced : Yes Now these will play on my Xpeira Z and Ramos i9 (x86) tablet using the native app just fine without needing to transcode, equally previous versions or Emby and Media Browser Android were capable of playing these sorts of files without transcoding (or if it tried to transcode I owuld just dump it to MXPlayer) so it seems that Emby has almost taken a step back at present. 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ebr 14903 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 What happens if you disable VLC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebular Nerd 2 Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) What happens if you disable VLC? Disabling VLC makes no odds, it seems either method of playback refuses to play most MKV's, I did try some other files in MP4 format at varying resolutions and they all played, unless it's radically different the internal player on the regular Android app will play them with lag/stutter/breakup on the FireTV and happily on my Xperia Z phone. Most odd... Also I have set myself up as a subscriber to resolve any activation issues as well so the apps are fully unrestricted in that sense as well. Edited September 15, 2015 by Nebular Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Disabling VLC makes no odds, it seems either method of playback refuses to play most MKV's, I did try some other files in MP4 format at varying resolutions and they all played, unless it's radically different the internal player on the regular Android app will play them with lag/stutter/breakup on the FireTV and happily on my Xperia Z phone. Most odd... Also I have set myself up as a subscriber to resolve any activation issues as well so the apps are fully unrestricted in that sense as well. I am at a loss then because all the variables in play are quite different yet none of the combinations seem to allow steady playback. This would point to either a problem at the network or server level (or, perhaps the device) because switching between VLC and the internal player probably means also switching from direct streaming to transcoding as well as completely changing the playback engine. Even the bitrate should not be an issue because the version you are using now will automatically adjust to the network capacity. When you play something, what does the OSD report as the playback method (the last grey text block)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebular Nerd 2 Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Anything that plays displays either Direct/I or Direct/V in the player window regardless of VLC being set active or not, pretty much anythign MP4 wise will play and so will some DVD/SD Resolution MKV files, it seems to get upset about anything MKV thats 720P or above. Not bothered testing anything in AVI or other containers as they tend to be a bit iffy at the best of times. Network connectivity wise the Fire Tv Stick is using my 5GHz connection which is about 8ft away tops with direct line of sight so no issue with signal quality, the server it streams from is an i5 based system with oddles of ram, gigabit network, sata 3 drives the whole nine yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Anything that plays displays either Direct/I or Direct/V in the player window regardless of VLC being set active or not, Are you sure about that? There isn't any way you should be seeing "Direct/V" if you have disabled VLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 One other thing which you may have tried but I was just testing on the stick and performance was horrible (across the board - all apps). I re-started the device by going into the settings menu and selecting "Restart" and performance got much better (albeit still not stellar as this device never is). Also, the current version of the ATV app will only use VLC for SD content even if you have it enabled because we've found that the stick simply cannot handle the software decoding in VLC for higher res content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebular Nerd 2 Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 One other thing which you may have tried but I was just testing on the stick and performance was horrible (across the board - all apps). I re-started the device by going into the settings menu and selecting "Restart" and performance got much better (albeit still not stellar as this device never is). Also, the current version of the ATV app will only use VLC for SD content even if you have it enabled because we've found that the stick simply cannot handle the software decoding in VLC for higher res content. Regarding the Direct/V or Direct/I boxes, I could of phrased that better but yes you are correct in that they display correctly depending on VLC being active or not, I'm guessing the 'Direct/' part is the important factor for streaming rather than transcoding. This does come back to my original post, if VLC lacks hardware decoding then the Stick TV as a platform will suffer unless you heavily transcode, what is the major downer is that the older MediaBrowser and earliest Emby branded builds are actually better suited to the Stick than the current app because of the 'Play In External' feature, the Stick TV cpu is useless no two ways about it but it's little gpu is actually really good and with acceleration the Stick will play back everything bar the highest bit rate Blu-Ray rips (Avatar) even happily downmixing the TrueHD and DTS Master audio tracks to stereo without need to transcode. By the sounds of it unless the VLC player gets a hardware acceleration upgrade I shall be better off digging up an older .apk that still has the external ability and stay with that. I shall give the stick a restart to see if that helps, it's been running 24/7 since I bought it without a restart to my knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyG 20 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I've never had much luck with the AFTV Stick. The latest build seems worse, about half my titles wont play even though they show up as "Direct". I have much better results using my stupid "Samsung Smart TV" app for Emby...but that experience is very slllowwww until the movie gets playing. Can anyone tell me if the full-sized AFTV is better at decoding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyG 20 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 So I take this back. My App wasn't auto-updating for some reason. The newest build is friggin awesome!!!! Something I noticed though, since I was toying with it before and after the install of the 1.1 build.....while in general everything responds much nicer, and doesn't lock up.....it's now not giving me "Direct" on the same content it used it. I wouldn't mind this except that it seems like when movies are Transcoded I don't get 5.1 sound. Is this expected behavior? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14903 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 So I take this back. My App wasn't auto-updating for some reason. The newest build is friggin awesome!!!! Something I noticed though, since I was toying with it before and after the install of the 1.1 build.....while in general everything responds much nicer, and doesn't lock up.....it's now not giving me "Direct" on the same content it used it. I wouldn't mind this except that it seems like when movies are Transcoded I don't get 5.1 sound. Is this expected behavior? Yes, unfortunately, the stick simply isn't powerful enough to do the direct streaming/local decoding so the newer version restricts that - which is why you saw improved playback. Also, yes, I can confirm that a full Fire TV is a much better experience (and at this point you can get the newer one which will be even better). The stick is really not much of a computing device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyG 20 Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 ebr, on 25 Sept 2015 - 10:42 AM, said: Yes, unfortunately, the stick simply isn't powerful enough to do the direct streaming/local decoding so the newer version restricts that - which is why you saw improved playback. Also, yes, I can confirm that a full Fire TV is a much better experience (and at this point you can get the newer one which will be even better). The stick is really not much of a computing device. Thanks for confirming that. Just pre-ordered the full Amazon TV. Love the app, keep up the great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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