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Playback issue iOS Emby app HEVC file stutters when direct playing


invader

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invader

This one seems really strange to me. Seeing as it's a fairly vanilla (so I think) h265 AAC file, I would expect it to direct play without any issues. It does in fact direct play, however it stutters. It's bizarre because:

 

  • File direct plays on Raspberry Pi Emby Theatre, Samsung TV app and iPhone iOS app
  • File plays fine on Raspberry Pi Emby Theatre and Samsung TV app
  • File stutters on iPhone iOS app
  • When you pause the file, wait a few seconds then play, it appears to have built up a buffer, then can play it OK for a few seconds. This sounds like network transfer speed issue.
  • The file in question is 535 kbps. I tested a 2.4mbps file and it plays fine, so the network speed isn't the issue.
  • When I download the file to the phone, it plays fine! The original file, not converted. So this proves the phone is able to decode the video fine.
  • For reference this is how I made the file: 
    ffmpeg -i "File.mkv" -vcodec libx265 -acodec aac -filter:a dynaudnorm  "New file.mp4"
  • After inspecting the log file, when I play the stuttering file, it's filling the log file with heaps of repeated data. I think it's logging so much it's slowing the server down.
  • File plays OK in VLC and Plex.

  • Attached is a 20 sec version of the same file. (20sec.zip) The 20 second version plays fine, it's only the full episodes that start the stuttering.

  • Happy to PM a server log. I just can't figure out how to easily sanitise it enough. 

  • Stuttering example.zip is a video of my phone playing the full file to show what the stuttering is.

20sec.zip

Stuttering example.zip

Edited by invader
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  • 2 weeks later...

After this update under iPadOS 13.3 (iPad Pro) stuttering every 3-4 seconds with ANY video file (home WLAN). Smooth playback however on iPhone 7 iOS 13.3

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When I play the same videos on the same iPad Pro on Emby WebApp (Safari), playback is smooth, too.
But on the latest iOS app 1.8.9, playback is stuttering so much that one can‘t watch (but not on iPhone, only on iPad). 
Playback is on my home WLAN, direct, no transcoding.

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Today, I installed the latest update 3.12.2 of the nplayer Plus app on my iPad Pro.

It adresses a.o. „Stuttering issue when playing video on some iPad models“.

 

Much to my surprise, this did not only fix stuttering issues on the nplayer, but also the annoying stuttering of the latest Emby iOS for iPad app. All playback is smooth again...

 

Let‘s hope that this will last...

Merry christmas!

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invader

Merry Christmas to you too :)

 

That's strange, nplayer Plus app shouldn't affect how Emby decodes videos so I'm confused on why that would fix the issue.

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I have no idea why and how nplayer improved general video playback on my iPad Pro. I hardly use nplayer at all. But after updating to iOS 13.3, playback had become a real concern. Stuttering and jump frames not only with HEVC, but all video files. I just notice that after this latest nplayer update, this does not occur anymore, especially not on Emby (keep my fingers crossed). 
I am not sure as well whether this is a specific issue concerning only my device...

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I am rather convinced that the stutter problem is a bug in iOS or/and my specific iPad Pro model.

 

i just tried to play the files from my Emby server on another, much older iPad, Emby for iOS 1.8.9, but iOS 12.4.4 - no stuttering whatsoever, all plays smoothly, no jump frames at all.

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  • 2 months later...
 
 

No, not at all. But I have to say that I got a new iPad in the meantime...

On the previous iPad Pro, I could not get rid of the video stuttering, it would return after a while (also in other apps). Reset of the iPad did not help. I wonder whether it was a problem with the graphic chip on this iPad. (I mentioned that my partner's much older iPad would work flawlessly).

So on the new device, I have Emby smoothly running, with all encodings (like on the rest of my other devices). 

 

Thanks for your efforts.

Edited by sslovan
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invader

Hi Luke. I still have the same stuttering issue with that same file. I'm encoding with a newer version of ffmpeg, I'll see if that makes a difference. I also just did a test and it seemed to play fine when it was an .mkv. Previously I was using .mp4. Will report back.

 

Apart from container my encode settings are:

 

-vcodec libx265 -acodec aac -ar 48000
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invader

Ok that fixed it. Both .mkv and .mp4 no longer stuttering. Either the new ffmpeg or the audio sample rate setting I’m using now fixed it.

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  • 1 month later...
invader

Sorry Luke! This issue isn't fixed. I have no idea what's causing it. Something to do with file buffering because the exact same source file but a 30 second sample plays fine. It's just the full episode will stutter.

 

Emby for iOS 1.9.4 now.

Windows server 4.4.0.40.

 

Attached is the full episode that stutters.

 

ffmpeg settings:

ffmpeg -hide_banner -i original.mkv -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a -map 0:s:m:language:eng? -metadata:s:2 title=English -vcodec libx265 -acodec aac -scodec mov_text -ar 48000 -ac 2 -filter:a "dynaudnorm=compress=25:peak=0.75" "output.mp4"

The exact same settings but for a 30 second clip, plays fine:

ffmpeg -hide_banner -i "original.mkv" -map 0:v:0 -map 0:a -map 0:s:m:language:eng? -metadata:s:2 title=English -vcodec libx265 -acodec aac -scodec mov_text -ar 48000 -ac 2 -filter:a "dynaudnorm=compress=25:peak=0.75" -t 30 "output.mp4"

File.zip

File-30sec.zip

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