HDR - How To Enable It Also Hardware Question

[mystic.bertie 23]

On 13/10/2022 at 11:02, SamES said:

Are you still seeing issues with the drive filling up?

Let's take a different approach on this.

I'm not sure how many files you are having issues with, but the sample in your earlier logs (The Outfit) is about 80Mbps, which is right on the limit of Samsungs specifications.  That is not in itself a major issue, but something to be aware of.

You are trying to play the ATMOS track, which is not supported on the TV.  This means that the server must convert the audio, which also changes the way it is delivered.  It adds more demands on your server, and the high bitrate file is not helping this.

Rather than the ATMOS track, can you please try selecting the AC3 audio track from the details screen before you start playback.  This should result in a format that allows DirectPlay and eliminates the need for any conversion.  Please test for a while and see whether it resolves your issues.

Check using Stats for Nerds during playback and confirm that it is DirectPlay

Please let me know how this goes.

 

Many thanks for your reply. I will tackle 1 post/reply at a time.

Yes the drive still fills up with data but its only when it freezes during transcoding. I can play the likes of my downloaded The Grand Tour series, they are 10bit HDR and AC3 5.1, they dont need transcoding, they are also a much lower bitrate, they still freeze however no data is left in the transcoding-temp folder because it was direct playing the audio and video.

For test purposes i am playing The Outfit right now and selected the ac3 5.1 audio track, i will let you know how it goes.

My AVR does support Atmos and the DTS-HD-MA and Dolby True HD, i have selected the Atmos setting in my Samsung  tv settings.

So my Emby tv app freezes with both transcoding and non-transcoding videos. Its the transcoding ones that leave data in the transcoding-temp folder but only when it freezes.

Another thing worth mentioning is that my videos play fine using the DLNA feature, if i select the Emby server in the Samsung sources and browse for a video a play it, its flawless.

Edited October 15, 2022 by mystic.bertie

[mystic.bertie 23]

On 13/10/2022 at 12:51, rbjtech said:

Looking at the screen grabs - I presume this is going via HDMI to an AVR ?

Does the AVR support True-HD/Atmos / DTS-HD etc ?

If yes, then using any of the built in TV Emby Clients (Samsung, LG etc) is going to mean you lose the ability to process HD Audio directly on your AVR because the Apps (any App, not just emby) cannot pass HD Audio via ARC, even eARC cannot do this as it's an App limitation, not a eARC technology limitation (which can pass HD Audio, but only using external devices - ie a UHD Player).

If the NUC processed the HDR Video (10bit), then you could have used this to pass the HD-Audio to the AVR  ..

So With what looks to be a high end AVR/Speaker setup - I would suggest using a Shield Pro 2019 - and then all your issues should disappear - as it will just passthrough both the Video from the Shield > AVR >  TV and Audio (HD) directly from Shield > AVR - no ARC is involved - and directly play both the Video and Audio to maximum fidelity with no transcoding.

 

Hi mate many thanks for your reply.

Yes the audio is being passed to the AVR via HDMI and using 'arc', my AVR only supports 'arc'.

My AVR does support Atmos, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD-MA. I understand the limitations of the sound being passed to my AVR but its what i have to compromise on right now so that  i can play HDR videos without spending more money.

Yes the NUC limitations is the reason why i have switched to using the Emby tv app as i have no money to upgrade the NUC right now.

The Sheild Pro looks great and it would solve my problem if i dont want to spend a lot of money upgrading my NUC, due to a lack of funds i have to work with what i have right now but a great idea when i have disposable income again   

 

 

[rbjtech 4287]

3 hours ago, mystic.bertie said:

Hi mate many thanks for your reply.

Yes the audio is being passed to the AVR via HDMI and using 'arc', my AVR only supports 'arc'.

My AVR does support Atmos, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD-MA. I understand the limitations of the sound being passed to my AVR but its what i have to compromise on right now so that  i can play HDR videos without spending more money.

Yes the NUC limitations is the reason why i have switched to using the Emby tv app as i have no money to upgrade the NUC right now.

The Sheild Pro looks great and it would solve my problem if i dont want to spend a lot of money upgrading my NUC, due to a lack of funds i have to work with what i have right now but a great idea when i have disposable income again   

 

 

ok - and that's totally fair enough.

So as you are using ARC, you need to steer clear or any HD Audio codecs - Dolby True-HD and/or DTS-HD.   Try and use the AC3, EAC3 or DTS soundtracks if they are available - basically whatever your AVR supports (it may support AAC also). 

[SamES 891]

4 hours ago, mystic.bertie said:

Yes the drive still fills up with data but its only when it freezes during transcoding. I can play the likes of my downloaded The Grand Tour series, they are 10bit HDR and AC3 5.1, they dont need transcoding, they are also a much lower bitrate, they still freeze however no data is left in the transcoding-temp folder because it was direct playing the audio and video.

Good, that confirms that the drive filling up is only a symptom of the playback freezing.

4 hours ago, mystic.bertie said:

So my Emby tv app freezes with both transcoding and non-transcoding videos.

If you have confirmed that it still freezes when DirectPlay then that suggests that you have either a server or network issue. 

If you play smaller files, around 50Mbit that DirectPlay without transcoding, do you still have freezing issues.  These should play fine, so if they are still a problem then there is definitely an issue.  If they play fine, then maybe 80Mbit is just pushing your system too hard

You could try:

• Factory reset the TV
  • This will reset all the setting and apps
  • Reinstall the Emby app and test
• Check and recheck all network connections
  • A bad connection on a single pin on an ethernet connection on any connections (server, tv, wall sockets, etc) will cause problems
  • I would suggest buying a cheap cable tester ($30) and testing all cables and connections.  Make sure everything is wired correctly
• Test a different router
  • You've done this, so probably not the problem
• Server
  • Is something killing the network connection?

 

[mystic.bertie 23]

14 hours ago, rbjtech said:

ok - and that's totally fair enough.

So as you are using ARC, you need to steer clear or any HD Audio codecs - Dolby True-HD and/or DTS-HD.   Try and use the AC3, EAC3 or DTS soundtracks if they are available - basically whatever your AVR supports (it may support AAC also). 

 

thanks for your reply. Yes as im using ARC i am restricted to what sound formats i can use.

[mystic.bertie 23]

13 hours ago, SamES said:

Good, that confirms that the drive filling up is only a symptom of the playback freezing.

If you have confirmed that it still freezes when DirectPlay then that suggests that you have either a server or network issue. 

If you play smaller files, around 50Mbit that DirectPlay without transcoding, do you still have freezing issues.  These should play fine, so if they are still a problem then there is definitely an issue.  If they play fine, then maybe 80Mbit is just pushing your system too hard

You could try:

• Factory reset the TV
  • This will reset all the setting and apps
  • Reinstall the Emby app and test
• Check and recheck all network connections
  • A bad connection on a single pin on an ethernet connection on any connections (server, tv, wall sockets, etc) will cause problems
  • I would suggest buying a cheap cable tester ($30) and testing all cables and connections.  Make sure everything is wired correctly
• Test a different router
  • You've done this, so probably not the problem
• Server
  • Is something killing the network connection?

 

 

Thanks for your reply.

The problem is a lot less frequent now but i will do more testing as something seems to have improved. An particular episode of The Grand Tour (34Mbps) (AC3)  which was particularly problematic seems to be playing fine, it has always direct played anyway.

The Outfit (80Mbps) (AC3 audio selected) this video played to the end however it was suffering from occasional split second pausing. Using wired network.

Yes it does look like i have a network or server issue. I will see if there is a link between the higher bitrate videos and playback issues.

At the moment im using one of the other routers and not using one of the very long network cables, just short ones

If the problem persists i will do the things you have suggested like resetting the tv and reinstalling the app. I cant see any reason why my pc would lose its network connection but its something to consider if all else fails. Many thanks

 

[SamES 891]

No problem, glad to hear that it has improved.