Direct Play not working on shield? Transcodes and lags instead…

[Gutsberzerk 2]

Hello. So I have emby server, playing through my shield pro. It direct plays some films, like even the biggest bitrate 4K Atmos stuff just fine. But with some movies, some 4K others 1080p, it just…randomly starts transcoding? Even though it shouldn’t as pretty much everything I got is 99% HEVC/x265, then a few are x264 along with the shield pro being able to play just about anything. I just don’t get it.

 

I’ve tried restarting the server, computer, shield pro, refreshing metadata, turned transcoding off entirely and back on again, no difference at all. It will direct play 1 movie that’s HEVC / AAC, but not another that’s also HEVC / AAC. Tried turning different settings on/off, set the shield to auto bitrate or maximum, it just seems random that it gives me playback errors…

 

But playing it on the actual PC through emby theatre, then it works fine? 

 

Sooo…please help as this is starting to annoy me.

embyserver.txt?api_key=9109576607af42bfa0e4241054733351.webarchive ffmpeg-transcode-908c813e-7386-435c-9f9b-299d4590e4ac_1.txt?api_key=9109576607af42bfa0e4241054733351.webarchive

Edited October 12, 2022 by Gutsberzerk

[Luke 37097]

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Thanks.

 

[Gutsberzerk 2]

42 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Thanks.

 

Not sure how. I tried downloading it and sending it over to usb storage on shield but I can’t seem to open it or install it using a variety of apk installers etc. I see it as setup.exe but clicking it does nothing. I tried doing it the phone way but I’m on iOS so not sure how that can work.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Gutsberzerk

[Luke 37097]

setup.exe? Try using the apk link right from that page. Thanks !

[Gutsberzerk 2]

6 minutes ago, Luke said:

setup.exe? Try using the apk link right from that page. Thanks !

That’s what I done, I downloaded the apk link and I see it in my downloads folder in shield using FX explorer. But how do I run it / install it? Thanks.

[Gutsberzerk 2]

Well I tested out some movies including ones above on two different PCs through emby theatre, direct plays fine. Then tested through Kodi on shield, direct plays fine. Even tried it on my iPhone 13 and same again, all good.

 

So there must be something wrong or outdated with the play store app.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Gutsberzerk

[FrostByte 5052]

Were you ever able to get the standard Android app installed on the Shield?  Latest version is 3.2.81

[FrostByte 5052]

Download link:

Emby.Releases/android at master · MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases (github.com)

arm64-v8a - 64-bit Shield
armeabi-v7a - 32-bit Shield

 

Once the .apk is on your Shield open it with X-Plorer and the install should start

 

[rbjtech 4284]

So in my experience, there is nothing wrong with the AndroidTV App - I've been using it for YEARS and have never had a playback error. 

The issue is therefore either inconsistent files (that Exoplayer is less likely to be flexible on vs other players) or there is a network issue getting data to the Shield.

Is the Shield connected via Ethernet or Wifi ?

If you did load the Android (non TV) app - I would be interested to hear your experience of it vs the mature AndroidTV app.  Thanks.

Edited October 13, 2022 by rbjtech

[seanbuff 840]

FYI - the fix for OP's issue (AAC 7.1 causing playback errors) was resolved back in August in 2.0.80g

Quote

2.0.80 (23 Aug)

• Tweak some Exo settings
• Exo fix for AAC 7.1

 

@Gutsberzerk you can either wait until the stable is updated with current fixes til 2.0.83, or side-load the beta from here:

 

...or continue to run the 'not ready for prime time yet' standard Android app that you just recently installed

[Gutsberzerk 2]

6 hours ago, rbjtech said:

So in my experience, there is nothing wrong with the AndroidTV App - I've been using it for YEARS and have never had a playback error. 

The issue is therefore either inconsistent files (that Exoplayer is less likely to be flexible on vs other players) or there is a network issue getting data to the Shield.

Is the Shield connected via Ethernet or Wifi ?

If you did load the Android (non TV) app - I would be interested to hear your experience of it vs the mature AndroidTV app.  Thanks.

It can’t be the files as they play fine on everything else. I can only replicate the issue specifically on the play store app.
 

Its all connected through Ethernet cable, the server, shield, everything as I don’t really like wireless.

 

6 hours ago, seanbuff said:

FYI - the fix for OP's issue (AAC 7.1 causing playback errors) was resolved back in August in 2.0.80g

 

@Gutsberzerk you can either wait until the stable is updated with current fixes til 2.0.83, or side-load the beta from here:

 

...or continue to run the 'not ready for prime time yet' standard Android app that you just recently installed

Ahh there we go so it really was the app then. Thanks for this.

[JmaMedia99 2]

OMG!!! I have been struggling with this same issue! For just a handful of 4K files my 2019 Shield TV Pro would inexplicitly transcode and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why!

I just sideloaded the standard Android app and OMG, no more transcoding! No massive delays waiting for the video to start! 

You guys rock! Best support anywhere!

[xrqp 11]

I have same problem with same equipment.  My Shield Pro has Emby v 2.0.83g. 

Should I sideload your standard android app (arm7 version) onto the Shield Pro?  

Edited March 24, 2023 by xrqp

[seanbuff 840]

1 hour ago, xrqp said:

Should I sideload your standard android app (arm7 version) onto the Shield Pro?

Yep, sure - give it a go and report back your experience.

[xrqp 11]

I tried the emby standard android app (arm7 version) with Shield Pro as client.  It seemed to fix the transcode problem - meaning it played with low CPU usage.  But the movie still freezes every 2 or 3 minutes for about 5 seconds (does not play smoothly).  The freezing is the same as when I used Emby v 2.0.83g that did seem to transcode (high CPU usage).  Overall, I like Emby v 2.0.83g better than the standard android app.  

The movie I am having these troubles with is "Blade Runner (1982)" in 4k.  Could it be because it is 24 fps?  Attached is file info.  

My emby server is in a docker container on my unraid NAS w intel i7-7700T (passmark 7600).  The client is Shield Pro feeding to an LG TV (LG OLED CX77).  Wired ethernet between the server and client.

Blade Runner (1982) Bluray-2160p.mkv.txt

Edited March 24, 2023 by xrqp

[rbjtech 4284]

50 minutes ago, xrqp said:

I tried the emby standard android app (arm7 version) with Shield Pro as client.  It seemed to fix the transcode problem - meaning it played with low CPU usage.  But the movie still freezes every 2 or 3 minutes for about 5 seconds (does not play smoothly).  The freezing is the same as when I used Emby v 2.0.83g that did seem to transcode (high CPU usage).  Overall, I like Emby v 2.0.83g better than the standard android app.  

The movie I am having these troubles with is "Blade Runner (1982)" in 4k.  Could it be because it is 24 fps?  Attached is file info.  

My emby server is in a docker container on my unraid NAS w intel i7-7700T (passmark 7600).  The client is Shield Pro feeding to an LG TV (LG OLED CX77).  Wired ethernet between the server and client.

Blade Runner (1982) Bluray-2160p.mkv.txt 34.9 kB · 1 download

So I'm confused by the mediainfo on this file.

It's a 120Mb/sec 4K file of 94GB.

Now that in itself 'should' play ok - but it's right at the top end of the UHD specification.

However - my question is WHY is it this big - The 4K UHD Disk REMUX (ie native) of this film is only 50GB @ about 50-60Mbit/sec - yours is 120 !  And looking at the MKV writing library and Encoding settings, somebody has re-encoded this (badly?) - maybe tried to upscale a 1080p perhaps. 

I would therefore suggest it is the 'movie' that has the issues as I know the AndroidTV client can handle 300+Mbit before starting to have issues - WAY above the UHD specification.

My 4K Remux of this film plays without issues on my setup with the Shield and the latest Emby AndroidTV client.

Edited March 24, 2023 by rbjtech

[xrqp 11]

Thanks very much for your reply.  I will check my settings for how I ripped it.  

[xrqp 11]

I re-ripped it and it is working good now.  So nothing wrong with emby.  I just had a bad rip. 

[Luke 37097]

Thanks for following up.