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New Android Client always transcoding now


ivoidwarranties
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droolingmonkey

Knowing that it's being worked on is enough for me - I love the app and the the whole media browser system (I use it on pc, android, and windows phone) as my primary means of media consumption. Thanks devs

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  • 1 month later...
halphpint

Bump...I see the new option under streaming settings do not use the strict android baseline. I turned it on, but it still seems to be transcoding..maybe Im missing something as all my files are mostly x264...anyone else?

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blade005

Bump...I see the new option under streaming settings do not use the strict android baseline. I turned it on, but it still seems to be transcoding..maybe Im missing something as all my files are mostly x264...anyone else?

 

All MP4's I have tested that were transcoding before are now Direct Streaming for the most part. But, as noted by ColtB45, all MKV's, which are basically h.264 video, AAC audio and embedded subtitles are still being transcoded.  Might be the price to pay for wrapping video, audio and subtitles in an MKV container. Wish it wasn't the case.

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ivoidwarranties

I also updated the MediaBrowser Android app and turned off the the "H264 strict mode" option.... but everything is still being transcoded as well.  

 

Here's the media info from one video that was known to DirectStream using the older MediaBrowser app (all my videos have the same media info).

 

post-1892-0-37319100-1413046883.png

Edited by ivoidwarranties
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Bump...I see the new option under streaming settings do not use the strict android baseline. I turned it on, but it still seems to be transcoding..maybe Im missing something as all my files are mostly x264...anyone else?

 

I too have updated, tried the new option, and it doesn't seem to work. When I turn off strict compliance it still transcodes my mkv's (the entirety of my library). These are files that would direct play on the same devices with the very old release so I don't think it could be device compatibility.

 

All of my playback bitrates are set to 21/MBs and HLS being disabled or not seems to have no affect.

 

Media Details:

(MKVInfo) + EBML head(MKVInfo) |+ EBML version: 1
(MKVInfo) |+ EBML read version: 1
(MKVInfo) |+ EBML maximum ID length: 4
(MKVInfo) |+ EBML maximum size length: 8
(MKVInfo) |+ Doc type: matroska
(MKVInfo) |+ Doc type version: 2
(MKVInfo) |+ Doc type read version: 2
(MKVInfo) + Segment, size 627464771
(MKVInfo) |+ Seek head
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x15 0x49 0xa9 0x66 (KaxInfo)
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 223
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x16 0x54 0xae 0x6b (KaxTracks)
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 317
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x12 0x54 0xc3 0x67 (KaxTags)
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 539
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x1c 0x53 0xbb 0x6b (KaxCues)
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 627422484
(MKVInfo) |+ EbmlVoid (size: 147)
(MKVInfo) |+ Segment information
(MKVInfo) | + Timecode scale: 1000000
(MKVInfo) | + Muxing application: Lavf55.12.0
(MKVInfo) | + Writing application: HandBrake 6432svn 2014100401
(MKVInfo) | + Segment UID: 0x5c 0x06 0x10 0x87 0x4b 0xc8 0xc2 0xe2 0x1c 0x63 0x75 0xb0 0x64 0x68 0x57 0x45
(MKVInfo) | + Duration: 2513.911s (00:41:53.911)
(MKVInfo) |+ Segment tracks
(MKVInfo) | + A track
(MKVInfo) |  + Track number: 1 (track ID for mkvmerge & mkvextract: 0)
(MKVInfo) |  + Track UID: 1
(MKVInfo) |  + Lacing flag: 0
(MKVInfo) |  + Language: und
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec ID: V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
(MKVInfo) |  + Track type: video
(MKVInfo) |  + Default duration: 33.367ms (29.970 frames/fields per second for a video track)
(MKVInfo) |  + Video track
(MKVInfo) |   + Pixel width: 1280
(MKVInfo) |   + Pixel height: 720
(MKVInfo) |   + Display width: 1282
(MKVInfo) |   + Display height: 720
(MKVInfo) |   + Display unit: 3 (aspect ratio)
(MKVInfo) |  + CodecPrivate, length 47 (h.264 profile: High @L4.1)
(MKVInfo) | + A track
(MKVInfo) |  + Track number: 2 (track ID for mkvmerge & mkvextract: 1)
(MKVInfo) |  + Track UID: 2
(MKVInfo) |  + Lacing flag: 0
(MKVInfo) |  + Name: Stereo
(MKVInfo) |  + Language: und
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec ID: A_AAC
(MKVInfo) |  + Track type: audio
(MKVInfo) |  + Audio track
(MKVInfo) |   + Channels: 2
(MKVInfo) |   + Sampling frequency: 48000
(MKVInfo) |  + CodecPrivate, length 5
(MKVInfo) |+ Tags
(MKVInfo) | + Tag
(MKVInfo) |  + Targets
(MKVInfo) |  + Simple
(MKVInfo) |   + Name: ENCODER
(MKVInfo) |   + String: Lavf55.12.0
(MKVInfo) | + Tag
(MKVInfo) |  + Targets
(MKVInfo) |   + TrackUID: 2
(MKVInfo) |  + Simple
(MKVInfo) |   + Name: LANGUAGE
(MKVInfo) |   + String: und
(MKVInfo) |+ Cluster
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I also updated the MediaBrowser Android app and turned off the the "H264 strict mode" option.... but everything is still being transcoded as well.  

 

Here's the media info from one video that was known to DirectStream using the older MediaBrowser app (all my videos have the same media info).

 

post-1892-0-37319100-1413046883.png

 

please post the transcoding log

http://mediabrowser....port-a-problem/

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Android only officially supports VP8/Vorbis inside a mkv container.

 

Considering this was working well previously with 1.0.45 on the majority of devices, how about a option to not enforce compliance like what you did with the h.264 high profiles?

 

In the wild just about all recent devices will support far better than the minimum VP8/Vorbis/mkv requirement or the h264 - baseline/aac/mp4.

 

Your Android Client @ 1.0.45 was a really good version and I think you were on the right track with it. Up until the last beta server release that broke support for it I was running it on my Fire TV, Android sticks, phones, and tablets. It natively played just about all video streams and could transcode audio if unsupported without transcoding video.

 

The new version seems to be a all or nothing in regards to transcoding.

Edited by ColtB45
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The ideal situation would be to make an improvement that doesn't need to expose an option to the end user.

 

I agree 100%. It is possible to detect what content is natively playable and then make transcoding decisions based on that. I don't have any code examples for you but I know of several Android apps that do it.

Edited by ColtB45
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Redshirt

Every option I add regarding streaming is just one more question I have to ask when troubleshooting. Do you have X enabled. What happens when you turn off Y. Do X & Y fail with both recorded TV and local media, does just Y.... I have to weigh whether an option is actually worth the support burden.  

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ivoidwarranties

Sorry, meant to upload the log to dropbox before posting previous comment.

 

Here's the transcode log

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zguombuxahpraxl/transcode-c1ef2d36-0384-475b-8be1-8894544d6d1b.txt?dl=0

 

 

I also updated the MediaBrowser Android app and turned off the the "H264 strict mode" option.... but everything is still being transcoded as well.  

 

Here's the media info from one video that was known to DirectStream using the older MediaBrowser app (all my videos have the same media info).

 

post-1892-0-37319100-1413046883.png

 
Edited by ivoidwarranties
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Redshirt

Every option I add regarding streaming is just one more question I have to ask when troubleshooting. Do you have X enabled. What happens when you turn off Y. Do X & Y fail with both recorded TV and local media, does just Y.... I have to weigh whether an option is actually worth the support burden.  

 

and just to be clear, I'm not saying we're not looking into improving streaming, or that we're not going to add additional options. The ideal situation would be to make an improvement that doesn't need to expose an option to the end user. I just wanted to convey what has to be considered when options are added.

Edited by Redshirt
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Hi,

 

Found this topic today after my normally quiet media server in the lounge goes into meltdown trying to transcode movies to my daughters nexus 7. I have the same problem now the android client has upgraded, I used to direct stream everything to MX player or VLC and it worked fine. 

 

Did some testing and hope this helps.

 

HLS Support OFF (doesn't seem to make a difference)

H264 strict mode OFF

External Player

 

What I have found is it doesn't transcode anything with AAC or mp3 audio, works just like the old version. But as soon as a file (I have mostly mkvs) uses AC3 5.1 or DTS the audio is being transcoded to 5.1 AAC.  The video seems to untouched or at least the CPU is much lower on the media server. What it does do however is generate an unseekable stream in MX Player and VLC so you're stuck watching from start to finish.

 

Pretty please fix this. Any chance of going back to the option that says no transcoding ever (I accept the consequences that it might not play)? :)

 

I understand you don't want to confuse end users with more and more options. But removing all transcoded is already covered by the warning (which is still in place) when you select External Player that states:- "The media is direct streamed rather than transcoded".

 

Really appreciate your work on this

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Hi,

 

Found this topic today after my normally quiet media server in the lounge goes into meltdown trying to transcode movies to my daughters nexus 7. I have the same problem now the android client has upgraded, I used to direct stream everything to MX player or VLC and it worked fine. 

 

Did some testing and hope this helps.

 

HLS Support OFF (doesn't seem to make a difference)

H264 strict mode OFF

External Player

 

What I have found is it doesn't transcode anything with AAC or mp3 audio, works just like the old version. But as soon as a file (I have mostly mkvs) uses AC3 5.1 or DTS the audio is being transcoded to 5.1 AAC.  The video seems to untouched or at least the CPU is much lower on the media server. What it does do however is generate an unseekable stream in MX Player and VLC so you're stuck watching from start to finish.

 

Pretty please fix this. Any chance of going back to the option that says no transcoding ever (I accept the consequences that it might not play)? :)

 

I understand you don't want to confuse end users with more and more options. But removing all transcoded is already covered by the warning (which is still in place) when you select External Player that states:- "The media is direct streamed rather than transcoded".

 

Really appreciate your work on this

 

 

 

Just an FYI, I believe MX Player recently dropped support for DTS. That's also why it it probably transcoding. 

Edited by Ren34
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  • 2 weeks later...
dchaosblade

Until and unless direct stream of mkv .h264 video is allowed on the android app again, the app is completely worthless to me and I'm unable to use it.  Rather frustrating that for the last few months I've been forced to watch all my videos on my PC instead of in the comfort of my living room like I used to - kinda defeats the purpose of using MediaBrowser at this point...

 

I will add my voice to the crowd begging that an option for direct stream of mkv .h264 video be re-enabled.  Until then, I think I'm going to have to just stop using MediaBrowser for most of my content =/

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Hi @@Luke,

 

Is this fix going to be on the server side or client specific? Right now when using the Windows 8 app or Android app, most of my media gets transcoded (most are MKVs). I know with MKVs the likely scenario would be that the video is direct streamed and the audio transcoded, that is how Plex behaves for the same MKVs, however with mediabrowser it transcodes video and audio.

 

To me this is a major difference between MB and Plex. I use MBC only within my house but if I need to stream to a tablet/phone I have to use Plex for this reason. While I think things like GPU assist transcoding is great, I hope the fact that most things get transcoded will get looked into. I really think this along with the content sync option would make MB pull ahead of Plex.

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yea what we're going to be doing now is pulling supported media information directly from the device, which is going to give us really info in terms of what it can direct play and what it can't.

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  • 2 months later...
x-cell

Hi,

 

Is there any update to this?

 

The server still transcodes any audio that is ac3 or dts even if you select external player and the player supports the format like VLC.

 

Not only does it cause unnecessary CPU usage on the server but it makes the video unsearchable in VLC so it can only be played from start to finish.

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  • 2 weeks later...
hifiaudio2

Is there a particular external player that is most recommended to avoid transcoding on 1:1 Blu ray MKV rips with lossless DTS or Dolby audio?  Does VLC support all of that?  

 

I am trying to get the Android app to not transcode on my Android based Zappiti 4k player. 

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MSattler

Is there a particular external player that is most recommended to avoid transcoding on 1:1 Blu ray MKV rips with lossless DTS or Dolby audio?  Does VLC support all of that?  

 

I am trying to get the Android app to not transcode on my Android based Zappiti 4k player. 

 

Take a look at the transcoding logs to see what is being transcoded.  If the player doesn't support DTS directly, you can use MX Player, which with the extra codec file will decode DTS.   The only downside is doing this you get no ability to resume playback, since MX Player does not report progress back to the server.

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