Audio not switching during Direct Play / Samsung App / Windows Server

[accelleratii 2]

Setup:

TV: Samsung Q70B (QE55Q70BAUXUA), firmware 1310 (up-to-date)

Emby App: https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Releases/raw/master/tizen/tizen.zip

Emby Server: Windows, Portable 64bit, Version 4.7.11.0

====

Issue:

While playing video files (mkv: avc x264, eac3; HEVC, ac3) hosted on windows PC, at max resolution and bitrate - Direct Play (no transcoding) via Emby's Samsung App, only first audio stream can be observed/heard. Even though other audio streams are visible in selection (note icon), and switching to one of those streams is reflected in "stats for nerds" overlay, only first mentioned audio stream will be played.

While testing same files via emby's dlna source in same tv set, audio streams can be switched and heard properly (no transcoding), excluding 4k video files (HEVC, ac3) which can not be launched in emby's dlna at all being displayed as .mpg (Format: mpeg). Although same 4k files can be launched via Serviio's dlna source in same tv set. @SamES

====

Log:

(saved separately for both occasions, app issue and dlna test)

emby-logs-app.7z emby-logs-dlna.7z

[SamES 893]

Is this a 2022 model tv?  It appears to have the same issue that 2021 models have. I’ll report it to Samsung, but we’ll probably have to implement server side switching of audio tracks for this model as well

[accelleratii 2]

As far as I understand Samsungs model naming “b” in the name means second revision as compared to “a” of same model, while q70a is 2021 model, q70b was dated as 2022 model the store. 

Does server side implementation fix this on next update or is this a longer process?  @SamES

[SamES 893]

On 17/12/2022 at 23:06, accelleratii said:

Does server side implementation fix this on next update or is this a longer process?

Yes, I've added this for the next update as a work-around.

[SamES 893]

@accelleratiican you please confirm that you have the latest firmware installed for the TV?

It looks like there may be a newer version (1420.9).  You will probably need to download this and install via USB as the over the air automatic updates can sometimes take a while to be deployed.

I think this is the page for you model, please check it and make sure it is correct

55" QLED 4K Q70B | Підтримка Samsung UA (https://www.samsung.com/ua/support/model/QE55Q70BAUXUA/)

Please test after installing the latest version.  Samsung are aware of this issue on 2021 models and are working on an update, it's possible that they will also update 2022 models at the same time.

[accelleratii 2]

@SamES Can confirm firmware 1310 that was reported as up-to-date, in fact was not, and the update form the Samsung's support page did install via USB drive. TV is now running on 1420.9 which has fixed the audio stream switch issue.

Although now, no subtitles can be displayed (same streams tested in DLNA worked).

[SamES 893]

8 hours ago, accelleratii said:

@SamES Can confirm firmware 1310 that was reported as up-to-date, in fact was not, and the update form the Samsung's support page did install via USB drive. TV is now running on 1420.9 which has fixed the audio stream switch issue.

Oh, it has fixed it, that's great news. 

Did you have this same subtitle issue before the firmware update, or did that issue just start after the update?

[accelleratii 2]

3 hours ago, SamES said:

Did you have this same subtitle issue before the firmware update, or did that issue just start after the update?

That was not something I've tested extensively; I remember having some subs, during audio tests, not sure if they were switchable or played for every file.

[accelleratii 2]

Update: Have done some more testing, subtitles do play, they just appear with significant delay after selecting a stream. Subtitle are in sync, just come up on screen after a while.

[SamES 893]

7 hours ago, accelleratii said:

Update: Have done some more testing, subtitles do play, they just appear with significant delay after selecting a stream. Subtitle are in sync, just come up on screen after a while.

What format are the subtitles, and are they internal or external?

[accelleratii 2]

@SamES

Plain text? Subs are in the mkv container, here are some:

Text #4
ID                          : 8
Format                      : UTF-8
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info               : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                    : 2 h 6 min
Bit rate                    : 55 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.217 FPS
Count of elements           : 1643
Stream size                 : 51.1 KiB (0%)
Title                       : English
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Forced                      : No

Text #5
ID                          : 9
Format                      : UTF-8
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info               : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                    : 2 h 6 min
Bit rate                    : 65 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.273 FPS
Count of elements           : 2079
Stream size                 : 61.0 KiB (0%)
Title                       : English [SDH]
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Forced                      : No

Text #6
ID                          : 10
Format                      : UTF-8
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info               : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                    : 1 h 16 min
Bit rate                    : 3 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.015 FPS
Count of elements           : 68
Stream size                 : 1.76 KiB (0%)
Title                       : English [Forced]
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Forced                      : No

Thing is, when I went to retest today, files that I've played previously displayed subs right away, and when tried on new video file it would take some time before they showed up again. So i went to see the logs, and noticed ffmpeg-directstream and ffmpeg-remux logs for my files, here is the stream part for one of those:

21:13:38.079   Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
21:13:38.079   Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
21:13:38.079   Stream #0:4 -> #1:0 (subrip (srt) -> webvtt (native))
21:13:38.079   Stream #0:5 -> #2:0 (subrip (srt) -> webvtt (native))

and media info part for same file:

Text #1
ID                          : 5
Format                      : UTF-8
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info               : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                    : 41 min 4 s
Bit rate                    : 76 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.298 FPS
Count of elements           : 735
Stream size                 : 22.9 KiB (0%)
Title                       : Full
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Forced                      : No

Text #2
ID                          : 6
Format                      : UTF-8
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info               : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                    : 41 min 4 s
Bit rate                    : 78 b/s
Frame rate                  : 0.312 FPS
Count of elements           : 768
Stream size                 : 23.7 KiB (0%)
Title                       : SDH
Language                    : English
Default                     : No
Forced                      : No

So I guess this is why they lag behind?

[SamES 893]

9 minutes ago, accelleratii said:

Plain text? Subs are in the mkv container, here are some:

Thanks.  Can you confirm the playback method (DirectPlay or DirectStream)?

Do you have any ffmpeg logs for the playback?  If you select another stream, then go back to one you've already selected, is it quicker the second time you select the same language?

[SamES 893]

Just read further, I think you answered my question already.

If it is true that after the first time the subs then start quick, it is because the server is extracting the subs the first time you select them, and is then storing them on the server.  Once they're extracted, they will load quickly after that.

[Luke 37151]

@accelleratii have your questions been answered?

[accelleratii 2]

On 12/26/2022 at 3:28 AM, Luke said:

@accelleratii have your questions been answered?

Yes!

[straes 1]

I'm having what seems like a similar issue but mine does not seem to have been resolved with the firmware update. 

Model QN85Q60BAFXZA

Soft Ver T-NKLBAKUC-1420.9,BT-S

[SamES 893]

Can you describe your issue and post some log files and media info?  Thanks

[straes 1]

I believe issue is similar to above.  Trying to watch a video which has German and Italian audio.  I have verified both work through the browser on Windows 11 computer.  However, on the Samsung tv app, I attempt to switch from Italian (default) to German.  It acts as if I didn't click anything.  I've tried:

• Starting from beginning with Italian selected, changing to German
• Starting from beginning with German selected, changing to Italian, and back
• Starting with no subtitles

I noticed this several weeks ago and thought I had a bad file.  I was about to look for a replacement but wanted to verify something, so accessed through my browser and discovered there the file played correctly.

Thanks for the quick reply.

edit:  Sorry, media info:  

mkv

Video

Title1080p H264

CodecH264

ProfileHigh

Level40

Resolution1920x1080

Aspect Ratio16:9

InterlacedNo

Framerate25

Bitrate9 mbps

Color Primariesbt709

Color Spacebt709

Color Transferbt709

Bit Depth8 bit

Pixel Formatyuv420p

Reference Frames1

 

Audio

TitleItalian AC3 5.1 (Default)

LanguageItalian

CodecAC3

Layout5.1

Channels6 ch

Bitrate384 kbps

Sample Rate48,000 Hz

DefaultYes

Audio

TitleGerman AC3 5.1

LanguageGerman

CodecAC3

Layout5.1

Channels6 ch

Bitrate384 kbps

Sample Rate48,000 Hz

DefaultNo

embyserver.txt

Edited December 29, 2022 by straes

[SamES 893]

I think your issue will be fixed in the next app version. It looks like you’re in an older version (probably the latest store version) so please check again after the next app update and report back. 
 

You could try the USB beta version which is the most current, but it needs to be uninstalled and a new USB version installed every 30 days. 
 

The advantage is that you will have more regular updates and fixes for these types of  issues, much quicker than the store releases. 

[straes 1]

I may try editing the files in the short term to just remove the audio file we arent interested in. I understand issues taking time to be fixed. You're aware of it and have it handled. All I can ask for.