Forced transcoding in new MKV with DV and HDR10 of Netfix content.

[Fabian2101 23]

Hello, I want to inform Emby technical support that I am having problems in playing the new and recent MKV files in which the video track contains simultaneously the “High Dynamite Range” systems of “Dolby Vision (DV) and HDR10 ” always exclusively with the contents of the streaming service Netflix. These MKV files that contain "Dolby Vision (DV) and HDR10" simultaneously, from the streaming service Netflix are the only ones that are currently presenting this serious problem with Emby Server 4.7.11.0 for Windows operating system, and with the official client of Emby for Android TV v2.0.83g.

The serious problem is that my Emby server starts converting or transcoding the video track using 100% of the CPU, the HDR video quality dies because it is displayed as a device that does not support HDR with washed out and distorted colors, No impact on HDR brightness and contrast, since by mistake my Emby server transcoded or converted the video track from the original HEVC codec (h265), to the h264 codec that does not support any kind of HDR. And in the statistics for nerds the legend “Direct Play Error” is reported.

But if instead of using the internal player of the official client for Android TV, and I establish the playback with an external player, the playback is done with direct transmission without any conversion or transcoding and I can see the HDR perfectly well.

Here below I leave the analysis with MediaInfo of the video codec and HDR format section, of the MKV files of "Netflix" content that have this serious error and problem:
D:\Faby\BIBLIOTECAS\Películas 4k HDR\Enola Holmes 2 (2022).mk
Vídeo
ID: 1
Formato: HEVC
Formato/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Formato del perfil: Main 10@L5@Main
HDR format: Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.08.06, BL+RPU, HDR10 compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible.

D:\Faby\BIBLIOTECAS\Series 4k HDR\Lady Voyeur\Lady Voyeur 1x01 The Year I Lived Two Lives.mkv
Vídeo
ID: 1
Formato: HEVC
Formato/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Formato del perfil: Main 10@L5@Main
HDR format: Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.08.06, BL+RPU, HDR10 compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible

D:\Faby\BIBLIOTECAS\Series 4k HDR\Kaleidoscope\Kaleidoscope 1x02 Yellow.mkv
Vídeo
ID: 1
Formato: HEVC
Formato/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Formato del perfil: Main 10@L5@Main
HDR format: Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.08.06, BL+RPU, HDR10 compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible

Here below I leave the analysis with MediaInfo of the video codec and HDR format section, of the MKV files that contain HDR and do not present any error or problem in playback, since they are not Netfix content, or if they were content from Netflix only contain common HDR10:
D:\Faby\BIBLIOTECAS\Películas 4k HDR\The Menu (2022) - El menú.mkv
Vídeo
ID: 1
Formato: HEVC
Formato/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Formato del perfil: Main 10@L5@High
HDR format: Dolby Vision, Version 1.0, dvhe.08.06, BL+RPU, HDR10 compatible / SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible

D:\Faby\BIBLIOTECAS\Series 4k HDR\1899\1899 1x01 The Ship.mkv
Vídeo
ID: 1
Formato: HEVC
Formato/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Formato del perfil: Main 10@L5@Main
HDR format: SMPTE ST 2086, HDR10 compatible

D:\Faby\BIBLIOTECAS\Series 4k HDR\Star Trek Strange New Worlds\Star Trek Strange New Worlds 1x10.mkv
Vídeo
ID: 1
Formato: HEVC
Formato/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Formato del perfil: Main 10@L5@Main
HDR format: SMPTE ST 2094 App 4, Version 1, HDR10+ Profile B compatible

Do you know the cause of the problem and error in playing the recent and very new MKV files of Netflix contents that contain DV and HDR10 simultaneously?
Do you have a solution for this problem?

[Happy2Play 8356]

Please provide the corresponding ffmpeg and server log.

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[Fabian2101 23]

1 hour ago, Happy2Play said:

Please provide the corresponding ffmpeg and server log.

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

Thank you very much for your quick response.
In the following link I attach all the files of the Emby server and ffmpeg logs when I was causing the error:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KLd7X-v8olhTyPpIiU0s74TUVvZyr3xV?usp=sharing

But I also already sent you the records from the Emby client for Android TV with the following data:
Server name: HAL9000
Server User: Testing-Testing

I am waiting for you to review the error logs and then inform me what is the cause of the problem and its solution. 

Thanks

[ebr 14959]

13 hours ago, Fabian2101 said:

But I also already sent you the records from the Emby client for Android TV with the following data:

Hi.  Exactly what time did you do this?

[rbjtech 4330]

Seems to be a DV8 issue - just been testing a few files with @neik and those cause the same issue.  Other DV8 files play perfectly well in DV - so I suspect it's the construction of the files is not being done to specification ...

Could be Exo not being as tolerant as other players I guess. 

[Fabian2101 23]

7 hours ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Exactly what time did you do this?

The hours were between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 8, 2023 of the -3 time zone of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Or between 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. of the time zone -5.

[Fabian2101 23]

3 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Seems to be a DV8 issue - just been testing a few files with @neik and those cause the same issue.  Other DV8 files play perfectly well in DV - so I suspect it's the construction of the files is not being done to specification ...

Could be Exo not being as tolerant as other players I guess. 

You are right, the problem or error only occurs with MKV files with dual source HDR in the video, with Dolby Vision and HDR10, but so far the problem is always with Netflix streaming service content. With another movie that does not belong to Netflix with the title "The Menu (2022)" but also has double HDR with Dolby Vision and HDR10 there is no problem in playback.

Do you know if this problem will have a solution?

Will you be able to fix the problem in the EXO PLAYER client for Android TV?

[neik 838]

3 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Seems to be a DV8 issue - just been testing a few files with @neik and those cause the same issue.  Other DV8 files play perfectly well in DV - so I suspect it's the construction of the files is not being done to specification ...

Could be Exo not being as tolerant as other players I guess. 

Thank you, for checking this.

1 minute ago, Fabian2101 said:

You are right, the problem or error only occurs with MKV files with dual source HDR in the video, with Dolby Vision and HDR10, but so far the problem is always with Netflix streaming service content. With another movie that does not belong to Netflix with the title "The Menu (2022)" but also has double HDR with Dolby Vision and HDR10 there is no problem in playback.

Not every Netflix movie/show with DV8 causes this, it's a bit of a random issue unfortunately.

2 minutes ago, Fabian2101 said:

Do you know if this problem will have a solution?

There has to be a solution as the competition plays the HDR layer just fine - didn't test DV layer though as the test was done on my smartphone.

[Fabian2101 23]

1 hour ago, neik said:

Thank you, for checking this.

Not every Netflix movie/show with DV8 causes this, it's a bit of a random issue unfortunately.

There has to be a solution as the competition plays the HDR layer just fine - didn't test DV layer though as the test was done on my smartphone.

You are right, I turned on my Plex server, which had been turned off for several months, I began to carry out the tests with Plex and I am surprised that with the Plex server and its official client for Android TV all the content that video tracks containing Dolby Vision and HDR10 work and play without any issues or errors, and with full direct playback without any transcode.

It is that I, a few months ago, managed to solve the problem of jumps and jerks in the images when playing with Emby on my Philips OLED873 television, forcing my Emby server to always send HLS transmission, instead of direct transmission.

I also see that Emby does not inform that the transmissions contain Dolby Vision and HDR10. Plex now does report it on the dashboard.

This new issue with my Emby server may force me to return to Plex.

I am attaching all the screenshots of the dashboard of my Plex server, where you can observe and check that the playback with Netflix content works on the Plex server:

 

 

 

[Luke 37246]

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.

 

[Fabian2101 23]

51 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.

 

Dear @Luke, I already installed and I was doing the tests with the official app for Android Mobiles as you requested. 

The result is exactly the same, Emby is not able to achieve direct playback, or direct play without transcoding the video on the video tracks with Dolby Vision and HDR10, exclusively for the moment only on Netflix content.
In the non-Netflix movie "The Menu (2022)", it has no problem playing with Emby despite the fact that the video track also contains Dolby Vision and HDR10.

Will you be able to fix this problem in future updates of the client for Android TV, and the server for Windows?
How long does it take you to solve this problem?

 

[neik 838]

Fabian, thank you for confirming.

Luke, this is not a matter of which app you're using both of them (ATV and ET for Android) fail to play.

5 hours ago, Fabian2101 said:

Emby is not able to achieve direct playback, or direct play without transcoding the video on the video tracks with Dolby Vision and HDR10, exclusively for the moment only on Netflix content.

For me it's even worse those files don't play at all on my Shield, although I can see the server transcoding it I only get a black screen without audio.
Additionally, when stepping out of that black screen the transcode does not get stopped so that the server transcodes the complete file - only solution is to restart the server.
All of this is reproducable for me.

[Fabian2101 23]

1 hour ago, neik said:

Fabian, thank you for confirming.

Luke, this is not a matter of which app you're using both of them (ATV and ET for Android) fail to play.

For me it's even worse those files don't play at all on my Shield, although I can see the server transcoding it I only get a black screen without audio.
Additionally, when stepping out of that black screen the transcode does not get stopped so that the server transcodes the complete file - only solution is to restart the server.
All of this is reproducable for me.

Thank you very much dear @neik  for participating and providing more information on this problem. I think that the cause of the problem has to be in the internal EXO PLAYER player of the client for Andriod TV, because if I enable the external player configuration option and play with VLC, MX Player (formerly J2 Interactive, Kodi, or any other external player, playback works great with direct streaming and without any transcoding.

But it is very annoying that the resume function does not work with an external player.

Later on, I'm going to reinstall the Jellyfin server and I'll also do the tests with Jellyfin. It's a pity that the Jellyfin project still has a long way to go to fix other errors and add options.

I am waiting for you to confirm if this serious problem can be solved in a future update as soon as possible.

Thanks. Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[Fabian2101 23]

I want to notify you that the problem with playback, with the previously mentioned files of Netflix content, which contain DV and HDR10, in my case it is completely solved, the playback is direct and without any transcoding, but for the moment the solution It is in the client for Android tablets and smartphones with version 3.2.91.
The successful test was carried out on my Philips 55OLED873 television with Android TV 8, on the Xiaomi Mi Box with Android TV 9.

Unfortunately, the problem persists in the client for Android TV, and what I use the most is the client for Android TV, on my four television devices to watch movies and episodes of television series in HDR quality.

I attach the screenshots, where you can see my Emby server, doing direct transmission with HTTP, without any transcoding:

 

[Fabian2101 23]

Fixed transcoding in playback issue with DV and HDR10 in client 2.0.87. 

I want to notify you that the problem in playing files with DV and HDR10 from Netflix has been solved in the new Beta version 2.0.87g.