MKV/H264 Playback on Android TV STB

[dlim60194 1]

I'm currently running Emby Server 4.7.14.0 on Ubuntu (Desktop). CPU is Intel i5 - 11500T.

I have recently used makeMKV to rip a Blu Ray movie to my Emby server. The codec info for the video stream shows as "H264 - MPEG4 AVC (part 10) (avc1)" in VLC Media Player.

I have a variety of devices that I've played the movie on through Emby: via the web using one or more different browsers (mostly Chrome, and Firefox and Safari on an iPhone) on various phones (Android and iPhone), and a couple of tablets; using the Emby app on the phones, tablets, and a Firestick 4K Max; and using both the Emby app on an Android TV STB (EVO Force 1) and using the web interface via an installed browser app. Playback of the movie on all of the devices/clients works as expected except for on the Emby app on Android TV.

During playback, in all cases (even using the Emby app on Android TV), Stats for Nerds shows video playback is 1080p H264, Direct Play, however, using the Emby app on Android TV freezes at the very beginning, on one of the black frames and doesn't go any further (if it is progressing, it's at a glacially slow rate - I've never seen the track time indicator progress past 00:00). In all of these cases, playback is within my home and both the Emby server and the clients are all on the same network, so bandwidth is not an issue.

Has anyone else seen this or a similar problem? I'm guessing this may be an issue specifically with Emby for Android TV.

This is at worst a minor annoyance. I am more than willing to just not use the Emby app on Android TV and instead use the Emby app on the Firestick for home viewing.

[ebr 14925]

Hi.  Can you please play that item for a few seconds and then follow the instructions to send a log from the app?

 

[dlim60194 1]

I was trying to play a Blu-Ray rip of "Arthur Christmas" from the beginning. Playback didn't progress beyond the initial black screen in the recording - possibly not even past the first frame.

The log was sent at 5:34 PM ET (UTC -5)

Logged in as user dlim on the local server.

After I sent the log, I noticed a Playback Correction menu item in the "cog menu". I selected that and playback began and continued normally after that. I sent the log before I tried the playback correction option. I can repeat and send the log after I click the playback correction option, if that will be helpful.

Also, I just exited playback back to the title information screen where I now have the option to resume playback where I left off. When I try to resume, the first frame of where I left off displays and playback freezes there. Again, playback correction at that point causes playback to resume normally.

Edited December 8, 2023 by dlim60194

[ebr 14925]

Hi.  Your log was practically empty.  Did you send it from the playback screen right after the problem occurred?

You might also try remuxing that video to see if maybe there is a bad index or something that is causing the problem.

[dlim60194 1]

Turns out it's not the video track that seems to be a problem.

There are six audio tracks that were ripped and muxed into the MKV

• English DTS-HD MA 5.1 (Default)
• English DTS 5.1
• English AC3 5.1
• French DTS-HD MA 5.1
• French DTS 5.1
• Spanish AC3 5.1

The issue occurs when using any of the DTS audio tracks. Playback is fine with the H264 video when either of the AC3 audio tracks is selected. The English AC3 track is descriptive audio.

When the playback freezes (or won't start at all at the beginning), selecting the Playback Correction from the gear menu, starts playback and Stats for Nerds now shows the Audio codec as DOLBY with a Conversion reason of "Direct play error". None of the other Emby client platforms have a problem with playing the DTS audio tracks in Direct play mode.

I can send logs later.

[dlim60194 1]

I've attached two images. The first is the status display at initial playback right when playback freezes showing direct play DTS-HD audio. The second image is immediately after selecting the playback correction option in the gear menu.

I just sent logs of playing the same title.

Logs were sent @ 12/10 7:07 am ET

[ebr 14925]

Not sure it is audio related as I'm seeing this in your logs:

12-10 06:07:31.431 11288 11288 E EventLogger:   com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.HttpDataSource$HttpDataSourceException: java.io.IOException: java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException: java.net.SocketTimeoutException: timeout
...
12-10 06:07:31.431 11288 11288 E EventLogger:   Caused by: java.net.SocketTimeoutException: timeout

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.

 

[dlim60194 1]

I side loaded the arm7 APK for Emby for Android on the same device. It had the same problem. No option to send logs and no option on the playback gear menu for playback correction.

[RanmaCanada 346]

Can your TV decode DTS (what is the model exactly)?  I am presuming since it can handle the AC3 perfectly fine, it's an issue with the DTS processing.  I'll throw this out there and see if you can use an external third party player like VLC.  Typically the server should just transcode the audio if the device can't play it back.  That good old 7.1 audio I know is an issue with Android TV devices which is why EBR suggested to sideload.

[dlim60194 1]

Comment right above yours: I sideloaded the regular Android Emby client. Same issue.

It's not a TV. It's an EVO Force 1 with TiVo STB. The local cable company just migrated residential cable TV customers to IPTV using these. The spec sheet indicates that it's supposed to support DTS-HD.

I can try to see if I can get VLC installed, possibly via sideload and see if that works any better.

In my original post at the top of this thread, I stated that I installed a web browser app and that the title appeared to play ok via the web client. That turns out not to be the case. It just takes a bit longer in the stream to stop. It's starting to look like maybe it's a problem with the hardware deciding DTS-HD.

I don't want to take up more of anyone else's time with this. I just got my production Emby server set up on a new Ubuntu Desktop box and I was trying a few things before I let my wife start using it. I have a Firestick 4k Max connected to the TV and I've installed Emby on that and it has no problem playing that title with the DTS-HD audio track. I'll just uninstall Emby from the Android TV and have my wife use the Firestick.

Edited December 10, 2023 by dlim60194

[Luke 37100]

Quote

It's starting to look like maybe it's a problem with the hardware deciding DTS-HD.

The web app wouldn't be sending dts-hd directly because browsers can't do that. It would be using the server to convert the audio and then playing that. So for whatever reason the web app stopped is a different reason, unless it's due to something in the file.

What version of android does this box run?

[dlim60194 1]

I rechecked running the Emby web client from a browser app installed on the Android TV box. Sure enough, it is showing audio being transcoded to MP3. The browser is some browser app that I'm not familiar with.

[ FWIW, Chrome and Firefox show up in the Google Play store, but they show as not installable on Android TV. I tried side-loading Chrome, but it was not usable. ]

The box is running Android 10.

[Luke 37100]

1 hour ago, dlim60194 said:

I rechecked running the Emby web client from a browser app installed on the Android TV box. Sure enough, it is showing audio being transcoded to MP3. The browser is some browser app that I'm not familiar with.

[ FWIW, Chrome and Firefox show up in the Google Play store, but they show as not installable on Android TV. I tried side-loading Chrome, but it was not usable. ]

The box is running Android 10.

Can you try this version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/u1obwrckg4lkjc8/emby-android-google-armeabi-v7a-release.apk?dl=0

And then provide an android app log by following these instructions: 

 

Thanks.

[dlim60194 1]

Here's the app log.

59242e6a-1cbd-40c0-b738-3a986a4855d5.log

[Luke 37100]

4 hours ago, dlim60194 said:

Here's the app log.

59242e6a-1cbd-40c0-b738-3a986a4855d5.log 129.62 kB · 1 download

Thanks. So it looks like you first started with the dts track selected, then switched to ac3. is that correct?

[dlim60194 1]

Yes. The AC3 track plays fine. Playback stops (or doesn't start) when the DTS track is selected.

[Luke 37100]

Do you have any files with dts that do successfully play?

[dlim60194 1]

Yes. The AC3 track plays fine. Playback stops (or doesn't start) when the DTS track is selected.

[Luke 37100]

I mean do you have other video files that can successfully play  dts?

[dlim60194 1]

I found another Blu Ray that I had ripped. The main title was ripped to an MKV containing:

Video

• 1080p H264

Audio

• English DTS-HD 5.1
• English DTS 5.1
• Spanish AC3 5.1

The title does not playback if either of the DTS tracks are selected, but playback works as expected if the AC3 track is selected.

Here's another app log. There are at least two app sessions logged. The most recent one starts at Fri Dec 15 23:27:35 CST 2023. During that app session, I started playback of the title with the DTS-HD track selected. I waited for about two minutes. During that two minutes, the screen remained black and the time counter did not advance beyond 00:00. After the two minutes wait, I exited back to the title info page.

After the above test with logging, I switched over to Emby on the Firestick 4K Max and played the same title. The title played as expected, regardless of which audio track was selected, including either of the DTS tracks.

 

2ca73878-8030-44a0-8bf3-9c953d7af059.log

[Luke 37100]

Do you have any video files that can successfully play  dts?

[dlim60194 1]

Not that I've found. Granted I've only ripped 3 Blu Rays out of my collection so far.

[ebr 14925]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:26 PM, dlim60194 said:

It's an EVO Force 1 with TiVo STB.

 

13 hours ago, dlim60194 said:

The box is running Android 10.

My guess is the box is actually running some customized fork of Android 10.

In the TV app, did you try de-selecting the options to pass thru DTS?

[dlim60194 1]

There's an Astound TV+ (Astound is the cable tv provider brand) app, which is the default for watching cable channels. Under system apps, there's Android TV Core Services. Neither of them have an option to pass thru DTS let alone any other settings that are disabled or completely locked down.`Is there anything in the logs I sent that indicates that DTS isn't being passed through?

I'm not disappointed if DTS audio on this Android TV box is a can't fix or won't fix. DTS audio on the other client platforms I've tried so far, either by direct support (Firestick 4K Max, phone, tablet) or via live transcode to MP3 (web player) work for me.

[ebr 14925]

Hi.  I mean in our app.  Look in playback settings.