Sony Android TV and DTS

[Martum 2]

Hi everyone,

 

I've just bought an Android TV by Sony (XD93) which is connected through HDMI-ARC with my Pioneer AVR. The AVR supports all formats up to DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, tested with my old Linux HTPC and Kodi.

Installed is the latest emby version and I've also tried the beta version.

The new TV came with Android 6.0.1 so it should be able to direct play DTS and DD. DD is working fine, my AVR shows the DD signal. But DTS is not working at all, when I start a DTS movie it just has stereo and my AVR does not show the DTS logo. The movie is direct playing, no transcoding involved.

 

First I thought the ARC was the problem but when I connect a device directly to the TV it can pass through the DTS signal to the AVR without any problems.

 

So is Emby on Android TV not DTS compatible like stated in the wiki? https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Wiki/wiki/Android%20TV

Or is my new TV just too dumb for it? I could still return it and get another one which works with DTS but I need confirmation first, I don't want to buy the false product twice, especially not at that price.

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Martum

[ebr 14925]

The TV is telling the app that it does not support DTS.

 

While this is true from the TVs perspective, it isn't' entirely true because it should actually be querying the downstream equipment to see if it supports it instead.  However, we've recently discovered that these TVs are not doing that properly.  So the net effect is that the app thinks your setup does not support DTS.

[Martum 2]

The TV is telling the app that it does not support DTS.

 

While this is true from the TVs perspective, it isn't' entirely true because it should actually be querying the downstream equipment to see if it supports it instead.  However, we've recently discovered that these TVs are not doing that properly.  So the net effect is that the app thinks your setup does not support DTS.

Thank you for the response.

But if my app thinks, that my setup does not support DTS, why is it not requesting a transcoded version? My server is capable of transcoding so it should work and I would have at least some kind of 5.1 audio stream.

 

And does anyone know of a TV Model or OS that supports this properly? I've spent almost 2k for a TV and to be honest Emby was one of the main reasons for that TV. Not blaming Emby here, I am just disappointed by my new TV and trying to maybe find a different TV that suits my needs more. If there is no other model that is capable of what I need than I have to hook up my HTPC again.

[ebr 14925]

We only transcode if absolutely necessary.  Instead, we try a different playback mechanism that can direct play/stream if at all possible.  In this case, there is one and, in any normal situation, it would also decode the DTS to a 5.1 PCM stream.  However, the TV/ARC doesn't support that either.

 

This is problem unique to at least just the smart TVs and possibly only to the Sony's (not sure).  We may have to implement a switch in the app to overcome it.

[pünktchen 1259]

Just FYI: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?pid=2536567#pid2536567

[Martum 2]

So I've just tried the Plex app for Android TV and it transcodes the DTS audio to Dolby Digital 5.1 which is working fine through HDMI Arc passthrough. If that would be possible too with the emby app I would be the happiest man on the world

I guess I am not alone with this problem because it looks like the Sony Android TVs are very popular now after the rough start they had.

If I can help by providing any more information or logs I would gladly do that.

[ebr 14925]

Please try the beta version 1.3.23.  It should restore the option to force bitstreaming of DTS in the settings.  Turn that on and let me know what happens.  Thanks.

[mini__me 23]

Thanks @@ebr I'm currently working away from home so I'm unable to test. Hopefully @@Martum is able to test and confirm

[Martum 2]

Thank you

I've downloaded the the beta and activated the DTS bitstream in the settings.

It's not working for me, there is no DTS signal ending in the AVR.

Does the option force to pass through DTS?

[ebr 14925]

Thank you

I've downloaded the the beta and activated the DTS bitstream in the settings.

It's not working for me, there is no DTS signal ending in the AVR.

Does the option force to pass through DTS?

 

What, exactly, is happening?

 

Was an ffmpeg log produced on the server?

[Martum 2]

What, exactly, is happening?

 

Was an ffmpeg log produced on the server?

I've sent you a pm with the server log.

The video plays fine but the DTS line is played back as stereo. No transcoding is happening no matter how I set the DTS bitstreaming option.

[mini__me 23]

Same as Martum no DTS here, logs sent 14:44 user Steve. No transcode log.

[ebr 14925]

Same as Martum no DTS here, logs sent 14:44 user Steve. No transcode log.

 

Yeah, I'm just going to have to remove that option.  The system is not lying to us. It does not support DTS.

03-17 14:43:47.360  7408  7408 I System.out:       [X] Track:0, id=2, mimeType=audio/vnd.dts, channels=6, sample_rate=48000, language=eng, supported=NO_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE

[mini__me 23]

[cchsieh 8]

I have the same problem with SONY TV KD-65X9300D too.

 

Is it possible to transcoe dts to ac3 like chromecast if DTS not working and ac3 is accepted ?

 

Refer to http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=289735 , it should be SONY's fault, KODI use transcoding to deal with it.

Edited March 17, 2017 by cchsieh

[ebr 14925]

The problem is that every time we transcode something people get very upset and want to know why when something else doesn't have to.  So our decision process is always to choose the method that will avoid transcoding until there just is no other option.

 

In this case, we can direct play the item using a different player so that is chosen over causing transcoding in the audio.  The other player will even output 5.1 sound but it appears some of the TVs don't pass this on.

 

I can try and see if we can make a different decision here in the limited case of a TV that doesn't support DTS but that will undoubtedly produce a different set of people complaining about the transcode.

[Martum 2]

Yes DTS is currently not working on the Sony Android TV but I also hope that we have the possibility to always transcode DTS to Dolby Digital. At the moment I have to hit the Playback Error button so it starts to transcode to Dolby Digital.

[ebr 14925]

Have either of you tried this with the latest Android TV beta?  1.3.27+

[mini__me 23]

[Martum 2]

Now it works perfectly. DTS gets transcoded to Dolby digital surround. You removed the DTS bistream option too so it looks like it detects it automatically without any problems. Thank you very much ebr.

[Luke 37100]

Thanks for confirming guys.

[mekwall 8]

Thanks a lot! Last beta fixed all DTS playback issues on my Sony TV. However, I am having issues playing back 4K HDR HEVC (x265 codec) content. Sound works perfectly but the video is not playing correctly. Only getting parts of the logos in the beginning and then it's all black.

It plays in VLC, but am getting grey letterbox instead of black (same in emby). What do you need from me to debug the issue?

Here's some info on the video stream:

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main 10@L5@High
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 1 606 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.167
Writing library                          : x265 2.3+23-97435a0870be:[Windows][GCC 6.3.0][64 bit] 10bit

Edited April 2, 2017 by mekwall

[JeremyFr79 228]

 

Thanks a lot! Last beta fixed all DTS playback issues on my Sony TV. However, I am having issues playing back 4K HDR HEVC (x265 codec) content. Sound works perfectly but the video is not playing correctly. Only getting parts of the logos in the beginning and then it's all black.

 

It plays in VLC, but am getting grey letterbox instead of black (same in emby). What do you need from me to debug the issue?

 

Here's some info on the video stream:

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main 10@L5@High
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 1 606 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.167
Writing library                          : x265 2.3+23-97435a0870be:[Windows][GCC 6.3.0][64 bit] 10bit

That file is not HDR, if it were you'd see 4:4:4 for the Chroma Subsampling, and AT LEAST 12 bit for the Bit Depth 4:2:0 is SDR.  As for the grey bars you'll probably need to fix the color range either on the TV or the device you're playing to it with the correct range so that your blacks are correct.

Edited April 2, 2017 by JeremyFr79

[ebr 14925]

 

Thanks a lot! Last beta fixed all DTS playback issues on my Sony TV. However, I am having issues playing back 4K HDR HEVC (x265 codec) content. Sound works perfectly but the video is not playing correctly. Only getting parts of the logos in the beginning and then it's all black.

 

It plays in VLC, but am getting grey letterbox instead of black (same in emby). What do you need from me to debug the issue?

 

Here's some info on the video stream:

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main 10@L5@High
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 1 606 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (23976/1000) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0 (Type 2)
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.167
Writing library                          : x265 2.3+23-97435a0870be:[Windows][GCC 6.3.0][64 bit] 10bit

 

Can you please provide the media info from the web client (this allows us to see exactly how Emby sees the media) and then follow the instructions to send a log from the app?  Thanks.

[Samenluisteren 0]

I Have the same problem with my Philips PUS6521, Android TV.

If I try to install the beta version, The app on the tv sais it doesn't support it. So I can't install it.

My tv itself supports dts passthrough perfectly, but not within Emby. It would also be ok if I can choose the internal player from the tv, but that's also not supported.

Does anyone have a solution for this?

 

thanx