Problem with Multi-version/resolution movies

[PeteMB 13]

I have some problem with the playback of Multi-resolution movies. It seems Emby is not selecting the correct version. I thought Emby clients where capable to select the correct version? I have tested this with Emby Theater (Xbox One, Windows Store & Desktop) and the webapp. All of them are using the highest quality version instead of selecting the one with the correct resolution. On my Xbox One S this is a big problem because it selects the 4K version of a movie instead of the 1080P version. I don't have a 4K screen, so I get a green screen.

[Luke 38807]

hi @@PeteMB, can you please discuss a specific example, and attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. thanks !

[PeteMB 13]

I have been using Multi-resolution movies for a long time now, but never really tested if it was working. In the past it was always a combination of a SD/DVD version and a HD/Bluray version. So it was never a problem to get the HD version. But now i am starting to also use 4K versions to future proof my library. But currently i don't have a 4K screen yet. So it should always fallback to the HD version.

 

Included are my server logs and transcoding logs.

 

This is the media Info

 

 

This is a screenshot of "Stats for nerds" from Emby Theater (Windows Store version)

 

 

This is the same screenshot from the Webapp (the one hosted local on my emby server)

 

server-63644797187.txt

ffmpeg-directstream-17721452-4b9c-4d65-96ee-fd3f6f0653bc.txt

ffmpeg-directstream-cac5b268-0fb2-4f8b-81a3-699d24dd91de.txt

[Luke 38807]

That's not necessarily true because if both versions can direct stream based on app streaming settings then many will want the highest quality compatible version.

 

If you lower the in app bitrate setting to a low enough value then you will see that it will choose the smaller version to avoid the full transcode on the 4k version.

[PeteMB 13]

Ok, this seems to be working now. If i lower the playback bitrate to full hd 10 Mbit, Emby Theater will switch to the 1080p version.

But honestly I don't think this is the correct way to decide what version to use, you should look at the screen/player resolution and not at the bitrate. In my encodes i never use a fixed bitrate, I always do encodes based on quality with variable bitrates. This 4K movie is around 15 Mbit, so if I have to lower my playback bitrate to something lower than 15 Mbit a lot of my HD movies will need reencoding, this is not something i want. 

Currently this is a big problem on my Xbox One S, here i get a green screen and I am not able to playback the 4K stream. The Xbox One S seems to not be capable to downscale a 4k stream.

[Luke 38807]

Ok that's different then. That means that file should transcode regardless of bitrate setting. We can correct that. Thanks.

[PeteMB 13]

Shouldn't it be better to select the 1080p version instead of transcodeing the 4k version to a 1080p version? I have a 1080p version available.

I will move the 4K version to the "Specials" folder, because the way you select the version will not work in my setup.

[Luke 38807]

That's exactly what will happen.

[nobody01 87]

So... I'm looking to merge my 4K movies with the 1080p versions under the same library.

 

I've named them

 

Film - BluRay 2160p.mkv

Film.mkv or Film - BluRay 1080p.mkv

 

I have manually merge the versions together however within Emby its not automatically selecting the best version to play. Its defaulting to 4K which is fine on a 4K compatabile TV however on mobile devices and TV devices its transcoding the 4K version rather then giving the end device the 1080p version which could be direct-played or transcoded (not using as much resources than the 4K version)

 

Let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

 

Will TV shows also behave in a similar manner?

[nobody01 87]

Looks like I didn't search properly... I'm experiencing this too - https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/58796-multiple-versions/

 

Movie has two qualities - 2160p + 1080p 

 

Quality is set to Auto - It will play the 2160p and transcode it for iOS or WebApp but it should transcode the 1080p version as this will be less of a resource hog if required or directplay the 1080p version.

[legallink 187]

My experience is this is a longer standing issue.  Auto selection isn't always the best on this.  I'm not sure how the logic works, but because there was (what I assume) a vocal minority, Luke and EBR accommodated by adding the file selection ability in the interface.

[Luke 38807]

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

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/790-how-to-report-a-problem/

Thanks !

[nobody01 87]

Sure. Will try and get detailed samples and logs

[Luke 38807]

Can you please attach the emby server and ffmpeg log from an example? thanks !

[nobody01 87]

ffmpeg-transcode-ae6cb0f5-f08c-454e-8f3a-dedea2fca3e5.txtembyserver.txt

Browser: Chrome

It defaults to 2160p, the monitor is not capable of this. I'm capable of chaning to 1080p however its not wife / family friendly. So I would expect hitting play it would play the relevant file that is DirectPlayable if not then transcode the 1080p version instead of the 2160p version.

 

Logs are attached. Server: 3.4.0.0 in Docker with hardware transcoding. Restart Emby so log should be clean.

 

[Luke 38807]

ffmpeg-transcode-ae6cb0f5-f08c-454e-8f3a-dedea2fca3e5.txtembyserver.txt

Browser: Chrome

It defaults to 2160p, the monitor is not capable of this. I'm capable of chaning to 1080p however its not wife / family friendly. So I would expect hitting play it would play the relevant file that is DirectPlayable if not then transcode the 1080p version instead of the 2160p version.

 

Logs are attached. Server: 3.4.0.0 in Docker with hardware transcoding. Restart Emby so log should be clean.

 

 

Ok this one is different. The web app has no way of knowing that your monitor doesn't support the higher resolution version, so in this situation we just pick the higher quality version. If you adjust your in-app quality setting, that will affect which one gets picked automatically.

[nobody01 87]

That makes sense!

 

I’ve just tested the Android TV version and it gave the option “Choose the best quality for me” I selected this and it played the 4K version which is what the tele can support.

 

Will go test it on the FireTV and non 4K tele now.

 

If it works you should improve the merging of movies and then advertise on the website as this is something Plex cannot do!

[nobody01 87]

Whoop I’m liking this!

 

Auto selected the 1080p stream when selecting choose best quality for me with direct play.

 

However it has selected the 4K version to transcode when setting the Bitrate to 5Mbps

[nobody01 87]

ffmpeg-transcode-f774f260-fb4b-45aa-8340-951947eed0fa.txtffmpeg-remux-78b567d5-286b-491b-97c9-a7716d4f322e.txtembyserver.txt

Attached server log

 

Film: Maze Runner Death Cure - 4K + 1080p under same item with Emby as per above screenshot

 

Remux log on Fire TV thats 1080p capable - Bitrate: Auto - Selected play 'Best quality version for me'  - Emby played the 1080p version DirectPlay

 

Transcode log on FireTV thats 1080p capable - Bitrate: 5Mbps - Selected play 'Best quality version for me' - Emby transcoded the 4K version

[Luke 38807]

Thanks, we'll take a look.

[nobody01 87]

Thanks, we'll take a look.

Np, let me know if you want me to test anything else.

 

Will try a TV show shortly.

[ebr 15428]

The 4k version is a higher bitrate, right?

 

Once you have to transcode (convert from high quality to a lower one) doesn't it make sense to start with the highest quality version available?

[nobody01 87]

The 4k version is a higher bitrate, right?

 

Once you have to transcode (convert from high quality to a lower one) doesn't it make sense to start with the highest quality version available?

Not when the TV doesn’t support 4K and transcoding 4K is very resource intensive. I have 5-7 streams going in the evening, some people can’t steam more than 4Mbps Edited May 12, 2018 by jaketame

[Guest asrequested]

Yeah transcoding 4k takes a bit of muscle, and if it's HDR the transcoded picture will be terrible. 4k should only be used to transcode when there's no other option.

[nobody01 87]

Yeah transcoding 4k takes a bit of muscle, and if it's HDR the transcoded picture will be terrible. 4k should only be used to transcode when there's no other option.

Agree with you there.

 

Any more on this Luke? :-)