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AppleTV 4K - how is it as a dedicated Emby client?


ShoutingMan

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I know this probably a long shot, but does anyone know if 24-bit multichannel FLAC gets preserved as 24-bit in the Emby app on an AppleTV 4K? On the Nvidia Shield, and nearly all Android boxes, the Android OS degrades PCM output to 16/48. So as someone with a lot of 24/48 FLAC in 5.1, 6.1, and 7.1, and some 24/96 and 24/192 FLAC 5.1, it's annoying to have your audio resampled.

 

I know it can also be hard to verify if the PCM output is staying at the original 16 or 24-bit without special equipment, but I figured I'd ask. I can send some sample files if anyone can test.

 

I would just check apple documentation because it will depend entirely on what the device supports.

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Senna

I never liked the XBMC/Kodi UI. This is certainly a matter of taste. But it is also clear that the UI is not Apple-like. It is sluggish (Siri remote) and it looks and feels like a foreign body on the AppleTV. Beside that MrMc is certainly very good.

A major change seems to be coming within 2 days, for MrMC in Testflight version, concerning UI handling and Siri remote, with the teaser "Look out Infuse, we are coming after you icon_e_smile.gif "

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Closest thing I could find to documentation: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/15/apple-flac-playback-4k-apple-tv-iphone-7-8-x/

 

Hoping someone here with a ATV4K can actually test it.

 

The official specs are here but it doesn't specify a sample rate for FLAC.

 

However, if this is the case:

 

I know it can also be hard to verify if the PCM output is staying at the original 16 or 24-bit without special equipment, but I figured I'd ask. I can send some sample files if anyone can test.

 

i.e. you cannot hear the difference, then one could make the argument... oh, never mind  :P

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ice pube

I tried out the emby ATV app on my Apple TV 4k. Impressions were not very good. I could start videos but it seemed like the videos would "take over" my ATV. I could not pause or stop the videos. When I exited the app by going to the home screen I could hear the audio from the video.

 

I have been using infuse and mrmc instead, how would I go about reporting this as an issue? Anyone else seeing this?

Edited by ice pube
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I tried out the emby ATV app on my Apple TV 4k. Impressions were not very good. I could start videos but it seemed like the videos would "take over" my ATV. I could not pause or stop the videos. When I exited the app by going to the home screen I could hear the audio from the video.

 

I have been using infuse and mrmc instead, how would I go about reporting this as an issue? Anyone else seeing this?

 

That's the first I've ever heard of that...

 

How to Report a Problem

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Everbrave

I don't have this issue on my ATV 4K. The tvOS App. can be more responsive, however. In particular, it takes a long time to start-up and start playing (compared to Plex client).

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Dibbes

I don't have this issue on my ATV 4K. The tvOS App. can be more responsive, however. In particular, it takes a long time to start-up and start playing (compared to Plex client).

 

It's worse when the server happens to be doing something in the background, like scanning the media library or extracting chapter images... Sometimes it takes up to 2minutes before the ATV starts playing, even though the FFMPEG process for the video is there. If you press the menu button on the remote, sometimes the item gets marked as played immediately, or, when you click play again, it asks if you want to resume.

 

It's very irritating...

Edited by Dibbes
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Everbrave

It's worse when the server happens to be doing something in the background, like scanning the media library or extracting chapter images... Sometimes it takes up to 2minutes before the ATV starts playing, even though the FFMPEG process for the video is there. If you press the menu button on the remote, sometimes the item gets marked as played immediately, or, when you click play again, it asks if you want to resume.

 

It's very irritating...

 

 

yes; Plex is better in this respect but their client is also far from perfect when it comes to playback (hevc remains an issue on both Plex and Emby clients).

 

I hope the Emby team finds a solution for this behaviour soon.

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It's worse when the server happens to be doing something in the background, like scanning the media library or extracting chapter images... Sometimes it takes up to 2minutes before the ATV starts playing, even though the FFMPEG process for the video is there. If you press the menu button on the remote, sometimes the item gets marked as played immediately, or, when you click play again, it asks if you want to resume.

 

It's very irritating...

 

I don't think this is normal at all.  It sounds like maybe subtitles are being extracted.  Are you trying to show embedded subs?

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Dibbes

no, where I can I'm using .srt's. Normally I do have subtitles running though.

 

So once in a while, when it really starts pissing me off just before I close the app and switch, I start playing, within 5sec, if I don't get anything or get the spinning wheel, go back, play again, etc. then all of a sudden it starts playing immediately... at that point I do have a bunch of FFMPEG processes running though.

 

Also, if I happen to have a tablet or laptop laying next to me, it helps when restarting the Emby process on the server and restart the app on the ATV. Then the same episode with the same settings will play. Since I usually use MKV containers, it will direct play.

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So once in a while, when it really starts pissing me off just before I close the app and switch, I start playing, within 5sec, if I don't get anything or get the spinning wheel, go back, play again, etc. then all of a sudden it starts playing immediately... at that point I do have a bunch of FFMPEG processes running though.

 

That really sounds like sub extraction but I guess it could also be transcoding - although I've never seen anything more than a few seconds to start something.

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A simple test of my hypothesis would be to disable the option to allow subtitle extraction (on the server) and then see if you still see these delays.  Of course, that could produce different delays as subs are then needed to be burned in...

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Dibbes

have you provided server and ffmpeg logs?

No, not yet. I have a debug log from earlier this evening. I got fed up waiting and restarted the Emby process, hence the end of the logfile. After a restart of both the app and the server, the file played without any delay with the same settings.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4dr2sd1llogvmav/20180118_server_and_ffmpeg.zip?dl=0

 

**NOTE: I scrubbed external IP Addresses and profile names

 

A simple test of my hypothesis would be to disable the option to allow subtitle extraction (on the server) and then see if you still see these delays.  Of course, that could produce different delays as subs are then needed to be burned in...

 

If that is the checkbox under transcoding, I turned that off now. For the record, I have NVENC turned on, but it made no difference when I had it turned off. This has been going on for longer than I have that nVidia card in this box.

Edited by Dibbes
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No, not yet. I have a debug log from earlier this evening. I got fed up waiting and restarted the Emby process, hence the end of the logfile. After a restart of both the app and the server, the file played without any delay with the same settings.

 

I wasn't able to access your log (said over limit) but what you describe right there sounds exactly like subtitle extraction as the result is cached so subsequent playback wouldn't have to extract it again.

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Dibbes

I wasn't able to access your log (said over limit) but what you describe right there sounds exactly like subtitle extraction as the result is cached so subsequent playback wouldn't have to extract it again.

 

It´s a definite possibility, as I´m using subtitles a lot... Here the logs again on onedrive:

 

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqSeAd9DCW2DksoK3JAiT_mPkes-xQ

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Two things I notice:

 

The item in the fffmpeg log is an mkv and does have internal subs.  if they are selected, they will have to be extracted.

 

Your log is filled with timeouts trying to talk to opensubtitles.org.

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Dibbes

Two things I notice:

 

The item in the fffmpeg log is an mkv and does have internal subs.  if they are selected, they will have to be extracted.

 

Your log is filled with timeouts trying to talk to opensubtitles.org.

 

Yes, that is one of the things I mentioned earlier. If the server is doing something, like chapter image extraction, scan media library, or as is the case here, download missing subtitles, chances are the video won´t start within a minute or two on the ATV.

 

As I remember, this video was using an .srt when being played, not an embedded sub. Where can I see this?

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Everbrave

If you repackage the item as an mp4 does it start quicker?

In April last year, Emby was testing mpv player in Emby Theatre for Windows; can’t you employ mpv to tvOS as an Emby client and avoid many playback issues with the native player? MPV seems very capable, is open source and have been compiled for many platforms (and while at it, bring it as a client for macOS too).

Edited by Everbrave
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For users who always use subs in their movie mkv content, unfortunately need to re-package their content mostly only for Emby on the Apple TV and use external subs, otherwise start of playback gets delayed too much, because of Emby transcoding for incompatible sub tracks. This is a pain in the a.., that we need to do this extra. When no subs are present in the content, movies startup fine most of the time, on the Apple TV.

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  • 1 month later...
jrcorwin

In April last year, Emby was testing mpv player in Emby Theatre for Windows; can’t you employ mpv to tvOS as an Emby client and avoid many playback issues with the native player? MPV seems very capable, is open source and have been compiled for many platforms (and while at it, bring it as a client for macOS too).

 

My home theater dream is the combination of Emby (or Plex) with a non-native tvOS video player, such as whatever is used by Infuse. I won't go near MrMc however. 

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