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Playback issues over 4G (inoperable) - 2.9.82


speedingcheetah

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speedingcheetah

with version 2.9.82 (and newer) (latest version I have tried is now 2.9.90)

 

All media playback is inoperable for me...when used over 4G data connection.  (and before u ask, yes, there is good signal and good speed (tested 54megs down, 3 up). Carrier Sprint.  (My plan is "Unlimited"  -1080P video streaming, Gaming streams at up to 8mbps, Music at up to 1.5mbps)and all other video streaming apps stream fine.

 

You play a video, local file on server or live TV, it starts to load, phone makes notification sound alert, the stream starts to play, and it makes a second notification sound again. (my Pebble watch even triggers 2x for the notifications)   (note: notification thing fixed in a newer release of the app)

 

However, the stream instantly freezes, as if it is trying to buffer. It plays for a sec or 2, then freezes again. It never plays for more than 3 secs. Even after about 5 min of letting it sit.

 

Changing from Auto quality (where it wants to Direct Play) to 480p or 720p 1mbps manual selection seems to work. It will play, but not reliably.  This also is forcing a transcode and is thus lower quality than Direct Play.

 

When I connect to my home wifi, the app works fine. NO streaming issues. Direct Play, 1080p. Switch back to 4G, issues occur.

 

When I remove this version of app, and re-install the version i had before 2.9.76 (i saved the .apk), there is NO issues streaming over 4G. (even in the locations which have weak 4G speed). Direct Play, full 1080p playback...all work fine and load very fast and can seek fast. I have updated app and reverted app a few times now, each time its consistent result.

 

So, "Revamp media playback" as listed in the change log for the app, may have done something that is causing issues for video streaming over data connection. 

 

2 log files from the app are now attached. I deleted all previous log files. This is loading up the app and starting playback of local vid. letting it try to play for a min or 2, the close app.

281c6dcf-2afa-4b2f-8893-65b566b8a704.log

1696a7b9-b39c-411a-81b2-9682d2143b88.log

Log server.txt

Edited by speedingcheetah
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speedingcheetah

There isn't actually any playback here. And the server ffmpeg log?

just added that....

Edited by speedingcheetah
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speedingcheetah

A few minutes ago. so the latest playback times. the file playing was an ep of The Lion Guard. A local file.

D:\STORE\EMBY\The Lion Guard\Season 1\S01E08 The Search for Utamu.mkv

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speedingcheetah

Here is a android log that show playback from the older app version. I ll see if i can get one that shows playback with the newer version.

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speedingcheetah

Can you provide the media info of that file from the web app? thanks.

what u mean web app?  

 

and i doesnt seem to matter what the file is....as it wont play any video file or live tv. live tv is mpeg4 for some channels and mpeg 2 on others

 most my files are .mvk or .mp4 x or h264

Edited by speedingcheetah
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speedingcheetah

here is log from the newer android app while on 4g where it is showing playback and its having the issues.

 

time code 23:14

 

also the server log again new pull....i dont know how to make it force a new log to clear out the older stuff.

4g playback issues.log

Log server 2.txt

Edited by speedingcheetah
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speedingcheetah

If you go into the app's playback settings, what is the internet quality bitrate limit set to?

Auto....for both versions of the app

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I'm sure higher bitrates will be OK but 1mbps is a good place to start. I'm performing the same tests you are on 4G and it seems to be OK for me.

 

What it appears to me is that the Auto quality setting is just picking a value that is too high for the connection.

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speedingcheetah

can you try setting it to 1mbps? thanks.

setting Internet quality to 720p 1mbps does result in video playing smoothly, but it looks crappy.

 

Setting to 1080p 4Mbps it starts to due the buffering like issues, though not as severe. 

 

Setting higher settings, is the inoperable as reported before.

 

So, what is the never app version doing that ht older one isnt?  as the older version is playing fine and looks good quality and when i set it to 1080 it plays fine. (unless its not obeying that setting and is locking it self at some setting)

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speedingcheetah

i see in the log of the newer app....MPV and very much more playback info vs the older app log. so, i gather the whole streaming method has changed?

Edited by speedingcheetah
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speedingcheetah

Yes, we will continue to adjust the buffering and bandwidth measurement. Thanks.

The "stats for nerds" pop up is identical in each app version for that video file.  Not sure if that has anything to due with the requesting bitrate for Internet streaming. 

 

On the older app, I can set to the higher values 1080p and it plays fine. It says direct play for all of them though. and it looks great and seeking is very fast. Just as if i am playing the file local on my device.

 

Older app, I can set lower res than the source file, like 480p etc and it switches to Transcode and streams fine to. Set back up to top 1080 setting, it switches to direct play and it again is fine.

 

I just played a higher bitrate movie file.  Double the bitrate as the one i was just using.

 

That file direct plays fine on the older app. Auto works fine.

 

On the newer app, Auto tries to direct stream it, but i just shows one frame and wont play. i set it to 720p 1mbps (or any other of the manual settings,) and it then transcodes it and it plays smoothly(but looks like crap). Anything higher than that 720p 1mbps setting, it freezes and wont play (while on 4G, on wifi it still transcodes but the higher 1080p bitrate options stream fine)

 

I think is is more than one thing going on here.

The new video streaming method (MPV)? is different in how it streams the data and the stream rate selection is working different somehow. Direct play and transcode both.

 

What ever the old app verison was using or did is drastically different in how its streams the video data?

 

This new change maybe is now being detected by the Carrier as video streaming and is engaging video bandwidth throttling, where as the old app version, how ever it streams the video, is not being throttled.  Thats my only guess. I don't have a way to test on another carrier.

 

I only use the Emby Andrpid app to stream media (mainly Live TV) when I am away from my home wifi network. When at home, i use the HDHomeRun app as that shows a mini sidebar "guide" and i can easy surf and flip TV channels while watching a channel. But that app only works on local network that the tuner is on, not remote network. (and Android does not support TAP type VPN, which i can use such a thing on my Windows laptop to get the HDHR app to work on a remote network)

 

so...i guess ill just stick to the older app version.... .9.76. as that works buttery smooth for me and the new one, is unusable for me. (but no PIP then  :()

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Edited by speedingcheetah
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Yea the carrier mention is possible I suppose. But i think calling it unusable is a bit of an overstatement. 1080p 3-4 mbps on a smartphone is going to look just fine.

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speedingcheetah

Yea the carrier mention is possible I suppose. But i think calling it unusable is a bit of an overstatement. 1080p 3-4 mbps on a smartphone is going to look just fine.

If the old app is direct playing the file at its original bitrate vs new app has to transcode in order to even play the file at all for me, its gonna look worse quality regardless of the bitrate due to the transcode. (not to mention max out the server cpu)

 

Regardless, i can spot the quality differences.  Especially on such a nice 2K OLED display my phone has. Blured, artifacts. etc.

 

I consider new app unusable because it is. The old app just worked with no tweaking needed. Now, i have to drop the quality down to such a lower quality setting as before, and it then pretty much transcodes everything then at 720p 1mbps....just to get it to work. even then, its flaky.

 

Its certainly not ur fault if the carrier connection is to blame for throttling bandwidth in some fashion in this case. 

 

But if there could be any way to have both the old and new video streaming processes in the app so the user could toggle it...(so those of us whose carrier seems to hate the new change, can still stream video good)

 

Though...I cant image I am the ONLY one having this issue.  Maybe others will report same issue.

 

But since i have no control of the carrier 4G connection, i have control over which app version i can use. 

Edited by speedingcheetah
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speedingcheetah

O ....here is some more Derpness for ya

 

When i use web browser (Opera Beta) on my phone to log into my server over 4g.....It streams fine, though a tiny bit of framerate lag/drops.

It transcodes of course but it says "Auto 1080p- 60Mbps" and it plays fine and looks good (though not quite as good as the older Emby app in Direct play mode).

 

Edit: Opera is a bit picky, but after a few tries, it will Direct Play. Chrome app will Direct Play every time. So if browser streaming 1080p and Direct Play works fine over my carrier 4G....then why won't the new app? As it has to be  limited to 720p 1mbs max Transcode just to function. And the old app functions fine, just like web streaming.

Edited by speedingcheetah
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