Choppy playback on UWP ET and Surface Pro

[barat 27]

Hi,

 

I've just bought Surface Pro (i5 7300u) and installed EmbyTheater from Windows Store. 

Problem is, that when I try to play 1080p h264 video playback is slow/choppy/unwatchable.

Emby Server (DS916+) is saying, that's DirectPlay so no transcoding issue here, nor problems with paths.

Also I've tried to use VLC to play mkv directly from NAS share - playback started immediately and was smooth.

Maybe something with codecs incorporated in UWP ET is wrong?

 

Also - checked tv.emby.media on Edge - no luck. Meanwhile 4k Youtube does fine ... 

 

TL;DR;

Surface plays h264 fine, but not from EmbyTheathere where it's choppy/slow.

Edited August 31, 2018 by barat

[arrbee99 1551]

Am not a dev so I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but am just wondering if installing this https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/mpeg2-video-extension/9n95q1zzpmh4?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab  might help ?

 

Or maybe you could try the Emby Theater app from the Emby website ? https://emby.media/emby-theater.html

[Luke 37024]

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

[barat 27]

Hi @@Luke - sorry for delay. today I had some time, so I cleared logs, restarted NAS and Emby, and then played same file 1st from iPad app, then Nvidia Shield, Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge, Emby Theater from Win 10 store and last - from the browser (tv.emby.media).

iPad, Galaxy 7 and Shield played the file almost instantly, browser needed few seconds this time (before server restart I had problems in Chrome as well), but ET is no-go. I tried it on my PC (4790k, 16GB Ram + 1060GTX 6GB, so it should be enough for 1080p, also it plays this file fine through MPC-HC & VideoLAN).

I'm attaching logs + ss from geek stats window. Hope, that this will make you know what's wrong ...

ffmpeg-remux-a7283b1f-1b78-4913-959a-8cbc401d6abf.txt

ffmpeg-remux-acf61b55-c2e5-4d80-906a-2628cf77bcd6.txt

server.txt

start-stop-status_20180920.log

Edited September 20, 2018 by barat

[barat 27]

@@Luke - had you some time to check my issue? Windows 10 on Surface Pro and PC is still no-go for me ... Nvidia Shield, Android, iOS - all is ok, also PC/Surface is playing video files from NAS fine when using VLC/MPC-HC ...

 

Additional facts - Edge on Surface Pro can't even connect to my tv.emby.media when I enter server IP manually. Next thing is that I've uninstalled UWPversion of ET, and installed from here:

https://emby.media/emby-theater.html

This one plays OK (well, I need to wait few seconds for video to start, or when I click somewhere further in timeline). This semi-solves my problem - I can watch movies using ET app, but I want to have as many UWP apps as I can on Surface Pro so it'll be nice to have working UWP Emby .

Edited October 14, 2018 by barat

[Luke 37024]

Have you tried lowering the in-app quality setting?

[barat 27]

Have you tried lowering the in-app quality setting?

I can check it today, but I don't think that this could (or even should) be an issue. I've tested it with default settings.

Only UWP and in-browser tv.emby.media is unusable (on i5 7200u Surface and 4790k+GTX1060PC), desktop app is doing fine, and after turning on hardware acceleration playback start/resume is almost instant. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by barat

[Luke 37024]

Does your device support hevc?

[barat 27]

Yes - GTX1060 is even capable for 8k HEVC, also 7300U as all Kaby Lake supports H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color.

[Luke 37024]

Have you installed the hevc extension from the microsoft store?

[barat 27]

Bougth and installed - still no luck. I even can play this file (and movie files overall) via native Windows "Movies & TV" app ... only no-go are Emby from Windows Store, and Emby from browser ... Emby for Windows, VLC, MPC-HC, Windows Media Player ... all those apps works fine (directly watching from NAS server).

 

File info (from MPC-HC):

Format                         : Matroska
Format version                 : Version 4
File size                      : 11.9 GiB
Duration                       : 2 h 14 min
Overall bit rate               : 12.7 Mb/s
Encoded date                   : UTC 2018-05-17 14:51:06
Writing application            : mkvmerge v22.0.0 ('At The End Of The World') 64-bit
Writing library                : libebml v1.3.5 + libmatroska v1.4.8

Video
ID                             : 3
Format                         : AVC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                 : High@L4.1
Format settings                : CABAC / 5 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC         : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames      : 5 frames
Codec ID                       : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                       : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate                       : 11.0 Mb/s
Width                          : 1 920 pixels
Height                         : 804 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                : Constant
Frame rate                     : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Original frame rate            : 24.000 FPS
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Scan type                      : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)             : 0.297
Stream size                    : 10.3 GiB (87%)
Writing library                : x264 core 124 r2197+666+28 3970b70 tMod+MixAQ [8-bit@4:2:0 X86_64]
Encoding settings              : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=11 / psy=1 / fade_compensate=0.00 / psy_rd=1.05:0.10 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=64 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / fgo=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc=2pass / mbtree=0 / bitrate=11000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.75 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1 / aq-strength=0.75 / aq-sensitivity=10.00 / aq-ifactor=1.00 / aq-pfactor=1.00 / aq-bfactor=1.00 / aq2=0
Language                       : English
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No

Audio #1
ID                             : 1
Format                         : AC-3
Format/Info                    : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name                : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                       : A_AC3
Duration                       : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate mode                  : Constant
Bit rate                       : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                     : 2 channels
Channel layout                 : L R
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth                      : 16 bits
Compression mode               : Lossy
Stream size                    : 185 MiB (2%)
Language                       : Polish
Service kind                   : Complete Main
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No

Audio #2
ID                             : 4
Format                         : DTS
Format/Info                    : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID                       : A_DTS
Duration                       : 2 h 14 min
Bit rate mode                  : Constant
Bit rate                       : 1 509 kb/s
Channel(s)                     : 6 channels
Channel layout                 : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                      : 24 bits
Compression mode               : Lossy
Stream size                    : 1.42 GiB (12%)
Language                       : English
Default                        : No
Forced                         : No

Text
ID                             : 2
Format                         : UTF-8
Codec ID                       : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                  : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                       : 2 h 12 min
Bit rate                       : 1 b/s
Count of elements              : 75
Stream size                    : 1.34 KiB (0%)
Title                          : Polish Forced
Language                       : Polish
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : Yes

Menu
00:00:00.000                   : en:00:00:00.000
00:06:56.291                   : en:00:06:56.291
00:12:02.805                   : en:00:12:02.805
00:19:12.360                   : en:00:19:12.360
00:28:32.961                   : en:00:28:32.961
00:33:11.698                   : en:00:33:11.698
00:40:57.497                   : en:00:40:57.497
00:48:34.036                   : en:00:48:34.036
00:53:46.098                   : en:00:53:46.098
01:01:57.339                   : en:01:01:57.339
01:08:33.026                   : en:01:08:33.026
01:16:46.769                   : en:01:16:46.769
01:22:24.022                   : en:01:22:24.022
01:31:21.434                   : en:01:31:21.434
01:41:15.361                   : en:01:41:15.361
01:50:56.483                   : en:01:50:56.483
01:59:16.941                   : en:01:59:16.941
02:02:43.648                   : en:02:02:43.648

It's even not HEVC - just h264

 

This file for example plays OK:

Format version                 : Version 4
File size                      : 10.5 GiB
Duration                       : 1 h 47 min
Overall bit rate mode          : Variable
Overall bit rate               : 14.0 Mb/s
Encoded date                   : UTC 2018-07-11 20:23:47
Writing application            : mkvmerge v15.0.0 ('Duel with the Devil') 64-bit
Writing library                : libebml v1.3.5 + libmatroska v1.4.5

Video
ID                             : 1
Format                         : AVC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                 : High@L4.1
Format settings                : CABAC / 5 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC         : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames      : 5 frames
Codec ID                       : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                       : 1 h 47 min
Bit rate                       : 9 571 kb/s
Width                          : 1 920 pixels
Height                         : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode                : Constant
Frame rate                     : 23.976 FPS
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Scan type                      : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)             : 0.260
Stream size                    : 7.17 GiB (68%)
Writing library                : x264 core 155 r2901 7d0ff22
Encoding settings              : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=25 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=9571 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                       : English
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No

Audio #1
ID                             : 2
Format                         : DTS XLL
Format/Info                    : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name                : DTS-HD Master Audio
Codec ID                       : A_DTS
Duration                       : 1 h 47 min
Bit rate mode                  : Variable
Bit rate                       : 4 013 kb/s
Channel(s)                     : 8 channels
Channel layout                 : C L R LFE Lb Rb Lss Rss
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                      : 24 bits
Compression mode               : Lossless
Stream size                    : 3.01 GiB (29%)
Language                       : English
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No

Audio #2
ID                             : 4
Format                         : AC-3
Format/Info                    : Audio Coding 3
Commercial name                : Dolby Digital
Codec ID                       : A_AC3
Duration                       : 1 h 47 min
Bit rate mode                  : Constant
Bit rate                       : 448 kb/s
Channel(s)                     : 6 channels
Channel layout                 : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                     : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth                      : 16 bits
Compression mode               : Lossy
Stream size                    : 344 MiB (3%)
Language                       : Polish
Service kind                   : Complete Main
Default                        : No
Forced                         : No

Text #1
ID                             : 3
Format                         : UTF-8
Codec ID                       : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                  : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                       : 1 h 37 min
Bit rate                       : 55 b/s
Count of elements              : 1267
Stream size                    : 39.4 KiB (0%)
Title                          : English-SRT
Language                       : English
Default                        : Yes
Forced                         : No

Text #2
ID                             : 5
Format                         : UTF-8
Codec ID                       : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                  : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                       : 1 h 39 min
Bit rate                       : 50 b/s
Count of elements              : 1208
Stream size                    : 36.8 KiB (0%)
Language                       : Polish
Default                        : No
Forced                         : No

Menu
00:00:00.000                   : en:00:00:00.000
00:12:58.528                   : en:00:12:58.528
00:19:56.278                   : en:00:19:56.278
00:29:53.291                   : en:00:29:53.291
00:40:35.391                   : en:00:40:35.391
00:49:10.906                   : en:00:49:10.906
01:02:38.171                   : en:01:02:38.171
01:10:37.650                   : en:01:10:37.650
01:20:10.472                   : en:01:20:10.472
01:29:23.608                   : en:01:29:23.608
01:39:43.186                   : en:01:39:43.186

Edited October 22, 2018 by barat

[Deathsquirrel 741]

Does it play better windowed?  That's what I see with ET desktop on my surface.  The app store players, ET and Ember, don't have he problem.

[barat 27]

It's not only Surface - it's also i7 4790k@4.5GHz + GTX1060 ...

[jlader 0]

What type of wireless network do you have? G N AC?  Is your server hardwired?

[jlader 0]

I have Emby Theater of a Surface Pro 3 connected via an ASUS AC router (Server older windows 7 machine that is also my MCE unit - hardwired to network).  Also, I have an older Surface 3 (Atom CPU).  Both play my live TV via Hd Homerun Connect with no chop - better than HD Homerun app.  Recorded video has no problems either.

 

The issue I have with Emby THeater on the Surface Pro 3 is it's not as touch friendly as I would like.  For example - to shut down the app I need to use the title bar "X" instead of sliding down from the top as I do w/ other apps.

Edited October 25, 2018 by jlader

[Luke 37024]

 

 

sliding down from the top as I do w/ other apps.

 

We should be able to get that to work. Thanks.

[barat 27]

What type of wireless network do you have? G N AC?  Is your server hardwired?

It's ASUS RT N18U. NAS is hardwired. Network is not a problem - I can play media from server just fine from Surface and bully PC (wired - have like 100MB up/dl) on almost any app except UWP ET ...