Any other solutions to HTPC to completely avoid transcoding and playback issues?

[gnollo 16]

Well, I have done some testing to find out solutions that would allow me to:

- play any files I like from the Lan and Wan using an Emby Server

- without transcoding

 

Solutions:

1) Using the Emby application to access the library and play the movie, and enabling external players to play the movies

a) VLC. Plays on the LAN but was severely stuttering when playing old avi dvdrips. No audio passthrough, DD and DTS converted to stereo. Need more testing on LAN and WAN

MX Player tested on the LAN. DD passthrough, DTS conversion, plays everything, can resume playback. Can change from HW playback to SW playback which eliminated the stutter on old avi, but has stutter on some new blurays. Needs WAN testing and more testing but look promising. If anyone is using MX player on the FIRE TV HD and has some settings suggestions, please post them here

c) MrMC: opens but doesn't play any files. If anyone has managed to get it to work how did you do that?

d) more players to be tested, any suggestions? Planning on trying BSplayer, KMP player, Video Player All Format, Moboplayer. MPV and Yesplayer

 

2) Using an alternative client to EMBY

a) MrMC: rock solid playback no stutters. I can live with the UI, but I have not been able to get it working when logging on the https:// connection. Logged it on their support website but no success so far. If I can get it to work it would be my preferred solution. I cannot get the search function to work though. I have Genres working, Actors aren't working either.

 

I think that a very useful feature would be to move the external players selection from the settings into the UI into the movie selection screen. So you could try and play the movie via the Emby interface, and if it fails, you can click on Play External, right next to the Play button... That would be useful I think.

Edited January 4, 2019 by gnollo

[gnollo 16]

Settled on MX player, with hardware playback turned off to eliminate stuttering. So far, so good.

[gnollo 16]

Ps: mx player can't play ripped vobs in a VIDEO_TS folder. I will test VLC for those tonight, unfortunately I choose MX as the player of choice and I don't know how to get the multiple selection menu back up and running.

[Luke 37095]

For a better experience I would suggest converting those to mkv.

[gnollo 16]

I know but it's 1000 of those folders, dating back to my first build of unraid in 2006....

 

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[gnollo 16]

VLC is capable of playing the VIDEO_TS folder, and by installing an additional player I was able to get back the window where I choose which player to use, but that window does not appear when I try to play ripped dvd folders. Any suggestions on how to test vlc as external player specifically for ripped dvd folders?

 

 

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[Spaceboy 2494]

VLC is capable of playing the VIDEO_TS folder, and by installing an additional player I was able to get back the window where I choose which player to use, but that window does not appear when I try to play ripped dvd folders. Any suggestions on how to test vlc as external player specifically for ripped dvd folders?

 

 

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if you had started converting your movies to mkv when you started this thread you would be done by now

[gnollo 16]

if you had started converting your movies to mkv when you started this thread you would be done by now

Lol that's helpful.

 

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[Spaceboy 2494]

Lol that's helpful.

 

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well it is actually, this question comes up all the time and the time people spend trying to work around it would be far better spent acknowledging that dvd rips are past their sell by date and should be embracing more modern formats. It’s what Luke told you to do as well.

 

Even if it doesn’t help you hopefully it will help the next person to ask the same question

Edited January 9, 2019 by Spaceboy

[gnollo 16]

I don't believe it's logical for thousands of paying users (I paid for a premium licence many years ago), to convert hundreds thousands of files (I alone have 6k+), when all you need is a player that can play the movies you already have. So if you cannot help me in my search for a method that would avoid file conversion, that's fine too, but that is the objective of this thread, whether you agree or not in my quest.

 

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[maegibbons 1267]

Have you actually tried a shield?

 

Send us some example media and I will see if it plays on the shield.

 

Krs

 

Mark

[Oddbin 0]

well it is actually, this question comes up all the time and the time people spend trying to work around it would be far better spent acknowledging that dvd rips are past their sell by date and should be embracing more modern formats. It’s what Luke told you to do as well.

 

Even if it doesn’t help you hopefully it will help the next person to ask the same question

[Spaceboy 2494]

I don't believe it's logical for thousands of paying users (I paid for a premium licence many years ago), to convert hundreds thousands of files (I alone have 6k+), when all you need is a player that can play the movies you already have. So if you cannot help me in my search for a method that would avoid file conversion, that's fine too, but that is the objective of this thread, whether you agree or not in my quest.

 

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you go for it. Good luck. You aren’t the first to say that. You will be the first to succeed in your quest though

[gnollo 16]

Have you actually tried a shield?

 

Send us some example media and I will see if it plays on the shield.

 

Krs

 

Mark

I can play everything so far with no transcoding at the moment using MX player as external player with the exception of vob files. You can try any vob files.

 

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[ebr 14921]

 Any suggestions on how to test vlc as external player specifically for ripped dvd folders?

 

I don't have any because Android isn't going to understand that media type.

 

This is only going to get harder and harder for you in the future. No one is spending time on these formats anymore.

[gnollo 16]

I don't have any because Android isn't going to understand that media type.

 

This is only going to get harder and harder for you in the future. No one is spending time on these formats anymore.

I have installed VLC on the Amazon Fire HD, and I can browse the network using the app to the location of the ripped vobs and play successfully ripped dts dvds. So android is not a problem.

 

When I select the same movie through the Emby interface, and I press the play button, the interface goes black and does not give me the overlay where I would select which external player I want to use to play the file. I only get this black screen when I try to play ripped VIDEO_TS movies through Emby, all other movies give me the external player selection option, and I can play them with no issues.

 

 

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[Deathsquirrel 741]

Doctor every time I shove this fork into my thigh it hurts!

 

I know, smartassery isn't helping but helping doesn't appear to be helping either.

 

Your movie storage format is not widely supported or tested and is getting less so.  In the time it took me to type this 10% of the remaining tools that could read that file format died of old age...

[maegibbons 1267]

I don't have any because Android isn't going to understand that media type.

 

This is only going to get harder and harder for you in the future. No one is spending time on these formats anymore.

 

Whilst I have very little sympathy with the plight of the OP in terms of this old media format.

 

The question for you @@ebr is why is it going "black screen" rather than offering the player selection?

 

I think the OP would be happy if Emby just passed the file on succesfully to the external player - in this case VLC - AFTER the player selection menu.

 

Why is that not displaying?

 

Krs

 

Mark

[ebr 14921]

The question for you @@ebr is why is it going "black screen" rather than offering the player selection?

 

I'm not positive where he is ending up but my guess is that, since this isn't an understood mime type from an Android perspective, the app may not even be trying to launch an external.