HDHR Extend Settings

[BobbyDing 56]

I'm sure I've seen this answered before, but could not find it exactly. On the HDHR Extends you can set the hardware trans-code quality. .In Emby, when selecting to allow hardware trans coding for an EXTEND tuner, what sets the quality? 

 

Thanks,

 

Bobby

[Luke 37058]

Emby picks automatically based on the needs of the Emby app that is opening the stream.

[BobbyDing 56]

And if it's recording a scheduled recording?

 

Thanks!

 

Bobby

[Luke 37058]

It uses the native stream.

[BobbyDing 56]

So would that be mpeg2 (as the extend transcode is set to "none")? Even though Emby is set to "allow hardware transcoding"?

 

Thanks

[bcm00re 18]

I have my HDR Extend's hardware transcoding set to "mobile" which from what I find should be 1280x720 30fps ~3Mb/s.  While my TV recordings do appear to be in mpeg4 they appear to be whatever the local channel is broadcasting (1080i or 720p) and the bitrate is around 9-10 Mb/s.  So is Emby not using the hardware encoding in the Extend at all (and just doing the encoding on my PC perhaps) or it still utilizing it but bypassing the transcode setting I have made?

[Luke 37058]

Correct, it doesn't use the hdhr setting, but we can add an option in emby server to better control this.

[bcm00re 18]

Does it use the HDHR 'heavy' settings and still utilize the hardware encoding of the Extend?  I found an old thread that says that is what was happening, but I didn't know if that wa true (then or now).

[Luke 37058]

No, recordings will use the raw original stream.

[bcm00re 18]

Hmm, wonder how my mpeg2 OTA signals are becoming mpg4 TS files. 

 

Anyhow, it would be nice if Emby could untilize the hardware encoding that the HDHR Extend is capable of.

[Erik 120]

When I checked my active recording last week (HDHometun Extend with Emby “allow hardware transcoding” selected) the HDHomeRun web interface shows heavy transcoding.

 

@@Luke will have to confirm, but I’m pretty sure it’s transcoding when selected.

[bcm00re 18]

I don't think you can trust what the web interface is showing. The scenario I talked about in my first post (#6 in this thread) makes it pretty clear that it can show one thing but be doing something else. That said with my recordings showing up as H264, it seems to suggest what Emby is getting from the Extend is the output from its hardware encoding.

[Erik 120]

I didn’t word that very well. I was referring to the web interface of the HDHomeRun unit (not the Emby server dashboard) and I can see it shows heavy transcoding there (on the actual extend box) which shows its transcoding,

[BillOatman 500]

I have the transcoding level in my extend set to "heavy". It gives me the best quality, and since I no longer have Roku clients, Emby does not need to transcode.

Edited January 24, 2020 by BillOatman

[bcm00re 18]

@@BillOatman

What was triggering the transcode on the Rokus? What clients are you using now?

Edited January 24, 2020 by bcm00re

[bcm00re 18]

I didn’t word that very well. I was referring to the web interface of the HDHomeRun unit (not the Emby server dashboard) and I can see it shows heavy transcoding there (on the actual extend box) which shows its transcoding,

Are you just talking about the Transcode Setting window that you do from a browser tab? That is what I am taking about (and was in post #6 here). That setting seems to have no affect on what Emby actually gets.

Edited January 24, 2020 by bcm00re

[Erik 120]

Hi, no I’m taking about the tuner status when you see the specific data of an active tuned channel.

 

As far as I know any transcode settings on the Extend box is ignored by Emby when it opens a channel.

 

So

1) if you do NOT have “allow hardware transcoding” in Emby server setting checked, then the Extend box sends the raw feed for Emby to deal with.

 

2) if you DO have the “allow hardware transcoding” in the Emby server settings checked, then the Extend box transcodes the stream before it gets to the Emby server (I believe Emby always selects “Heavy” and Luke would have to add a selection for something else on the Emby side)

 

You can confirm this with the Emby server log because if I remember correctly the command to open the stream from the tuner show the requested transcode profile there and it always shows “Heavy”

Edited January 24, 2020 by Erik

[BillOatman 500]

@@BillOatman

What was triggering the transcode on the Rokus? What clients are you using now?

Roku's are very limited on what they can present, and slow enough to not do well with very high quality video/audio.  I noticed that almost everything was transcoding going to the Roku unless I played "dumbed down" video files set to stereo audio and simple format h.264 video (720p as to not tax it's processor too).  

 

I have a shield now on my primary TV and a Mi Box (also android TV) in the bedroom.  I highly recommend the shield.  The Mi Box functions well, but things like live TV guide scrolling on it are very noticeably slower than the shield ... but the Mi Box is also noticeably cheaper than the shield and is at the Roku price point.

Edited January 24, 2020 by BillOatman

[bcm00re 18]

2) if you DO have the “allow hardware transcoding” in the Emby server settings checked, then the Extend box transcodes the stream before it gets to the Emby server (I believe Emby always selects “Heavy” and Luke would have to add a selection for something else on the Emby side)

 

Thanks -- that is what I wanted to confirm! I found that mentioned in old threads, but I wasn't sure if it was entirely true (then or now). At this point I am fine with this mech.

 

Now I need to see if just simple remuxing of my Extend's output can avoid the need for Emby to transcode for Roku. I have five Rokus so I'd like to try to make them work if possible.

Edited January 24, 2020 by bcm00re

[Erik 120]

I have 3 Roku Ultra boxes so similar setup (not sure what type of Roku you have though).

 

Although the server says “transcode” on the dashboard... when I look at the stats for nerds or transcode log I find with most recorded content the video is all direct play (no transcode) but the audio is remuxed. When I play a recording it starts in 2-3 seconds and I notice no issues with skipping forward over commercials and such.

[bcm00re 18]

@@Erik

Thanks for the info. I will check that out with my Rokus to see what I find. I have 2016 Premiere (dual band N), 2013 3 (wired), 2017 Express+ (N), 2016 Express (N), and 2013 LT (N) models.

Edited January 24, 2020 by bcm00re

[Erik 120]

Depending on those Roku box specs I and age I could definitely see some transcoding as they aren’t the newer models. As I said my 3 ultras I think 2017/2018 models as 2 Roku streaming stick plus units I got just last year and they all work great without a lot of “real” transcoding.

 

You will have to see what your boxes can do. But this may help:

 

https://developer.roku.com/en-ca/docs/specs/hardware.md