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Thoughts On The Best Emby App And Best Streaming Device Please!


Gaz

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Guest asrequested

Those files are played on the same device, the first with Emby and the second with Infuse. Both use mpv. There is no mpv build for tvOS, I guess the key is how they build the custom version of mpv for tvOS from source code.

 

And that's my point. The tools are there, but aren't being used.

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vdatanet

Another thing to note is that the Apple TV 4K processor is powerful enough to tone map from HDR to SDR. With Infuse I play 4K HDR videos on the 1080p TV (non HDR) with brillant colours. On the other hand, when I watch 4K HDR videos using the Nvidia Shield on that same TV, the colors are washed.

 

I don't want to compare Infuse with Emby, they are two completely different products. I just want to point out that Emby doesn't take advantage of all the capabilities of Apple TV 4K and I don't want to get into an Apple Yes or Apple No philosophical discussion. Just talk about technical characteristics.
 
Finally I want to make notice the worst issue of the Apple TV 4K (for me). It is the recent deactivation of the audio passthrough (Not related to Emby the culprit is Apple) . If you play something that Apple TV is not able to decode, you will not be able to listen to it. Therefore with ATMOS you will have problems. Currently I have only seen software that supports the DD + version of Atmos. If Apple does not enable audio passthrough again, it will be difficult to play TrueHD Atmos.
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vdatanet

Then you sir seem far more educated on your choice than the average consumer. I meant no disrespect at all. That topic also means you guys already have your "demand letter" written so to speak which is what I wanted since you said you were leaving because of faults of Apple TV. Not out of choice but because of inaction. I understand. We need to know what people consider "deal breakers" or things that are... the final straw on the camels back.

 

Not the big huge everybody sees it type bugs, because frankly everybody sees those...

 

Those small nagging ones.. where you feel it has been forever and you are still seeing X happen.

 

What is X?

 

You can say here of all your top pet peeves on Emby on Apple TV. What is the #1 thing you feel is the biggest offender in the Apple TV application? Where is the biggest gap between user satisfaction and developer satisfaction to you? Where is the largest discord happening keeping you from enjoying Emby on Apple TV? Knowing this helps guide the importance of where Emby developers want to be versus where users want to be. It helps become a spotlight to the real issue not just "the issues". It helps turn this into seeing the forest for the trees. I am sure you understand. We want to know which tree in the forest is the most disturbing not the overall health of the forest. Then you water/target that tree specifically once you know.

 

What is your biggest gripe about Apple Tv. Largest. Most problematic. You can say here since already this thread is discuss which is best and why. We are doing that. We wont go into verbose detail about every crack in Apple Tv it appears you are already doing that. Lets get to the giant potholes though. Where is the biggest one? Thanks. ^_^

 

The other big issue I have, related with HDR playback, is that Emby for Apple TV ignores this settings:

 

 

5d6247fa62ac9_Anotacin20190825103150.jpg

 

These settings are crucial for smooth playback and for HDR playback.

Edited by vdatanet
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vdatanet

Then you sir seem far more educated on your choice than the average consumer. I meant no disrespect at all. That topic also means you guys already have your "demand letter" written so to speak which is what I wanted since you said you were leaving because of faults of Apple TV. Not out of choice but because of inaction. I understand. We need to know what people consider "deal breakers" or things that are... the final straw on the camels back.

 

Not the big huge everybody sees it type bugs, because frankly everybody sees those...

 

Those small nagging ones.. where you feel it has been forever and you are still seeing X happen.

 

What is X?

 

You can say here of all your top pet peeves on Emby on Apple TV. What is the #1 thing you feel is the biggest offender in the Apple TV application? Where is the biggest gap between user satisfaction and developer satisfaction to you? Where is the largest discord happening keeping you from enjoying Emby on Apple TV? Knowing this helps guide the importance of where Emby developers want to be versus where users want to be. It helps become a spotlight to the real issue not just "the issues". It helps turn this into seeing the forest for the trees. I am sure you understand. We want to know which tree in the forest is the most disturbing not the overall health of the forest. Then you water/target that tree specifically once you know.

 

What is your biggest gripe about Apple Tv. Largest. Most problematic. You can say here since already this thread is discuss which is best and why. We are doing that. We wont go into verbose detail about every crack in Apple Tv it appears you are already doing that. Lets get to the giant potholes though. Where is the biggest one? Thanks. ^_^

 

And the last one, there a UI issue in "Continue Watching" row. When It's empty, it fails to add an item and also it fails when the last item has to be removed. This is annoying and I must restart the application often:

 

http://www.vdata.net/rows.mov

 

In summary, these are my three main problems ("deal breakers") with text, pictures and videos:

 

1. 4K HDR playback

2. Match content for video playback

3. "Continue watching" row management like other applications do.

 

I can wait forever for the other problems, but not for these.

 

I am a loyal Emby user and to solve these problems, I have chosen this solution:
 
I bought four Nvidia Shields to put them next to my four Apple TVs. But I wish that one day, with one device I would have enough. Apple TV 4K is powerful enough for my needs.
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Senna

Can you go into more detail on these points? I am not versed at all in anything Apple.

 

But what exactly do you think the pain points are? Can you provide screen shots of the Apple TV app where it lacks and from other apps where you show what you expect?

The Emby Apple TV app is miles behind other Emby platforms and for a list of issues go here. That list isn't updated anymore with latest issues, because I'm not going to spend my time anymore in updating that list (only do that on request lately, if users send me a PM or make requests in other topics).

 

Because for months already, BASIC Emby functionality issues (that work on other platforms) ARE STILL NOT GETTING FIXED...

The reason why is already heavily discussed in other Apple TV topics, so I'm not going to waste my time repeating those, but here is a perfect start for you to read why the Emby Apple TV lacks development resource time.

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/74648-include-a-switch-to-select-whether-the-native-tvos-player-or-the-new-mpv-is-used/page-2&do=findComment&comment=761661

The other stuff you posted, doesn't belong here in my opinion, the world is poisoned enough with that discussion, so not going to waist my time on that, because to me, here it is all about Emby.

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Spaceboy

I have both Apple TV and an iPhone. I don’t use the Apple TV any more as the android app is so superior. Apple TV is in a drawer and has been replaced by a second shield.

 

Imo the issues all relate to the decision to use mpv over the native player. Despite of being universally panned by all users no work has been done to fix the issues but instead it’s been made more pretty. We seem to have forgotten that the key feature of a media playing app is that it has to play your media. No point it looking pretty without that

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vdatanet

I have both Apple TV and an iPhone. I don’t use the Apple TV any more as the android app is so superior. Apple TV is in a drawer and has been replaced by a second shield.

 

Imo the issues all relate to the decision to use mpv over the native player. Despite of being universally panned by all users no work has been done to fix the issues but instead it’s been made more pretty. We seem to have forgotten that the key feature of a media playing app is that it has to play your media. No point it looking pretty without that

 

 

It has been several months since the mpv player was implemented in Emby for Apple TV. From the point of view of playback, no improvement has been observed since then. Perhaps it's time to take a step back to be able to make two forward. Please use the native player instead.

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vdatanet

The biggest issue for me is 4K HDR Playback

 

Emby looks like this playing 4K HDR Movies:

 

5d61d3d2567c3_Capturadepantalla20190825a

 

And it should look like this:

 

5d61d40600da7_Capturadepantalla20190825a

 

I reported this on December 2018.

 

I don't want to discuss whether 4K HDR playback is worth it or not. Simply note that the Emby app for Apple TV cannot play those files correctly.

 

I love the Emby server, its community and most of its applications. But I hate this inconvenience of the app for Apple TV. Apple TV is my main device and I have more and more 4K HDR content so this is a big issue for me.

 

Keep in mind that English is not my native language, and I may seem aggressive, but I am not. I'm very happy with Emby Server.  :D

 

 

By the way, this was reported more than 8 months ago:

 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/66446-a-movie-encoded-with-hevc-is-always-transcoded-even-though-device-is-able-to-play-the-video-stream-without-transcoding/?p=664224

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EODCrafter

If it makes you feel any better, Group Support for Live TV was requested over 3 YEARS ago. :)

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vdatanet

This post is similar to a previous one, I just want to note the ability of Apple TV 4K, to map the color tone from HDR to SDR.

 

Emby on Apple TV 4K: 4K HDR display:

 

5d63e979946ab_OnEmby.png

 

Infuse on Apple TV 4K: 4K HDR display:

 

5d63e9b28e4c1_OnInfuse4K.png

 

Infuse on Apple TV 4K: 1080p SDR display:

 

5d63e9ec12713_OnInfuse1080p.png

 

A little bright, but acceptable. Much better than Nvidia Shield looks when playing 4K HDR content on a 1080p SDR screen. Therefore, Apple TV 4K is a device with a GPU powerful enough to play content. But Emby doesn't know how to take advantage of it.

Edited by vdatanet
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vdatanet

Can you go into more detail on these points? I am not versed at all in anything Apple.

 

But what exactly do you think the pain points are? Can you provide screen shots of the Apple TV app where it lacks and from other apps where you show what you expect? Text can only convey a small part of the bigger picture. The actual images leave no room for doubt and will immediately make apparent what you mean. Otherwise people may think you are just spoiled. Since the majority on Apple are just spoiled white people or people who want to act like spoiled white people. Not knocking you either. But Apple is a white person device. To own it makes you look like you wish you were white if you are not. Just happens. Just a fact.

 

Not racist on this either I only have white friends who own iPhone. I am also white. But I dislike the stigma others give to those not white when they see them holding an iPhone. Some of my friends look at them and make comments like, "probably stole it" or "no wonder its an old iphone 4". I have to chime in with, "yeah.. Apple is expensive knucklehead. he thinks you guys are cool so wants to come along. Don't knock him because Apple makes prices so ridiculous for their 3x profit markup. Just suck it up you guys paid 3x more than you should've too. He got his on the used market. He is smarter.". Then they look at me and ask why I don't have a cellphone. I remind them they are expensive and a burden. I've never had one.. lol.

 

But can you list some issues with pictures and maybe even give a small review of where you think the problems lie? Sort of like give yourself room to just think of everywhere you think it fails you. Without such a list there is just guesswork at where the rough corners are to proceed to sand them. We want the same thing you do. But without knowing exactly what you want we can just guess and assume we want the same thing. Maybe there is a difference? Seeing pictures and knowing where/how/why will help produce the effect you want. Rather than just discourage developers give them tools they need to do better. Point out where you want priority and where you want things resolved.

 

Don't rush into this either and use emotion. Just make a well thought out post with some pictures, some comments, and a review where Emby on Apple TV needs to focus to improve. Thanks. :)

 

I agree with your post but I think you should delete the crossed out sentences because they are not related to the world of media and can be understood as racism. Perhaps it is because English is not my native language and for me it sounds like racism. Thanks.

Edited by vdatanet
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I agree with your post but I think you should delete the crossed out sentences because they are not related to the world of media and can be understood as racism. Perhaps it is because English is not my native language and for me it sounds like racism. Thanks.

 

It is not necessary to keep bump this post. I have done as you asked. Thanks. :)

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