two issues regarding transcoding that need to be fixed.

[zyfinity 15]

Yea, will keep that in mind for the future although the majority of my 2 - 3tb of content is already HEVC 10 bit so i wouldn't want to convert them again.

[zyfinity 15]

Just tested the latest beta for emby and i'm very happy with the results! thanks for your work and for bearing with me @@softworkz

[softworkz 3349]

Just tested the latest beta for emby and i'm very happy with the results! thanks for your work and for bearing with me @@softworkz

 

You're welcome! Everything you reported was justified,

I was only having a hard time because your logs weren't matching your statements about what you had tried.

 

Thanks for reporting!

[mrfragger 39]

This was a very informative thread and both of you displayed quite the patience with other. But yeah I agree with softworkz that most x265 10 bit I doesn’t save any space. I’ve converted almost all my content to x265 if it wasn’t x264 and some very large x264 files to x265 for usually half the file size so well worth the conversion time.

 

I’m excited about the new beta that just included

 

- Expand media conversion feature to allow selection of containers, video codecs, and audio codecs

- Support converting to HEVC/H265 with media conversion feature

- VAAPI: Fix data twist in HEVC profile map

- DXVA: Fix 10bit profile detection

 

I might have to wait a couple weeks to try it out but it’s a godsend. Things are getting exciting feature wise with Emby.

[zyfinity 15]

Just wondering how does "Support converting to HEVC/H265 with media conversion feature" work? as i don't get the option for HEVC under the media conversion setting?

[Luke 37235]

Just wondering how does "Support converting to HEVC/H265 with media conversion feature" work? as i don't get the option for HEVC under the media conversion setting?

 

Why do you feel that you don't?

[zyfinity 15]

i just can't seem to find the option?

[ebr 14958]

Just wondering how does "Support converting to HEVC/H265 with media conversion feature" work? as i don't get the option for HEVC under the media conversion setting?

 

Are you running the beta server?

 

 

I’m excited about the new beta that just included

 

- Expand media conversion feature to allow selection of containers, video codecs, and audio codecs

- Support converting to HEVC/H265 with media conversion feature

- VAAPI: Fix data twist in HEVC profile map

- DXVA: Fix 10bit profile detection

 

I might have to wait a couple weeks to try it out but it’s a godsend. Things are getting exciting feature wise with Emby.

[zyfinity 15]

Yes I'm on the latest beta.

[Riddler84 38]

On 9/28/2019 at 9:55 AM, softworkz said:

QuickSync D3D11 is an Emby-exclusive feature that nobody else has right now - but as cool as that is, it might be the culprit in this case..

Stumbled across this, because I was looking for a reason, why transcoding of HEVC files always produces nothing but a colorful blocky pixelated mess, instead of a clear picture. Didn't know it had anything to do with the decoding of 10 bit files. Most of my files are, so I couldn't directly see, that this is the reason.

So I found out, that the reason for it not working, was the "QuickSync Intel Iris Xe Graphics - D3D11 - H.265 (HEVC)" decoder. It works fine with the D3D9 one and DX11VA.
But if there are known problems with D3D11 (that's what I'm reading out of your posts), why is this decoder activated by default and put into the highest priority slot, over the two others? Why having it even in there, if it's not as stable as the other ones? It took me a good amount of time, figuring out, why transcoding sometimes doesn't work, while other times it works well.

[Luke 37235]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:03 PM, Riddler84 said:

Stumbled across this, because I was looking for a reason, why transcoding of HEVC files always produces nothing but a colorful blocky pixelated mess, instead of a clear picture. Didn't know it had anything to do with the decoding of 10 bit files. Most of my files are, so I couldn't directly see, that this is the reason.

So I found out, that the reason for it not working, was the "QuickSync Intel Iris Xe Graphics - D3D11 - H.265 (HEVC)" decoder. It works fine with the D3D9 one and DX11VA.
But if there are known problems with D3D11 (that's what I'm reading out of your posts), why is this decoder activated by default and put into the highest priority slot, over the two others? Why having it even in there, if it's not as stable as the other ones? It took me a good amount of time, figuring out, why transcoding sometimes doesn't work, while other times it works well.

Hi, can we please see a specific example? Thanks.

[softworkz 3349]

On 7/22/2023 at 2:03 AM, Riddler84 said:

Stumbled across this, because I was looking for a reason, why transcoding of HEVC files always produces nothing but a colorful blocky pixelated mess, instead of a clear picture. Didn't know it had anything to do with the decoding of 10 bit files. Most of my files are, so I couldn't directly see, that this is the reason.

So I found out, that the reason for it not working, was the "QuickSync Intel Iris Xe Graphics - D3D11 - H.265 (HEVC)" decoder. It works fine with the D3D9 one and DX11VA.
But if there are known problems with D3D11 (that's what I'm reading out of your posts), why is this decoder activated by default and put into the highest priority slot, over the two others? Why having it even in there, if it's not as stable as the other ones? It took me a good amount of time, figuring out, why transcoding sometimes doesn't work, while other times it works well.

The decoder works fine and better than the others, especially when it's about setting up media processing pipelines which are fully done in hardware.

If you are seeing issues, this is most likely due to graphics drivers. Please download and install the latest graphics drivers from the Intel.com website. If you are already on the very latest drivers, you can try an older driver version from a few months ago, but I'm not aware of any current issues.

[Riddler84 38]

23 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, can we please see a specific example? Thanks.

 

16 hours ago, softworkz said:

The decoder works fine and better than the others, especially when it's about setting up media processing pipelines which are fully done in hardware.

If you are seeing issues, this is most likely due to graphics drivers. Please download and install the latest graphics drivers from the Intel.com website. If you are already on the very latest drivers, you can try an older driver version from a few months ago, but I'm not aware of any current issues.

I wanted to write a follow up to this, because with the D3D9 decoder, tonemapping wasn't working at all. Protocol just said: "Warning: Tone Mapping would be desired, but QuickSync tone mapping requires the 'D3D11' codec versions. D3D9 Adapter: 0"

But then I noticed, during some Beta testing, that none of my current transcoding and tonemapping issues are present there. So I switched to Beta fully (thought about it anyway).
D3D11 and D3D9 decoders aren't even present there. Only one left is "QuickSync Intel Iris Xe Graphics" plus the DX11VA one.

Regarding the problem with the stable version, I am using the latest Intel Media Driver ver. 31.0.101.3790. OS is Windows 10. I attach a screenshot of how it looked for the entirety of the movie.

[softworkz 3349]

46 minutes ago, Riddler84 said:

I am using the latest Intel Media Driver ver. 31.0.101.3790. OS is Windows 10.

This driver is more than 6 months old and the initial ARC/Iris XE drivers had lots of issues.

47 minutes ago, Riddler84 said:

D3D11 and D3D9 decoders aren't even present there. Only one left is "QuickSync Intel Iris Xe Graphics" plus the DX11VA one.

This is correct. All decoders on Windows are DX11 now (and only). D3D9 variants are not shown any longer.

There's a diagnostic flag to activate these, but there's really no reason to do that in your case, no benefit to expect, only drawbacks.

 

[softworkz 3349]

Use the latest one, which is - as of today - 4575: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/726609/intel-arc-iris-xe-graphics-whql-windows.html

[Riddler84 38]

On 7/25/2023 at 10:48 PM, softworkz said:

This driver is more than 6 months old and the initial ARC/Iris XE drivers had lots of issues.

Ok, but the Intel control center on my Intel NUC said that the version I posted was indeed the latest. Now you made me curious, and I installed the Intel driver assistant software, which found 3 outdated drivers, graphics included. Ironically, the control center now acknowledges that the driver is outdated^^

But it doesn't recommend the version you posted, it does recommend the 4369 one, specifically for NUC11 systems.

On 7/25/2023 at 10:48 PM, softworkz said:

This is correct. All decoders on Windows are DX11 now (and only). D3D9 variants are not shown any longer.

But something you did, fixed it for me, even with the outdated graphics driver I was using. So it wasn't just the driver, right?

[softworkz 3349]

On 7/27/2023 at 6:29 PM, Riddler84 said:

Ok, but the Intel control center on my Intel NUC said that the version I posted was indeed the latest. Now you made me curious, and I installed the Intel driver assistant software, which found 3 outdated drivers, graphics included. Ironically, the control center now acknowledges that the driver is outdated^^

But it doesn't recommend the version you posted, it does recommend the 4369 one, specifically for NUC11 systems.

In earlier days, Intel had a driver model with primary focus on OEMs, like mainboard manufacturers. Those OEMs were provided base driver versions by Intel and could customize them and release them as their own - branded - versions of the drivers.
The idea is that the OEMs are testing the drivers to be compatible with their own specific hardware (mainboard+firmware). 

Those procedures haven't changed, but earlier it wasn't (easily) possible to install the Intel (plain-vanilla) drivers on top of those drivers (once installed). This is what has changed 2 years ago:  You can always install Intel's drivers on top of other drivers - probably because it has turned out that the board manufacturers are updating their OEM versions rarely and often completely stop updating after 1-3 years. 

Testing new drivers costs time and money - so what's remaining is that "recommended" (= tested) driver versions are always behind the latest Intel driver versions - sometimes even far behind. For >90% of cases, it doesn't matter a lot, because users aren't expecting much more than proper display of their desktop UI.
For media hardware acceleration it's a different story. The initial Iris/Arc drivers had tons of issues in this area, but it's not something cared by those who determine and release the "recommended driver versions" for specific hardware (even when it's Intel itself - but another department).

So the golden rule for using Intel Media Hardware Acceleration with Emby:

 

Always go to the Intel Support Site and download the latest drivers for your graphics hardware!

Edited July 30, 2023 by softworkz