Direct Play 265 HEVC 23.976215 FPS Playback Not Smooth

[troyhough 60]

I have several HEVC videos that do not play smoothly on the Android Mobile app (Direct Play). However if I lower the quality so it transcodes, then the transcoded files play back smoothly. It's like it's not displaying all the frames. If I check the Stats for Nerds it says 0 dropped frames and 0 corrupted frames.

For fun I tried with Emby Theater (Windows 10 64-bit), same deal.

Is this normal?

Here is the Media Information for one of the files:

Edited March 23, 2023 by troyhough

[Sammy 786]

It is going to depend on the ability of the hardware you are using for playback.

 

I have some HEVC that push 70mbps or even more that play fine on my ShieldTV's but I need to set the maximum bit rate to 40 on my MiBox s' AndroidTV players. Not noticeable though as the TV's these are connected to are either 1080p or even 720p. My server can transcode just fine without stutter and with 11 TV's in the house, buying 11 ShieldTV's is not practicable especially if I'm not using them to their full potential.

[troyhough 60]

It is going to depend on the ability of the hardware you are using for playback.

 

I changed to External player in Emby settings and played with VLC. It plays smooth as butter. So hardware doesn't appear to be an issue.

[Sammy 786]

I changed to External player in Emby settings and played with VLC. It plays smooth as butter. So hardware doesn't appear to be an issue.

Emby Theater or Android app?

 

Post your logs.

 

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/739-how-to-report-a-problem/

 

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

Edited April 28, 2020 by Sammy

[troyhough 60]

Emby Theater or Android app?

 

Android app.

 

I didn't see an option in Emby Theater to use an external player.

 

I'll gather logs now.

[troyhough 60]

Logs attached. Thanks

embyserver.txt

embyserver-63723679637.txt

hardware_detection-63723679653.txt

[Sammy 786]

@@Luke

[Luke 40145]

What device and version of android?

[troyhough 60]

What device and version of android?

Pixel 4 XL

Latest Android 10 QQ2A.200405.005

 

As stated above, the exact same problem is present with Emby Theater on Win 10 64 bit.

[daedalus 430]

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/85375-hevc-x265-playback-issue

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/82614-huawei-mediapad-t5-movie-lagging/

Edited April 29, 2020 by daedalus

[troyhough 60]

The 2 files I am testing play back flawlessly on my Nvidia Shield (Direct Play).

 

So it appears to be an issue with the Android app and Emby Theater (possibly others).

 

I would like to be able to get this squared away before ATSC 3.0 starts becoming more mainstream (in the coming months) with HEVC being the new standard. I watch local OTA channels a lot on my Android device.

 

Thanks

Edited April 29, 2020 by troyhough

[daedalus 430]

dont see any playback issues in ET on windows

 

 

I didn't see an option in Emby Theater to use an external player.

 

sure you can ET settings -> external players

Edited April 29, 2020 by daedalus

[troyhough 60]

dont see any playback issues in ET on windows

 

I have the exact same problem with the HEVC files using Emby Theater on Windows 10 64-Bit as I do on the Pixel 4 XL w/ Android app. Others are also having the same issue.

 

My Emby Theater doesn't look the same as yours. I am on 1.1.307.0 and do not have an option for External Players.

 

[troyhough 60]

Ok after looking further, there appears to be a Windows Desktop Emby Theater as well, version 3.0.11 which I just installed for testing. The HEVC files do play back flawlessly with it.

 

What I am having issues with is Emby Theater (Windows Store version).

 

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

[daedalus 430]

that clears things up

the desktop version has support for external players and better codec support

i would recommend it over the store version, expecially if you have playback issues

[troyhough 60]

i would recommend it over the store version, expecially if you have playback issues

 

I'm not going to just change players and call it a day. Would rather get the issue fixed, at least for the sake of killing 2 birds with 1 stone (getting the Android app fixed).

[Sammy 786]

I'm not going to just change players and call it a day. Would rather get the issue fixed, at least for the sake of killing 2 birds with 1 stone (getting the Android app fixed).

 

Since Microsoft wants you to buy decoders from them for HEVC, I'm pretty sure you'd have to pay for a store version or you can merely download the available desktop version that unlocks external players. I'm pretty sure this is by design and a fix will not be forthcoming.

[troyhough 60]

Since Microsoft wants you to buy decoders from them for HEVC, I'm pretty sure you'd have to pay for a store version or you can merely download the available desktop version that unlocks external players. I'm pretty sure this is by design and a fix will not be forthcoming.

 

That's understandable. And how about the official Emby Android app?

[troyhough 60]

Since Microsoft wants you to buy decoders from them for HEVC, I'm pretty sure you'd have to pay for a store version or you can merely download the available desktop version that unlocks external players. I'm pretty sure this is by design and a fix will not be forthcoming.

 

This appears to be it (for 99c). I haven't bought it/tried it, just pointing it out.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NMZLZ57R3T7

 

To clarify above a little better, the Windows Desktop Emby Theater app played the files perfectly without having to use an External player.

 

In my experience with external players, they don't always allow you to skip forward, back, Emby doesn't remember which movies you've played with it or not, where you left off, etc. Has that changed? Using an external player has always been a last resort for me...

[daedalus 430]

This appears to be it (for 99c). I haven't bought it/tried it, just pointing it out.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9NMZLZ57R3T7

 

worth a try  https://mspoweruser.com/heres-how-you-can-get-the-hevc-codec-from-microsoft-store-for-free/

 

 

Emby doesn't remember which movies you've played with it or not, where you left off, etc. Has that changed?

no, devs never showed the will to implement that

[troyhough 60]

worth a try  https://mspoweruser.com/heres-how-you-can-get-the-hevc-codec-from-microsoft-store-for-free/

 

Cool. So I went here and it said it was already installed. The HEVC files still don't play back smoothly. No difference.

[Luke 40145]

 

 

In my experience with external players, they don't always allow you to skip forward, back, Emby doesn't remember which movies you've played with it or not, where you left off, etc.

When playing with an external player, there isn't a universal way for us to know where you left off. I suppose we could prompt you and ask you to tell us.

[troyhough 60]

When playing with an external player, there isn't a universal way for us to know where you left off. I suppose we could prompt you and ask you to tell us.

 

That would be alright but should probably get the default player(s) working properly first.

[daedalus 430]

When playing with an external player, there isn't a universal way for us to know where you left off. I suppose we could prompt you and ask you to tell us.

the relevant major players offer ways to get these informations since ever

[troyhough 60]

I've received a few Android app beta updates but no improvement in HEVC playback. Is this being looked at @@Luke?