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Playback on Roku in remux mode freezes for a few seconds


myriaxis

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myriaxis

Hi,

When Emby uses the remux mode to stream a movie to my Roku, the playback freezes for a few seconds every once in a while.
I don't have a problem when Emby uses the direct mode.
I've seen two different behaviors:
1. The playback freezes on a frame for 1 or 2 seconds and then unfreezes to continue playback until the next freeze.
2. The playback stops, the movie file is retrieved and the playback restart from a few seconds prior to the stop.

Also, if I pause the playback, it restarts itself after 20-30 seconds.

I never had a problem with transcoding before.
I'm not sure what to look for (hardware problem, windows problem, Emby Server problem or Emby for Roku problem).

Here is the configuration of Emby:
Windows 10 v1909 up to date
Emby Server 4.4.3.0
Emby has been installed 2 years ago and updated ever since

Here is the configuration of Roku:
Roku Ultra (4640x) connected via a network GB cable
Emby for Roku Beta v4.0.4
Video Quality set to Auto
Home Network Quality set to Auto

Please find attached the relevant log files.

Emby.zip

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Erik

I have also experience the “self unpausing”  since my roku has updated to firmware 9.3. It doesn’t do it on one box that was still on 9.2 that I tested with.

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Hi, yes that is what I was going to ask.  Did your Roku just update firmware?

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myriaxis

Yes my Roku is at 9.3.0, updated on June 4th.

Is it possible to go back to 9.2 on Roku?

If not, any workaround on the Emby side?

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Erik

I can only say what worked for me... and turning off throttling in the transcode settings had everything working for me again for the last couple days. When I turn the throttling back on I get loading/playback interruption returning.

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Erik

The server will process the whole video vs just processing enough to stay ahead of current playback. So essentially just uses more space in the transcoding temporary folder, but should all be freed up again automatically by the server when done with the files.

Also uses the CPU or GPU the entire time it’s processed so you may see higher usage during this time.

At my house with a couple people watching different things I don’t notice a difference with it on or off.

 

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myriaxis

Thanks for the info.
I haven't tested turning off throttling yet.

I was trying to understand why the movie file was remuxed by Emby.
I know is has to do with Roku Ultra capabilities.

I have 2 similar files, one streamed directly and one streamed remuxed.
File 1, streamed directly, is HEVC H265 Main 10 @4.0, AC3 5.1 448 kb/s, video bitrate at 5648 kb/s.
File 2, streamed remuxed, is HEVC H265 Main 10 @4.0, AAC 7.1 563 kb/s, video bitrate at 5898 kb/s.

Is file 2 remuxed because of video bitrate, AAC audio, audio bitrate or else?

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Erik

Just looking at the file details you posted, I would assume is the audio would be the difference (AAC vs AC3), but i also don't have any HEVC media... @speechles would have probably have the technical answer.

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Happy2Play
29 minutes ago, myriaxis said:

Thanks for the info.
I haven't tested turning off throttling yet.

I was trying to understand why the movie file was remuxed by Emby.
I know is has to do with Roku Ultra capabilities.

I have 2 similar files, one streamed directly and one streamed remuxed.
File 1, streamed directly, is HEVC H265 Main 10 @4.0, AC3 5.1 448 kb/s, video bitrate at 5648 kb/s.
File 2, streamed remuxed, is HEVC H265 Main 10 @4.0, AAC 7.1 563 kb/s, video bitrate at 5898 kb/s.

Is file 2 remuxed because of video bitrate, AAC audio, audio bitrate or else?

See Supported Audio Codecs section

https://developer.roku.com/docs/specs/streaming.md

 

Quote

Multichannel AAC is not supported on all Roku models. Roku TVs, Roku 4, and Roku Ultra set-top-boxes support multichannel decode to PCM stereo

 

Edited by Happy2Play
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1 hour ago, myriaxis said:

File 1, streamed directly, is HEVC H265 Main 10 @4.0, AC3 5.1 448 kb/s, video bitrate at 5648 kb/s.
File 2, streamed remuxed, is HEVC H265 Main 10 @4.0, AAC 7.1 563 kb/s, video bitrate at 5898 kb/s.

Is file 2 remuxed because of video bitrate, AAC audio, audio bitrate or else?

Our detection reads directly from the Roku device information which codec each Roku model supports and how many channels each of those codecs support. We do not assume anything is supported initially. This allows our detection to tailor itself to each model automatically. Presently all Roku will report support for AAC in 6 channels (5.1 surround) but are actually on-device downsample this to 2 channel stereo. It is this removal of surround we try to keep with AAC. So even if you had 5.1 AAC you likely would want it converted to AC3 rather than reduced to 2 channel stereo by your Roku.

 

File 2 is remuxed because it has 8 channels which is over the 6 supported by AAC. It also may be the "Convert Multi-Channel AAC" option in settings. We use this to avoid the Roku downsample to 2 channel stereo with AAC. Emby server will convert the AAC to AC3 whenever it is over 2 channels to preserve surround with the convert multi-channel aac options is YES.

 

Does this answer the questions? :)

 

NOTE: The Roku ultra #4640 will convert multi-channel AAC into AC3 on the device (without transcoding and with direct play!). This is the ONLY Roku model with support for this feature. This model is unfortunately no longer in production they have since changed hardware on the Roku ultra. I have an #4640 as well as several other Roku models I test with. Users with a #4640 should keep the "Convert Multi-Channel AAC" at NO because of this.

Edited by speechles
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myriaxis

Wow! Thanks for the datailed info speechles.

To see if I understand correctly, as a general rule if I want to avoid transcoding on my Rokus (I have a Roku Ultra #4640 and a Roku 3) I should prefer AC3 for multi-channel audio.
However, on my Roku Ultra, if I set "Convert Multi-Channel AAC" at NO, I benefit from its special powers for those files that have multi-channel AAC.

Did I get it right?

Also, turning off throttling solves the issue. And I noticed the PC runs more smothly with throttling off. Before, with throttling on, the CPU fans would yoyo between quiet and high speed according to CPU usage during playback.

Thanks alot everyone for your time and help.

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pwhodges
15 hours ago, speechles said:

File 2 is remuxed because it has 8 channels which is over the 6 supported by AAC.

Just to clarify, the limit is in the Roku support, not the format.  Officially AAC can include 48 full-bandwidth channels and 16 band-limited "LFE" channels, plus some other bits and pieces.  I have movies with 7.1 audio in AAC format.

Paul

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sloth682

Same circumstances here too, Roku 9.3.  Initially, I thought I saw that each time it buffered, it looked like it was switching between hardware and software transcoding.  So I tried turning off hardware transcoding and that seemed to be effective.  After seeing some of the forum posts though, I turned hardware transcoding back on and throttling off and all seems well as others have stated.

Edited by sloth682
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tmedia

Just throwing my hat in the ring here. 

I thought a recent unifi ap update was causing this but it seemed strange to only affect the Roku's in the house. I found this thread and turning off the transcoding throttle does solve the issue.

The only issue now is the CPU spike when you initiate a show that needs transcoding.

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Happy2Play
3 hours ago, tmedia said:

Just throwing my hat in the ring here. 

I thought a recent unifi ap update was causing this but it seemed strange to only affect the Roku's in the house. I found this thread and turning off the transcoding throttle does solve the issue.

The only issue now is the CPU spike when you initiate a show that needs transcoding.

That is just what ffmpeg does though, it does the same with Throttling but just in increments vs the whole file.

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tmedia
4 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

That is just what ffmpeg does though, it does the same with Throttling but just in increments vs the whole file.

Yep :)

I set my docker container to only use some of the server cpu threads because it was creating a bit of a bottle neck when 4 devices were streaming transcoded streams. I really need to find some better clients than these roku premieres that can handle hevc 10bit.

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