Emby transcodes 4K content for playback on Apple TV 4K client but does not for iPad client

[ChrisJ60 13]

I have Emby server 4.4.3.0 running on macOS 10.15.5. As clients I have:

-    Apple TV 4K running latest tvOS and latest Emby app

-    iPad Pro 11" (2nd gen) running iOS 13.5.1 and latest Emby app

-    LG 4K Smart TV with latest Emby app

I have a number of 4K MKV files in my library, some with HDR and some without. These files *all* play via Emby on my iPad without any transcoding whatsoever. If I play the same files on the Apple TV 4K or the LG TV via the native Emby apps there is heavy transcoding activity on my server.

This does not seem right; if Emby for iOS 13.5.1can play these files without any transcoding then I would have expected Emby for tvOS on an Apple TV 4K to also be able to play them without needing transcoding, I'd also have hoped that the LG native app would also not require transcoding (but that is less of an issue for me).

Anyone any ideas what is going on here? Is this really how it is meant to behave?

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by ChrisJ60
Fix typos

[RanmaCanada 457]

They both use different players for different hardware.  This is a very common problem with the Apple TV POS.  The devs have been working on this for 2 years, but still don't have a solution for Apple and their horrible playback compatibility.  A quick search or browse through the forum would have shown you that.

[ebr 15664]

Hi.  Did you try enabling MPV in the Apple TV settings?

[ChrisJ60 13]

Thanks @ebr, that seems to have done the trick!

[vdatanet 1586]

Well, MPV avoids transcoding but video looks horrible and framerate and dynamic range match does not work. So, that's not a solution:

 

[ChrisJ60 13]

I'm not seeing those issues using MPV. Video quality is excellent, including for 4K (HEVC) and no transcoding either.

I'll keep using MPV until(if)  I find an issue then I'll be back here  

 

[vdatanet 1586]

Are you playing HDR content?

[ChrisJ60 13]

Ugh, yeah, I see what you mean. HDR is pretty poor  And comparing regular (non-HDR) video with e.g. the Emby app on LG TV, the quality is also noticeably inferior.

So, no good solution here for Apple TV 4K then it seems. Pretty disappointing... Let's hope for some major improvements here in upcoming releases!

 

[Luke 40073]

We are looking into improving it. Thanks for the feedback.

[embyologist 0]

I'm a long time Plex user and looking at Emby due to the BF lifetime sale. I've got a Synology 1920+ setup with Emby server. The Nvidia Shield playback is flawless and CPU on Synology is low. If I try to play on Apple TV 4K, it hits 95% and struggles. Infuse plays it via Emby Server without an issue. Similarly, Plex has no issue with the playback on TVos

Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround or it's on the roadmap to be fixed. 

[vdatanet 1586]

1 hour ago, embyologist said:

I'm a long time Plex user and looking at Emby due to the BF lifetime sale. I've got a Synology 1920+ setup with Emby server. The Nvidia Shield playback is flawless and CPU on Synology is low. If I try to play on Apple TV 4K, it hits 95% and struggles. Infuse plays it via Emby Server without an issue. Similarly, Plex has no issue with the playback on TVos

Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround or it's on the roadmap to be fixed. 

Enable MPV player in playback options. Remember to restart the app.