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Posted (edited)

I am running my Emby Media Server on my PC and streaming it onto my Sony Bravia 42'' TV via Fire Stick. I am new to running media servers so I had questions about the service:

1) Why doesn't the application support certain subtitles format like ASS?

2) My movies library is very poorly organized by Emby despite being properly named. Plex organizes it neatly however. Same issue with my stand up files. What can be the reason for this?

3) How do I disable transcoding altogether?

4) I can run Emby without paying for it on my Fire Stick, right?

5) How do I disable Emby creating chapters automatically? It creates a chapter after every 30 seconds. I would also like to disable seeing chapters altogether when I am watching media on Emby.

6) Why does Emby need to transcode the video file just because the subtitles are not supported?

7) How do I allow the app to have a temporary memory of files that I've played? Ideally I want it to have a minute-long memory of whatever file I am playing so that it doesn't have to buffer every time I rewind a file. A minute-long cache.

8. My performance on Emby is significantly better than with Plex (free). For example I was running a x265 file of Impractical Jokers and Plex would handle it highly erratically. Going forward when I rewind, buffer for a few seconds every time I wanted to rewind. Emby can handle much more smoothly and buffering is probably only a second or two.

Edited by lordlance
Posted
5 hours ago, lordlance said:

Why doesn't the application support certain subtitles format like ASS?

Hi.  It does support these.  Can you please explain what problem you are having?

5 hours ago, lordlance said:

How do I disable transcoding altogether?

There is an option in the server but we don't recommend using it.  The only time items are transcoded are when they need to be.

5 hours ago, lordlance said:

I can run Emby without paying for it on my Fire Stick, right?

Our Fire app requires either Premiere or a one time app unlock after its trial.   Emby Premiere Feature Matrix

5 hours ago, lordlance said:

How do I disable Emby creating chapters automatically? It creates a chapter after every 30 seconds.

Emby's default chapter points are at 5 minutes so, if you have every 30 seconds, then those chapters are defined in  your media and Emby is just reading them.  There is no way to turn this off at this time.

5 hours ago, lordlance said:

Why does Emby need to transcode the video file just because the subtitles are not supported?

You want to see the subtitles, correct?  If not, de-select them in the UI.

If we could take a look at details of whatever issues you are having, I'm sure we can help.

Posted
Quote

Hi.  It does support these.  Can you please explain what problem you are having?

I mean that I have to manually enable support for ASS subtitles on my Fire Stick which involves needing to transcode the video. Why is that necessary? Why can't it load them directly? I tried playing them directly and it clearly could not display it properly.

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There is an option in the server but we don't recommend using it.  The only time items are transcoded are when they need to be.

The reason that I am asking for this option is to prevent files to automatically stream at a lower quality if my internet speed drops. Where is it? I can't find it.

____

Can you also answer questions no. 2, 7 and 8? The first two are very important for me. I rewind often.

Happy2Play
Posted
17 hours ago, lordlance said:

2) My movies library is very poorly organized by Emby despite being properly named. Plex organizes it neatly however. Same issue with my stand up files. What can be the reason for this?

The issue is Emby uses folder name not file name when querying provider sites so having year before name will be problematic.  But your poorly organize image does not show anything.

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1957 - Jailhouse Rock\Jailhouse.Rock.1957.BluRay.1080p.TrueHD.5.1.VC-1.REMUX-FraMeSToR.mkv

 

17 hours ago, lordlance said:

5) How do I disable Emby creating chapters automatically? It creates a chapter after every 30 seconds. I would also like to disable seeing chapters altogether when I am watching media on Emby.

Chapter images are created at 5 minute interval and interval images are created at 10 second intervals if selected per setting on each library (enable show advance settings).  But currently there is no option to completely disable Chapters/Interval thumbnails.

As for 8 I would think we would need to go over a specific example of playback method and media info and client being played on as there are just to many variables.

Happy2Play
Posted
31 minutes ago, lordlance said:

The reason that I am asking for this option is to prevent files to automatically stream at a lower quality if my internet speed drops. Where is it? I can't find it.

Only way a lower quality can be provided is if it is transcode to a lower quality.  The per user option to not allow transcoding of video or audio will just prevent the item from being playable at all in most cases.

Posted

Emby movie organization: https://imgur.com/a/IEGNzwn

Isn't it a good thing that I predate movies with the year of their release? It makes the search query more specific. The 2009 Hamlet as opposed to the various other adaptations (an example).

Quote

As for 8 I would think we would need to go over a specific example of playback method and media info and client being played on as there are just to many variables.

Sure. This is the mediainfo for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being played on my Fire Stick (Tata Sky Binge to be specific): https://pastebin.com/0jDvK0BK

My PC information is on the original post. My internet connection is 50Mbps and I have Plex free vs Emby premium trial currently.

Quote

Only way a lower quality can be provided is if it is transcode to a lower quality.  The per user option to not allow transcoding of video or audio will just prevent the item from being playable at all in most cases.

If that's the case then what does this mean?

Quote

There is an option in the server but we don't recommend using it.  The only time items are transcoded are when they need to be.

I thought it meant auto-quality adjustment.

More specifically when my ASS subtitles are being loaded then the Mbps in nerd stats of the transcode are lower than the original video. I thought that meant the quality was being lowered.

Happy2Play
Posted

Update for "Generate video preview thumbnails" there is a Never option on that setting.  Each Library show advanced setting and scroll down to Thumbnail Images.

14 minutes ago, lordlance said:

If that's the case then what does this mean?

Transcoding will only happen in connection conditions require it or the content codec is not supported and requires being converted.

5 minutes ago, lordlance said:

Sure. This is the mediainfo for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being played on my Fire Stick (Tata Sky Binge to be specific): https://pastebin.com/0jDvK0BK

What is the item playback method Direct Play, Direct Stream, Transcode?  But anything beside Direct Play I would expect delay as the server potentially has to reprocessed (But I could be wrong as the processed stream exists in the transcoding-temp folder)..

6 minutes ago, lordlance said:

Emby movie organization: https://imgur.com/a/IEGNzwn

Isn't it a good thing that I predate movies with the year of their release? It makes the search query more specific. The 2009 Hamlet as opposed to the various other adaptations (an example).

With that folder naming scheme that is what i would expect since Emby uses folder name not file name.  And there is no way to change that behavior, currently.

 

3 minutes ago, lordlance said:

I thought it meant auto-quality adjustment.

More specifically when my ASS subtitles are being loaded then the Mbps in nerd stats of the transcode are lower than the original video. I thought that meant the quality was being lowered

Emby does not do any on the fly adjustments to media playback at this time.  So Emby maintains what it starts with, and if your link becomes saturated playback issues will arise do.  Auto quality can be rather conservative on a remote connection.  I personally set a internet stream limit per user and have them set client to Max Quality so the server controls the connection not the client.

Don't use subtitles so a dev or someone else will have to comment more. 

Posted
Quote

Update for "Generate video preview thumbnails" there is a Never option on that setting.  Each Library show advanced setting and scroll down to Thumbnail Images.

Why did you suggest that I do this?

Quote

Transcoding will only happen in connection conditions require it or the content codec is not supported and requires being converted.

 

This is what I mean. Not transcoding even if my internet speed isn't good enough to retain quality.

Quote

What is the item playback method Direct Play, Direct Stream, Transcode?  But anything beside Direct Play I would expect delay as the server potentially has to reprocessed (But I could be wrong as the processed stream exists in the transcoding-temp folder)..

Can I change this?

Quote

With that folder naming scheme that is what i would expect since Emby uses folder name not file name.  And there is no way to change that behavior, currently.

What does Emby do if there have been multiple movies released with the same name?

Quote

Emby does not do any on the fly adjustments to media playback at this time.  So Emby maintains what it starts with, and if your link becomes saturated playback issues will arise do.  Auto quality can be rather conservative on a remote connection.  I personally set a internet stream limit per user and have them set client to Max Quality so the server controls the connection not the client.

Isn't on-the-fly adjustment necessary for transcoding/network connection?

Posted
6 minutes ago, lordlance said:

What does Emby do if there have been multiple movies released with the same name?

Emby has no problem dealing with similar named movies released in different years, but you must follow Emby's naming standard (which is pretty universal, and Plex will support it also)

https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001159102

Happy2Play
Posted (edited)
19 minutes ago, lordlance said:
Quote

Update for "Generate video preview thumbnails" there is a Never option on that setting.  Each Library show advanced setting and scroll down to Thumbnail Images.

Why did you suggest that I do this?

You ask in question (5) How do I disable Emby creating chapters automatically?)

19 minutes ago, lordlance said:

What does Emby do if there have been multiple movies released with the same name?

Can you be more specific?  But am guessing each one has a different year correct?

19 minutes ago, lordlance said:

Isn't on-the-fly adjustment necessary for transcoding/network connection?

In a service that has monster servers and load balancing like Netflix sure, but a personal computer on a home network it currently looking at static information.  This is why there are potentially so many complaints about Auto as it chooses a conservative quality.

19 minutes ago, lordlance said:
Quote

What is the item playback method Direct Play, Direct Stream, Transcode?  But anything beside Direct Play I would expect delay as the server potentially has to reprocessed (But I could be wrong as the processed stream exists in the transcoding-temp folder)..

Can I change this?

The server choose the playback method.  Sure you can disable them per User settings but it will not provide the results you are looking for because if the user can not convert or trancode the item will not play at all.  These are required unless the device/client can play the item as is.

Edited by Happy2Play
Posted

@lordlance Do you still have any questions or has all your questions been answered?

Posted
Quote

You ask in question (5) How do I disable Emby creating chapters automatically?)

It's off already. Chapters are still auto-generated after every 5 minutes.

Quote

Can you be more specific?  But am guessing each one has a different year correct?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(disambiguation)

Quote

In a service that has monster servers and load balancing like Netflix sure, but a personal computer on a home network it currently looking at static information.  This is why there are potentially so many complaints about Auto as it chooses a conservative quality.

To clarify: Are you saying transcoding happens when speed is selected at auto? If I keep it at 110Mbps then there will be no transcoding? How do I disable Emby from transcoding? Why doesn't it have transcoding options according to quality like Plex?

14 hours ago, cayars said:

Do you still have any questions or has all your questions been answered?

1) Why doesn't the application support certain subtitles format like ASS?

6) Why does Emby need to transcode the video file just because the subtitles are not supported?

7) How do I allow the app to have a temporary memory of files that I've played? Ideally I want it to have a minute-long memory of whatever file I am playing so that it doesn't have to buffer every time I rewind a file. A minute-long cache.

8. My performance on Emby is significantly better than with Plex (free). For example I was running a x265 file of Impractical Jokers and Plex would handle it highly erratically. Going forward when I rewind, buffer for a few seconds every time I wanted to rewind. Emby can handle much more smoothly and buffering is probably only a second or two.

 

Posted

Turning off thumbnail generation just stops generation on media that hasn't already been generated.

Transcoding happens when the app can't play back the media.  This can be due to not supported the video or audio codecs in your files (not compatible with your devices) or can be due to bitrate limit set in the app or the server admin.

ASS subs are supported on some clients directly but not all devices can use them.  In this case the server has to get involved and this could cause transcoding.  Often times you may be able to download a compatible SRT (text base sub) and work around the ASS issue.

If it's an image based subtitle format vs text based and the device can't support it then Emby only has once choice and that's to combine the video and image based subs by overlaying (hard coding) them on the video.  This requires transcoding.

Honestly most transcoding is caused by people not preparing their media for streaming and just wanting to dump lots of files on an HDD drive and expecting magic to happen. That magic is called transcoding and does allow the media to be played back but like any illusion isn't as good as true playback.

  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, lordlance said:

To clarify: Are you saying transcoding happens when speed is selected at auto? If I keep it at 110Mbps then there will be no transcoding? How do I disable Emby from transcoding? Why doesn't it have transcoding options according to quality like Plex?

Auto may or may not transcode depending on available bandwidth. 110Mbps may or may not transcode depending on available bandwidth. No matter what your settings are, Emby cannot send more data than the connection will support. 

Why do you want to disable transcoding? 

What makes you think Emby doesn't have "transcoding options according to quality like Plex"? 

Quote

Why does Emby need to transcode the video file just because the subtitles are not supported?

How else do you expect it to display the subtitles? 

Posted
4 hours ago, cayars said:

 

Transcoding happens when the app can't play back the media.  This can be due to not supported the video or audio codecs in your files (not compatible with your devices) or can be due to bitrate limit set in the app or the server admin.

ASS subs are supported on some clients directly but not all devices can use them.  In this case the server has to get involved and this could cause transcoding.  Often times you may be able to download a compatible SRT (text base sub) and work around the ASS issue.

 

Honestly most transcoding is caused by people not preparing their media for streaming and just wanting to dump lots of files on an HDD drive and expecting magic to happen. That magic is called transcoding and does allow the media to be played back but like any illusion isn't as good as true playback.

Quote

Turning off thumbnail generation just stops generation on media that hasn't already been generated.

I was suggested to turn it off to prevent auto-creation of chapters after every five minutes.

Quote

If it's an image based subtitle format vs text based and the device can't support it then Emby only has once choice and that's to combine the video and image based subs by overlaying (hard coding) them on the video.  This requires transcoding.

Is this why transcoding happens with ASS? Because Emby has a separate option to force-enable subtitles. It needs to always hardcode subtitles that aren't supported (text or not?)

Quote

Why do you want to disable transcoding? 

To not have any quality loss because of possible connection issues.

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I already answered this one above, as did Happy2Play earlier.

The person above wanted examples of multiple movies with the same name. Hence the link.

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What makes you think Emby doesn't have "transcoding options according to quality like Plex"? 

What I mean by that is defined options like UHD, 1080p and 720p instead of selecting your connection speed. (That is the case on Emby on Fire TV.)

Posted

So you would rather it not work at all than it be slightly lower quality? 

Posted
16 minutes ago, crusher11 said:

So you would rather it not work at all than it be slightly lower quality? 

I would rather that it buffer then lower its quality because of poorer speeds.

Posted
2 hours ago, lordlance said:

Is this why transcoding happens with ASS? Because Emby has a separate option to force-enable subtitles. It needs to always hardcode subtitles that aren't supported (text or not?)

The subtitle files in .ass format aren't natively supported by the Fire Stick.  If you either convert the .ass subtitle files to .srt, or find the subtitles you need in .srt format already, you can avoid the transcoding due to subtitles.

2 hours ago, lordlance said:

The person above wanted examples of multiple movies with the same name. Hence the link.

If you've looked at the naming scheme link that Happy2Play and seanbuff talked about, I'm sure you've seen this already, but to reiterate a quick example for you, just change your folders' names to have the year following the name instead of prior to it.

In the Hamlet example, use "Hamlet (1990)" and "Hamlet (1996)" to distinguish between the versions rather than "1990 - Hamlet" and "1996 - Hamlet" and you shouldn't have problems.

  • Like 2
Posted

So the quality loss during transcoding is neglible?

pwhodges
Posted (edited)

That depends on things like the target bitrate and the standard for "negligible" that you are applying.

Paul

Edited by pwhodges
  • Like 1
Posted
23 minutes ago, pwhodges said:

That depends on things like the target bitrate and the standard for "negligible" that you are applying.

Paul

Assuming that my audio and subtitles are supported, how could I disable transcoding?

Happy2Play
Posted
11 minutes ago, lordlance said:

Assuming that my audio and subtitles are supported, how could I disable transcoding?

If everything is supported Emby will not transcode.  There is no such setting to truly disable transcoding.  You have per user options but I would assume you will not like the end results.  But you should test them. Dashboard-Users-select user, Media Playback

Posted
On 10/2/2020 at 4:48 AM, Happy2Play said:

If everything is supported Emby will not transcode.  There is no such setting to truly disable transcoding.  You have per user options but I would assume you will not like the end results.  But you should test them. Dashboard-Users-select user, Media Playback

No such option on my PC: https://imgur.com/a/8grraTd or on my TV.

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