Emby Theater for Windows Store vs Emby Theater Desktop

[capricorn75 4]

Emby for Windows Store is very light, consumes little battery (about 7% to view a 45-minute video), accepts Windows 10 touch gestures, is fully usable with touch commands but has some problems:

• No AC3 audio, the video is silent
• HEVC 720p videos often freeze

 

Emby Desktop is good at displaying videos that Emby Windows Store cannot display smoothly but has some problems:

• it is very heavy
• consumes a lot of battery (about 25% to view a 45 minute video)
• has many problems with touch commands, you have to press several times to get the commands received
• the only interface that can be used on Surface Pro and Surface Go is that TV, if I use the PC or Tablet / Phone interface, all the text and icons become tiny
• it overlaps with all other programs and it is not possible to switch from one program to another or close it with touch gestures in Windows 10 

Edited February 25, 2021 by capricorn75

[Luke 37046]

Hi there, thanks for the feedback. We are working on improving the store app and unifying the experience between the two.

[justinrh 174]

This is just the topic I was contemplating.  What's the diff between the store app and desktop app?  Why would I use one over the other?

It would be helpful if Emby made this more apparent.  Is there documentation about this?

Concerning the MS Theater store app:  It says last released in 2016!  (Really?  No updates since then?  That might be reason not to use it.  Should it be removed from the store?)  The description for the Theater app describes the server functionality and not the app functionality.  It would be useful to users to know what is special about this client app, especially limitations.  (like no audio?? )

Also, the MS store app is not listed on the support apps page: https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/44000610499

Edited March 28, 2021 by justinrh

[Luke 37046]

The store app is updated almost weekly, so i'm not sure why MS would say that.

We are working on unifying them to be the same thing, but for now, the desktop app has greater format support for direct play, while the store app supports the download feature.

[Stahlreck 1]

@justinrh The Store page always say when the App was originally "released". That means the day the app was put into the Store. The Store does not tell you when the App was last updates like on Android or iOS...that was a feature a back in the days of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 but since W10 MS decided not to show that information anymore. If you're still curious, you can use WP Snitch to get any apps "last updated" date. Currently for Emby it says the last update was on the 06 April

I personally really like to use the Store app but often need to go back to the desktop app because of format support...my server can transcode without issue (even high bitrate 4K media) but HDR doesn't work at all with transcoding.

[Carlo 4330]

On 4/10/2021 at 3:58 PM, Stahlreck said:

I personally really like to use the Store app but often need to go back to the desktop app because of format support...my server can transcode without issue (even high bitrate 4K media) but HDR doesn't work at all with transcoding.

Hi, Fortunately HDR to SDR Tonemapping is in the current Server Beta so it won't be long before this is released which might help you out a lot.

[LeidenSpain 29]

I just switched notebooks, now a Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

With the web player and Windows Desktop it works perfectly for me, but with emby from Windows Store the playback jumps, as if it lacked power.

[Carlo 4330]

If the Desktop version of Theater works, just use it.

[LeidenSpain 29]

3 minutes ago, cayars said:

If the Desktop version of Theater works, just use it.

 

but in the previous computer the store app worked perfectly.

And as they say at the beginning, the store uses less battery

Edited April 22, 2021 by LeidenSpain

[Carlo 4330]

Yes, but were you comparing apples to apples or apples to oranges?

IE was one using a HW or GPU and the other pure CPU for playback?

If you like I could do a quick remote session with you and look over your settings and maybe give both a quick tuneup if I see anything.
Hopefully could figure out why the store version isn't work of course in the process.

[Happy2Play 8272]

 

On 3/28/2021 at 8:51 AM, justinrh said:

Concerning the MS Theater store app:  It says last released in 2016!  (Really?  No updates since then?  That might be reason not to use it.  Should it be removed from the store?)

Release date has nothing to do with Updates.  So to me Release date just tells me the app has been around for almost 5 years.

[Happy2Play 8272]

5 minutes ago, LeidenSpain said:

 

but in the previous computer the store app worked perfectly.

And as they say at the beginning, the store uses less battery

Store version uses WMP so Windows itself will be a factor vs Desktop version using external player with hardware options.

[LeidenSpain 29]

4 minutes ago, cayars said:

Yes, but were you comparing apples to apples or apples to oranges?

IE was one using a HW or GPU and the other pure CPU for playback?

If you like I could do a quick remote session with you and look over your settings and maybe give both a quick tuneup if I see anything.
Hopefully could figure out why the store version isn't work of course in the process.

I personally believe that the store version does not use GPU acceleration, but I don't see where to activate it.
And in the previous equipment (much older) I used the store version without problems.

How would you do remote assistance?

[LeidenSpain 29]

1 minute ago, Happy2Play said:

Store version uses WMP so Windows itself will be a factor vs Desktop version using external player with hardware options.

Do you mean that the store version does not use hardware acceleration?

[Happy2Play 8272]

Just now, LeidenSpain said:

Do you mean that the store version does not use hardware acceleration?

From a player aspect not that I am aware of.  That is why there are no option in the version verses the desktop version options.  There will always be differences and limitation between the versions.

[LeidenSpain 29]

3 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

From a player aspect not that I am aware of.  That is why there are no option in the version verses the desktop version options.  There will always be differences and limitation between the versions.

Well then it is clear that the version of the store is worthless (with all due respect).

But I do not understand how in the previous team if everything worked perfectly

[Happy2Play 8272]

1 minute ago, LeidenSpain said:

Well then it is clear that the version of the store is worthless (with all due respect).

But I do not understand how in the previous team if everything worked perfectly

Would need examples of issue the worked before that don't work now.  I have had no issues with either, but everyone's use and media are different.

So without all the specifics no one can truly answer to a issue.

[Carlo 4330]

7 minutes ago, LeidenSpain said:

I personally believe that the store version does not use GPU acceleration, but I don't see where to activate it.
And in the previous equipment (much older) I used the store version without problems.

How would you do remote assistance?

WMP will use the GPU all on it's own by default without user intervention.  So if you compare this to Desktop Theater using only CPU then of course the Desktop version will use more cpu and power then the store version.

That's what I meant.

[Happy2Play 8272]

33 minutes ago, LeidenSpain said:

I just switched notebooks, now a Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

With the web player and Windows Desktop it works perfectly for me, but with emby from Windows Store the playback jumps, as if it lacked power.

You switched devices so store version is dependent on overall system, so what differences are there between notebooks?

[Carlo 4330]

34 minutes ago, LeidenSpain said:

I just switched notebooks, now a Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

With the web player and Windows Desktop it works perfectly for me, but with emby from Windows Store the playback jumps, as if it lacked power.

Let's look at a couple of things.

Playback media in the store version and bring up stats for nerds (cog icon on OSD).  Take a screen capture (PrtScr button) and post it here.

[Carlo 4330]

19 minutes ago, LeidenSpain said:

I personally believe that the store version does not use GPU acceleration, but I don't see where to activate it.
And in the previous equipment (much older) I used the store version without problems.

How would you do remote assistance?

https://www.leawo.org/tutorial/turn-on-or-off-hardware-acceleration-in-wmp-1389.html#:~:text=Nowadays%2C for most people%2C Windows,systems for so many years.

"Nowadays, for most people, Windows Media Player is the easiest to use and has the very best support of GPU accelerated video. After all, it has been used as the default media for Windows operating systems for so many years."

I would do remote using AnyDesk (www.anydesk.com).

[LeidenSpain 29]

15 minutes ago, cayars said:

Let's look at a couple of things.

Playback media in the store version and bring up stats for nerds (cog icon on OSD).  Take a screen capture (PrtScr button) and post it here.

Emby Desktop (OK)

 

Emby Web (OK)

 

Emby Store (NO OK)

 

System

[LeidenSpain 29]

19 minutes ago, cayars said:

https://www.leawo.org/tutorial/turn-on-or-off-hardware-acceleration-in-wmp-1389.html#:~:text=Nowadays%2C for most people%2C Windows,systems for so many years.

"Nowadays, for most people, Windows Media Player is the easiest to use and has the very best support of GPU accelerated video. After all, it has been used as the default media for Windows operating systems for so many years."

I would do remote using AnyDesk (www.anydesk.com).

tell me how i pass the anydesk data to you

[Happy2Play 8272]

Just now, LeidenSpain said:

tell me how i pass the anydesk data to you

PM/DM all remote access information.

[Carlo 4330]

Can you check your video drivers to see what version they are.  If older than 27.20.100.9466 please install the latest drivers from here:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/80939/Graphics