livetv direct play forces subtitles

[veehexx1 12]

I'm brand new to emby (TV Headend too); bought a month emby premiere subscription at the weekend and got liveTV setup.

I'm using TVHeadend for tuner and Emby with native m3u to TVHe (not via TVHe plugin)

While we've only tested a few channels so far (UK freesat; quest, E4 +1) using the app on an LG webos tv, then i'm getting forced subtitles on E4+1 even though CC menu shows as off/disabled. Quest channel plays fine. However watching E4+1 channel via android (direct play) does not show the subtitles overlay so it appears to be specific to the LG WebOS app and certain channels.

Is there a setting i've missed with this, something not setup correctly with TVHe, or do i need logs to aid more?

[SamES 893]

Are they subtitles or closed captions?  There is a difference.

Subtitles can be turned off in the Emby subtitles option menu during playback

Closed-captions need to be turned off via the TV setting menu (under accessibility).   Ironically the menu option here is called subtitles.

Depending on your TV model, this may or may not resolve your issue.

[veehexx1 12]

I'm almost sure it's subtitles, not CC.

either way, both are off - the TV menu itself, and via emby playback (arrow down > CC).

interestingly i've also got subtitles appear in the LG emby with my mythtv recorded livetv content (i'm in the process of migrating from myth to emby, emby library is pointing to mythtv recorded TV folder). I'm part way through this file where i started played back on my NVshield2019 (emby app from play store) and that didnt have subtitles.

a bit more testing shows it only affected direct play. While changing transcoding in liveTV appears problematic, doing it on non-livetv content is stable so forcing transcoding on this mythtv file makes the subtitles not appear.

 

edit: bit more testing with this mythtv file which seems to be identical to the LiveTV issue too:

LG TV, direct Play = subtitles

LG TV, forced transcode = no subtitles

android phone, direct play = no subtitles

linux/firefox Web client, auto transcode = no subtitles

Edited March 1, 2021 by veehexx1

[veehexx1 12]

i've found a bit more info that could be useful. occuring on all channels i've tested so far (BBC One HD, ITV HD also have the issue),  using this mythtv recording and playing back in VLC > right click > subtitles > sub track > DVB Subtitles [English], shows the subtitles are identical so i'm sure it's subtitles rather than cc. i also know it's the DVB subtitles specifically as the ones displayed. UK also has 'teletext subtitles' too emdedded in this file according vlc.

my first thought was to disable subtitles completely from tvheadend and retest livetv, but seems not to make any difference.

 

edit: found a workaround for it for livetv. appears subtitles are in a audio stream. TVHeadend allows audio stream filters to be configured so i've created a stream 3 exclusive rule to select the correct audio stream. coincidentally this has also fixed another issues i was experiencing where i noticed some channels were getting the NARated/audio description feed rather than normal audio feed.

based on these findings, it appears emby is not selecting the correct audio channel and is only evident when direct play is in use.

Edited March 1, 2021 by veehexx1

[SamES 893]

Interesting.

Can you send the media info for this stream?  You might have to force it to DirectStream or transcode, then send the ffmpeg log.

Can you do this without the TVHeadend stream filter enabled?  Thanks

[Luke 37178]

@veehexx1 ?

[veehexx1 12]

ah sorry, missed SamES reply.

i'll grab the data over the weekend..

[veehexx1 12]

I've reproduced the issue (E4+1 channel, TVHe teletext stream filter disabled) - direct play does not produce logs to attach, but i've attached the transcode log file which does not have the issue.

If you need an example recording let me know and i'll get one uploaded for you...

 

dvb-subtitles-none_ffmpeg-transcode-ad07be08-028c-4227-bf90-2fde2c33912e_1.txt

[SamES 893]

So I can see the original stream has the video track, NAR audio track, Eng audio track, subtitle track and dvb_teletext track

10:43:07.549     Stream #0:0[0x92b]: Video: mpeg2video (Main) ([2][0][0][0] / 0x0002), yuv420p(tv, top first), 704x576 [SAR 16:11 DAR 16:9], Level 8, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc, Start-Time 630.727s
10:43:07.549     Stream #0:1[0x92d](NAR): Audio: mp2 ([4][0][0][0] / 0x0004), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16p, 128 kb/s, Start-Time 630.434s
10:43:07.549     Stream #0:2[0x92c](eng): Audio: mp2 ([4][0][0][0] / 0x0004), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16p, 192 kb/s, Start-Time 630.506s
10:43:07.550     Stream #0:3[0x92f](eng): Subtitle: dvb_subtitle ([6][0][0][0] / 0x0006), Start-Time 634.207s
10:43:07.550     Stream #0:4[0x92e](eng,eng): Subtitle: dvb_teletext ([6][0][0][0] / 0x0006), Start-Time 630.487s

By default, Emby will always play the first audio track.  This is why the NAR Audio descriptive track is often being played.  It depends on the broadcast stream order.

I do find it a bit odd that when this audio stream is being probed by Emby, it is only showing the the Video stream and one Audio stream.  I suspect you need to refresh the metadata on this item on the server after you disable your TVHeadend filter.  You could try this test again with a refresh if you're curious.

{"Codec":"mpeg2video","StreamStartTimeTicks":615971931670,"TimeBase":"1/90000","CodecTimeBase":"1/25","VideoRange":"SDR","DisplayTitle":"576i MPEG2VIDEO","IsInterlaced":true,"BitRate":2000000,"BitDepth":8,"RefFrames":1,"IsDefault":false,"IsForced":false,"Height":576,"Width":704,"AverageFrameRate":25,"RealFrameRate":25,"Profile":"Main","Type":"Video","AspectRatio":"16:9","Index":-1,"IsExternal":false,"IsTextSubtitleStream":false,"SupportsExternalStream":false,"Protocol":"File","PixelFormat":"yuv420p","Level":8,"IsAnamorphic":true},
{"Codec":"mp2","StreamStartTimeTicks":615968761000,"TimeBase":"1/90000","CodecTimeBase":"1/48000","DisplayTitle":"MP2 stereo","IsInterlaced":false,"ChannelLayout":"stereo","BitRate":192000,"Channels":2,"SampleRate":48000,"IsDefault":false,"IsForced":false,"Type":"Audio","Index":-1,"IsExternal":false,"IsTextSubtitleStream":false,"SupportsExternalStream":false,"Protocol":"File"}

When you have forced it to transcode, only the video and selected audio track (NAR) is being streamed.  The subtitle and teletext tracks are being ignored.  This will be why it doesn't show the text when you force transcoding.

10:43:07.870 Stream mapping:
10:43:07.870   Stream #0:0 (mpeg2_cuvid) -> yadif_cuda (graph 0)
10:43:07.870   setsar (graph 0) -> Stream #0:0 (h264_nvenc)
10:43:07.870   Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (mp2 (native) -> aac (native))

So what does all this tell us?  Without the probe info for all the tracks, I can't determine the full info for the subs track.  Maybe that might tell us more, maybe it won't.  Otherwise, this doesn't explain the subtitle issue although I'm sure the text is not in the audio track.

Does this issue occur with any other (non-broadcast) items that have subtitles?  Since you see that subtitles are disabled in the GUI then I don't think this setting is an issue.

How do you have your subtitle options set (under the user settings)?  In particular, the Subtitle Mode setting. 

Since you are also have an issue with it playing the NAR tracks by default (and I can see why this occurs) your solution to take advantage of the audio stream filter is a good one as it resolves both issues, and is probably your best option.

Edited March 27, 2021 by SamES

[veehexx1 12]

good info - fairly obvious once you know what to look for in the logs.

On 27/03/2021 at 11:48, SamES said:

Does this issue occur with any other (non-broadcast) items that have subtitles?  Since you see that subtitles are disabled in the GUI then I don't think this setting is an issue.

How do you have your subtitle options set (under the user settings)?  In particular, the Subtitle Mode setting. 

Since you are also have an issue with it playing the NAR tracks by default (and I can see why this occurs) your solution to take advantage of the audio stream filter is a good one as it resolves both issues, and is probably your best option.

i'll see if i've got some other non-broadcast content with subtitles.I've not stumbled upon any but could just have subtitles available.

subtitle options: Any Language/no subtitles. I vaguely remember trying 'no subtitles' option to see if it would fix it but had no effect iirc (wrong feed type).

I'm happy to continue with the TVHe filter - simple for everyone

 

[SamES 893]

I think given your NAR audio issues you will need to use the filter method anyway