Playback skip forward/back on live tv or media while still recording jumps to "live" timeline

[Loefamily 2]

I've been dealing with issues of live tv and playback during recording as well and am interested in the nature of the updates in development to know whether these issues will be resolved. My observations point to a client playback issue more than a server issue. 

The main problem I encounter is skipping back and forward with live tv or playing a recording while it is still being recorded results in skipping to the "live" point in the time line. 

Based on testing my own equipment, some clients work and others don't:

LG WebOS : NOT working

XBOX One: NOT working

XBOX Series X : NOT working

Amazon Firestick : WORKS

TCL Roku TV: WORKS 

Server : Emby on Windows 10 v4.5.4.0, i7 4690k, 32GB Ram, 1TB SSD (OS, DVR library), 256GB SSD (temp/transcoding), 8TB Raid 10 (Media library storage), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

To (hopefully) aid in troubleshooting, I did this last night and only triggered the problem scenario once. Then I stopped playback on that client (Emby Theater on Xbox) and switched to Firestick to watch the remainder of the game without issue.  See logs at around timestamp "19:40:09.128"

embylogs-playbacklivetv-2021-03-04.zip

Thanks!
-Paul

[Loefamily 2]

It's been a week and haven't seen replies yet, so just checking if I posted the question correctly or in the wrong place? I welcome any feedback.  I'm new to the forum so just want to confirm I'm on the right track posting here.  Thanks!   -Paul

[Luke 37066]

HI @Loefamily, we're looking into improving this. Thanks for reporting.

[rbknox 4]

Wondering if there is any work being done to address the timeline / skip forward / backwards, particularly during the scenario described here (watching a program that is currently being recorded)?  My experience with 3.0.19 Emby Theater on Windows 10 is quite confusing.   Using the right or left arrows show action (eg. skip ahead 30 sec), but the action doesn't happen, hence the left / right arrows do nothing (ending up back at current playback).   The circle commands below the timeline (+30, - 10 etc) seem to function okay.  

The bigger issue is the way that viewing while recording is displayed from a timeline perspective.   This seems to be an issue with many dvr playback solutions.   On EB, it seems there are two numbers (at either end of the timeline) - but not really clear what they mean:  if I advance the playback by 30 s for example, both numbers (left and right end) increase by 30 s ...  Further, there doesn't seem to be any indication of where the current playback point is relative to the start time of the program and the projected end time, or how much of the program has been recorded.   All of this is necessary if this "timeshifting" form of viewing is to be practical.  

Windows Media Center I believe is the gold standard here.  Attaching a screenshot for example, showing red ball (recording in progress), program start time (real time), program finish time (real time), recording progress (the greyed area of the bar), actual viewpoint (the dot on the timeline) etc.

Edited December 22, 2022 by rbknox

[Luke 37066]

On 12/22/2022 at 3:11 PM, rbknox said:

Wondering if there is any work being done to address the timeline / skip forward / backwards, particularly during the scenario described here (watching a program that is currently being recorded)?  My experience with 3.0.19 Emby Theater on Windows 10 is quite confusing.   Using the right or left arrows show action (eg. skip ahead 30 sec), but the action doesn't happen, hence the left / right arrows do nothing (ending up back at current playback).   The circle commands below the timeline (+30, - 10 etc) seem to function okay.  

The bigger issue is the way that viewing while recording is displayed from a timeline perspective.   This seems to be an issue with many dvr playback solutions.   On EB, it seems there are two numbers (at either end of the timeline) - but not really clear what they mean:  if I advance the playback by 30 s for example, both numbers (left and right end) increase by 30 s ...  Further, there doesn't seem to be any indication of where the current playback point is relative to the start time of the program and the projected end time, or how much of the program has been recorded.   All of this is necessary if this "timeshifting" form of viewing is to be practical.  

Windows Media Center I believe is the gold standard here.  Attaching a screenshot for example, showing red ball (recording in progress), program start time (real time), program finish time (real time), recording progress (the greyed area of the bar), actual viewpoint (the dot on the timeline) etc.

HI, yes we are continuing to work on improving it. Thanks for the feedback.

[rbknox 4]

Thanks Luke.   I have been watching quite a few live events (watching a currently recording event with some amount of delay) through Emby lately.  As I alluded to above, there is a whole "experience" associated with this kind of viewing.  It often involves live sports and one of the realities is that you may be interacting with other people who are watching the event live.  In any case, some sort of telemetry that helps you see where you are relative to live is invaluable.   Aside from the visual display of timeline information, the inconsistent behavior of the skip forward and back doesn't help.   What I find happens is that the left/right arrow approach doesn't work, so I drop down to the skip icons on the line below.  However, the visual times out, meaning you could be pressing +10 for example repetitively and then the visual disappears resulting in a OK press which instead of skipping once more, it pauses the playback.  Not a good experience!

Edited January 7, 2023 by rbknox

[rbknox 4]

Any progress on the live viewing of recordings (timeline, skip forward/back behavior)?  Is this being addressed in an upcoming release?  Continues to make time-shifted viewing very difficult ...

Thanks,

 

[rbknox 4]

Another problem with trying to watch a live recording is that the Resume function doesn't work.   After watching live recording for a while, backing out/stopping.  Upon returning to continue watching there is a Resume button.  However when you choose Resume, playback begins at the beginning of the broadcast.   

[Luke 37066]

@rbknoxwe are working on improving this. Thanks for the feedback.

[rbknox 4]

Any timeline on some improvements here?  Again, viewing a recording while it is actively being recorded (like watching a sports event after it has started) is fraught with problems:

- the forward / backward skips function doesn't work and sometimes will take you live
- the display timeline makes no sense i.e. provides no valuable information on where you are in your viewing - are you approaching real time etc?
- the resume function does not work.  ie. if you stop viewing, and then re-enter by choosing Resume, you still start at the very beginning, not where you left off.

Thanks

[Luke 37066]

On 11/25/2023 at 1:52 PM, rbknox said:

Any timeline on some improvements here?  Again, viewing a recording while it is actively being recorded (like watching a sports event after it has started) is fraught with problems:

- the forward / backward skips function doesn't work and sometimes will take you live
- the display timeline makes no sense i.e. provides no valuable information on where you are in your viewing - are you approaching real time etc?
- the resume function does not work.  ie. if you stop viewing, and then re-enter by choosing Resume, you still start at the very beginning, not where you left off.

Thanks

Hi, we are looking into this. Thanks.

[MarkTheNewf 3]

I feel like being able to 'buffer/pause/watch' is a big part of DVR functionality either during live broadcasts or when something is currently recording.  Windows media center and Tivo have it nailed so I'm hoping you all can make the equivalent in Emby.  Thanks for working on this and here's to a good year of advances!