Device Recommendations for constant Direct play and Direct streaming issues

[Guesty22 0]

Hey guys,

I just recently started using emby (currently streaming from a friends server) and I'm in the market to try and find a good streaming device that isn't going to break the bank. I have a 55" Sony X9000H with a Sonos Arc plugged into EARC which I purchased together only 2 months ago. The problem is that the TV cannot play HEVC or x265 files and immediately kicks me back to the menu. Then the next issue arrises when the file played only has DTS audio as the sonos arc doesn't support DTS the TV has to transcode to DD and runs smoothly until there's an action scene and then the stream or direct play will pause and buffer until I pause and let it load for 30 seconds I then can watch for another 5 minutes before it pauses again. I had my friend that runs the server bring his NVIDIA Shield over (2015 model I think) and it was able to play everything and anything without a problem. So I decided to purchase the Tube NVIDIA Shield (2019) which was running into the same pausing issue but at least this time it was capable of doing 4k HEVC files. I then returned it and tried the Google Chromecast with GoogleTV which was the exact same issue as my TV with the constant pausing and unable to play HEVC files. 

If anyone has any experience or knowledge on what the next steps would be then that'd be great because I can't seem to get my head around the problem as I feel like it's computing power that's lacking but then again the new shield should have worked without a problem but unfortunately did not fix it.

 

I know that internet speed isn't an issue because I tried all speed plans from a gigabit to 50Mbps and all worked on my mates NVIDIA Shield but decided to save money and stay on the 100Mbps plan and I've also tried unplugging the Sonos and try DTS audio which also has issues as the TV seems to not have the capabilities to play DTS without transcoding. 

 

Cheers

[Sammy 735]

 

You could change the playback settings in AndroidTV emby app to force transcoding but the tube model ShieldTV should play the same as the 2015 ShieldTV if the settings are the same.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Sammy

[Guesty22 0]

The only setting I can seem to find to force it to transcode is to lower the max bitrate setting, unless I'm missing something? 

The only concern is when it gets to a heavy action and audio scene the transcoding seems to not keep up with the film and the transcode % falls behind and then starts to buffer. Or am I just doing something completely wrong?

[Sammy 735]

Get your friend to send you server and transcode logs when you attempt playback. Follow the instructions in the thread I linked above to post logs from your playback device. 

 

Report back here with your friend's logs and information about your device logs as per the link above. 

[rbjtech 4218]

If your problems only start during heavy action scenes, then it sounds like you have a network bandwidth issue - either on your wifi/lan OR on your WAN connection to your friends server.

During scenes with lots of 'change' the bitrate needed goes up vs say a static of low movement scene.

So now you just need to determine where the bottleneck is.

The issue is more likely to be the WAN - so check that first.

You need your average download speed (lets say it's 30Mbit/sec) and your friends upload speed (lets say that is 10Mbit/sec).

If you are trying to stream any film which has a average bitrate of 10Mbit/sec - it will likely stream ok UNTIL there is a peak demand (ie big action scene) beyond 10Mbit.

The bottleneck is likely to be your friends upload speed, rather than your download speed.

If your friend doesn't have the upload speed available, then they need to restrict the streaming bandwidth in emby to something more suitable - say 8Mbit/sec - that way, anything you stream will be transcoded on their server first, then it will be sent to you at 8Mbit/sec only - thus they (and you) can keep up with the demand.

As a 2nd example, I have 40Mbit upload, but I restrict any remote users to 10Mbit/sec - because a) I do not want a single user swamping all my upload bandwidth and b) if multiple users need to use my server - then I have the available bandwidth for up to another 3 remote users.

I hope this helps.

 

[Sammy 735]

^^ This is what I was thinking but the part about the 2015 ShieldTV not having an issue threw me. I'm thinking logs from both that and the Chromecast in the remote on the WAN location along with corresponding server and transcode logs will give a definitive answer here.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Sammy

[Guesty22 0]

He's away at the moment and not sure when he will be back to get the logs sent through.

But it honestly can't be a bandwidth issue as I can stream anything on my Samsung s21 or iPad air without anything ever going wrong, so that's what's leading me to believe that it's got something to do with hardware constraints. 

[Luke 36991]

Ok thanks. When he's back it's best that at look at the example in detail. Thanks.

[BAlGaInTl 279]

 

On 4/29/2021 at 8:39 AM, rbjtech said:

If your problems only start during heavy action scenes, then it sounds like you have a network bandwidth issue - either on your wifi/lan OR on your WAN connection to your friends server.

During scenes with lots of 'change' the bitrate needed goes up vs say a static of low movement scene.

So now you just need to determine where the bottleneck is.

The issue is more likely to be the WAN - so check that first.

You need your average download speed (lets say it's 30Mbit/sec) and your friends upload speed (lets say that is 10Mbit/sec).

If you are trying to stream any film which has a average bitrate of 10Mbit/sec - it will likely stream ok UNTIL there is a peak demand (ie big action scene) beyond 10Mbit.

The bottleneck is likely to be your friends upload speed, rather than your download speed.

If your friend doesn't have the upload speed available, then they need to restrict the streaming bandwidth in emby to something more suitable - say 8Mbit/sec - that way, anything you stream will be transcoded on their server first, then it will be sent to you at 8Mbit/sec only - thus they (and you) can keep up with the demand.

As a 2nd example, I have 40Mbit upload, but I restrict any remote users to 10Mbit/sec - because a) I do not want a single user swamping all my upload bandwidth and b) if multiple users need to use my server - then I have the available bandwidth for up to another 3 remote users.

I hope this helps.

 

On 4/29/2021 at 11:34 AM, Sammy said:

^^ This is what I was thinking but the part about the 2015 ShieldTV not having an issue threw me. I'm thinking logs from both that and the Chromecast in the remote on the WAN location along with corresponding server and transcode logs will give a definitive answer here.

 

So it could be as simple as an issue with the placement.  

I'm assuming a Wi-Fi connection...

I can picture a scenario where the friend brought over the Shield and it was set up in a temporary spot out in the open.  The Chromecast and Shield Cylinder (Can I call it that?) may have been back behind the TV, or otherwise partially blocked from the signal.

A quick check would actually be to try the Shield/Chromecast in a different location, or try to hard-wire them.

[ebr 14898]

If these are high bitrate items then it is known that the Shield tube is less capable in that area than either the pro or the legacy models.  The former has half the memory of the latter two.