Trouble streaming HDR to Home Cinema setup

[Dreamz2k 1]

So I'm almost at the end of my tether on this and really struggling to work out how to stream HDR from Emby to my projector.

I can stream HDR programs from NETFLIX or PRIME directly from my FREESAT box without a problem, both are connected into a Denon X1600 AVR and then an Epson TW7000 projector.

The Epson correctly identifies the signal as HDR10 and all looks amazing (although just checked this and it thinks whatever my Freesat box is showing, is HDR10 lol).

However - I cannot seem to stream HDR content from my PC to either a Chromecast or ROKU (using the Emby app) - it streams, but the signal is only SDR.

Am I missing something glaringly obvious here? It's clearly not a connectivity issue from the AVR to projector as I'm able to steam some things flawlessly in HDR and with Atmos sound...

Hardware transcoding and Tone Mapping is enabled in Emby - should it be off? (my PC is a Ryzen 3900 with 2060 RTX)

Edited September 2, 2021 by Dreamz2k

[ebr 16184]

Hi.  Can we please look at a specific example?  Thanks.

 

[Carlo 4561]

Hi, No they can be left on but to get HDR you need to make sure the file direct plays.

When you try and play 4K media to your projector what does it show on the Dashboard?  Does it show direct play?

[Dreamz2k 1]

Erm no idea - this is from the Emby dashboard:

States video codec not supported (hence transcoding)

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Dreamz2k

[Carlo 4561]

So that is transcoding and would not have HDR.

What client was this?

[Dreamz2k 1]

That's straight from Emby - how do you switch off transcoding? only seem to be able to disable/enable hardware acceleration, so presumably it just transcodes via software when off.

So why is it so difficult to stream from a PC in 2021 lol - crazy!

How is everyone else playing 4K HDR movies in their home cinema (other than straight off a 4k UHD bluray? which is not convenient in a "cinema" environment)

Edited September 2, 2021 by Dreamz2k

[Guest]

In the user settings. Disallow it.

Edited September 2, 2021 by generiq

[Dreamz2k 1]

You mean this? nothing plays if I set it as per the image.

[Dreamz2k 1]

Managed to get a bit further, it shows direct streaming now but disappears after 1-2 secs:

Edited September 2, 2021 by Dreamz2k

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Dreamz2k said:

You mean this? nothing plays if I set it as per the image.

That would be what is expected. The player doesn't support something.

What you need to do is post the ffmpeg log. That will give you the reason for the transcoding.

[Dreamz2k 1]

I'm just trying the conversion feature to see if repacking it in a different container will solve the issue...

[Guest]

If the server is transcoding due to an unsupported container, then that needs to be fixed. That shouldn't be happening. I've had things fully transcode because of unsupported audio. That also shouldn't happen. I consider that an error.

[Carlo 4561]

What I was wondering earlier and still not sure has been said is what device is connected to the Projector?

If this is connected to something like an Android TV device it should be able to playback 4K HEVC HDR just fine

If the projector is connected to a computer then you want to use Emby Theater for Desktop.
You don't want to typically use a web browser as that often times won't support either MKV containers or HEVC.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, cayars said:

What I was wondering earlier and still not sure has been said is what device is connected to the Projector?

 

5 hours ago, Dreamz2k said:

The Epson correctly identifies the signal as HDR10 and all looks amazing (although just checked this and it thinks whatever my Freesat box is showing, is HDR10 lol).

However - I cannot seem to stream HDR content from my PC to either a Chromecast or ROKU (using the Emby app) - it streams, but the signal is only SDR.)

His PC is the sever, and he's playing back with Chromecast and/or ROKU.

[Dreamz2k 1]

As generiq said, my PC is running the emby server and I'm then streaming via a chromecast - but this doesn't appear to be a viable way to stream 4k HDR directly (unless transcoding is involved).

PC > Chromecast > Denon 1600 AVR > Epson TW7000 (HC3200) to be precise.

[Carlo 4561]

The Chromecast might not support the high bitrate often needed by 4K HDR rips.

If your files don't direct play you want to look at stats for nerds during playback from the OSD to see the reason for the transcode.

You may need a client that will handle very high bitrates such as a Shield TV Pro.

[Dreamz2k 1]

Well it's meant to support it but clearly it can't

 

Anyway, makes sense ref the Shield - cancelled Emby premium and ordered one from Amazon - enough screwing around!

[Dreamz2k 1]

I have one last option (before I hit the buy / cancel buttons) - it's a bit more unconventional but I think could work...

Use a HDMI to Ethernet convertor and setup my system as follows:

PC > HDMI-ETHERNET > RJ45 > ETH-HDMI > AVR > Projector

This would basically send a straight HDMI signal from my PC to the projector (via ethernet) at an extremely high bandwidth (almost direct connection).

Emby Theatre would then be my "media player" and a wireless keyboard/mouse combo could be used to control the PC

Has anyone done this or am I revolutionary?

[Carlo 4561]

Na, don't go that route.  Go with a device like a Shield TV where it will just work and you will have full remote control of the device.
Using the Shield TV you offload any decoding and playback to the device vs Theater running on another PC. Plus it can do things like automatically adjust refresh rates and resolution.

BTW, why cancel Premiere?

[Guest]

As long as the HDMI Ethernet adapter works correctly, that would totally work. Other than the adapter, that is how my system is set up. You could even use a Bluetooth remote, if you wanted to, but a keyboard works perfectly. 

[Dreamz2k 1]

46 minutes ago, cayars said:

Na, don't go that route.  Go with a device like a Shield TV where it will just work and you will have full remote control of the device.
Using the Shield TV you offload any decoding and playback to the device vs Theater running on another PC. Plus it can do things like automatically adjust refresh rates and resolution.

BTW, why cancel Premiere?

Yeah this is the direction I'm leaning, I'm a bit of a PC geek so don't like having a device like a shield where I can't "mess around" much - but if it just works, then great.

Because I was only using Premier for the transcoding/tonemapping - which I've since realised I do not want when trying to stream 4k UHD films, right?

[Carlo 4561]

You don't want to transcode on purpose if it can be avoided but some situations require a transcode.

More so if you stream to remote clients.

[Dreamz2k 1]

The streaming is purely for the cinema setup, not interested in streaming elsewhere (but I understand its use case if you want that)

[Carlo 4561]

The Shield TV will be the ideal client in this situation because of it's audio and video abilities.

Since you mention you like to "mess around" the Shield TV has a unique feature that can allow the Emby client to play the media back from disc if you create a network share for your media.  Here is a knowledge base article that explains this rather unique setup:

https://emby.media/support/articles/ShieldTV-Direct-File-Access.html

Edited November 6, 2025 by GrimReaper
KB article link updated

[Luke 42078]

@Dreamz2k has this helped?