Video glitches with transcoding for incompatible container

[rexerm 36]

I just noticed this for the first time in October while playing certain Blu-ray rips in an MKV container. Randomly, the video will glitch as in the attached photo.  Emby reports the file is direct streaming, but being transcoded due to an incompatible file container. This happens both in the Samsung app and in Chrome on Windows.  Emby Theater plays the files fine, but supports MKV and does not need to transcode.  If I tsMuxer the file into a TS file, it plays fine as well.  However, that's not something I want to do with hundreds of BD rips in MKV files. 

Attached is a photo of the glitch and the transcoding log from when it happened with Annabelle (2014).mkv.

ffmpeg-remux-2e9e8354-2286-4e68-9725-6d86300e901a_1.txt

[rexerm 36]

Also, I should add that this does not seem to be an issue with the video file itself.  Annabelle, for example, was ripped twice and still had glitches: each rip was with a completely different physical disk, in a completely diffrent drive, inside of a completely diffrent computer, using a completely different program to do the ripping.

[Luke 42079]

As a test, can you use user permissions to restrict access to transcoding and force this to direct play? You'll get no sound, but I'm curious if you still see the glitching or not. Just remember to undo the user permission changes. Thanks.

[rexerm 36]

If I uncheck the options "Allow video playback that requires transcoding" and "Allow audio playback that requires transcoding," it does not have any effect as Emby still transcodes just the container (apparently, Chrome and Samsung don't like MKV containers).  On or off, Emby reports "direct streaming."

However, I can force purely direct play of these MKV files in Emby Theater for Windows, which will play the movies without error.

In doing some testing, the movies affected are quite rare. So far, I've only found a small handful of Blu-ray rips that do this. All but one are from Warner Bros, as well.:

• Annabelle (2014)
• The Conjuring 2 (2016)
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it (2021)
• Aquaman (2018)
• Ghostbusters (2016)

Strangely, I have all 8 of the Conjuring Universe movies -- presumably prepared by the same Blu-Ray team at WB using the same authoring software -- but only 3 are affected.

[Luke 42079]

Please try unchecking all three options and then see how that compares. Thanks.

[rexerm 36]

With all three checked, Samsung reported "no compatibile streams," but I see it does play in Chrome.  With these settings, the video is perfectly fine there.

[rexerm 36]

Updated to 4.6.5.0 today, hoping the new ffmpeg it contained might help. But, tested Annabelle again and it still glitching during playback...

Here's a clip from the beginning of the movie.  Glitches start in the WB logo when direct playing, but transcoding for the container only:

https://mega.nz/file/jzg0HRrK#cKoHzbqBUlPNSdguyW31HAoe_BfFV0FZhns73HUU6QM

Edited November 17, 2021 by rexerm

[Luke 42079]

Hi, sorry, it doesn't have a new ffmpeg. That's in the 4.7 beta channel as it needs more time in testing.

[Luke 42079]

But good news. I'm playing this in Chrome on 4.7 and no glitches.

[rexerm 36]

Cool!  Hopefully it was just a bug in the old ffmpeg, then.  Looking forward to the stable release of 4.7!

[rexerm 36]

On 11/17/2021 at 12:23 PM, Luke said:

But good news. I'm playing this in Chrome on 4.7 and no glitches.

Installed 4.7.0.18 beta just now to test it, and unfortunately I'm having the same trouble.  17 seconds into the WB logo and the same glitches appear. Tested the other affected movies and no change.  (swapping out the system folder is the only thing needed to test the beta, correct?)

[rexerm 36]

I've discovered a similar issue with 4K UHD rips, as well.  Again, curiously, only from certain discs.  Playing Batman (1989), the first 10 minutes or so are fine. Once it transitions from the rooftop scene, a frame from the end of that scene remains on the screen and the upper-left corner plays an extrememly glitched version of the movie, with increasingly more glitched versions to the right of it.

The first photo is me allowing the movie to play naturally to this point using 4.6.7.0.  The second is me chapter-skipping to this point (you can see the initial WB logo stuck on the screen) using 4.7.0.18 beta.

As with my Blu-ray rip issue above, if I force Emby to transcode the video, everything plays fine.  Transcoding the container with direct play of the video stream appears to be the issue again.

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by rexerm

[Happy2Play 9781]

Playing the Annabelle-test file provided above, I would say it is a file issue as artifacting happens in Windows Movie & TV player and VLC.  In VLC is sort of skips the artifacting but can be seen dragging the slider to specific times.  Did not test in Emby directly though.

[rexerm 36]

1 hour ago, Happy2Play said:

Playing the Annabelle-test file provided above, I would say it is a file issue as artifacting happens in Windows Movie & TV player and VLC.  In VLC is sort of skips the artifacting but can be seen dragging the slider to specific times.  Did not test in Emby directly though.

Scrubbing through Blu-ray rips is always a little weird for playback, but I was able to replicate that in VLC as well.  However, if I use tsMuxeR GUI 2.6.12 to re-wrap this clip as a .TS file, it plays perfectly in Emby.  As a .TS file, though, Emby does not have to transcode the container and streams it as is.  Other than the container, the video and audio tracks are identical. It feels like ffmpeg -- when transcoding the container for Emby -- is getting tripped up on something in the file.

The current MKV was made with MakeMKV and then run through MKVToolnix (GUI for running mkvmerge) to remove some subtitle tracks, which, as far as I know, are standard tools for such things.  The MKV I had of this movie before this -- ripped from a different copy of the disc -- was made with DVDFab. Both had the same issues at exactly the same timecodes.

I have uploaded the TS version to the same folder if you'd like to compare the two.

Edited December 13, 2021 by rexerm
timecodes, plural, as it's not just the one glitch in the example file uploaded

[Happy2Play 9781]

6 minutes ago, rexerm said:

Scrubbing through Blu-ray rips is always a little weird for playback, but I was able to replicate that in VLC as well.  However, if I use tsMuxeR GUI 2.6.12 to re-wrap this clip as a .TS file, it plays perfectly in Emby.  As a .TS file, though, Emby does not have to transcode the container and streams it as is.  Other than the container, the video and audio tracks are identical. It feels like ffmpeg -- when transcoding the container for Emby -- is getting tripped up on something in the file.

The current MKV was made with MakeMKV and then run through MKVToolnix (GUI for running mkvmerge) to remove some subtitle tracks, which, as far as I know, are standard tools for such things.  The MKV I had of this movie before this -- ripped from a different copy of the disc -- was made with DVDFab. Both had the same issues at exactly the same timecode.

I have uploaded the TS version to the same folder if you'd like to compare the two.

Sure, more examples are always good, but the Annebelle file has video artifacting at about as about 16.5 second to 17.5 seconds and the 28 second area.  I guess it is about how the player itself plays those frames.  But some one more technical than I would have to comment more.

[rexerm 36]

For the similar 4K playback problem, I recently bought the Alfred Hitchcock Collection and ripped the four 4K movies it contained. Two of them play fine. Two of them have the boxy glitches as in my photos above. I just re-ripped The Birds again, but it still has the same issues.  No errors reported at all during the ripping process by MakeMKV.  Playback is on the Samsung app, and, again, if I force a video transcode by lowering the playback bitrate, everything is fine. I've upload a sample file here:

https://mega.nz/folder/T6hUATjC#K0PUnCp4P2bvmWuYUdmTZA

Edited December 13, 2021 by rexerm

[Luke 42079]

On 12/8/2021 at 8:53 AM, rexerm said:

Installed 4.7.0.18 beta just now to test it, and unfortunately I'm having the same trouble.  17 seconds into the WB logo and the same glitches appear. Tested the other affected movies and no change.  (swapping out the system folder is the only thing needed to test the beta, correct?)

The changes I mentioned aren't in the 4.7.0.18 build.

[Happy2Play 9781]

3 minutes ago, rexerm said:

For the similar 4K playback problem, I recently bought the Alfred Hitchcock Collection and ripped them four 4K movies it contained. Two of them play fine. Two of them have the boxy glitches as in my photos above. I just re-ripped The Birds again, but it still has the same issues.  No errors reported at all during the ripping process by MakeMKV.  I've upload a sample file here:

https://mega.nz/folder/T6hUATjC#K0PUnCp4P2bvmWuYUdmTZA

See the same glitches for Annebelle-test.ts at 16 seconds and 28 seconds, along with lots of pixelation scrobbling in VLC.

Didn't notice anything in the The Birds 4K-test.mkv, will test in Emby when I get a change.

 

 

[rexerm 36]

5 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

See the same glitches for Annebelle-test.ts at 16 seconds and 28 seconds, along with lots of pixelation scrobbling in VLC.

Didn't notice anything in the The Birds 4K-test.mkv, will test in Emby when I get a change.

Okay, just re-ripped Aquaman -- another with the same issues -- and it is now fine. Darn. Hard to believe Annabelle got ripped badly twice,  but looks like I'll have to re-buy it and try it a third time...  Though, the changes Luke is alluding to sound hopeful as well.

The 4K thing is a bit odd, as it seems to be just chunks of the movie with glitched playback. Skip a couple of chapters, and it will be fine for a while.

Edited December 13, 2021 by rexerm

[Happy2Play 9781]

@softworkzcan you look at these test files.  Don't really know how to interpret your media analyzer tool but doesn't look quite right.  

[rexerm 36]

I clipped out a spot in The Birds where it transitions from glitchy to fine and uploaded it.  Right at 7 seconds, which also happens to exactly match a cut in the movie (new keyframe?), it'll correct itself.  Interestingly, when I tested this short clip in Emby, it displayed part of a different movie I had been testing right before this while the glitchy first 7 seconds played. Stuck in Samsung app's memory?

Edit: also added a clip that transitions from good to bad, also switching at the 7 second mark.

Edited December 13, 2021 by rexerm

[softworkz 5068]

52 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

@softworkzcan you look at these test files.  Don't really know how to interpret your media analyzer tool but doesn't look quite right.  

What are you seeing there specifically what doesn't look right?

[rexerm 36]

Well, third time was the charm for ripping Annabelle and that now plays fine.  I did actually just replace my drive as well, so possibly that was an issue.  At any rate, the trouble with Blu-ray rips was on my end and is solved. 

The trouble with 4K rips doesn't seem to be a case of a bad copy, though.  I've almost tested all that I have, and it just seems to be a handful of WB and Universal titles doing this.  Definitely not an issue with Dolby Vision, either, as none them have that at all.