AFTV Emby client using wrong aspect ratio with 720p content

[leejohns1972 7]

Wondering if anyone has started seeing this on their AFTVs within the last couple of months.  I have started noticing that AFTV emby client is showing 720p 16:9 content with the wrong aspect ratio (i.e. 4:3).  The content used to display correctly.  I have not noticed this issue with 1080p content.  There is no transcoding when playing these files, but if I try and do playback correction, it fails with the "too many errors" message. 

These are mp4 files (I have not seen it with other formats that I know of).  Andriod, Kodi (EmbyCon), etc. all show the correct aspect ratio so it would appear to be isolated to the AFTV. 

If no one else is seeing this, I can grab log files etc. to dig into it deeper. 

Ember server is v4.7.6.0 and AFTV app v2.0.77a

info/example below

AFTV Emby client display:

Kodi (EmbyCon):

 

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by leejohns1972

[leejohns1972 7]

Went ahead and uploaded the AFTV client logs.  I simply started the X-Files episode at 12:44PM Eastern and the user was MasterBdRm

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  If you go to the "cog" menu and select "Zoom..." what is that set to?

[leejohns1972 7]

Zoom is set to normal.  I see this issue on all 5 of my AFTVs

[ebr 16169]

I'm going to guess this is related to the encoding of item.  Specifically, the pixel aspect ratio perhaps...

[leejohns1972 7]

Interesting that it would suddenly manifest itself after being fine.  Any updates/change/fixes in the client that would explain that?

[ebr 16169]

7 minutes ago, leejohns1972 said:

Interesting that it would suddenly manifest itself after being fine.  Any updates/change/fixes in the client that would explain that?

Not directly but we do update the player periodically.

[leejohns1972 7]

more than happy to provide a sample file if you would like to try and reproduce it.

[ebr 16169]

23 minutes ago, leejohns1972 said:

more than happy to provide a sample file if you would like to try and reproduce it.

Sure.  You can PM me a dropbox or similar link.  Thanks.

[leejohns1972 7]

Will shoot you a PM once I have that uploaded.  Thanks!

[leejohns1972 7]

PM sent

[ebr 16169]

Your sample is displaying fine for me on my Fire Stick:

 

I do notice, however, that both our thumbnail generator and the Windows one (that shows a thumb in file explorer) think this video is 4:3 so there must be something about it that indicates that.  Perhaps it is your TV that is actually causing the distortion...?

[leejohns1972 7]

Thanks ebr.  That's weird.  Anything is possible I suppose.  As mentioned, it displays correctly when a different front end client is used on the same AFTV hardware.  I have 5 AFTVs and it does it on all five and they are all connected to different model and/or manufacturer TVs.  I first noticed it with a movie back in July of this year.  All of my AFTVs are the older gen, black square models so perhaps something in a client side update in the past inadvertently caused this to manifest with those files on that hardware?

I have seen odd things with them before as they get left behind from a display standpoint. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by leejohns1972
info edits

[leejohns1972 7]

I believe my sister has both the old ones like  I have and a firestick, so I am going to have her test and see if we see the same behavior between them.

[ebr 16169]

Ah.  Okay, maybe it is the old actual "Fire TV" device as that is running a much older version of Android (5.x).

[leejohns1972 7]

Welp.  I was able to have my sister test it on her old AFTV and it displayed fine.  Discovered hers was still running Emby client v2.0.48a and thought, Ah ha!  Upgraded to 2.0.77a like mine and...

Still displayed fine.  So whatever it is, is unique to me.

If I can definitely determine the root cause I will post back here.

 

Appreciate all the help!

[leejohns1972 7]

Interesting update.  My sister texted me last night...720p movie and the aspect ratio is wrong on the old, first gen AFTV. 

[leejohns1972 7]

And I just had her try X-Files and it is wrong now too.  When she first upgraded to the latest client, it was fine for a day, now it is wonky like mine

 

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Your first picture looks like bars are encoded in the video.

On the second one, does she have a zoom option to correct it?

[leejohns1972 7]

She doesn't know how to set any of that , so none of her settings have changed since the other day when we first upgraded to the latest client and it appeared everything was fine.  

That hardware is really old and most people are not using it anymore, so I am not sure it is worth the effort to track down the root cause.  I have switched back to Kodi as my front end client and going to set that up for her as well.

Just as a reference, here is what X-Files looked like for her immediately after the upgrade to v2.077a the other day that she sent me.

[ebr 16169]

6 minutes ago, leejohns1972 said:

Just as a reference, here is what X-Files looked like for her immediately after the upgrade to v2.077a the other day that she sent me.

Is this the exact same file as the other image (with incorrect aspect)?

[leejohns1972 7]

I am not 100% sure.  I know I have randomly tried various episodes across multiple seasons and they all exhibit the issue.

[Luke 42077]

Hi.  Can you try sideloading our standard android app on the same device and see how that compares?

https://emby.media/emby-for-android.html

Thanks.

 

[leejohns1972 7]

Sure.  I see about doing that tomorrow and will let you know.

[leejohns1972 7]

I went to side load the native android client today and was going to take a photo with the AFTV client and then with the native Android client.  Looks like 2.0.79a of the AFTV client has been released since I brought this issue up.  All my AFTVs automatically updated whenever it came out.  I can no longer reproduce the issue.