Stuttering/Pausing Direct Play to Apple TV 4K, AVC1 Issue Suspected

[darkrom 5]

I know this is an old topic but this is exactly what I am still having happen, but exclusively on the Apple TV client.  So far I only see it with the AVC1 tagged files as well, and have no problem playing even 4k h264 files with 0 hesitation etc.    I have tested it on web, iPhone, iPad, and using infuse as a player for it on the same Apple TV, and they all work.  I'm having this issue just in the Apple TV client and I would like to help debug it, I'd really like to use the native client 100% and not depend on infuse so often on my primary media device.  Is there anything I can do as far as logs etc to help bump this issue up and get it looked at?    Setting it to transcode has not helped resolve it unfortunately.

Same situation it is direct play in the Apple TV app the same as any other, same networks etc.  I'm a new emby user and otherwise very happy with the switch from Plex, but it's killing me that I still depend on infuse not just your client with the better UI.  

Edited February 9, 2024 by darkrom

[darkrom 5]

I believe this an issue only with AVC1 tagged files from what I can tell so far.  videos are choppy and pausing every couple of seconds in the Apple TV app. Not the latest but the prior gen 4k Apple TV. I confirmed they play fine on Infuse (connected to the same local network emby server obviously) as well as on the web on PC or Mac. It does not seem to happen at all on the Emby app on my iphone on the same network.  Also, high bitrate 4K movies are playing fine on the Apple TV emby app.  In all scenarios described it is direct playing,   Forcing this particular 720p example to transcode to 480p seems to resolve it.  It says in stats for nerds (Hardware Accelerated Decoding VAAPI).  

Hardware is a 12th gen I believe, definitely newer gen I5 with quicksync support. 

 

I love infuse but my goal is to have everything just work in the native Emby app, the UI is much better than infuse and I really want just one app to handle everything before I transition my family from Plex to Emby.

embyserver.txt

[Luke 42077]

OK we are looking into this. Thanks.

[darkrom 5]

Is there anything else I can do to help you with this? Would more logs help from other files with the issue etc?  If not I’ll be patient and use infuse and wait.   

[Luke 42077]

Hi, can you provide a sample video for testing? Thanks.

[darkrom 5]

14 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, can you provide a sample video for testing? Thanks.

Yes can I PM you a link once I figure out where I can upload it?

[bbartlomiej 8]

I'm experiencing the same problem on apple tv 4k with any AV1 video that I have. Is there any progress on this? I can share a problematic video privately if needed.

[Luke 42077]

Hi, Apple TV does not have hardware decoding support for av1, so we'll probably just have to have the server transcode it. Thanks.

[ZanderKeen 72]

That would be nice @Luke

I was coming here to report this same issue as it just really started affecting us here with a chunk of files we now have. I noticed we cannot watch any of the files that use AV1 however they all play fine on other devices. When I recompile those files to H264 they play fine.

@SamES 

[SamES 1056]

15 hours ago, ZanderKeen said:

That would be nice @Luke

I was coming here to report this same issue as it just really started affecting us here with a chunk of files we now have. I noticed we cannot watch any of the files that use AV1 however they all play fine on other devices. When I recompile those files to H264 they play fine.

@SamES 

I’ll look at this next week when I’m back home

[Woelfie 0]

I've been having the same issue as @bbartlomiejand @darkromonly on Apple TV 4k. Any AV1 content is stuttering, while converting them or transcoding them works without stuttering.

[Luke 42077]

On 1/18/2026 at 8:05 AM, Woelfie said:

I've been having the same issue as @bbartlomiejand @darkromonly on Apple TV 4k. Any AV1 content is stuttering, while converting them or transcoding them works without stuttering.

@Woelfie

 

Hi there, let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. Thanks!

 

[SamES 1056]

@bbartlomiej @darkrom @ZanderKeen@Woelfiecan you please confirm your ATV models? Thanks

Edited January 27 by SamES

[darkrom 5]

13 minutes ago, SamES said:

@bbartlomiej @darkrom @ZanderKeen@Woelfiecan you please confirm your ATV models? Thanks

A2169 (32 gb)

 

thanks.  

[ZanderKeen 72]

On 1/27/2026 at 9:36 PM, SamES said:

@bbartlomiej @darkrom @ZanderKeen@Woelfiecan you please confirm your ATV models? Thanks

@SamES

A1625 x2

A1842 x2

[SamES 1056]

16 minutes ago, ZanderKeen said:

@SamES

A1625 x2

A1842 x2

Thanks, do they all have issues with AV1 playback? Are they all trying to DirectPlay?

[ZanderKeen 72]

9 minutes ago, SamES said:

Thanks, do they all have issues with AV1 playback? Are they all trying to DirectPlay?

@SamES

Actually just testing them now, on both models, they are now being transcoded server-side. 

Server is running version 4.9.3.0

ATV clients running version 2.0.3 (2)

No flickering or display problems that were previously occurring now that transcoding is happening on the server. I did update the server to the current stable version when that released at some point after reporting this issue. 

[ZanderKeen 72]

@darkromhave you tried to see if the issue is fixed for you on the latest stable server version as well?

[darkrom 5]

46 minutes ago, ZanderKeen said:

@darkromhave you tried to see if the issue is fixed for you on the latest stable server version as well?

It seems to be working after testing the initial file I used as an example.  There was a little stutter 2x when it first started playing, then worked just fine after that.   Thank you!