Emby cannot play TrueHD

[faandfo69 2]

For the longest time i just assumed that truehd via selfhost might not be possible and only streaming qpps do some sort of implementation for atmos to work.

 

Whenever i play a movie with TrueHD audio it transcodes and does not direct play which forces the app to transcode and dolby vision is lost in transcoding 

 

Just today i tried jellyfin on my tv and i was surprised that hellyfin was able to play TrueHD Atmos with dolby vision without any transcoding

 

Is there a reason for emby to not be able to directplay TrueHD even tho my tv supports it and jellyfin can play it with dolby vision?

Edited February 12, 2025 by faandfo69

[Luke 42077]

Hi, what version of the Emby android app are you running?

[faandfo69 2]

Hey Luke, I primarily use the Android TV app as the android app is not yet polished enough for my use.

 

I am using the latest emby for android tv (2.1.25g), but even the older versions have not worked for me in the past.

 

The android version (3.4.36) does not play truehd atmos either

It cannot play anything if it can't direct play including TrueHD for some reason.

[ebr 16169]

Can you please play an item that has this issue for a few seconds and then follow the instructions to send a log from the app?

 

[faandfo69 2]

Hey sorry took some time.

So TrueHD plays fine in jellyfin

Transcodes in emby I've tried disabling transcoding for the use as well but then it falls back to EAC3

ffmpeg-directstream-e8128453-c4d0-43ca-bb7b-a461c27028a3_1.txt ffmpeg-directstream-f1bbbab4-25cb-4713-89d1-8b03f31be460_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-cf15d5f8-ec03-4217-bd3f-b13caa1fc63a_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-765ef9e9-dff2-4e40-ad6e-c9f0f1aa77ab_1.txt

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Did you do this?

On 2/12/2025 at 10:55 AM, ebr said:

Can you please play an item that has this issue for a few seconds and then follow the instructions to send a log from the app?

 

If so, can you please provide the information requested?  Thanks.

[faandfo69 2]

Hey I'm a little clueless about what I have to do.

Could you please guide me.

I have uploded the logs from the time I tried playing.

[pünktchen 1409]

6 hours ago, faandfo69 said:

Hey I'm a little clueless about what I have to do.

Could you please guide me.

I have uploded the logs from the time I tried playing.

Then add the following information to your report in the forum:

 

• Exactly what you were doing and what happened.  Include the name of whatever you played if it is a playback problem
• The time you sent the log (in Eastern Time please - UTC -5)
• The name of the Emby user on the local server that was logged in at the time

Edited February 15, 2025 by pünktchen

[faandfo69 2]

On 2/12/2025 at 10:45 AM, faandfo69 said:

For the longest time i just assumed that truehd via selfhost might not be possible and only streaming qpps do some sort of implementation for atmos to work.

 

Whenever i play a movie with TrueHD audio it transcodes and does not direct play which forces the app to transcode and dolby vision is lost in transcoding 

 

Just today i tried jellyfin on my tv and i was surprised that hellyfin was able to play TrueHD Atmos with dolby vision without any transcoding

 

Is there a reason for emby to not be able to directplay TrueHD even tho my tv supports it and jellyfin can play it with dolby vision?

While watching “Joker (2019) – Remux-2160p.mkv” via the Emby AndroidTV client, a DirectPlay error forced the server to switch to transcoding, and I captured the log at approximately 1:11 PM, 2 am Eastern Time(why conversion?) while logged in as Kshitij Chhokar.

 

Edited February 15, 2025 by faandfo69

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Did you actually send a log from the app?

Quote

Emby for Android TV/Fire TV and Emby for Roku Logs

 

These apps have the option to send an app log to us electronically.  You enter the settings page and turn on the "Debug Options".  Now there will be a new option on the user menu at the top of your app home page labelled "Send Log".  

 

  Quote

If you are using Android TV/Fire TV and your problem is with playback, please send the log directly from the playback OSD.
There will be an option on the "cog" menu.

 

Reproduce your problem and then use this button to send the log

 

[faandfo69 2]

Done

I've sent the logs

 

3:12 am eastern time

[ebr 16169]

Your system is not reporting support for TrueHD:

02-16 13:39:56.882 27650 27650 I System.out: Reported device audio support is: ,ac3,eac3

It actually only shows very basic audio support and you do not have the option to convert these to DD selected so the app is attempting to decode the track internally but that is failing with an error.  The app then falls back to transcoding due to that error.

If you select the option to convert unsupported audio to DD then this may solve this problem for you.

[faandfo69 2]

My tv does support Atmos

Ive tried using that option it just transcodes 

But the question is how is jellyfin able to play the same item without transcoding with Dolby Vision

But emby cannot?

[ebr 16169]

5 hours ago, faandfo69 said:

My tv does support Atmos

Atmos and TrueHD are not the same thing.  Your TV supports Atmos when it is delivered with DD+.

5 hours ago, faandfo69 said:

Ive tried using that option it just transcodes 

Are you sure it is transcoding?  Please provide an ffmpeg log from that.

[faandfo69 2]

Do I send the log again?

If so ive sent them on16th feb at 8:32pm

If i have to manually attach let me know.

I checked the stats for nerd thing it does show transcoding.

If i choose downmix to sterio then generally all unsupported audio directplay with (software decoding)

But then often dolby vision is lost

And that is not the case with jellyfin on the same tv with same file.

[Also could you please delete the message with the log files i sent since it's of no use(if that log is what ffmpeg log means then that should work)]

 

Also Thankyou for helping

[ebr 16169]

13 hours ago, faandfo69 said:

If i have to manually attach let me know

I was wanting to see the ffmpeg log(s) from that playback.  They will be on your server.

Thanks.

[faandfo69 2]

Hey, Sorry for the late reply i somehow missed the notification.

 

Here a movie for example that transcodes in emby but not on jellyfin. (Se7en)

Also for some reason i cant connect my headphones(SBC headphones or AAC earbuds tested so far) tv to watch anything

But just like the above problem it works on jellyfin

With emby EAC3 works every time but everything else is a bet 

In this example(se7en) 

But on the same TV with the same file somehow jellyfin is able to which is bending my mind

 

Maybe it's using the equivalent of software decoding in emby but the audio is not the same in emby software decoding and jellyfin direct play

But i guess the problem is that emby has no option to direct play all the time and if it can't direct play an audio just down mix to stereo instead of when I turn the feature on (manually in settings) down mix to sterio, it uses software decoding no matter what even if it is supported by the hardware still software decoding which messes with the audio

 

The auto feature just transcodes if it cant direct play an audio and i have never seen it auto switch to dowmix to sterio so that it can avoid transcodingffmpeg-remux-5157e0a6-b9e9-44bb-8e0f-f62a985a7aec_1.txtffmpeg-remux-5157e0a6-b9e9-44bb-8e0f-f62a985a7aec_1.txt

[Luke 42077]

5 hours ago, faandfo69 said:

Hey, Sorry for the late reply i somehow missed the notification.

 

Here a movie for example that transcodes in emby but not on jellyfin. (Se7en)

Also for some reason i cant connect my headphones(SBC headphones or AAC earbuds tested so far) tv to watch anything

But just like the above problem it works on jellyfin

With emby EAC3 works every time but everything else is a bet 

In this example(se7en) 

But on the same TV with the same file somehow jellyfin is able to which is bending my mind

 

Maybe it's using the equivalent of software decoding in emby but the audio is not the same in emby software decoding and jellyfin direct play

But i guess the problem is that emby has no option to direct play all the time and if it can't direct play an audio just down mix to stereo instead of when I turn the feature on (manually in settings) down mix to sterio, it uses software decoding no matter what even if it is supported by the hardware still software decoding which messes with the audio

 

The auto feature just transcodes if it cant direct play an audio and i have never seen it auto switch to dowmix to sterio so that it can avoid transcodingffmpeg-remux-5157e0a6-b9e9-44bb-8e0f-f62a985a7aec_1.txtffmpeg-remux-5157e0a6-b9e9-44bb-8e0f-f62a985a7aec_1.txt

Hi.  Can you try searching for our standard android app (Just "Emby" on Amazon and "Emby for Android on Google) on the same device's app store and see how that compares?

Thanks.

 

[faandfo69 2]

Hey Luke, 

Using the Standard Android app on my TV is not a great experience 

 

All the problems under the dedicated thread aside

If Emby For Android TV can't direct play without software decoding it does not even start to play it on the android app on TV sinsce it cant transode

[faandfo69 2]

Same Movie

Same Audio Track

Same file

Same Device

Only difference is the App Used

[Luke 42077]

15 minutes ago, faandfo69 said:

Hey Luke, Using the Standard Android app on my TV is not a great experience 

Hi, did you try it for this content?

[faandfo69 2]

Yes, it just gives me a blank screen

(Couldn't figure out the 30 second gap so duplicate comment)

Edited February 28, 2025 by faandfo69

[Luke 42077]

2 minutes ago, faandfo69 said:

Yes, it just gives me a blank screen

HI, blank screen when and where?

[faandfo69 2]

Yes, it just gives me a blank screen

 

It says its playing/stuck at 0 in the dashboard 

 

 

[ebr 16169]

14 hours ago, faandfo69 said:

Here a movie for example that transcodes in emby

Your screenshot shows this is due to playback errors trying to direct play it.

Can you please play that item until it is going using the TV app and then follow the instructions to send a log from the app?