Questions regarding the new Linux beta

[voodoo5_6k 29]

Great news, the new Linux beta

I'm very interested to test this out... However, it would need to allow some certain aspects of playback to be useful, in my case.

1. How will it handle files with DV content (profile 8.1) or HDR10? Can it output in HDR? And if so, will it still output SDR as SDR (i.e. not attempting unneccessary tone-mapping)?
2. How will it handle audio formats? Can it do HDMI Audio pass-through, for stuff like Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD etc.pp.?
3. Can upscaling be limited to a certain resolution? I'd prefer it to stop at 1080p, so that my video processor can do the rest (better upscaling), but still keeping the emby GUI in a reasonable size (i.e. not too small in case of SD playback).
4. And finally, related to previous one, will it change display modes according to the content being output?

If this is answered somewhere already, then sorry, I didn't find the resource. Please point me there, in that case.

Thanks

[Luke 42077]

HI, yes it supports both HDR and passthrough. I would check out the plethora of video settings in the app.

[heffeque 78]

Just trying the beta now (used THIS).

Surprisingly, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are working on my SDR screen with tone mapping on client side instead of server side (which is nice!)

Atmos and DTS:X working using HDMI audio pass-through without issues.

System used, a not-so-new laptop (MSI PS42 8RB with an i7-8550U + nVidia MX150) on the latest stable Bazzite build, plugged into an Onkyo AV receiver for the audio pass-through test.

I don't have an HDR capable screen on hand, so I can't test that part.

Tons of dropped frames on some difficult videos (8K using direct play and stuff like that), but I'd say that it's mostly the laptop's fault (not powerful enough).

[Lessaj 467]

Try the different video quality presets under Video Player, I believe it's Balanced by default. Energy efficient might work better for that device.

Edited January 30 by Lessaj

[TMCsw 246]

3 hours ago, heffeque said:

Tons of dropped frames on some difficult videos (8K using direct play and stuff like that)

You may need to force the server to transcode by lowering the bit rate (gear cog) while playing, as your aging CPU/GPU may not be able to handle (8K + HDR) transcodes...

[voodoo5_6k 29]

10 hours ago, Luke said:

HI, yes it supports both HDR and passthrough. I would check out the plethora of video settings in the app.

Thanks Luke. Will do that. I was asking because I was thinking about getting new hardware for that, and wanted to know whether it's worth it for my use case.

6 hours ago, heffeque said:

Just trying the beta now (used THIS).

Surprisingly, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are working on my SDR screen with tone mapping on client side instead of server side (which is nice!)

Atmos and DTS:X working using HDMI audio pass-through without issues.

System used, a not-so-new laptop (MSI PS42 8RB with an i7-8550U + nVidia MX150) on the latest stable Bazzite build, plugged into an Onkyo AV receiver for the audio pass-through test.

I don't have an HDR capable screen on hand, so I can't test that part.

Tons of dropped frames on some difficult videos (8K using direct play and stuff like that), but I'd say that it's mostly the laptop's fault (not powerful enough).

Thanks for letting me know about your testing results. Much appreciated.

[heffeque 78]

7 hours ago, Lessaj said:

Try the different video quality presets under Video Player, I believe it's Balanced by default. Energy efficient might work better for that device.

Thanks, though I was just messing around. Most of my media is 1080p, which tends to be more than enough for me. The 8K stuff I have is merely for testing purposes.

Also, my HTPC is a Framework Desktop miniPC (extremely silent, yet a powerful beast).

I'm using the laptop as a guinea pig, to see what I can and what I can't do with Bazzite before thinking of ditching Windows. I very much dislike Windows 11, and Microslop keeps pushing me farther away from liking it every week, so... (shrug) 

[heffeque 78]

5 hours ago, TMCsw said:

You may need to force the server to transcode by lowering the bit rate (gear cog) while playing, as your aging CPU/GPU may not be able to handle (8K + HDR) transcodes...

My NAS is less powerful than this laptop (DS918+), so I've decided to deactivate server video transcoding altogether. I'm just using devices that have Emby native apps, so everything can play Direct.

And my internet is a very consistent 1 Gbps up/down, so if I'm expecting to use Emby in a mobile device where internet might not be good, I download stuff beforehand.

If 4K HDR tone mapping does get fixed on server level, and if it works reliably on my NAS (which I doubt), I might re-enable transcoding, but... Nowadays I kind of prefer it without it, as it is. 

Edited January 30 by heffeque

[voodoo5_6k 29]

On 1/30/2026 at 7:59 AM, voodoo5_6k said:

Thanks Luke. Will do that. I was asking because I was thinking about getting new hardware for that, and wanted to know whether it's worth it for my use case.

I've decided to pull the trigger on new hardware. Once it's set up with Debian I'll start testing the new Linux beta. Looking forward to it