LiveTV isn't working good on my TV but working good on my PC (Plugin)

[XDavidT 15]

I think I've attached all the information needed, videos are well describe my issue, and I've attached all logs from today.

Let me know if I missing anything.

ffmpeg-directstream-81b7c400-f7b4-454a-ab0f-c69246361f43_1.txt embyserver.txt ffmpeg-transcode-570e7c31-da55-4789-85a8-ea561ef3d9d3_1.txt ffmpeg-directstream-556dc097-1b82-46a8-ba0d-0ca314d7184f_1.txt ffmpeg-transcode-6fc7b963-94bb-41be-b77b-387b313b2dfc_1.txt

[pünktchen 1419]

Just enable Force Transcoding of AVI in the playback settings of the Emby Android app.

[XDavidT 15]

1 hour ago, pünktchen said:

Just enable Force Transcoding of AVI in the playback settings of the Emby Android app.

embyserver.txtffmpeg-directstream-9eb6ba0d-cacd-4a8b-b459-7d1cba44ba6f_1.txt

Same result, nothing changed.

[pünktchen 1419]

Not related to your problem, but please uninstall the Portmapper plugin because it floods the log with unnecessary error messages. Also please enable debug logging for Emby server and in the general settings of the VirtualTV plugin and upload some new log files after reproducing your issue. A small advice: start live tv playback from the guide instead of the live tv home page.

[XDavidT 15]

@pünktchenAs you ask me

 

embyserver.txt

[Gilgamesh_48 1251]

I sometimes have the exact opposite problem in that some streams play fine on my TV (Shield TV) but do not play reliably on my PC. That is OK for me as I almost never actually watch anything on my PC as my PC only has a 25 inch screen while my TV is 55 inch. 

I can also report that my Roku Ultras play everything my Shield does as far as live TV goes. 

[Luke 42685]

What is virtual tv intro? It sounds like you haven't gotten to the point of playing live tv right? 

[pünktchen 1419]

On 6/4/2026 at 7:31 PM, XDavidT said:

@pünktchenAs you ask me

Your log file does not have the requested debug logging enabled.

[pünktchen 1419]

3 hours ago, Luke said:

What is virtual tv intro? It sounds like you haven't gotten to the point of playing live tv right? 

VirtualTV Intro is a local video file that is that is provided to the live tv engine as a channel stream source. The plugin requires this to identify the session to which it will send remote playback commands. Even though I have asked you about it several times - the Live TV API does not provide this information, although the server knows which client requests live tv.

[XDavidT 15]

On 6/11/2026 at 1:16 AM, pünktchen said:

Your log file does not have the requested debug logging enabled.

My bad 

embyserver.txt

[pünktchen 1419]

On 6/14/2026 at 8:09 PM, XDavidT said:

My bad 

embyserver.txt 216.02 kB · 0 downloads

You've now enabled debug logging for Emby, but still missed the debug logging option in the VirtualTV plugin!

[XDavidT 15]

On 6/16/2026 at 12:10 AM, pünktchen said:

You've now enabled debug logging for Emby, but still missed the debug logging option in the VirtualTV plugin!

Here is the log and what I did in TV

embyserver.txt

[Luke 42685]

Since you're on the beta server I would start up updating to the latest build and then providing a new log file example. thanks.

[pünktchen 1419]

@XDavidT
You are starting a VirtualTV live tv channel on your Sony Bravia Android TV:

2026-07-06 10:59:35.723 Info SessionManager: Playback start reported by app Emby for Android 3.5.36 on Living Room TV playing סרטים ישראליים. Position: 0 ms. PlaySessionId: 229b81d97494467cb7297bc32be85742. IsPaused: False

The VirtualTV plugin detects this and sends a remote playback command to the Emby app on your Android TV:

2026-07-06 10:59:35.727 Debug VirtualTV: EventService > Channel: סרטים ישראליים, VirtualTV channel playback started, Client: Emby for Android, Device: Living Room TV, SessionId: 1e13d791805a953c82a9458eb3cba216
2026-07-06 10:59:35.759 Debug VirtualTV: EventService > Channel: סרטים ישראליים, Pushing playlist to client, Client: Emby for Android, Device: Living Room TV, SessionId: 1e13d791805a953c82a9458eb3cba216
2026-07-06 10:59:35.760 Debug VirtualTV: StreamingService > Channel: סרטים ישראליים, PushRemotePlaylist, StartIndex: 1, StartOffset: 91 min, ItemIds: 77551|77629|77624|77538|77551

At this point, the plugin is no longer responsible for any playback action!
The Emby app receives the remote playback command, stops playback of the VirtualTV live tv channel ("the playlist intro") and tells the server about its playback capabilities:

2026-07-06 10:59:35.940 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.5.36 on Living Room TV playing סרטים ישראליים. Position: 0 ms. PlaySessionId: 229b81d97494467cb7297bc32be85742. IsPaused: False
2026-07-06 10:59:35.989 Info MediaInfoService-0HNMG5T6RMFE1:0000000F: http/1.1 POST http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/Items/77629/PlaybackInfo?UserId=x_secret3_x&StartTimeTicks=54687529866&IsPlayback=true&AutoOpenLiveStream=true&MaxStreamingBitrate=200000000&X-Emby-Client=Emby for Android&X-Emby-Device-Name=Living Room TV&X-Emby-Device-Id=123456789&X-Emby-Client-Version=3.5.36&X-Emby-Token=x_secret2_x&X-Emby-Language=he-il&reqformat=json. Source Ip: host1

Now the strange thing. The Emby app requests the actual video stream four times in a row! Did you hit the play button multiple times?

2026-07-06 10:59:36.715 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFDS:00000007: http/1.1 GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x. Source Ip: host1, Connection=keep-alive, Host=192.168.1.15:8096
2026-07-06 10:59:36.864 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFDS:00000007: http/1.1 Response completed after client disconnected to host1. Time: 149ms. GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x

2026-07-06 10:59:36.880 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFE5:00000001: http/1.1 GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x. Source Ip: host1, Connection=keep-alive, Host=192.168.1.15:8096
2026-07-06 10:59:36.971 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFE5:00000001: http/1.1 Response 206 to host1. Time: 91ms. GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x

2026-07-06 10:59:37.125 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFE5:00000002: http/1.1 GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x. Source Ip: host1, Connection=keep-alive, Host=192.168.1.15:8096
2026-07-06 10:59:37.257 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFE5:00000002: http/1.1 Response completed after client disconnected to host1. Time: 132ms. GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x

2026-07-06 10:59:37.284 Info VideoService-0HNMG5T6RMFE6:00000001: http/1.1 GET http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/videos/77629/original.mkv?DeviceId=123456789&MediaSourceId=mediasource_77629&PlaySessionId=1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d&api_key=x_secret2_x. Source Ip: host1, Connection=keep-alive, Host=192.168.1.15:8096

After the fourth video stream request, the Emby app tells the server the playback has stopped (probably by user intervention):

2026-07-06 10:59:42.154 Info PlaystateService-0HNMG5T6RMFDU:00000013: http/1.1 POST http://192.168.1.15:8096/emby/Sessions/Playing/Stopped?X-Emby-Client=Emby for Android&X-Emby-Device-Name=Living Room TV&X-Emby-Device-Id=123456789&X-Emby-Client-Version=3.5.36&X-Emby-Token=x_secret2_x&X-Emby-Language=he-il&reqformat=json. Source Ip: host1
2026-07-06 10:59:42.155 Info SessionManager: Playback stopped reported by app Emby for Android 3.5.36 on Living Room TV playing אסקימו לימון 4: ספיחס. Position: 5472753 ms. PlaySessionId: 1d5600bc29594e57ac9c60762195d82d. IsPaused: False

The VirtualTV plugin also detects the playback stop:

2026-07-06 10:59:42.156 Debug VirtualTV: EventService > Channel: סרטים ישראליים, Playlist Item playback stopped, Item: אסקימו לימון 4: ספיחס, Id: 77629, Client: Emby for Android, Device: Living Room TV, SessionId: 1e13d791805a953c82a9458eb3cba216

So as you can see, from the VirtualTV plugin's standpoint, all is working as expected. The questions is what is the problem with the Emby app? Maybe it's a problem specific to the Sony TV? What you can try and i've already told you that, start live tv playback from the guide instead of the live tv home page! Also just for testing, if it's active in your Emby app, disable refresh rate switching.