Emby Theater for Linux

[looking111 30]

Is there a place where I can submit feature requests?

Edited May 23, 2025 by looking111

[GrimReaper 4739]

2 hours ago, looking111 said:

Is there a place where I can submit feature requests?

https://emby.media/community/index.php?/forum/98-feature-requests/

 

[softworkz 5066]

12 hours ago, looking111 said:

Is there a place where I can submit feature requests?

Please note that its feature set will be similar to the Windows and Xbox apps.

[Blackdixxa 4]

Hello, 

Is this player for emby completely dead. 
I see last commit was on Sep 13, 2023
There was some sort of new app test opened that I missed and radio silence since 8 more months are we force to use Kodi instead of this almost outdated app?

PS: It's not a rant at all, I'm just wondering what's happening and if we could help in any way

Edited June 18, 2025 by Blackdixxa
correct spelling

[Luke 42077]

4 minutes ago, Blackdixxa said:

Hello, 

Is this player for emby completely dead. 
I see last commit was on Sep 13, 2023
There was some sort of new app test opened that I missed and radio silence since 8 more months are we force to use Kodi instead of this almost outdated app?

PS: It's not a rant at all, I'm just wondering what's happening and if we could help in any way

Hi, no we are working on something all new so stay tuned:

 

[Blackdixxa 4]

Yeah I saw this post but there is not news except for the recruitment of testers since last september. 
How is that project going ?

[Luke 42077]

On 6/18/2025 at 7:33 PM, Blackdixxa said:

Yeah I saw this post but there is not news except for the recruitment of testers since last september. 
How is that project going ?

Hi, we are currently working on the build process for it. Thanks.

[Atreus22 1]

is there a notification i can subscribe to as soon as the new version is live or at least in beta? Will stick to the browser version for now, but imo the native app is better, at least on windows. 

[Luke 42077]

11 minutes ago, Atreus22 said:

is there a notification i can subscribe to as soon as the new version is live or at least in beta? Will stick to the browser version for now, but imo the native app is better, at least on windows. 

Hi, yes this topic as well as the blog. Thanks.

[softworkz 5066]

@Atreus22 @Blackdixxa

 

 

[chesterseenes316 0]

any eta for a fix

 

[softworkz 5066]

We're currently in the very last round of testing in the private beta and public beta is very very close now!

[Riezel 33]

On 11/26/2025 at 3:42 AM, softworkz said:

We're currently in the very last round of testing in the private beta and public beta is very very close now!

hope to see the public beta soon (before december ends)
i want to test it on steamos game mode (gamescope)  (and if possible hook to custom mpv.dll as well, for SVP4)

[softworkz 5066]

47 minutes ago, Riezel said:

hope to see the public beta soon (before december ends)

It's most likely just days away.

 

47 minutes ago, Riezel said:

i want to test it on steamos game mode

That will be interesting!

 

49 minutes ago, Riezel said:

and if possible hook to custom mpv.dll as well, for SVP4

To set expectations straight: The video path is controlled by the app, mpv.conf customization is not supported (won't work), which means that things like SVP4 can only work when we explicitly implement them.

Thanks

[Riezel 33]

8 minutes ago, softworkz said:

It's most likely just days away.

 

That will be interesting!

 

To set expectations straight: The video path is controlled by the app, mpv.conf customization is not supported (won't work), which means that things like SVP4 can only work when we explicitly implement them.

Thanks

That's quite sad , is it possible for the built in mpv, has Vapoursynth module enabled and listen to ipc server like this ? (because i think that's the easiest way to make SVP4 works, by listening to --input-rpc), if it's in windows yeah we can just swap them with the svp mvp dll (emby theater or make it to listen to ipc server)

but again, thanks for the hardwork, since current emby theater in linux is quite disaster (in gamemode steamos, there is a workaround by using tv mode, but again, the focus bug is kinda hassle tbh )

[softworkz 5066]

40 minutes ago, Riezel said:

is it possible for the built in mpv, has Vapoursynth module enabled and listen to ipc server like this ?

No.

 

40 minutes ago, Riezel said:

swap them with the svp mvp dll

This will only buy you a lot of trouble without benefit.

 

40 minutes ago, Riezel said:

That's quite sad

I wouldn't say that, it's rather the opposite in fact.

The ET versions for Linux and Windows were actually the same with regards to MPV integration. That kind of integration was very primitive: Start, pause, seek, select audio track, select subtitle track, aspect ratio and that's it. So it was more like a vanilla MPV player that was just put inside the Emby app. 
The real configuration had to be done in an mpv.conf file (which got mixed with a handful of settings from a simple options page).

What was the outcome?

The outcome was, that 99.9% of the users of ET Windows and ET Linux had inferior video playback, because they never dealt with any mpv.conf setup and only a tiny fraction of users were fiddling around with MPV configuration. The forums were full with topics about mpv.conf setup and even the configurations from the most knowledgeable users weren't able to cover all cases properly with the conditions they had set up.

MPV Integration in the new Emby Apps

With the new Emby for Windows app, we have fundamentally changed the situation. The app is taking full control over MPV configuration. There is no support for loading mpv.conf files, simply because there can only be a single captain on a boat - and that's the app. 
Of course, configurability is very important. That's why - in turn - the Emby Windows app provides configuration options, more detailed than any other Emby app. For video quality, there are 3 presets - providing an easy choice for inexperienced users, while each of them can be customized in all details.

This allowed us to achieve decent video playback for the 99.9% of users  - which is the most important part, while a handful of users (for the Windows app, there were no more than 20) might be dissatisfied because they can't do certain things. That's a tradeoff which is more than justified, considering the dimensions.

But even for those who are dissatisfied, our position has always been: Let us know which kind of configuration you would like to be able to make and we will try to add that, as long as it's feasible.

If you want to see what's coming, you can look at the Windows app right now. It shares the MPV integration with the new Linux app (besides a few details).

Edited December 1, 2025 by softworkz

[Riezel 33]

7 minutes ago, softworkz said:

I wouldn't say that, it's rather the opposite in fact.

The ET versions for Linux and Windows were actually the same with regards to MPV integration. That kind of integration was very primitive: Start, pause, seek, select audio track, select subtitle track, aspect ratio and that's it. So it was more like a vanilla MPV player that was just put inside the Emby app. 
The real configuration had to be done in an mpv.conf file (which got mixed with a handful of settings from a simple options page).

What was the outcome?

The outcome was, that 99.9% of the users of ET Windows and ET Linux had inferior video playback, because they never dealt with any mpv.conf setup and only a tiny fraction of users were fiddling around with MPV configuration. The forums were full with topics about mpv.conf setup and even the configurations from the most knowledgeable users weren't able to cover all cases properly with the conditions they had set up.

MPV Integration in the new Emby Apps

With the new Emby for Windows app, we have fundamentally changed the situation. The app is taking full control over MPV configuration. There is no support for loading mpv.conf files, simply because there can only be a single captain on a boat - and that's the app. 
Of course, configurability is very important. That's why - in turn - the Emby Windows app provides configuration options, more detailed than any other Emby app. For video quality, there are 3 presets - providing an easy choice for inexperienced users, while each of them can be customized in all details.

This allowed us to achieve decent video playback for the 99.9% of users  - which is the most important part, while a handful of users (for the Windows app, there were no more than 20) might be dissatisfied because they can't do certain things. That's a tradeoff which is more than justified, considering the dimensions.

But even for those who are dissatisfied, our position has always been: Let us know which kind of configuration you would like to be able to make and we will try to add that, as long as it's feasible.

If you want to see what's coming, you can look at the Windows app right now. It shares the MPV integration with the new Linux app (besides a few details).

first, sorry if this was in the wrong forum
but i want to suggest something, while i do understand that you won't add vapoursynth support
can we have some custom options input for the built in mpv ? like adding some line from this https://mpv.io/manual/stable/#options so the current built in mpv will detect it (without relying external mpv configuration), so it's still managed by the app, and can be futher tweaked by people that want it (ofc you can put disclaimer for it, no guaranteed support if you add additional parameter in it, something like that)
because what i want currently is only adding --input-rpc-server=<something> so i can try to hook it to SVP4, and ask the SVP4 dev the rest  (i want it because watching movies / series with 23 ~ 30fps is kinda... not good on me, yeah i know it's personal, since i would liked to have it on 60fps or even 120fps, but what make the ET windows valued is, it's easy to hook it with SVP4, i just replace the old mpv.dll to what svp use (or symlink it), and that's all i need)
*oh also black bar fill in SVP4 is good things as well, for ultrawide monitor (say no more to black bar on the each side )
**i already ditched the windows, so no more windows i guess (due their recent changes with Ai stuff)

[softworkz 5066]

7 minutes ago, softworkz said:

46 minutes ago, Riezel said:

swap them with the svp mvp dll

This will only buy you a lot of trouble without benefit.

Some may believe that it would be a clever idea to replace the mpv library, for example with a newer version,  so I want to be very clear on that subject:

Better not even think about it!

The app is relying on certain specific behavior in mpv 0.39 (which is currently used). Changing to any other version (like 0.40 or later) will screw HDR playback in certain cases. Even changing to 0.38 would have those side effects.

Further, the mpv library needs to have a very specific selection of platform extensions, some of which must be there and some of which must be absent. If these things do not match, it can break hardware acceleration. This is much more sensitive than on Windows. In order to achieve a high level of resilience towards platform differences, many components have been statically compiled into the mpv.so lib that we are shipping. It took more than 30 builds of that library in order to get it all working as needed, so I would think twice before even trying...  

[softworkz 5066]

  

10 minutes ago, Riezel said:

*oh also black bar fill in SVP4 is good things as well, for ultrawide monitor (say no more to black bar on the each side )

We have a feature for that. Dynamic Cover and Dynamic Fit. It's better than the usual MPV scripts for that:

 

 

10 minutes ago, Riezel said:

can we have some custom options input for the built in mpv ?

10 minutes ago, Riezel said:

because what i want currently is only adding --input-rpc-server=<something>

We can talk about features and configuration options, but not extension points.

SVP4 would be a feature. If we would add it, it would be fully integrated and supported, but the immediate priority is of course getting the app ready and stable...

Edited December 1, 2025 by softworkz

[Riezel 33]

6 minutes ago, softworkz said:

Some may believe that it would be a clever idea to replace the mpv library, for example with a newer version,  so I want to be very clear on that subject:

Better not even think about it!

The app is relying on certain specific behavior in mpv 0.39 (which is currently used). Changing to any other version (like 0.40 or later) will screw HDR playback in certain cases. Even changing to 0.38 would have those side effects.

Further, the mpv library needs to have a very specific selection of platform extensions, some of which must be there and some of which must be absent. If these things do not match, it can break hardware acceleration. This is much more sensitive than on Windows. In order to achieve a high level of resilience towards platform differences, many components have been statically compiled into the mpv.so lib that we are shipping. It took more than 30 builds of that library in order to get it all working as needed, so I would think twice before even trying...  

yup, totally agree on that part, but for my case alone, i would still do that, because what i want the most is high fps rendering (like in linux, i even build mpv.so myself and made it works, even it's opening external player , in the end i just use external mpv with --input-rpc-server options only, with the drawback is not getting "time" back to emby), so i can live with other quirk, as long it's works (even with some drawback) it's good (atleast to me) , so back to each own person i guess

3 minutes ago, softworkz said:

  

We have a feature for that. Dynamic Cover and Dynamic Fit. It's better than the usual MPV scripts for that:

 

 

We can talk about features and configuration options, but not extension points.

SVP4 would be a feature. If we would add it, it would be fully integrated and supported, but the immediate priority is of course getting the app ready and stable...

ooh that's new?, we'll see in public beta later i guess
it would be great if you adding SVP4 support in the future, and yes it's better for stable launch first for the linux 
also please consider that custom / user options params, configuration in emby, it would be great addition for what you've already shipped by default IMO (i'm fine without extension support tbh)

[softworkz 5066]

6 minutes ago, softworkz said:

SVP4 would be a feature.

Even though I'm not sure whether that's the best way for getting motion interpolation because SVP4 is CPU-based and GPU accelerated motion interpolation would be clearly peferrable.

[Riezel 33]

3 minutes ago, softworkz said:

Even though I'm not sure whether that's the best way for getting motion interpolation because SVP4 is CPU-based and GPU accelerated motion interpolation would be clearly peferrable.

your info might be outdated (i think), and i'm always using my gpu for the interpolation part (sometimes switch to CPU if i still want to use my gpu for something else)
SVP have GPU support (even tensor now)

Edited December 1, 2025 by Riezel

[softworkz 5066]

I've been looking here: https://www.svp-team.com/wiki/Manual:SVP which in fact seems to be outdated.

Reading their main page, I get even more to the conclusion that this is not the right thing. This is a streaming solution and we really do not need any streaming. We have a video path and motion interpolation should be a processing block as part of that video path.

They are for example naming Nvidia DLSS3. That's something we should be able to add to the video processing path without needing and of their "streaming" stuff, which is a lot of overhead that isn't needed at all..

[Riezel 33]

3 minutes ago, softworkz said:

I've been looking here: https://www.svp-team.com/wiki/Manual:SVP which in fact seems to be outdated.

Reading their main page, I get even more to the conclusion that this is not the right thing. This is a streaming solution and we really do not need any streaming. We have a video path and motion interpolation should be a processing block as part of that video path.

They are for example naming Nvidia DLSS3. That's something we should be able to add to the video processing path without needing and of their "streaming" stuff, which is a lot of overhead that isn't needed at all..

if you can make your own interpolation (render it on higher fps, 60 or more) that would be big BONUS to us (especially me, tbh) 
* so i don't need to figuring out svp to make it works in steamos game mode AHAHAHAHAH, only emby alone is suffice (if you have this feature)
** but again, new stable client release come first 

[SHSPVR 123]

I can't wait for this come out as currently the client is RIP and Tsukimi it some what works and I hate using the web interface