Emby Client Comparison Table

[Jdiesel 1431]

Is there any appetite for a table comparing the features of all the available Emby clients? The idea being a single location to view supported direct play formats and implemented Emby features to help users decide on which client to purchase or troubleshoot issues.

 

I quickly made a mockup in Google Sheets but it still needs a lot of work. I'm hoping to get some help from the community to populate and refine the table. Currently the table is open to edits from anyone. Once the table is up to date maybe it can be transferred to and maintained in the Emby Wiki. The initial supported formats information was taken from the Wiki.

 

Missing Clients?

Missing Features?

What else do you want to know before deciding on an Emby client?

 

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jMBv5yXZdUZgBm2ubzKOm9kzdHUals8N4eGvSWp0Ta4/edit?usp=sharing

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jdiesel

[adrianwi 279]

As a new users, I think this would be really helpful although not sure there’s much I can add. Perhaps it would work better with clients in the columns and features in the rows (as there are more features than clients)?

[Happy2Play 9780]

That is a endless list though, how do you define a client?  How many client/devices can use "Theater" for example?  If someone would like to make a Client list then I'm sure something can be done.

 

Just like this post.

[Jdiesel 1431]

The focus would be on the app and not the hardware. Whether or not the hardware that runs the app supports that format will be for the user to determine. It would be more for looking at which support what features. 

 

For example, The Android TV app supports HD audio but chances are the 1000's of Chinese boxes out there do not. Same goes for Emby Theater on a PC, some hardware may support HEVC some may not. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jdiesel

[Happy2Play 9780]

But the hardware will limit what the app is capable of.  So how do you make a listof what the app supports?

[Jdiesel 1431]

The list will be of what the app supports. The intention will not be to determine if your hardware supports these features but if the app does. Besides there are really only two clients where hardware is really a variable, PC's running Emby Theater and non-official Android TVs. To further narrow it down there are really only two cases where the hardware matters, does it decode HEVC and does it passthrough HD-audio.  Every other format listed as supported should play on that client as advertised. For special situations like the Roku TV, Chromecast Ultra, Nvidia Shield TV, etc a note can be made where it does something that they other models can not. 

[Vicpa 611]

Hi @ @Jdiesel

 

You are missing ember. Hardware is a variable there (passthrough audio)..... all uwp platforms support decoding HEVC, some latter intel chipsets will do it in the GPU. 

 

 

-vicpa

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

When I was using Plex my clients were in order of preference with aprox percentage of use:

 

Roku - 85%

Rasberry PI (Running Plex media player) - 10%

Fire TV - 4%

Shield TB - 1%

 

After using Emby for a few weeks that has changed (for Emby)

 

Shield TV - 70%

Fire TV - 20%

Roku - 10%

 

I have not, at least yet, set up my PI to use Emby. The primary reason for having my PI at all was to have a solid backup player to the Roku on Plex that I actually liked using. On Plex both the Shield and the Fire were quite close to unusable for me but with Emby I find both of those quite good.

 

I do not like everything about either one BUT even my dog does not like everything about me. 

 

Both the Shield and the Fire with Emby are good enough for me that I am no longer looking for clients. I am actually content with both.

 

In defense of the Roku it is quite good but, through no fault of the developer, it does not direct play part of my library and I would just as soon not re-encode the ones that are involved. 

 

The main reason I like the Shield better than the Fire has to do with the ability to customize the front end. I have managed to get all the suggestions and other "found" clutter off the main page so all I see when I go to the Shield's main screen is Emby and a few other apps that I use to its right. Everything else is either hidden or off the screen. That is difficult with the Fire probably due to the Fires tight integration with Amazon.

 

I am still exploring options on both the Shield and the Fire to get them even closer to my ideal.

 

My recommendation to Emby users is to use the Shield TV or the Fire TV as your primary client. 

 

Of course my preferences are not what everyone wants but it does come from a long time user of many diverse playback devices.

 

As far as a table goes it only goes so far. For me once you get to the point where a client will do what is needed it all comes down to the aesthetics of the device's interface and the client that runs on it and that cannot be quantified in a table. But I guess a table of feature does help narrow the choices down a bit.

[Deathsquirrel 745]

The list will be of what the app supports. 

 

Right but the app does not control the support, generally speaking.  The hardware does.  My shield and my fire TV run the same client.  They don't support the same formats.  For some apps, like the iOS client, this idea is doable.  For others it's just not.

[Jdiesel 1431]

Right but the app does not control the support, generally speaking. The hardware does. My shield and my fire TV run the same client. They don't support the same formats. For some apps, like the iOS client, this idea is doable. For others it's just not.

I am curious, other than HD audio what does the Shield TV support that the FireTV does not?

[arrbee99 1815]

Think it would be pretty useful for lots of people, whether new to Emby or not. Would also imagine it would get quite complicated with notes and asterisks and stuff like that.

 

I guess Fire TV and its various models does / will come under Android TV ?

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

I guess Fire TV and its various models does / will come under Android TV ?

 

Although it is Android the parts of Fire TV and Shield TV that are external to Emby are quite different. Because of that difference I believe that they should have separate entries in any table of comparisons.

 

For a comparison to be of maximum value differences in the way the interface presents itself to the user both internal to Emby and external need to be included. 

 

I know that will complicate both the table itself and the creation thereof but I think it needs that kind of info.

 

Devices that have additional abilities, like all the apps the Roku has, also needs to be indicated although details of those apps can be omitted. The Android devices also have most of what the Roku has but there is too many that overlap and too many that don't to make it reasonable to list them all.

 

Now, having said all that, it might be enough to include a good link to some kind of independent spec. page(s) for each device family.

 

In any case it seems to me that creating a table that actually does a good job could be quite the daunting task and could also be frustrating as almost all the platforms are in constant evolution so it will be like trying to hit a moving target on a car running on a race track using a slingshot while riding a skittish horse over a hundred yards away.

[Jdiesel 1431]

TBH I am less worried about the specs and more worried about the features. I may just eliminate the supported formats columns all together if is it going to cause confusion. I just included it on the table because the information was already in the Wiki. The hope is that the table can answer questions like:

 

Does this app require Emby Premiere for basic playback?

Does the app count as a Premiere device?

Does the app support Live TV PVR features?

Does the app support local sync

Does that app require signed SSL certs for HTTPS?

Does that app support TV themes?

etc

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jdiesel

[heciruam 30]

Thank you!

This is exactly what I was looking for. The "counts for device limit" is the most important one for me.

[ebr 16176]

TBH I am less worried about the specs and more worried about the features. I may just eliminate the supported formats columns all together if is it going to cause confusion. I just included it on the table because the information was already in the Wiki. The hope is that the table can answer questions like:

 

Does this app require Emby Premiere for basic playback?

Does the app count as a Premiere device?

Does the app support Live TV PVR features?

Does the app support local sync

Does that app require signed SSL certs for HTTPS?

Does that app support TV themes?

etc

 

This has several of those answers.  We need to get it up on the web page.

[Deathsquirrel 745]

I am curious, other than HD audio what does the Shield TV support that the FireTV does not?

 

My viewing environments for the two devices are different enough that I can't really answer the question.  Whether it's audio or video, my fire tv requires transcoding for most everything I own.  It's in a bedroom without multi channel audio and it's getting fed full blu-ray rips as MKV so very high bit rates, HD audio, and about 10% of the time, VC-1 video.

[ebr 16176]

I am curious, other than HD audio what does the Shield TV support that the FireTV does not?

 

Off the top of my head:

 

Frame rate switching

DD bitstreaming over 448k

DTS bitstreaming

Faster processor

Updated version of Android (more features)

[Waldonnis 148]

I am curious, other than HD audio what does the Shield TV support that the FireTV does not?

 

Depends on the generation of FireTV.  For example, the newly-released iteration of FireTV finally supports HEVC 2160p60, but the prior generation was limited to 2160p30.  Likewise, h.264 hardware acceleration was limited to 1080p30 (720p60) before on the FireTV (Shield TV supports 2160p60 for both HEVC and h.264).  There are some video codec support differences due to the SoC difference between the Shield TV and FireTV models as well. The new FireTV model changes things even further since they moved to the Amlogic S905Z rather than sticking with MediaTek, so some codecs supported in hardware by prior generations have been dropped (mpeg4-es and vp8, notably).  There are some audio differences too, even in codecs supported by both products, but I'd have to pull up the specs again to list them.

 

One other thing not related to codecs is the difference in the wired ethernet port...FireTV is/was limited to 100Mbit vs the Shield TV's 1Gbit, so there would naturally be a difference in the max bitrates each could handle on a wired connection, and could even be further bitrate limitations due to the SoC choice.  For streaming from services, this isn't a big deal (most cap out at 30Mbit for 4k content anyway), but local 4k content may have higher bitrates.

[Jdiesel 1431]

That is interesting. I knew the FireTV were running an older version of Android but I didn't realize how different they actually were.

[Jdiesel 1431]

Is Emby Premiere required for basic playback on an Apple TV?

[Luke 42078]

Is Emby Premiere required for basic playback on an Apple TV?

 

For local media playback, no.

[ebr 16176]

Is Emby Premiere required for basic playback on an Apple TV?

 

See post 15 .

[Jdiesel 1431]

See post 15 .

 

That is what prompted me to ask the question as there was a check under both the free and Premiere columns. I wasn't processing the information correctly but now I understand the table.

[amack 1]

This is probably the wrong forum but...   If I want to do live TV and I assume DVR TV with Emby specifically on the Roku I will need Emby Premier.   Does that also provide program guide data as well or is that another paid service?  I'm using live tv on WMC and it works well but when Windows 7 is no longer supported in 2020 I assume the free guide data will dry up so I'm trying to get ahead of the game.

[Jdiesel 1431]

Schedule Direct program data is not included with Emby but most would agree that it is worth the reasonable annual cost. You can also generate your own TVXML for free using various programs and tools.