Errors playing home video 4K

[EricE 2]

It tries to play, the loading bar goes to the end, then nothing.  It doesn't get past the loading bar.

 

I believe this is all of the log that will be needed but I can post up the whole thing if required.

 

Excerpt from log:

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: User policy for Eric. EnablePlaybackRemuxing: True EnableVideoPlaybackTranscoding: True EnableAudioPlaybackTranscoding: True

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Cannot DirectPlay due to unknown content bitrate

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Cannot DirectStream due to unknown content bitrate

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Profile: Roku SG, Path: G:\aTV Series\Hawaii Videos\Season 1\Hana Bay Short.mov, isEligibleForDirectPlay: False, isEligibleForDirectStream: False

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Cannot DirectPlay due to unknown content bitrate

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Cannot DirectStream due to unknown content bitrate

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Profile: Roku SG, Path: G:\aTV Series\Hawaii Videos\Season 1\Hana Bay Short.mov, isEligibleForDirectPlay: False, isEligibleForDirectStream: False

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Cannot DirectPlay due to unknown content bitrate

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Cannot DirectStream due to unknown content bitrate

2017-11-19 09:31:09.370 Info App: Profile: Roku SG, Path: G:\aTV Series\Hawaii Videos\Season 1\Hana Bay Short.mov, isEligibleForDirectPlay: False, isEligibleForDirectStream: False

 

Rendered in Resolve using H.264.

Any ideas what I need to change to get this to work?

Edited November 19, 2017 by EricE

[Luke 42085]

hi @@EricE, can you please attach the complete emby server log? in addition, if there was an ffmpeg log, can you please attach that too? thanks.

[Waldonnis 148]

Just FYI, I'm almost positive that Roku still doesn't support 4k h.264 playback on any of its devices, and since Emby doesn't transcode to HEVC quite yet, you would probably need to re-encode the source to HEVC if you want to play it in 4k on a Roku.

 

As Luke said, though, logs are definitely needed to figure out why it's not transcoding/downscaling to something the Roku can handle and what that unknown bitrate message is about.  Oh, and Resolve...good choice    

[EricE 2]

See attached.

I do have an Roku 4K but if it doesn't support H.264 then that would affect things.  

EmbyLogWError.txt

[Waldonnis 148]

Any chance we can see the transcode log as well?  At first glance, it's not downscaling, which would explain everything, but I wouldn't mind double-checking something else that would show up in the ffmpeg log.

 

I'm not positive that h.264 2160p is still unsupported on Rokus, but that was the case for a long while in the past (@@speechles would probably know; I don't have a 4 or later to check this personally).  If it's still unsupported in newer firmware, then the Roku channel's checks probably need to be reviewed so that h.264 resolution is capped at 1080p and anything over would require downscaling.

[Luke 42085]

Yea @@EricE please attach the ffmpeg log as well, thanks.

[ebr 16195]

The most recent info I can find on this issue is two years old but it does state that 4k is only supported for hevc/vp9 on the Roku so I will adjust the app.

[ebr 16195]

The latest beta of the Roku app should now properly handle 4k h.264 items (transcoding them down to 1080).

[EricE 2]

See attached.

EmbyLogWError_ffmpeg.txt

Edited November 22, 2017 by EricE

[Waldonnis 148]

Looking at the ffmpeg log, it's definitely not downscaling the resolution.  I was curious about the framerate, refframes, and pixel format, but those look fine (29.97, 2, and yuv420p) for Rokus.  That's one honking video bitrate, btw, and must be nearly uncompressed (placebo encode?).  I'm rather impressed by the transcode rate indicated in the log for this file.  I'll double-check for other potential problems shortly, but can't think of much else that could cause such a playback problem offhand.

 

Thanks for checking on that, ebr, and the change in the beta.  I too only found older info, but I doubt anything's changed since it's very difficult to find a playback device that has hardware support for 2160p h.264...and not something I'd expect Roku to pay to include anyway.  @@EricE, definitely try out the Roku beta channel to see if that works out.

[speechles 2055]

@@Waldonnis

    if getGlobalVar("displayType") <> "HDTV" or firstOf(RegRead("prefreso"), "auto") = "720p"
        maxWidth = "1280"
        maxHeight = "720"
    else if firstOf(RegRead("prefreso"), "auto") = "1080p"
        maxWidth = "1920"
        maxHeight = "1080"
    else
        if Go4k = "0" then
            maxWidth = "1920"
            maxHeight = "1080"
        else
                maxWidth = "3840"
                maxHeight = "2160"
        end if
    end if

    if supports4kcodec
            max4kWidth = "3840"
            max4kHeight = "2160"
    end if

I know you already know most of this, but I will explain so others can too.

 

The blue neon app supports this and has for quite awhile. There are settings to enable to test if this works or not built into the app. Look for the setting "h264/MPEG4 in 4k" and enable it. This will enable go4k in the above code. There is also a setting "h264 MAX Transcode Level" which controls how high is allowed here as well. It seems the roku doesn't support 5.1 or 5.2 which is usually how h264 in 4k is produced. The only codecs usable in 4k on the roku are vp9 and hevc. There are several options in blue neon that test if new roku models introduce new capabilities or not. These are off by default of course, but for those brave enough to try them out they are there.

 

Edit:

I will have a new blue neon version soon to include the new abilities luke has included in the remote controls API interface.. stay tuned to the BN thread for that update..

 

Edit2:

@@Waldonnis, @@ebr and anyone else interested.. OS8.1.x is out in the wild.. my roku ultra has updated. Nothing interesting to report yet, gonna bang on it and see what breaks it tonight.

Also, Roku does support refresh rate switching.. see here: https://support.roku.com/article/115012823268-how-to-change-the-display-refresh-rate-to-match-the-native-format-of-each-movie-video-or-tv-show

On my TV though, this makes for less than stellar viewing.. The flicker before it matches the refresh rate and the black screen and weird purple ones.. arghh.. Also it produces only black screen video for me on my vizio when playing anything 25fps with it enabled, but maybe because I am in the USA and not in the UK, not sure why there.. but there is sound.. Found that odd.. My TV is an old Vizio from 2012 and also doesn't work right with roku's HDMI-CEC to control the volume either. So there are some things even I cannot test which is why the app has these available as options so those with the right hardware can run the tests.. Thinking ahead, trying to future proof the app, but rokus decision to kill off sdk1 apps spoiled that plan.. Roku better not stab itself in the face and release too many new hardware options in the future, don't want to be buying new rokus all the time ya know, want the old ones to still work too, and the userbase to increase, not decrease.. but roku might not be that smart, who knows.. they may have a reprieve before killing off the sdk1 apps too, talk is one thing, to follow through is a completely different motion.. I know this takes the thread into off-topic territory, but since its a roku based topic, as is, why not spread some roku based gossip...

Edited November 22, 2017 by speechles

[EricE 2]

I did try playing this on the blue neon app and it works like a dream.  Thank you for all your help.