emby server - auto bitrate vs user selected

[mastrmind11 726]

I'd like the ability to see what auto thinks should be the bitrate vs what the user selects in the app.  Does auto run every time and then just honor the manual override?  I ask because I have a user that continuously connects and transcodes at 800k, which is like flip phone bitrate and he's on an iPad.  If I knew what auto thought, I could recommend to him that he's getting garbage video because that's what he chose, not what the server is capable of.  

Thanks

 

edit:  yes, i know I can go check netdata and see, but when I'm not at home or there's more than 1 user, the admin page is way more meaningful and accessible.

Edited August 2, 2018 by mastrmind11

[Jdiesel 1451]

In my experience Auto is always 800k for all off network devices. I have a 100Mb upload connection to my server. Manually selecting any quality works perfectly. First thing I tell my users is to change the quality from Auto to 8Mbps for home devices and 3Mbps for mobile devices as a starting point.

 

One thing I miss about Plex is that clients could report buffering events back to the server. I used Plexpy, at the time, to track buffering events and if I saw a pattern for a specific device I could tell the user to change the quality.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Jdiesel

[Luke 42555]

Yes I think it makes sense to display this information.

[mastrmind11 726]

bump

[Luke 42555]

Yes we'll try to look at this. Thanks.

[Jdiesel 1451]

Another vote for this, as described here

https://emby.media/community/topic/148091-display-reason-for-bitrate-exceeds-directplay-limit/

[AngelSing 50]

I also add my vote to this topic. I believe it is very important to have more control over the bitrate and to improve the automatic mode in Emby.

In my opinion, a truly reliable automatic mode would be one where the user can run a speed test against their own server to calculate the recommended bitrate. Based on the result of that test, Emby should automatically adjust to the most appropriate bitrate.

Additionally, this test should be able to be run manually whenever the user needs it, and it should be independent of the device from which it is performed. I know this may be complex, but if we are talking about correctly choosing the kbps for each device, there should be a test where the client sends test packets to the server to determine which bitrate is most appropriate at that moment.

That would be a true automatic method. Many times, streaming quality can vary depending on the client ISP network usage, the server load, or the connection conditions at that moment. For that reason, it would be useful to have an automatic task that periodically checks the best available bitrate.

There should also be an option to run this test manually in case the user considers it necessary to update the recommended kbps in order to improve streaming.

[ebr 16442]

20 hours ago, AngelSing said:

In my opinion, a truly reliable automatic mode would be one where the user can run a speed test against their own server to calculate the recommended bitrate. Based on the result of that test, Emby should automatically adjust to the most appropriate bitrate.

Hi.  Some of the apps do exactly that.  It still isn't 100% reliable because conditions can change from minute to minute.

20 hours ago, AngelSing said:

I believe it is very important to have more control over the bitrate and to improve the automatic mode in Emby.

Control over this was recently added to the server.  The admin can now specify a specific "auto" value.

[AngelSing 50]

6 hours ago, ebr said:

Control over this was recently added to the server.  The admin can now specify a specific "auto" value.

Yes, it is a very good feature and it helps a lot with having more control over the bitrate, but I would not consider it truly automatic.

From the moment the administrator has to preset a value, it is still a manual or semi-automatic feature. In my opinion, a truly automatic feature should set the bitrate to the best possible option based on the real connection between the client and the server, without any intervention from either the user or the administrator.

When I hear the word “automatic,” I think of a system capable of identifying the recommended values for the current connection and applying them by itself. In other words, a system that analyzes the connection quality, stability, available speed, and server load in order to adjust the bitrate automatically.

For me, that would be the true meaning of an automatic mode: a system that makes the best possible decision in real time, without depending on a previously configured value.

[ebr 16442]

1 hour ago, AngelSing said:

From the moment the administrator has to preset a value, it is still a manual or semi-automatic feature. In my opinion, a truly automatic feature should set the bitrate to the best possible option based on the real connection between the client and the server, without any intervention from either the user or the administrator.

As I said before, that's exactly what some of the apps do now but it is still not completely reliable.  So we've put further customization in the hands of the admin.