Transcoding vs Direct Play

[Sammy 790]

Quick question..

 

Why does AndroidTV / ShieldTV transcode while Samsung Tizen Direct Play?

 

Of course Direct Play tunes lightning fast comparatively.

 

Thanks.

 

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[CBers 7450]

Why does AndroidTV / ShieldTV transcode while Samsung Tizen Direct Play?

All depends on what you are playing on the Shield, although I rarely have anything trancode (remux) on my Shield(s).

 

Not all devices are the same, so some will need to have the source transcoded to match the capabilities.

[Sammy 790]

All depends on what you are playing on the Shield, although I rarely have anything trancode (remux) on my Shield(s).

 

Not all devices are the same, so some will need to have the source transcoded to match the capabilities.

*.ts mpeg2 for OTA or h.264 for PremiumTV but it occurs with either.

 

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[ebr 16169]

Have you turned on the option to direct stream Live TV?

[Sammy 790]

Have you turned on the option to direct stream Live TV?

 

It is my understanding that Direct Stream in the AndroidTV settings will not allow for FFWD and RWD or Pause/Play?

 

I didn't find such a setting in the Tizen App but it allows for FFWD and RWD or Pause/Play but I'm not seeing the CC's exposed on Tizen.

[ebr 16169]

It is my understanding that Direct Stream in the AndroidTV settings will not allow for FFWD and RWD or Pause/Play?

 

Correct but, at the time you want to pause, you can easily switch to the mode that will allow it (the app will prompt you).  So, you could turn on that option and have faster tuning while surfing and only turn on the remux when you need it.

[Sammy 790]

Correct but, at the time you want to pause, you can easily switch to the mode that will allow it (the app will prompt you).  So, you could turn on that option and have faster tuning while surfing and only turn on the remux when you need it.

 

I just now noticed that. Is this new? Any way to somehow incorporate that automatically into the app? Maybe have it direct play to the display but transcode in the background to a pause buffer? Just thinking out loud here for a way to improve the playback of LiveTV. Of course if it is interlaced 1080i OTA it has to transcode anyhow as it says interlaced video is not supported (on the ShieldTV).

[ebr 16169]

I just now noticed that. Is this new? 

 

No, it is not new.

 

 

Of course if it is interlaced 1080i OTA it has to transcode anyhow as it says interlaced video is not supported (on the ShieldTV).

 

And what is the state of the option to de-interlace HD on the server...?

[Sammy 790]

And what is the state of the option to de-interlace HD on the server...?

 

Where to check?

[ebr 16169]

Where to check?

 

In the app's playback settings.

[Sammy 790]

It is checked on for both SD and HD. Should I check it off to allow the TV to de-interlace or will the ShieldTV do it if checked off?

[Sammy 790]

Wow! that boosted tune time tremendously for interlaced content.

 

PremiumTV h.264 still takes a while to tune.

[Sammy 790]

Actually it is quicker but not as quick as OTA. 

 

Thanks @@ebr !

 

The LiveTV WiKi makes no mention of this and The AndroidTV WiKi doesn't really discuss LiveTV or interlaced content.

 

All that said, I'll be changing the settings on all my ShieldTV's today!

[Sammy 790]

Now why would playback of the same content on two different ShieldTV's be different?

 

One is direct stream and the other is transcoding?

 

This is PremiumTV BTW..

[Spaceboy 2573]

I couldn’t see any benefit from having those settings on in terms of quality of picture. And yes it’s several orders quicker without them

[ebr 16169]

Whether those options help or not depends on the equipment involved but the HD one is off by default so you turned it on at some point.

[hayrund 14]

Will there ultimately ever be an option to Direct Play and have the ability to use FF/RWD/Pause on Android TV or Apple TV?  I noticed the exact same behavior on my Samsung TV.  Tuned instantly and had FF/RWD abilities, while my FireTV, AppleTV, AndroidTV do not.

 

For clarity, Apple TV is Apple TV 4K, Fire TV is Fire TV box gen 2, Android TV is nVidia Shield TV.

[Luke 42077]

Will there ultimately ever be an option to Direct Play and have the ability to use FF/RWD/Pause on Android TV or Apple TV?  I noticed the exact same behavior on my Samsung TV.  Tuned instantly and had FF/RWD abilities, while my FireTV, AppleTV, AndroidTV do not.

 

For clarity, Apple TV is Apple TV 4K, Fire TV is Fire TV box gen 2, Android TV is nVidia Shield TV.

 

Are you just asking about Live TV? Most video files should direct play at this point.

[hayrund 14]

Yes.  Using HDHomeRun Quatro to tune OTA channels in U.S.  On every client with the exception of Samsung Tizen TV, it is transcoding somehow and thus causing the tuning delay of 10+ seconds when tuning to a channel.

 

If I enable DirectPlay in options and thus disable the ability to pause/rewind/etc, it tunes extremely fast and shows Direct Play.  If this option is disabled, it takes 10+ seconds to tune (on nVidia Shield TV) but I have the ability to pause/rewind/etc.  It shows: Play method: Direct Stream, Stream type: HLS, but in the streaming info, it's showing a transcode speed as it is transcoding.  I should also point out that audio/video gets slightly out of sync about 1 out of every 5 times.

[ebr 16169]

Yes.  Using HDHomeRun Quatro to tune OTA channels in U.S.  On every client with the exception of Samsung Tizen TV, it is transcoding somehow and thus causing the tuning delay of 10+ seconds when tuning to a channel.

 

If I enable DirectPlay in options and thus disable the ability to pause/rewind/etc, it tunes extremely fast and shows Direct Play.  If this option is disabled, it takes 10+ seconds to tune (on nVidia Shield TV) but I have the ability to pause/rewind/etc.  It shows: Play method: Direct Stream, Stream type: HLS, but in the streaming info, it's showing a transcode speed as it is transcoding.  I should also point out that audio/video gets slightly out of sync about 1 out of every 5 times.

 

Hi.  It isn't actually transcoding.  It is just changing the format so that we can properly seek.  We are constantly looking to improve the speed of this.

 

Thanks.

[hayrund 14]

Hi.  It isn't actually transcoding.  It is just changing the format so that we can properly seek.  We are constantly looking to improve the speed of this.

 

Thanks.

 

OK, great.  I saw the whole "transcoder rate" and assumed.  I would love it to be as instant as my Tizen TV or even as fast as my Apple TV.  

[Sammy 790]

Hi. It isn't actually transcoding. It is just changing the format so that we can properly seek. We are constantly looking to improve the speed of this.

 

Thanks.

Yes!

 

Sometimes it seems to take too long. Other times it is a lot less. I'm talking about 30 seconds or 5 seconds. It is random though.

 

A consistent 2 to 3 seconds or less is desirable though.

 

Even WMC took a sec or two unless it was CableCARD with a Prime with a Tuning Adapter whereupon it took 3 to 5 seconds.

 

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[Carlo 4560]

I lot of this is CPU resource dependent on the server.  For example if you happen to run MCEBuddy which is CPU intensive when scanning, cutting or converting files or have other files in Emby that are transcoding then it affects the speed of loading channels when these channels also need to run through ffmpeg to remux.

[mrfragger 39]

Changing the format to what specifically? Are you referring to HLS (Streaming SRT subtitles). What is preventing it from seeking initially?

[Sammy 790]

Hi. It isn't actually transcoding. It is just changing the format so that we can properly seek. We are constantly looking to improve the speed of this.

 

Thanks.

Is there a reason that you need to swap containers? Why not just do the pausing fast forward rewind in the ts container?

 

That said, seeking in Emby LiveTV is working really well right now.

 

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Edited April 24, 2019 by Sammy