Emby Server 4.0 and Hardware Acceleration (Premier Paywall)

[Lane03 14]

Hello @@Luke, I was forced to update to the latest server version due to a bug with the Roku apps giving users an "invalid username or password" error on launch unless they had the "remember user" feature enabled (bug was fixed on server 4.0.2.0). I was avoiding this, as I often delay updating non-critical applications unless there is a security vulnerability and the last thing I want to do after a long day at work is troubleshoot my home system. Alas, I got a new Roku device which required me to update the server as I couldn't enable the "remember user" feature on the new Roku until I could successfully log into emby - plus I figured any major bugs from version 4 were probably resolved by now. The update went smoothly until I discovered that hardware acceleration is now a Premier only feature. I have supported emby by beta testing, submitting bug reports, videos, and logs to help alert you all to potential issues; so it is pretty disappointing to now lose hardware acceleration since that is literally the only feature I would use if I were to subscribe to Premier. The release notes for version 4 state this was necessary due to all the new work that went into it, but it seems like the hardware acceleration is basically the same as it was in server version 3.6; except for possibly the headless mode? I understand that emby is a business and you're in this to make a profit, but I just wanted to let you know how disappointing it is from an end-user perspective to lose a key feature that hasn't changed much since server version 3.6 (where it was included for free).

 

Would you consider having a lower priced tier where it included the hardware acceleration feature and not all the other Premier features?

[ebr 16187]

Would you consider having a lower priced tier where it included the hardware acceleration feature and not all the other Premier features?

 

Hi.  We did put quite a bit of effort and expense into the HW acceleration features for 4.x.  Even though they may not affect you directly, many, many improvements were made there requiring a lot of development and testing effort.

 

We feel we have the best value personal media server available and thank everyone for their support.  We don't have any current plans to create different levels of Premiere but you never know in the future.

 

Thanks!

[Lane03 14]

Thanks for the reply ebr. I have no problem making a monetary contribution, as I have in the past by purchasing the Android app. I really do enjoy emby and the improvements you've made to it over the years, it was just a surprise to see a feature removed that had been included for so long. I think it would've been less of a shock had the hardware acceleration improvements not been implemented in version 3.6 and it was held off on release until version 4 along with the premiere requirement. Regardless, I guess I'll have to wait for another sale on the lifetime license.

 

Curious, why are Nvidia Shield and Western Digital are excluded from the Premiere requirement?

[Luke 42083]

Curious, why are Nvidia Shield and Western Digital are excluded from the Premiere requirement?

 

Transcoding with only cpu on those devices is not viable, so we did not want to create a situation where you couldn't use the server at all without Premiere.

[Lane03 14]

Transcoding with only cpu on those devices is not viable, so we did not want to create a situation where you couldn't use the server at all without Premiere.

 

Gotcha, that makes perfect sense.

[knight09 3]

 I guess I'll have to wait for another sale on the lifetime license.

 

I am also waiting patiently for this