Why is the 480p file transcoding?

[mobamobamoba 5]

I'm playing this in Chrome on Win 10 with playback set to 1080p 10mps. I knew it would remux because of the container (avi) but I thought it was weird it transcoded the entire thing given that the video codec is nothing unusual and the bitrate is very low. Here's the relevant chunk of my transcoding log, thanks:

2020-02-02 08:09:46.528
Emby Server version: 4.3.1.0

App: Emby Mobile 4.3.1.0
Chrome

http://xxx:8096/videos/1703/hls1/main/766.ts?DeviceId=TW96aWxsYS81LjAgKFdpbmRvd3MgTlQgMTAuMDsgV2luNjQ7IHg2NCkgQXBwbGVXZWJLaXQvNTM3LjM2IChLSFRNTCwgbGlrZSBHZWNrbykgQ2hyb21lLzc5LjAuMzk0NS4xMzAgU2FmYXJpLzUzNy4zNnwxNTgwNTI1Njg4Mjcw&MediaSourceId=0f6b1cd9e0afd3a36293eb4fa2d3d55b&PlaySessionId=0d7cd3f073d345169eb749be5d4b4e49&api_key=f0ce3906c288400d911fafcd181750c3&VideoCodec=h264&AudioCodec=mp3,aac&VideoBitrate=9868105&AudioBitrate=131896&AudioStreamIndex=1&SubtitleStreamIndex=2&SubtitleMethod=Hls&TranscodingMaxAudioChannels=2&SegmentContainer=ts&MinSegments=1&BreakOnNonKeyFrames=True&ManifestSubtitles=vtt&h264-profile=high,main,baseline,constrainedbaseline,high10&h264-level=51&TranscodeReasons=ContainerNotSupported

{"Protocol":"File","Id":"0f6b1cd9e0afd3a36293eb4fa2d3d55b","Path":"xxx.avi","Type":"Default","Container":"avi","Size":734212096,"Name":"xxx","IsRemote":false,"RunTimeTicks":53476800000,"SupportsTranscoding":true,"SupportsDirectStream":true,"SupportsDirectPlay":true,"IsInfiniteStream":false,"RequiresOpening":false,"RequiresClosing":false,"RequiresLooping":false,"SupportsProbing":false,"MediaStreams":[{"Codec":"mpeg4","CodecTag":"XVID","TimeBase":"1/25","CodecTimeBase":"1/25","VideoRange":"SDR","DisplayTitle":"480p MPEG4","IsInterlaced":false,"BitRate":953551,"RefFrames":1,"IsDefault":false,"IsForced":false,"Height":416,"Width":720,"AverageFrameRate":25,"RealFrameRate":25,"Profile":"Advanced Simple Profile","Type":"Video","AspectRatio":"45:26","Index":0,"IsExternal":false,"IsTextSubtitleStream":false,"SupportsExternalStream":false,"Protocol":"File","PixelFormat":"yuv420p","Level":5,"IsAnamorphic":false},{"Codec":"mp3","TimeBase":"3/125","CodecTimeBase":"1/48000","DisplayTitle":"MP3 stereo","IsInterlaced":false,"ChannelLayout":"stereo","BitRate":131896,"Channels":2,"SampleRate":48000,"IsDefault":false,"IsForced":false,"Type":"Audio","Index":1,"IsExternal":false,"IsTextSubtitleStream":false,"SupportsExternalStream":false,"Protocol":"File","Level":0},{"Codec":"srt","Language":"eng","DisplayTitle":"English (SRT)","DisplayLanguage":"English","IsInterlaced":false,"IsDefault":false,"IsForced":false,"Type":"Subtitle","Index":2,"IsExternal":true,"IsTextSubtitleStream":true,"SupportsExternalStream":true,"Path":"xxx.eng.srt","Protocol":"File"}],"Formats":[],"Bitrate":1098363,"RequiredHttpHeaders":{},"ReadAtNativeFramerate":false}

User policy for xxx: EnablePlaybackRemuxing: True EnableVideoPlaybackTranscoding: True EnableAudioPlaybackTranscoding: True

Affected codecs:
>>>>>>  libx264 Software Encoder
        Color Formats: YUV420P, YUVJ420P, YUV422P, YUVJ422P, YUV444P, YUVJ444P, NV12, NV16, NV21, YUV420P10, YUV422P10, YUV444P10, NV20
        Profiles: Baseline Profile (Level 6.2), Main Profile (Level 6.2), High Profile (Level 6.2), High 10 Profile (Level 6.2), High 4:2:2 Profile (Level 6.2), High 4:4:4 Profile (Level 6.2)


>>>>>>  FindVideoDecoder - MediaType: mpeg4, Mode: Automatic
Info    FindVideoDecoder - Checking: 'Automatic software decoder' (Priority: 0)
Info    FindVideoDecoder - Check successful - selecting 'Automatic software decoder'

>>>>>>  FindVideoEncoder - Media: h264, UseHardwareCodecs: True, Mode: Automatic
Info    FindVideoEncoder - Checking: 'libx264 Software Encoder' (Priority: 0)
Info    Encoder supports input stream
Info    FindVideoEncoder - Check successful - selecting 'libx264 Software Encoder'

C:\xxx\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\system\ffmpeg.exe -loglevel +timing -ss 00:38:18.000  -f avi -i file:"xxx.avi" -threads 0 -map 0:0 -map 0:1 -sn -c:v:0 libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p  -maxrate 2860653 -bufsize 5721306 -preset veryfast -profile:v:0 high -level:v:0 4.1 -crf 23 -x264opts:0 subme=0:me_range=4:rc_lookahead=10:me=dia:no_chroma_me:8x8dct=0:partitions=none -g:v:0 75 -keyint_min:v:0 75 -sc_threshold:v:0 0  -copyts -vsync -1 -codec:a:0 copy -disposition:a:0 default -f segment -max_delay 5000000 -avoid_negative_ts disabled -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 -start_at_zero -segment_time 3  -individual_header_trailer 0 -segment_format mpegts -segment_write_temp 1 -segment_list_type m3u8 -segment_start_number 766 -segment_list "F:\transcoding-temp\f2a0401ac746366e8ccdf72f171ac853.m3u8" -y "F:\transcoding-temp\f2a0401ac746366e8ccdf72f171ac853%d.ts"

08:09:46.574 ffmpeg version 4.3.0-emby_2019_11_25-g5abbb1430d+3686 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers and softworkz for Emby LLC
08:09:46.574   built with gcc 9.2.0 (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project)
08:09:46.574 Execution Date: 2020-02-02 08:09:46
08:09:46.825 Input #0, avi, from 'file:xxx.avi':
08:09:46.825   Metadata:
08:09:46.825     encoder         : VirtualDubMod 1.5.4.1 (build 2178/release)
08:09:46.825     IAS1            : English
08:09:46.825   Duration: 01:29:07.68, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1098 kb/s
08:09:46.826     Stream #0:0: Video: mpeg4 (Advanced Simple Profile) (XVID / 0x44495658), yuv420p, 720x416 [SAR 1:1 DAR 45:26], 953 kb/s, Level 5, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
08:09:46.826     Stream #0:1: Audio: mp3 (U[0][0][0] / 0x0055), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 131 kb/s
08:09:46.827 Stream mapping:
08:09:46.827   Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (mpeg4 (native) -> h264 (libx264))
08:09:46.827   Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
08:09:46.827 Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
08:09:46.865 [libx264 @ 000001dcc49d64c0] using SAR=1/1
08:09:46.870 [libx264 @ 000001dcc49d64c0] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX XOP FMA3 BMI1
08:09:46.874 [libx264 @ 000001dcc49d64c0] profile Main, level 4.1, 4:2:0, 8-bit
08:09:46.877 [libx264 @ 000001dcc49d64c0] 264 - core 158 r2984 3759fcb - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2019 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=1 ref=1 deblock=1:0:0 analyse=0x1:0 me=dia subme=0 psy=1 psy_rd=1.00:0.00 mixed_ref=0 me_range=4 chroma_me=0 trellis=0 8x8dct=0 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=1 chroma_qp_offset=0 threads=12 lookahead_threads=2 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=3 b_pyramid=2 b_adapt=1 b_bias=0 direct=1 weightb=1 open_gop=0 weightp=1 keyint=75 keyint_min=38 scenecut=0 intra_refresh=0 rc_lookahead=10 rc=crf mbtree=1 crf=23.0 qcomp=0.60 qpmin=0 qpmax=69 qpstep=4 vbv_maxrate=2860 vbv_bufsize=5721 crf_max=0.0 nal_hrd=none filler=0 ip_ratio=1.40 aq=1:1.00

Edited February 2, 2020 by mobamobamoba

[mholin 23]

the original file video content is coded in mpeg4-xvid, which may not be an "official" standard format most devices may be able to interpret.

h264 is a standard format.

 

bye Michael

[mobamobamoba 5]

ah thanks I just saw the mp4 part not the xvid and wondered what was going on.

[Luke 42078]

Hi there, did you explore the stats feature in the video player to learn why it was transcoding?

[mobamobamoba 5]

Hi there, did you explore the stats feature in the video player to learn why it was transcoding?

Stats for Nerds said it was MP4 Advanced Profile Simple with a bitrate of 1.1 MB, Srt subs, and MP3 audio and I couldn't understand why that combo would generate a full video transcode which is why I posted here. It seemed like that combo should direct stream (remuxing the avi container).

[Luke 42078]

Thanks for the feedback.