Emby server playback in VLC ?

[Pluggy 0]

Is it possible to use VLC media player as a playback option on the media server.. I have done this on the android apps easily enough however the option on the media server doesn't have the option and plays via web browser.. is it possible to VLC instead?

Thanks

[pwhodges 2012]

Emby Theatre on Windows has an option to add external players.

 

Paul

[Pluggy 0]

Seems like a really stupid question but is emby theatre different to emby server?

[Pluggy 0]

Hang on.... When I try to play something in theatre it asks for premiere subscription? Does this mean I aren't able play media through theatre unless I pay ?

[pwhodges 2012]

Yes.  Emby Theatre is a desktop client program which runs on Windows (not free, though, requires Premiere) and talks to the server just as the apps on other devices do:

https://emby.media/emby-theater.html

 

Alternatively, there is also an Emby app in the Windows store, but that crashes a lot in my experience.

 

The universal free client for Emby is the web client, but that doesn't link to VLC of course.  Why do you particularly want to use VLC anyway?

 

Paul

Edited May 4, 2020 by pwhodges

[Pluggy 0]

Yeah...I'll just use emby to share media to other devices in the house and when I want to play media via the server I'll go to the individual files/folders, can't quite justify paying 4.99 per month to watch content etc that I have already paid for.

 

Thanks for your help though

Rob

[Pluggy 0]

When I try to play media through the web client it's jerky and gets worse the longer the file plays, I've searched around the forum and tried changing some of the transcode settings but to no avail.

Not entirely sure why it's jerky through web client as VLC plays just fine?

[pwhodges 2012]

What's wrong with the web browser, though?  Is it that too much of your library gets transcoded, or what?  If it's HEVC/h.265 then browsers generally don't support it because of the licencing cost.  If the problem is the MKV container, Emby remuxes non-HEVC videos without transcoding.

 

Oops - you replied again while I was typing.

 

For me the browser is entirely smooth, even when transcoding is happening.  If you have uneven playback, the developers would like to see the transcoding log from your server to advise what the problem might be.

 

Paul

Edited May 4, 2020 by pwhodges

[Pluggy 0]

Really not sure, the playback through the web client just doesn't seem smooth and seems a little stuttery.

I aren't sure if there too much being transcoded etc bit over my head in fairness. Couldn't even be my machine that is struggling because it isn't powerful enough?

It is an old machine, Acer aspire e700 desktop with 6gb ram, intel core 2 duo processor

[Pluggy 0]

Just had a quick look at some of the files and yes some of them are hvec, would converting them to MP4 help with playback? I know that maybe a hard question to answer but would it make sense?

[Luke 42077]

Just had a quick look at some of the files and yes some of them are hvec, would converting them to MP4 help with playback? I know that maybe a hard question to answer but would it make sense?

 

If it's with h264 yes.

[Pluggy 0]

Okay so I've just tried playing hvec files, mpeg and mpeg4 and all appears jerky and mpeg 4 the audio sync is out.

[pwhodges 2012]

Is the laptop you list the machine the server's running on?  If so it looks pretty limited for this usage.

 

Paul

[Pluggy 0]

It isn't a laptop it took me a bit of searching to find the desktop I have

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=acer+aspire+e700+desktop+spec&oq=acer+&aqs=chrome.1.69i59l2j69i57.1387j0j4&client=ms-android-cubot&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

 

Yeah the server is running on it. What would you suggest as an ideal server platform?

 

I have looked at eBay gaming machines for around 300-400 pound that come with Intel i72600 16gb of ram and what appeared to be a half decent graphics card

[pwhodges 2012]

Sorry - brainfart there - misread desktop as laptop...  But a desktop from 13 years ago, even if capable then, is probably pretty far behind the curve now for what remains one of the more demanding usages.

 

I'm not really the one to advise on machines here; there are many forum users with more experience than me of different machines and their advantages or limitations.  It's not hard to find threads about it in this part of the forum, I think.

 

Paul