Where does buffering take place?

[moshmont 8]

If I have a Windows 10 Emby Server with Roku's and Fire Sticks connecting to it, where is the live TV show's and movies they are watching buffered (to allow rewind and FF)?  On the Roku and Fire Stick or on the Windows server?  How big are the buffers and is that configurable?

Thanks!

Edited September 6, 2020 by moshmont

[ebr 16184]

Hi.  In the case of the Roku and Fire Stick it is on the server (or more, correctly, in your transcoding-temp folder).  You can rewind for the entire duration of the playback session.  This is not configurable at this time.

[moshmont 8]

Thanks!  Is there a way to know what devices buffer locally?  It could have a bearing on what devices I get going forward.

[ebr 16184]

It will be related to how the channel is playing.  If it is remuxing or transcoding, then the "buffer" is on the server.

[Carlo 4561]

Hi,

This has more to do with the format and bitrate of your media.   If you use MP4 container with h.264/AVC video and have a 2 channel AAC audio channel (with other audio tracks) that will playback on basically everything UNLESS you exceed the bitrate of the client or server settings for remote users. This assumes no subtitles are needed OR you use SRT subs.

In your house this would direct play on everything including browsers.

So basically you are in control as the admin how you prepare your media before adding it to Emby.  A little time upfront is well spent to reduce the need to transcode.

BUFFERING and TRANSCODING are two different things but I think you're concerned with transcoding not buffering.

[pwhodges 2012]

44 minutes ago, cayars said:

This assumes no subtitles are needed OR you use SRT subs.

Or if there's no need to turn subs off (e.g. for foreign-language material rather than hard-of-hearing) burnt-in subs (aka hardsubs); if you're using Handbrake to encode to your requirements, that option is available as part of the job.

Paul

[moshmont 8]

Thanks cayars.  That's a lot to understand and I am learning, but would you say that with live TV, IPTV, will that pretty much always be transcoded?  And that always happens on the server? 

If something is not transcoded, then does the buffering always happen on the client?

[Carlo 4561]

No I wouldn't say that.  It depends on the client and the format you get in the IPTV feed.  Many IPTV providers use h.264 and common audio tracks like AAC so they will direct play or at most direct stream but never need to transcode to the client.

That assumes there isn't a bitrate limitation set in the client or on the server for the user.

To me "buffering" in English at a high level is just a client retrieving info from the server storing up a little bit to stay ahead of what is playing (so nothing stops/starts).  Transcoding on the other hand is the process of physically changing the file or stream because the client app can't use it AS IS.  Transcoding is done on the server.

[pwhodges 2012]

If transcoding takes place it has to get ahead of playback to be sure that transcoded material is available as required; this transcoded material is kept in a buffer on the server until the client asks for it to top up its own playback buffer.  Really, some degree of buffering takes place every time data is moved from one place to another.

Paul

[ebr 16184]

I believe the spirit of the question was "how long can I rewind live TV" and the answer to that is, if the stream is being remuxed or transcoded then as long as from when you started playing it.  If not, then the answer is more of "it depends" on a number of factors which could include the space available to the app on the device.

But, with the two apps you mentioned, it will always be the first answer.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

I believe the spirit of the question was "how long can I rewind live TV"

For me that is unimportant. What I want is the ability to FF 30 minutes or an hour or two into the future. That could make me rich although, if everybody had it then sports betting, at least in real time, could become a thing of the past. 

[Carlo 4561]

Yea, I would have liked to FF 3 minutes into the future yesterday.  Could have made a lot of money on the Kentucky Derby.