4k playback on Shield 2017

[WonkoTheSane 13]

Hi all,

I just upgraded my TV and I'm having issues with 4k playback using the Android TV app.

Playback just hangs, it doesn't really get started at all. In the server dashboard I see

"direct playing", but it just keeps jumping back and forth for a couple of seconds. Using

Emby for Kodi on the Shield seems to work, though (still "direct playing" in the server dashboard).

Can someone chime in on what might be causing this?

Thanks!

[vdatanet 1617]

What model of TV is it? How is the TV connected to the network? What kind of 4K content are you trying to play?

[WonkoTheSane 13]

Well, the Nvidia Shield is using a wired gigabit ethernet connection. It's connected to the TV via HDMI.

The TV is a Samsung TU8079. Here's the info for the 4k content:

Video

Title 4K HEVC

Codec HEVC

Codec Taghev1

Profile Main 10

Level 153

Resolution 3840x2160

Aspect Ratio 16:9

Anamorphic No

Interlaced No

Framerate 23.976

Bitrate 41,361 kbps

Video Range HDR

Color Primaries bt2020

Color Space bt2020nc

Color Transfer smpte2084

Bit Depth 10 bit

Pixel Format yuv420p10le

Reference Frames 1

Edited October 10, 2020 by WonkoTheSane

[FrostByte 5392]

Are you trying to play a lossless audio track?  If so can you select another audio track like AC3 or DD+ and see if it plays any better.  If you could post the complete mediainfo.  

[CBers 7450]

Subs on/off? 

FWIW, I don't have any issues playing 4K HDR content via my 2017 Shield connected to my LG soundbar/TV. 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by CBers

[WonkoTheSane 13]

Here's the additional info regarding the audio. No subs for this particular movie:

 

Format :	E-AC-3
Format/Info :	Enhanced AC-3
Commercial name :	Dolby Digital Plus
Format profile :	Blu-ray Disc
Codec ID :	ac-3
Duration :	2 h 1 min
Bit rate mode :	Constant
Bit rate :	1 536 kb/s
Channel(s) :	8 channels
Channel layout :	L R C LFE Ls Rs Lb Rb
Sampling rate :	48.0 kHz
Frame rate :	31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Compression mode :	Lossy
Stream size :	1.31 GiB (3%)
Language :	English
Service kind :	Complete Main
Default :	No

 

[vdatanet 1617]

Nvidia Shield 2019 not Pro (Tube edition)?

[FrostByte 5392]

2017

[vdatanet 1617]

Just now, FrostByte said:

2017

it was in the title 

[CBers 7450]

8 minutes ago, WonkoTheSane said:

Here's the additional info regarding the audio. No subs for this particular movie:

And it's an MKV file? 

[vdatanet 1617]

What server do you use? Where is the media stored?

[WonkoTheSane 13]

It's an mp4 file. Emby is running in a Docker container on an Unraid server.

Intel® Xeon® E-2186G CPU @ 3.80GHz, i915 is passed through to the container.

 

[FrostByte 5392]

Is the media on the same machine as Emby server?  What version of Emby server?

[WonkoTheSane 13]

The media is on the same server as the Emby Server docker. The Emby Server version is 4.5.2.0.

[vdatanet 1617]

7 minutes ago, WonkoTheSane said:

It's an mp4

Do you have some MKVs to test? Most likely the moov atom is at the end of the file. You can try to move moov atom to the front:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8061798/post-processing-in-ffmpeg-to-move-moov-atom-in-mp4-files-qt-faststart

[CBers 7450]

OK, make sure you have debug enabled in the ATV app, then reproduce the issue and submit an in-app log. 

Then post here with the time submitted and the username in use in the ATV app and @ebr can check the log for you.

 

[WonkoTheSane 13]

Logs submitted at 12:58 local time. The username is "Matze". I'll see if I can find some 4k mkv files for further testing.

[vdatanet 1617]

Exoplayer requirements:

Quote

Video streaming requirements

For video content that is streamed over HTTP or RTSP, there are additional requirements:

• For 3GPP and MPEG-4 containers, the moov atom must precede any mdat atoms, but must succeed the ftyp atom.

 

[WonkoTheSane 13]

I wasn't aware of the 'moov' requirement (I've never actually encountered this). Question:

Why is this not an issue with Emby for Kodi on the shield? I've got 'force HTTP playback' enabled there.

[vdatanet 1617]

Just now, WonkoTheSane said:

I wasn't aware of the 'moov' requirement (I've never actually encountered this). Question:

Why is this not an issue with Emby for Kodi on the shield? I've got 'force HTTP playback' enabled there.

Because Kodi does not use Exoplayer. Try playing in Emby for Android TV using external player. If you are in beta channel, you can try direct play file mode.

[WonkoTheSane 13]

Thanks for clearing that up. I've found 2 4k mkv files that played fine. I'll look into converting that 4k mp4 file.

[vdatanet 1617]

You can try Emby for Android (aka ET for Android) to see if there is any difference:

 

 

[vdatanet 1617]

10 minutes ago, WonkoTheSane said:

I'll look into converting that 4k mp4 file

Before converting, I would try this, it's much faster:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -codec copy -map 0 -movflags +faststart output.mp4

 

[WonkoTheSane 13]

Thanks again, you've all been very helpful!

[FrostByte 5392]

mkvtoolnix can remux also if you like a gui instead of ffmpeg.  Don't use Handbrake or anything that will try and convert it though.  Remux is all you need to do