4K/HEVC being "Force Transcoded" to x264 = washed out

[aldriglikvid 4]

Hi guys, 

I love Emby, but I currently have some problems that perhaps you can help me solve. 

Setup 

PC (Emby Server): Ryzen 2600X & Nvidia RTX2060 

TV: Samsung Q60T https://www.samsung.com/uk/tvs/qled-tv/q60t-65-inch-qled-4k-smart-tv-qe65q60tauxxu/

Player: Chromecast Ultra and/or Emby installed via USB to the TV

Soundbar / Audio Output (via eARC): SONY HT-SD35 https://www.sony.com/electronics/sound-bars/ht-s350

Problems:

1080p content is played as a bliss. All that are able to be directly played (no transcoding) are also done so. 

HEVC/x265 4K content (played either via CCU or via the APP) are being transcoded on the audio and the video. While transcoding the video on itself is frustrating, the end result is outwashed/greyish  (lacking good color). 

I've tried SDR and HDR files, reproducing the same error. Both are being "force transcoded" to x264. 

- As neither my TV, Chromecast Ultra or Soundbar can take DTS-HD natively the audio should be transcoded - which it is, and it works great. 

Tried problem solving:

- WiFi LAN sustains 40 MB/s - far exceeding requirements in terms of bitrate. Furthermore, I tried wired connection to the TV to see if that was the issue - but it was not. 

                 - The movies are starting rapidly and there's no stuttering. IMHO network is not the issue here. 

 

The TV (and CCU) should be able to diretly play HEVC up to 80mbit/s bitrate. Is there anywhere in the logs where I can read why it starts to transcode the video? 

Thanks!

 

[Carlo 4561]

Hi, while playing back the video bring up the cog icon on the OSD and select the stats for nerds option.  It should tell you why.

Report back what you see.  You can also post the ffmpeg log file from the server and we could figure it out from that as well.

[MagicDoubleM 121]

Make sure you have no subtitles enabled, if it works then, you'll have to play with "Allow subtitle extraction on the fly", disabling subtitle burn-in on the client-side, and most importantly get and use SRT-subtitles instead of bitmap-based ones.

Some stuff exceeds 80mbit/s, so Emby will transcode it.

[Luke 42077]

There's good advice here, but let's look at an example. Please attach the information requested in how to report a media playback issue. thanks !

[aldriglikvid 4]

@Luke @MagicDoubleM

Wow, it was the subtitles. So simple...

I'm sorry for taking your time. (and mine, lol). 

If I may ask a small follow up: I manage to play the 4K movies via WiFi without any stutter or noticeable problems at all. With that in mind, is there any reason to go Wired? 

[Luke 42077]

1 hour ago, aldriglikvid said:

@Luke @MagicDoubleM

Wow, it was the subtitles. So simple...

I'm sorry for taking your time. (and mine, lol). 

If I may ask a small follow up: I manage to play the 4K movies via WiFi without any stutter or noticeable problems at all. With that in mind, is there any reason to go Wired? 

I'm not sure. We'd have to look at an example. Thanks.

[MagicDoubleM 121]

3 hours ago, aldriglikvid said:

@Luke @MagicDoubleMIf I may ask a small follow up: I manage to play the 4K movies via WiFi without any stutter or noticeable problems at all. With that in mind, is there any reason to go Wired? 

A cable is just more reliable. WiFi can break more easily, todays great connection can be problematic tomorrow, due to more routers/clients in your area fighting for a good channel. I'd go wired whenever i can.