JellyFin 4K Media Playback = Buffering

[Onward]

Hello,

 

         Been working on converting my PC to a JellyFin Server (installed the JellyFin Server Application) and it has been going good so far (At least 8gb ram, i3-8100, intel uhd graphic 630). Only issue I have come across is that playing 4k Media has some buffering within, at least within every 30 seconds. I am seeing the buffering issue occur on the browser of the server itself, android tv, and phone. I haven't messed with any of the settings except trying to do hardware accel. (didn't get far in process) and enabling Settings -> Playback -> FFMeg Option for HVEC. I am curious as to any suggestions and tips.

[Kilrah]

8 hours ago, Onward said:

except trying to do hardware accel.

That'll be the key. CPU transcoding on a 8100 isn't gonna cut it.

[Onward]

13 hours ago, Kilrah said:

That'll be the key. CPU transcoding on a 8100 isn't gonna cut it.

Hello,

 

         After retrying the intel qsv hardware acceleration and following jellyfins guide on it, I was able to play 4k media well om the browser. Sadly, the tv didnt play it too well, so I am going to mess with the codec selection later and will report back if it works.

 

However, was confused as to changing the codec of the files would be of help? From hvec to h.264 or so, would it alter the quality at all?

[Bersella AI]

6 hours ago, Onward said:

However, was confused as to changing the codec of the files would be of help? From hvec to h.264 or so, would it alter the quality at all?

It depends on targeted resolution as well as bitrates. Generally, an H.264 video would require twice of bitrates as high as HEVC-encoded ones to maintain the same quality; this can be shown in statistics by playing a video on a browser with bitrates up to 120Mbps. If targeted bitrates are set below that of the source, its quality would be compromised.

Also, it is possible that this TV was just getting too ancient to decode 4K HEVC videos natively, or was limited by network connectivity (for example, connected via Wi-Fi instead of wires, since such videos would have fairly high bitrates compared to 1080P, and require a good connection to be transferred). These can be solved by either an external TV box or a Ethernet cable.

[Onward]

7 hours ago, Bersella AI said:

It depends on targeted resolution as well as bitrates. Generally, an H.264 video would require twice of bitrates as high as HEVC-encoded ones to maintain the same quality; this can be shown in statistics by playing a video on a browser with bitrates up to 120Mbps. If targeted bitrates are set below that of the source, its quality would be compromised.

Also, it is possible that this TV was just getting too ancient to decode 4K HEVC videos natively, or was limited by network connectivity (for example, connected via Wi-Fi instead of wires, since such videos would have fairly high bitrates compared to 1080P, and require a good connection to be transferred). These can be solved by either an external TV box or a Ethernet cable.

Well, the tv is an Insignia F50 (2021), so hopefully that wouldn't be old. 

I plan on trying a cable straight from the server to the tv to see if that improves. Will update soon on the status of that.

Tried different codecs on the hardware acceleration as mentioned earlier to no avail.

Thanks for the explanation. For my situation, it does seem like attempting to switch codecs would have been for naught and affect performance.

[Beondal]

On 4/26/2024 at 9:03 AM, Onward said:

Well, the tv is an Insignia F50 (2021), so hopefully that wouldn't be old. 

I plan on trying a cable straight from the server to the tv to see if that improves. Will update soon on the status of that.

Tried different codecs on the hardware acceleration as mentioned earlier to no avail.

Thanks for the explanation. For my situation, it does seem like attempting to switch codecs would have been for naught and affect performance.

So I was having a similar issue recently with my Jellyfin server trying to watch Dune (4K), It would play everything else fine (a mix of some 480p dvds and 1080p bds.) I was so confused as to why it wasn't working, and then I remembered, I had a Cache Vdev set up when I last did it and played, and so I tried that again, and it worked without a hitch. This was Direct Play from my server to my TV, over Wi-fi (5?) So Perhaps try snooping around in that area? For continued reference my Cache drive is a USB External SSD (I think its a Samsung P7?) Which as most will say, Not ideal, but it gets the job done, and can work far faster than Spinning Rust.