Firestick 4K Max - Major Issues

[Revv23]

I'm having same problem on roku streaming stick 4k and on my new sony bravia a80l (running andriodtv)

exoplayer can't seem to handle 4k hdr on these devices. no problem running in vlc(experimental) on android client... screwed on roku sadly.

Strangest part is roku will run fine for 20-40 minutes then just randomly start crashing out.

My only thought is I have been using my AMD GPU(AMD AMF) for transcoding (this shouldn't need to transcode) I am going to try switching to QSV just in case it is and see if that helps resolve.

[tmsrxzar]

I'm having same problem on roku streaming stick 4k and on my new sony bravia a80l (running andriodtv)

exoplayer can't seem to handle 4k hdr on these devices. no problem running in vlc(experimental) on android client... screwed on roku sadly.

Strangest part is roku will run fine for 20-40 minutes then just randomly start crashing out.

My only thought is I have been using my AMD GPU(AMD AMF) for transcoding (this shouldn't need to transcode) I am going to try switching to QSV just in case it is and see if that helps resolve.

since roku is RokuOS and RokuOS is not Android i don't see there being any valid comparisons
and i find it hard to believe roku has the google android based exoplayer too but google doesn't give me an answer

[TheDreadPirate]

What is going on? You mention fire stick, then roku, then android TV built into your TV? Which is having a problem? Obviously something android based since you mention exoplayer and libVLC.

What are your server specs?

[Revv23]

I'm having same problem on roku streaming stick 4k and on my new sony bravia a80l (running andriodtv)

exoplayer can't seem to handle 4k hdr on these devices. no problem running in vlc(experimental) on android client... screwed on roku sadly.

Strangest part is roku will run fine for 20-40 minutes then just randomly start crashing out.

My only thought is I have been using my AMD GPU(AMD AMF) for transcoding (this shouldn't need to transcode) I am going to try switching to QSV just in case it is and see if that helps resolve.

since roku is RokuOS and RokuOS is not Android i don't see there being any valid comparisons
and i find it hard to believe roku has the google android based exoplayer too but google doesn't give me an answer

The only comparison is that both Roku and AndroidTV can't run 4k HDR. Roku client doesn't let you select player which is why i mentioned that I haven't found a fix. On android TV you can switch to vlc and it works.

What is going on?  You mention fire stick, then roku, then android TV built into your TV?  Which is having a problem?  Obviously something android based since you mention exoplayer and libVLC.

What are your server specs?

Sorry I think I'm confusing things, I'm not the OP. I am just adding that I am having same issues on Roku & AndroidTV. On AndroidTV you can switch client player and get it working. On roku you can not.
My server is 10.8.13 windows 13900k/7900xtx/32gb ram 2.5 Gbe network. Like I said I'm going to try QSV and report back in case it's transcoding for some reason.

[TheDreadPirate]

IMO, QSV is significantly better than AMF in terms of quality per bit and flexibility.

[tmsrxzar]

The only comparison is that both Roku and AndroidTV can't run 4k HDR. Roku client doesn't let you select player which is why i mentioned that I haven't found a fix. On android TV you can switch to vlc and it works.

unrealistic generalization
firetv cube gen2, firetv cube gen3, nvidia shield, rocktek g2, zidoo z9x pro and even the very generic HK1 Rbox are all android and do 4K HDR fine (i own 1 of all of these)

most of the time it's audio codec or subtitles causing issues

homatics box r 4k plus and firetv stick 4k (2023) probably work too

[Revv23]

The only comparison is that both Roku and AndroidTV can't run 4k HDR. Roku client doesn't let you select player which is why i mentioned that I haven't found a fix. On android TV you can switch to vlc and it works.

unrealistic generalization
firetv cube gen2, firetv cube gen3, nvidia shield, rocktek g2, zidoo z9x pro and even the very generic HK1 Rbox are all android and do 4K HDR fine (i own 1 of all of these)

most of the time it's audio codec or subtitles causing issues

homatics box r 4k plus and firetv stick 4k (2023) probably work too

You just sniped the whole issue.

I forced audio codec to DTS in roku (only option I had). In android TV I enabled bitstream to DTS (only option not checked)

problems are gone for each.

No idea why this works but I'll take it. My files are AAC FWIW

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IMO, QSV is significantly better than AMF in terms of quality per bit and flexibility.

Thanks, I'll leave QSV on, I didnt have any reason to have AMF on other than when I got the GPU I was excited.

[Fran314]

compare to a copy of the 1080p video in the new log without pgs subs, ffmpeg -i (infile) -map 0:v -map 0:a -c copy (outfile).mkv

This actually played flawlessly, so I'm guessing it was all about the subtitles type. Any possible fix for that (maybe by not allowing subtitles extraction on the fly in the playback settings)? Or should I just avoid pgs subs?
I don't think the log for this playback is of any help but if it is I'll share it. Looking at the playback information from the dashboard, it said that the playback wasn't on direct play but on remuxing, claiming that the streams were compatible with the device but the container wasn't so it is repackaging it on the fly. Is this expected behaviour?

What are your server specs?

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.6.3-arch1-1
CPU: Intel Pentium Silver J5040 (4) @ 3.200GHz
GPU: Intel GeminiLake [UHD Graphics 605]
Memory: 8GB

Again thank you for your help! I'm still a bit confused on how to properly quote other messages by other people so the post is probably badly formatted, but this is another issue for another time

[tmsrxzar]

compare to a copy of the 1080p video in the new log without pgs subs, ffmpeg -i (infile) -map 0:v -map 0:a -c copy (outfile).mkv

This actually played flawlessly, so I'm guessing it was all about the subtitles type. Any possible fix for that (maybe by not allowing subtitles extraction on the fly in the playback settings)? Or should I just avoid pgs subs?

i simply avoid pgs subs, i may be abnormal but i usually only use forced in my own language, downloaded from *somewhere on the internet* as a separate SRT next to the video
you can tinker with the settings or try conversion software but usually they need OCR to be converted which is a lot more effort than just searching google

I don't think the log for this playback is of any help but if it is I'll share it. Looking at the playback information from the dashboard, it said that the playback wasn't on direct play but on remuxing, claiming that the streams were compatible with the device but the container wasn't so it is repackaging it on the fly. Is this expected behaviour?

honestly, i see this from time to time and i don't know where it comes from, never investigated as it plays fine when being remuxed

you may try alternative clients if you wish, you will "likely" get better results; kodi+jellyfin addon can do pgs and a lot more than generic android for example

(otherwise you'd be looking at different devices entirely which i don't want to pitch or sell to you since you're not asking about that stuff)

[TheDreadPirate]

Remuxing is normal and requires not much more compute power than direct play. Not all clients can play back MKV (the usual suspect for needing a remux) so Jellyfin will extract the video/audio/sub streams and repackage them, unmodified, into a TS container.