Playback on android TV takes a long time to start

[bitmap]

So from what I can see in the log, Jellyfin receives the request to play the item and 500 ms later, it complies with that request.

Code:

[2025-06-22 01:36:00.821 +02:00] [DBG] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Controllers.MediaInfoController: GetPostedPlaybackInfo profile: DeviceProfile { Name: "AndroidTV-ExoPlayer", Id: null, MaxStreamingBitrate: 20000000, MaxStaticBitrate: 100000000, MusicStreamingTranscodingBitrate: 128000, MaxStaticMusicBitrate: 8000000, DirectPlayProfiles: [DirectPlayProfile { Container: "m4v,mov,xvid,vob,mkv,wmv,asf,ogm,ogv,mp4,webm,ts,hls", AudioCodec: "aac,mp3,mp2", VideoCodec: "h264,hevc,vp8,vp9,mpeg,mpeg2video,av1", Type: Video }, DirectPlayProfile { Container: "aac,mp3,mp2,aac_latm,alac,ac3,eac3,dca,dts,mlp,truehd,pcm_alaw,pcm_mulaw,pcm_s16le,pcm_s20le,pcm_s24le,opus,flac,vorbis,mpa,wav,wma,ogg,oga,webma,ape", AudioCodec: null, VideoCodec: null, Type: Audio }, DirectPlayProfile { Container: "jpg,jpeg,png,gif,webp", AudioCodec: null, VideoCodec: null, Type: Photo }], TranscodingProfiles: [TranscodingProfile { Container: "ts", Type: Video, VideoCodec: "hevc,h264", AudioCodec: "aac,mp3,mp2", Protocol: hls, EstimateContentLength: False, EnableMpegtsM2TsMode: False, TranscodeSeekInfo: Auto, CopyTimestamps: False, Context: Streaming, EnableSubtitlesInManifest: True, MaxAudioChannels: null, MinSegments: 0, SegmentLength: 0, BreakOnNonKeyFrames: False, Conditions: [], EnableAudioVbrEncoding: True }, TranscodingProfile { Container: "mp3", Type: Audio, VideoCodec: "", AudioCodec: "mp3", Protocol: http, EstimateContentLength: False, EnableMpegtsM2TsMode: False, TranscodeSeekInfo: Auto, CopyTimestamps: False, Context: Streaming, EnableSubtitlesInManifest: False, MaxAudioChannels: null, MinSegments: 0, SegmentLength: 0, BreakOnNonKeyFrames: False, Conditions: [], EnableAudioVbrEncoding: True }], ContainerProfiles: [], CodecProfiles: [CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: EqualsAny, Property: VideoProfile, Value: "high|main|baseline|constrained baseline", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [], Codec: "h264", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: VideoLevel, Value: "52", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: EqualsAny, Property: VideoProfile, Value: "high|main|baseline|constrained baseline", IsRequired: False }], Codec: "h264", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: RefFrames, Value: "12", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: GreaterThanEqual, Property: Width, Value: "1200", IsRequired: False }], Codec: "h264", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: RefFrames, Value: "4", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: GreaterThanEqual, Property: Width, Value: "1900", IsRequired: False }], Codec: "h264", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: EqualsAny, Property: VideoProfile, Value: "main|main 10", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [], Codec: "hevc", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: VideoLevel, Value: "153", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: Equals, Property: VideoProfile, Value: "main", IsRequired: False }], Codec: "hevc", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: VideoLevel, Value: "153", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: Equals, Property: VideoProfile, Value: "main 10", IsRequired: False }], Codec: "hevc", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: Equals, Property: VideoProfile, Value: "none", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [], Codec: "av1", Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: Video, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: Width, Value: "4096", IsRequired: False }, ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: Height, Value: "2304", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [], Codec: null, Container: null, SubContainer: null }, CodecProfile { Type: VideoAudio, Conditions: [ProfileCondition { Condition: LessThanEqual, Property: AudioChannels, Value: "2", IsRequired: False }], ApplyConditions: [], Codec: null, Container: null, SubContainer: null }], SubtitleProfiles: [SubtitleProfile { Format: "vtt", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "vtt", Method: External, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "vtt", Method: Hls, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "webvtt", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "webvtt", Method: External, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "webvtt", Method: Hls, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "srt", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "srt", Method: External, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "subrip", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "subrip", Method: External, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "ttml", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "ttml", Method: External, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "dvbsub", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "dvbsub", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "idx", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "idx", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "pgs", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "pgs", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "pgssub", Method: Embed, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "pgssub", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "ass", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "ssa", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }, SubtitleProfile { Format: "dvdsub", Method: Encode, DidlMode: null, Language: null, Container: null }] }
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.821 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "tv" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.821 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "root" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.822 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "Videos" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.822 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "Anime" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.822 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "Serien" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.822 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "Filme" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.822 +02:00] [DBG] [9] MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.BaseItem: "Playlists" has no parental rating set.
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.849 +02:00] [INF] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Helpers.MediaInfoHelper: User policy for "xxxx". EnablePlaybackRemuxing: True EnableVideoPlaybackTranscoding: True EnableAudioPlaybackTranscoding: True
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.853 +02:00] [DBG] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Helpers.MediaInfoHelper: Profile: "AndroidTV-ExoPlayer", Path: "/data/media/tv/Bob's Burgers (2011)/Season 03/Bob's Burgers (2011) - S03E10 - Mother Daughter Laser Razor [German DL WEBDL-720p][AAC 2.0][h264]-TSCC.mkv", isEligibleForDirectPlay: True, isEligibleForDirectStream: False
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.858 +02:00] [DBG] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Helpers.MediaInfoHelper: Profile: "VideoAudioCodecProfile", DirectPlay=false. Reason="AndroidTV-ExoPlayer".AudioChannels Condition: LessThanEqual. ConditionValue: "2". IsRequired: False. Path: "/data/media/tv/Bob's Burgers (2011)/Season 03/Bob's Burgers (2011) - S03E10 - Mother Daughter Laser Razor [German DL WEBDL-720p][AAC 2.0][h264]-TSCC.mkv"
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.866 +02:00] [DBG] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Helpers.MediaInfoHelper: DirectPlay Result for Profile: "AndroidTV-ExoPlayer", Path: "/data/media/tv/Bob's Burgers (2011)/Season 03/Bob's Burgers (2011) - S03E10 - Mother Daughter Laser Razor [German DL WEBDL-720p][AAC 2.0][h264]-TSCC.mkv", PlayMethod: null, AudioStreamIndex: 5, SubtitleStreamIndex: 2, Reasons: AudioCodecNotSupported
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.876 +02:00] [DBG] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Helpers.MediaInfoHelper: Transcode Result for Profile: "AndroidTV-ExoPlayer", Path: "/data/media/tv/Bob's Burgers (2011)/Season 03/Bob's Burgers (2011) - S03E10 - Mother Daughter Laser Razor [German DL WEBDL-720p][AAC 2.0][h264]-TSCC.mkv", PlayMethod: Transcode, AudioStreamIndex: 5, SubtitleStreamIndex: 2, Reasons: AudioCodecNotSupported
[2025-06-22 01:36:00.878 +02:00] [DBG] [9] Jellyfin.Api.Helpers.MediaInfoHelper: StreamBuilder.BuildVideoItem( Profile="AndroidTV-ExoPlayer", Path="/data/media/tv/Bob's Burgers (2011)/Season 03/Bob's Burgers (2011) - S03E10 - Mother Daughter Laser Razor [German DL WEBDL-720p][AAC 2.0][h264]-TSCC.mkv", AudioStreamIndex=null, SubtitleStreamIndex=null ) => ( PlayMethod=Transcode, TranscodeReason=AudioCodecNotSupported ) "media:/videos/92b6cc07-c642-ac74-c949-a93863b023b1/master.m3u8?MediaSourceId=92b6cc07c642ac74c949a93863b023b1&VideoCodec=hevc,h264&AudioCodec=aac,mp3&AudioStreamIndex=5&VideoBitrate=99744000&AudioBitrate=256000&MaxFramerate=23.976025&MaxWidth=4096&MaxHeight=2304&api_key=<token>&EnableSubtitlesInManifest=true&RequireAvc=false&EnableAudioVbrEncoding=true&Tag=e9ff919f4b1f0fe8bf776c48ef51ce2e&SegmentContainer=ts&BreakOnNonKeyFrames=False&h264-level=31&h264-videobitdepth=8&h264-profile=high&hevc-profile=main,main10&h264-maxrefframes=12&aac-audiochannels=2&TranscodeReasons=AudioCodecNotSupported"

Debug logging is, most of the time, unhelpful because it injects a lot of crap where there's likely not an error. It'll just create massive logs for you to deal with. I'm also very confused by the fact that the AndroidTV-ExoPlayer profile says it supports E-AC3 and yet your audio is being transcoded.

Looking at the ffmpeg log, it supports this claim:

Code:

Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
  Stream #0:2 -> #0:1 (eac3 (native) -> aac (libfdk_aac))

On that note, the AAC 2.0 tag is incorrect based on what's going on here (but that's beside the point).

I don't see any delay between when Jellyfin receives the request and when it plays the media, but I guess I could be misreading? What happens if you swap the player in the ATV app? Any difference in responsiveness?