Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Thermopyle
Jul 1, 2003

...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. —Bertrand Russell

Emby is a home media server. You install it on a computer, it indexes all of your movies, tv shows, pictures, music, and then serves it to you.

Ways to peruse your media include:

Web interface
You can browse your stuff via a nicely-designed web interface and stream it right to your browser whether you're on your home LAN or visiting your parents house.


TV Shows Poster View

Android and iOS App
AFAICT, without having an iOS device on hand, these two apps are identical.


Suggesting some movies

Kodi plugin
This is the big one for me and the reason I started using Emby.

The Emby plugin for Kodi takes over your Kodi database. Kodi works the exact same way it always has, except that the shows, movies, and music all come from Emby. This means you don't use a MySQL database to share watched and in-progress state between your various Kodi-running devices...that is all managed by Emby. Additionally, this means you can watch stuff in the browser or on one of the apps and that watched state is automatically reflected in Kodi.

You don't need to use any special skin in Kodi, you just install the plugin and that's it.

Metadata management
The Emby web server allows you to edit metadata for your files in a waaay better manner than you can with Kodi. You just click through to the right media and edit the fields. You can also select and manage the various artwork like posters, fanart, etc.

Some tips

kri kri posted:

This should go in the OP too:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby/wiki/GPU-Transcoding

I thought Auto would enable transcoding for my i5-2500k, but you need to actually go into the settings and enabled it. This is running pretty awesome on my windows server, I haven't encountered any issues with it. Keep in mind the wiki hasn't been updated for a while. I just had to enable QuickSync and go from there, I didn't mess around with anything else.

Also read this lol huge post.

Thermopyle fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Jan 28, 2016

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

kri kri
Jul 18, 2007

Cool thread! I have been using Emby on and off for a year or so. The two things I like most about Emby over Plex:

1. Ability to set a maximum upload speed for my transcodes. This way my family can set their quality to Auto, and the server will automatically throttle connections to stay within the max upload. THis is really nice as I don't have to tell my family to set their quality.

2. Saving metadata alongside files. This is important to me because my Plex appdata folder is gigantic because Plex refuses to let you save files anywhere but their special folder. My Emby folder on my SSD is about 10gb with all of my other files - chapter images, posters, trailers, etc all get stored alongside my data. This also means if my Emby install dies, I just let it re-scan my files and it just reads all of my metadata super quick rather then refreshing from the internet all over again.

Emby as a whole seems to have a much better community around it then Plex does. The full time team is pretty small but they are much more open and actually respond to people on their forums. And being 100% open source (yes even the server) makes it more appealing to me on a base level. There is a pretty good interview here they recently did:

https://www.linux.com/news/software/multimedia/856128-exclusive-interview-emby-founder-luke-pulverenti

The software isn't perfect by any means, but I can deal with little quirks that come up. I used the official Plex support method (forums posts) to bring up an issue I was having with the Plex ATV app, and heard nothing for months, the issue remains unresolved. Not the best service for something I have paid for.

kri kri fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Dec 1, 2015

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
I've been using it for about 3 months and my beefs are pretty small. The transcoding CPU hit seems a bit higher than Plex. Avoid using the built in library functions in Kodi, I had them bound to a remote button and hit them by accident which trashed the local Kodi DB. Rebuilding was just a matter of resetting in the plugin but my library is huge so it took like 40 minutes to import again. There was a weird problem with NFO files that was causing watched tags to reset and I had to dive into the forums to find it. Not a big deal really but when I went to set things up for a friend a few months later the same bug persisted.

Stuff I like - centrally managed library with watch tags! So wonderful having watch status be completely platform agnostic without buggy bullshit like Trakt. The app quality on the FireTV is alright, no real issues so far but it could use a bit more polish. The server management features are excellent, way beyond Plex in terms of breadth and customization.

Their lifetime pass thing is cheaper than Plex too, I might do it soon just because I love the darned project so much.

BoyBlunder
Sep 17, 2008
Does this work on Roku?

Matt Zerella
Oct 7, 2002

Norris'es are back baby. It's good again. Awoouu (fox Howl)

BoyBlunder posted:

Does this work on Roku?

Sure does.

kri kri
Jul 18, 2007

LmaoTheKid posted:

Sure does.

Yeah - there are apps for just about everything.

https://emby.media/download/

Keep in mind they are wanting to bring everything under the same umbrella, so they have moved away from third party devs writing their own apps. This means that some of the apps are not as mature as say Plex, but they are working on them pretty rapidly. The new OS client I think has had 3 updates in the month or so it has been out.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug
Additional info:

Emby is the project formally known as MediaBrowser (you will still find some files/references to this scattered about). They changed the name for much the same reason the XBMC team changed to Kodi - so the developers could maintain some level of control over how it is used by unscrupulous knock off companies. Also "MediaBrowser" is as generic as they come and hard to search for.

Emby, like Plex, uses a client-server model. You can install both on the same HTPC but it's far more common to install the server on a central location, such as a NAS, that serves media out to various clients over your network. Emby will stream locally and remotely (i.e. over the internet) if configured to do so in the latter case.

Both the server and client can run on a large number of devices and platforms. The server can be installed on a dedicated HTPC, a home NAS like QNap or Synology, or a roll your own storage box like FreeNAS or one of the several variants like UnRAID that allow Docker apps (Emby server is available in a Docker container).

Clients are available for Android (phone, tablet, and a dedicated Android TV app), iOS (phone, tablet), FireTV/stick, and Roku. There's also a Windows phone app as well as one for Windows 8/10 however they are not up to the same standards as the other clients - a new "Universal" app for Windows is under development (that will also support XBone, I believe). There is also a TvOS app for Apple TV in the works.

As mentioned in the OP, there is an excellent Kodi addon that seamlessly integrates the Emby library with Kodi, which is what attracts most Kodi users to Emby over Plex (see below).

Finally, there is an excellent web client interface (in addition to the server interface) that does a better job than you'd expect. It's useful for background watching, etc. on laptops and the like.

The Emby server can deliver media to clients in one of several ways:

Directly played - the client handles any and all decoding, etc., Emby just passes along the file location. This is what most Kodi clients would use, for example.

Directly streamed - the client still handles decoding, etc., but Emby translates the file location - useful in case the client cannot reach where the media is stored itself or doesn't have the correct network protocol installed (for example, you are sharing via NFS but have a client that can only "see" SMB or HTTP paths). Emby also allows you to "map" local server paths to network shares if you want to avoid this - very useful for Kodi.

Transcoded - Emby automatically transcodes the audio/video essence and container to a format the client can optimally play. This is useful for devices like the Roku, which have limited format support, low-powered clients in general, and when streaming over the internet. You can let it auto-select what it thinks is best or if you like fine-tuning things you can dive in and set max bitrate, streaming bandwidth, etc. to your hearts content. You can even do this on a per-user basis in case you want to share media with friends/family over the internet but don't want them destroying your internet connection.

Emby will also act as a DNLA server should you need that (some smart TVs, you are a masochist, etc.)

In the case of transcoding the server you run Emby on will need to be powerful enough to handle it - generally an i3 Intel CPU or better. Emby also supports QuickSync for hardware transcoding acceleration so a newer but low end i3 can be used. You can also get away with one of the newer 8-core Atoms like the 2750 for a true low-powered/cost server solution if you want to transcode.

The Emby server is the central location for managing all your media. As stated in the OP you do this through a (very slick) web interface where you can configure media sources, add plugins for things like subtitle downloads, trailers, and the like, set up transcoding/streaming options, and edit metadata (titles, coverart, etc.). You can also centrally manage Live TV here if you use it. Finally, you can set up and manage different user profiles here - useful if you want to share your server with friends but limit access, you need parental controls, you want all your clients to display the same set of options, etc.

The server also supports offline syncing for some clients (such as Android mobile) and can also sync media to cloud providers like Dropbox, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, etc. The former is useful if you are travelling on a plane/somewhere with limited/no internet and want to take some shows with you. The latter is good if you are at a remote location from your server that has decent internet but your home server bandwidth isn't quite up to on demand streaming.

Emby manages the watched/progress status on the server, so you can start playing media on one type of client and resume it on another. This even works with offline syncing, as long as your offline device is able to update the server at some point.

Other stuff:

The Elephant: Emby vs. Plex or, isn't this Plex?

Emby and Plex are very similar, yes. Both work in a client-server model, offer various multi-platform transcoding options, central metadata management, and more. Both have free/open source cores and offer various for-pay options for things like offline syncing and advanced mobile features. Both have fairly slick web interfaces.

Getting in to a war over why there are two or which is better is a lot like arguing over Android vs. iOS - it is pretty much a waste of time. Both have their strengths and can be tried for free; pick the one that appeals to you.

Plex has been around longer (though Emby's previous variant, MediaBrowser, has been kicking around for a few years too). It's still ahead on the syncing/transcoding side though Emby has come a long way in the last few months. It has broader/better client support on the iOS side and already has a well-regarded TvOS client for the new Apple TV out. I also think the Roku client has a slight edge, looks-wise, though both are perfectly functional.

Emby has similar central metadata management but most users like the way they handle it better than Plex - you can edit media metadata both directly (i.e. from the page describing said media) as well as centrally via a dedicated metadata section. It's hard to describe but basically it makes editing a lot of things at once a snap. It's really powerful and really convenient since any changes are automatically shown on all clients/platforms. The old XBMC days of managing a central library with mySQL are over.

Speaking of XBMC/Kodi, the number 1 reason most people choose Emby these days is because of how they support the former. Emby provides a Kodi addon that transparently integrates with - replaces, really - the default Kodi libraries for movies, tv shows, and music. As far as Kodi is concerned it's using the same library as always, but behind the scenes it's Emby. This is incredibly convenient because it means you can use any Kodi skin, addon, player, etc.

I personally think Emby has a better plugin system than Plex, and there are certainly more of them, but this is a matter of preference, really.

Emby also recently added Live TV integration in to the server itself. This is still in a limited phase - it only works with certain HDHR network tuners, and Schedules Direct (meaning it's pretty much US only right now) however if you fit the use case it is pretty convenient since it provides an EPG and TV to all clients. It supports timeshifting and recording as well (for non-DRM channels).

Emby has come a long way in just the last 6 months. If you haven't tried it in a while, or at all, it's worth checking out, especially if you are a current Kodi user using a shared mySQL library. Plex users would be well served to take a look as well, if for no other reason than to see a different take on the same ideal.

Note: I am not affiliated with the Emby project (or Plex).

Feel free to add other reasons.

kri kri
Jul 18, 2007

Tip for people using Kodi. You can either use path substitution, or you can change your library to use the UNC paths. This is what I did - I changed my library to point to \\desktop\movies and then shared the movies folder so Everyone(Guest) has read access to it. This then works fine with Kodi to direct play the file.

Kind of a pain to switch the library locations, but not a big deal since like I posted above Emby just read my local metadata so it was relatively quick to re-scan my library locations.

DJ Burette
Jan 6, 2010
Last time I used emby the offline sync on android wasn't really working as it required you to be online in order to show you what movies you had, making the sync function pretty much pointless. Have they managed to get this up and running yet as it's something I use on plex constantly?

Other than that it seems like it's moving fairly quickly in catching up with plex, looking forward to see how it improves.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

kri kri posted:

Tip for people using Kodi. You can either use path substitution, or you can change your library to use the UNC paths. This is what I did - I changed my library to point to \\desktop\movies and then shared the movies folder so Everyone(Guest) has read access to it. This then works fine with Kodi to direct play the file.

Kind of a pain to switch the library locations, but not a big deal since like I posted above Emby just read my local metadata so it was relatively quick to re-scan my library locations.

Generally speaking - meaning what you are doing might work better for you - path substitution is the better route; here's why:

If you are in a situation where you need to do this in the first place - primarily, you are hosting the Emby server on the same box as where you have the media in question - it's better to point Emby to the local resource instead of a shared path. In the latter case, Emby server itself will use the local system network protocol (SMB, etc) to access the files, which at the least is an added layer of complexity you don't need and at worst could introduce problems or impact performance.

With path substitution - which is dead simple to set up - you get the best of both worlds. Emby will have direct block level drive access to the media, and when remote clients request said media it'll just pass the network share name you mapped - Emby itself doesn't actually implement network sharing, that is still your server doing it, so it works in exactly the same way as adding the media to Emby with the network path as far as clients are concerned.

trilljester
Dec 7, 2004

The People's Tight End.
Offline sync to iOS clients is the main reason why I have not tried Emby yet. Are there plans to include support for that?

chocolateTHUNDER
Jul 19, 2008

GIVE ME ALL YOUR FREE AGENTS

ALL OF THEM
I use Plex, but it's good to see there's a major competitor in the field now. The ability to limit upload speed to clients outside your network on the server is something I can see being very useful when I move out of my parents house in the spring, and they're streaming their movies from the roku over the Internet instead of internally. Wish plex had that.

Looten Plunder
Jul 11, 2006
Grimey Drawer
I'm confused by this Emby/Kodi relationship.

If I move over from Plex and use this on my devices, do I just use this, or do I use Kodi as well? Is there functionality that Kodi has that I won't be getting from Emby or are previous Kodi users just excited by this because it can bring across all the custom skins and the like that they installed previously?

kri kri
Jul 18, 2007

xcore posted:

I'm confused by this Emby/Kodi relationship.

If I move over from Plex and use this on my devices, do I just use this, or do I use Kodi as well? Is there functionality that Kodi has that I won't be getting from Emby or are previous Kodi users just excited by this because it can bring across all the custom skins and the like that they installed previously?

People are excited because you don't have to do any fuckery like you used to have to do with embyxbmc or plexbmc. Read this is explains everything:

https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Kodi/wiki

Basically, if you care a lot about using Kodi, then go wild. If you don't care then probably just use the emby app on your firetv or roku or whatever.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

xcore posted:

I'm confused by this Emby/Kodi relationship.

If I move over from Plex and use this on my devices, do I just use this, or do I use Kodi as well? Is there functionality that Kodi has that I won't be getting from Emby or are previous Kodi users just excited by this because it can bring across all the custom skins and the like that they installed previously?

Kodi users like it because it offers the kind of central media management and mobile/streamer client support that Plex does, while at the same time they (we) can continue to use Kodi on the devices that best support it, like a "primary" HTPC or a Shield or something.

As for why use Kodi over the native client, that is a different discussion. Honestly, I think the Emby (and for that matter, Plex) clients are just as nice and probably easier to use for folks new to this/random family/etc. Kodi does offer a number of things such as better addons and such and of course you can skin it to make it look as nice (or hideous) as you like, but the main difference right now in terms of pure functionality is Kodi can do refresh rate adjustments based on content, even on Android TV (on devices that support it) and Emby can't. Plex I believe just added it as a beta feature. This is a big deal for 24p movie playback (most blu ray sources) and the like.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

trilljester posted:

Offline sync to iOS clients is the main reason why I have not tried Emby yet. Are there plans to include support for that?

Yes, and with the current fast pace of updates to the iOS client I wouldn't be surprised if it lands in the next month.

BoyBlunder
Sep 17, 2008
Huh, this is interesting. I could see myself switching over to this in the future as I'm not really a fan of the current Plex interface. Unfortunately I just bought a Vizio 32" TV that supports Plex, so I'll wait for the frustration to reach critical mass before I switch.

I guess I'm still a bit confused about the Kodi integration. The way Plex works for me, is that it just works. I don't do ANY editing of media, it just picks it up from whatever database it pulls from. I'm assuming this is useful for people editing their 4K anime MKVs and such?

Lowen SoDium
Jun 5, 2003

Highen Fiber
Clapping Larry

Ixian posted:

In the case of transcoding the server you run Emby on will need to be powerful enough to handle it - generally an i3 Intel CPU or better. Emby also supports QuickSync for hardware transcoding acceleration so a newer but low end i3 can be used. You can also get away with one of the newer 8-core Atoms like the 2750 for a true low-powered/cost server solution if you want to transcode


More on this: I have a Sandy Bridge Celeron on my file server and it handles transcoding just fine (for one stream. 2 streams can get dicey if they are high resolution).

Also, Emby's use of Intel Quicksync is limited to the playback part of transcoding. That is, it using Quicksync to accelerate the decoding part, but the re-encoding is still done in software. I think they are working on this, but for time being, Quicksync doesn't make a huge difference.

Thermopyle
Jul 1, 2003

...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. —Bertrand Russell

BoyBlunder posted:

I guess I'm still a bit confused about the Kodi integration. The way Plex works for me, is that it just works. I don't do ANY editing of media, it just picks it up from whatever database it pulls from. I'm assuming this is useful for people editing their 4K anime MKVs and such?

I'm a bit confused by this question!

I assume when you say "editing of media" you mean "editing of metadata"?

Kodi integration doesn't have anything to do with metadata editing. Emby's Kodi intergration means that Kodi operates just like it always has.

Prior to this week, I always just used what Kodi generated as metadata when it imported a new file. Every once in a blue moon, Kodi would get something wrong...like I don't know...misidentify Octopussy as Dark City...or whatever. That happened very, very rarely.

When I converted to Emby this week, I imported 1100 movies and 280 TV shows, and so far I've found like 5 things that Emby mis-identified. Easy to fix, though.

Metadata management really comes in to its own for these spergy people who want to pick every poster, and which fanart, and add every single cast memer, and the crew, and blah blah blah.

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe

BoyBlunder posted:

I guess I'm still a bit confused about the Kodi integration. The way Plex works for me, is that it just works. I don't do ANY editing of media, it just picks it up from whatever database it pulls from. I'm assuming this is useful for people editing their 4K anime MKVs and such?

Emby does the same thing as Plex. It maintains your library outside of Kodi using the same scanners (tmdb, etc). It also has a Kodi plugin that will pull the info from the Emby server directly instead of attempting to scan for itself and having to maintain a separate DB. Kodi wants to have its own library separate from Plex/Emby and the plugin basically acts as a middle man between them.

This is useful because you can keep using Kodi on some clients and use the Emby apps on other platforms but everything will retain the same watched tags and etc.

The metadata stuff is editable through the web but you can ignore it if you want.

Bhodi
Dec 9, 2007

Oh, it's just a cat.
Pillbug
Is there a step-by-step guide somewhere to setting up the whole deluge/newznab->sonarr->emby->kodi flow? I have it sort of working now with some SMB shares but it's really not optimal.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

Lowen SoDium posted:

More on this: I have a Sandy Bridge Celeron on my file server and it handles transcoding just fine (for one stream. 2 streams can get dicey if they are high resolution).

Also, Emby's use of Intel Quicksync is limited to the playback part of transcoding. That is, it using Quicksync to accelerate the decoding part, but the re-encoding is still done in software. I think they are working on this, but for time being, Quicksync doesn't make a huge difference.

They just released the update which supports transcoding this morning, in fact.

Falco
Dec 31, 2003

Freewheeling At Last

Bhodi posted:

Is there a step-by-step guide somewhere to setting up the whole deluge/newznab->sonarr->emby->kodi flow? I have it sort of working now with some SMB shares but it's really not optimal.

I would love something like this as well. I currently have Kodi running on a FireTV which is accessing an external hard drive connected to a Time Capsule, which is hooked up to our FIOS router. Phew, terrible setup I know. Well I have a QNAP NAS coming in this week, so I'm hoping to setup everything a bit more proper this time around, but I don't really know where to begin.

tk
Dec 10, 2003

Nap Ghost

Ixian posted:

As for why use Kodi over the native client, that is a different discussion. Honestly, I think the Emby (and for that matter, Plex) clients are just as nice and probably easier to use for folks new to this/random family/etc. Kodi does offer a number of things such as better addons and such and of course you can skin it to make it look as nice (or hideous) as you like, but the main difference right now in terms of pure functionality is Kodi can do refresh rate adjustments based on content, even on Android TV (on devices that support it) and Emby can't. Plex I believe just added it as a beta feature. This is a big deal for 24p movie playback (most blu ray sources) and the like.

For me: my girlfriend and I are absolutely addicted to Kodi's smart playlists for watching TV. Playlists that show us random episodes of things we haven't seen in a while, playlists that show unwatched episodes shows. I even have a little utility that runs periodically and maintains playlists so that things don't show up until a full seasons has aired, etc.

It stretches the limits of Kodi's playlists as-is, and it's a setup that I haven't been able to replicate elsewhere. I'm hoping with Emby that I'll be able to get the more centralized media management that I desire, while still allowing Kodi to do its thing with its library and smart playlists. So far, so good, but this weekend I'm going to have to spend a little time figuring out why my Emby isn't properly syncing with my Kodi.

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
I use a skin called Arctic Zephyr on Kodi which has that sort of thing built in. It has a spotlight feature, recently added, play random and so on. It's really nice and I use it all the time for movies.

What problems are you having with syncing? Are you using the Kodi plugin?

quote:

I would love something like this as well. I currently have Kodi running on a FireTV which is accessing an external hard drive connected to a Time Capsule, which is hooked up to our FIOS router. Phew, terrible setup I know. Well I have a QNAP NAS coming in this week, so I'm hoping to setup everything a bit more proper this time around, but I don't really know where to begin.

There are several guides online for HTPC websites to do this sort of thing. It's hard to do a catch all since the programs run under several different platforms. Some platforms have a package manager that makes it easy, I'm sure QNAP has one. Depending on what kind of setup you want the configuration guides would be really lengthy.

tk
Dec 10, 2003

Nap Ghost

The Gunslinger posted:

I use a skin called Arctic Zephyr on Kodi which has that sort of thing built in. It has a spotlight feature, recently added, play random and so on. It's really nice and I use it all the time for movies.

What problems are you having with syncing? Are you using the Kodi plugin?
Yeah, I'm using the Kodi plugin. I have the incremental syncing thing turned on too. It seems to have mostly pulled down my library, but Kodi doesn't get realtime updates from Emby like I understand it's supposed to. Every time I restart it tells me that it has ~500 new items to sync, so I suspect something somewhere in the sync process it's getting stuck. Either way, I haven't had time to do even cursory troubleshooting, so as far as I know there's a gigantic "make things work" checkbox that I haven't hit yet.

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
Cool, if you can't figure it out post a log on here or the Emby forums. I did find this from today, let me know if that does anything.

trilljester
Dec 7, 2004

The People's Tight End.

Ixian posted:

Yes, and with the current fast pace of updates to the iOS client I wouldn't be surprised if it lands in the next month.

Thanks! I'll have to set it up side-by-side with my current Plex setup and give it a shot.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

The Gunslinger posted:

Cool, if you can't figure it out post a log on here or the Emby forums. I did find this from today, let me know if that does anything.

That could be it; I pre-cached my textures and don't see this problem.

Sounds like they will fix it pretty quick, which means check the Kodi addon beta builds section of the forum first.

Zyme
Aug 15, 2000
Emby has been great for me for Kodi integration. I'd really like to be able to stream over the internet to some of my family who only have xbox's and appltv's though, so I am looking forward to when Emby gets those clients running. I'm probably super weird in this respect, but I haven't found any media player I'd rather use than Kodi with the default confluence skin, so I'm glad Emby works as well as it does for that.

stevewm
May 10, 2005
Does anyone know if Emby can be made to do "partial" transcoding like Plex?

For example, if you play a file with h264 video and AC3 audio on a device that can play h264 video, but not decode AC3 audio, Plex will only transcode the audio portion of the stream and just copy the video. Resulting it very little CPU usage on the server. Emby on the otherhand, transcodes both the video and audio any time this situation comes up.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

stevewm posted:

Does anyone know if Emby can be made to do "partial" transcoding like Plex?

For example, if you play a file with h264 video and AC3 audio on a device that can play h264 video, but not decode AC3 audio, Plex will only transcode the audio portion of the stream and just copy the video. Resulting it very little CPU usage on the server. Emby on the otherhand, transcodes both the video and audio any time this situation comes up.

It used to, then there was some change related to browser-based playback that I think had unintended consequences for this (there are various scattered threads about it), and the latest I have seen is it's being worked on and should already work for some clients.

Short answer is it should do this by default when applicable.

Cornjob
Jun 12, 2007

NOT AN ACTOR
Im very excited to see that Emby will soon have an app for tvOS (appletv 4). I love the appletv 4 as a plex client, but i dont like that plex wont use my local metadata.

bobfather
Sep 20, 2001

I will analyze your nervous system for beer money
I just made the switch to Emby, and I will most likely replace Plex with it. I have a NAS/HTPC so I'm an avid user of Kodi, and the Emby+Kodi integration is every bit as good as people say it is.

The Emby iOS app is not that polished yet, with awkward UI issues here and there, but it works well enough, and I'm sure it will improve with time.

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
Are they working an Emby app for the Xbox One? My buddy got called up overseas and left me his. I wanted to use it upstairs and maybe stream the occasional hockey game and movie from my library. The Plex app is still "in preview" apparently and I can't find an Emby app at all, just some old chat on a forum thread about it.

kri kri
Jul 18, 2007

The Gunslinger posted:

Are they working an Emby app for the Xbox One? My buddy got called up overseas and left me his. I wanted to use it upstairs and maybe stream the occasional hockey game and movie from my library. The Plex app is still "in preview" apparently and I can't find an Emby app at all, just some old chat on a forum thread about it.

Yeah looks like it

http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/28092-app-emby-for-xbox-one/

The Gunslinger
Jul 24, 2004

Do not forget the face of your father.
Fun Shoe
Thanks for that link, I forgot that you can just use the web player for now as a workaround. I guess I'll just do that.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

The Gunslinger posted:

Thanks for that link, I forgot that you can just use the web player for now as a workaround. I guess I'll just do that.

Last time I tried the web interface on the Xbone it wasn't half-bad, the Xbone interface makes navigating around with a controller or remote a lot easier than in a desktop browser and Emby already has one of the best web clients around.

It's not as good as a true app would be for a lot of reasons but it's a pretty decent workaround until the Universal app is released. They (Emby devs) were waiting for the Xbone refresh that happened in November since that added Universal app support and a whole lot of other behind the scenes stuff that's important for apps.

Horn
Jun 18, 2004

Penetration is the key to success
College Slice
Is there a particular version of Kodi that is supported by the Emby addon? I tried the latest stable 15.2 and I'm just getting a generic version not supported error. I've tried searching around to see what I should be running but I haven't found anything concrete.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Thermopyle
Jul 1, 2003

...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. —Bertrand Russell

Horn posted:

Is there a particular version of Kodi that is supported by the Emby addon? I tried the latest stable 15.2 and I'm just getting a generic version not supported error. I've tried searching around to see what I should be running but I haven't found anything concrete.

Should work with 15.2.

  • Locked thread