QNAP Server ->> FireTV: Always Transcoding Subtitles (.srt, .ass etc)

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
, ,
1

Server Version#: Plex for QNAP Version 1.25.3.5409
Player Version#: Android TV 8.28.0.30077 (24117ed0)

Hi

I don’t seem to be able to stop Plex transcoding a video stream being sent to Fire TV if there is a corresponding subtitle file, by which I mean a text file like .srt or .ass.

On the Fire TV app I have the suggested setting:

Burn Subtitles: Only image formats

It wouldn’t be too much of an issue but my NAS clearly can’t handle the transcode, so the video will play for about 30 secs and buffer for another 90 or so and repeat. Deslecting the subititle file allows the video to play without issues.

Looking at the log for a recent example, it is definitely transcoding excerpt below (more attached). Not sure why it says direct play disabled, not by me it’s not.
Plex_log_excerpt.txt (67.9 KB)

Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.989 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E7 - A Stab in the Dark Web: Direct Play is disabled
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.990 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E7 - A Stab in the Dark Web: media must be transcoded in order to use the hls protocol
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.990 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E7 - A Stab in the Dark Web: selected subtitle cannot be converted to a compatible format, burning into video stream
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.990 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E7 - A Stab in the Dark Web: avoiding video remux due to burned subtitle stream
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.990 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E7 - A Stab in the Dark Web: no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.990 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.991 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing hevc (decoder) with hwdevice vaapi
Jan 30, 2022 20:41:03.991 [0x7f24f5017b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi

Any help would be appreciated because I really do need the subtitles.

Cheers
Ryan

2

From today’s woes:

<SessionReport version="2" startTime="0" startTimestamp="Feb 02, 2022 20:05:58.797" key="/library/metadata/1558959" session="q5qdt0xj3xjz8wsqufhvlr4e" transcode="quu6arom75cgypn78q6x1eom">
<User id="1" thumb="https://plex.tv/users/ec3a251e16c36d5a/avatar?c=1592947228" title="ryanmcrae" />
<Player address="192.168.0.3" device="Windows" machineIdentifier="kph07w29mqls44g9qjseyjoc" model="bundled" platform="Chrome" platformVersion="97.0" product="Plex Web" title="Chrome" version="4.69.1" local="1" relayed="0" secure="1" userID="1" />
<Variants>
<Variant id="c50231a8-aebe-492f-bb7b-51d35c09486d" targetBitrate="1855" context="streaming" sourceVideoCodec="mpeg4" sourceAudioCodec="mp3" videoDecision="transcode" audioDecision="transcode" subtitleDecision="transcode" protocol="dash" container="mp4" videoCodec="h264" audioCodec="aac" audioChannels="2" transcodeHwRequested="1" transcodeHwDecoding="vaapi" transcodeHwEncoding="vaapi" transcodeHwDecodingTitle="Intel (VA API)" transcodeHwEncodingTitle="Intel (VA API)" transcodeHwFullPipeline="1">
<Media id="1507638" videoProfile="advanced simple" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" bitrate="1765" container="mp4" duration="2548420" height="352" optimizedForStreaming="1" protocol="dash" videoCodec="h264" videoFrameRate="24p" videoResolution="SD" width="624" selected="1">
<Part deepAnalysisVersion="6" id="1517796" requiredBandwidths="1441,1420,1420,1420,1420,1420,1420,1420" videoProfile="advanced simple" bitrate="1765" container="mp4" duration="2548420" height="352" optimizedForStreaming="1" protocol="dash" width="624" decision="transcode" selected="1">
<Stream bitrate="1509" codec="h264" displayTitle="SD (MPEG4)" extendedDisplayTitle="SD (MPEG4)" frameRate="23.975999832153320" height="352" id="1468071" requiredBandwidths="1309,1291,1291,1291,1291,1291,1291,1291" streamType="1" width="624" decision="transcode" location="segments-video" />
<Stream bitrate="256" bitrateMode="cbr" channels="2" codec="aac" displayTitle="Unknown (MP3 Stereo)" extendedDisplayTitle="Unknown (MP3 Stereo)" id="1468072" requiredBandwidths="133,133,133,133,133,133,133,133" selected="1" streamType="2" decision="transcode" location="segments-audio" />
<Stream codec="ass" container="ass" displayTitle="English (SRT External)" extendedDisplayTitle="English (SRT External)" file="/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Multimedia/TV Programmes/Law &amp; Order Criminal Intent/Season 08/8x04 - In Treatment.en.srt" format="ass" id="1468567" key="/library/streams/1468567" language="English" languageCode="eng" languageTag="en" selected="1" streamType="3" decision="transcode" location="segments-subs" />

Won’t play the file at all. Why does it think an .srt sub is .ass? Is it because there is one line of html code at the end

<font color="#ffff00" size=14>www.tvsubtitles.net</font>
3

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.