Roku Unnecessary Transcoding

[jtipp3tt]

Hi-

I recently purchased Mezzmo Pro it has been working great. However, I recently started streaming to my Roku 3. While many of the formats are supported, .avi files need to be transcoded.

However, if I enable transcoding, many of my other video files start to transcode unnecessarily. Specifically MKV files with DTS audio.

I was wondering if there is a simple way in the device profile to just have transcoding occur for .avi files without having to add all of the supported audio formats etc. for the other container formats. I would rather just disable transcoding as it is unnecessary for my WDTV boxes, but if I could just add the .avi for Roku exception that would be ideal.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Paul]

Are you using the (free) Mezzmo for Roku app? See http://www.mezzmo.com/wiki/doku.php?...oku_user_guide. It's the best way to stream your files to your Roku from Mezzmo server.

[jtipp3tt]

Are you using the (free) Mezzmo for Roku app? See http://www.mezzmo.com/wiki/doku.php?...oku_user_guide. It's the best way to stream your files to your Roku from Mezzmo server.

I tried the Mezzmo app, and while at first it looked great, there a couple of issues that prevent me from using it. First, the scrolling is not smooth like the other Roku apps. It is very jumpy when scrolling through the titles. The other issue is that after using it and just browsing titles, I noticed my computer was at 100% cpu. There were 5 different ffmpeg processes running. It appears that they were creating thumbnails. I let them run for a while, but after 2 hours, they were still running and taking up 100% cpu. I guess at this point, the app seems too buggy for my use.

I am currently using the Roku Media Player. It works great with transcoding off. When it is enabled, it transcodes the majority of my files even though they do not require it.

Thanks for the response.

[Paul]

Go to the Media Device dialog and make sure the device profile for your Roku is 'Roku Streaming Player'. If it already set, then can you let us know which files are not required to be transcoded but are being transcoded? We'll tweak the Roku device profile and send it to you to try. In Mezzmo, right-click on the files that don't require transcoding and click 'Get FFmpeg information'. Email this to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

[jtipp3tt]

Go to the Media Device dialog and make sure the device profile for your Roku is 'Roku Streaming Player'. If it already set, then can you let us know which files are not required to be transcoded but are being transcoded? We'll tweak the Roku device profile and send it to you to try. In Mezzmo, right-click on the files that don't require transcoding and click 'Get FFmpeg information'. Email this to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

Will do, thanks a lot!

[hsbrown2]

Hi, Paul,

I thought I'd piggyback on this thread, as it is very close to what I am experiencing.

DTS HD-MA is where the problem lies for me. Roku does not support DTS HD-MA (possibly TrueHD as well, although I haven't fiddled with that yet). 7.1 is apparently no bueno.

BUT...

This isn't the first device I've purchased that doesn't support the standards, so I always grab 5.1 audio streams, and sometimes stereo as well.

The problem is, when I rip a disk, the default is the 7.1, which I like, as when it is supported, it plays it.

However, I'm unsure where the problem lies, but when the default audio track is an unsupported format for the Roku, the Mezzmo app does not allow me to optionally select a supported format (which is in the .mkv container). I'd like to be offered the opportunity to select a different audio stream rather than do a forced transcode. Ideas?

On a separate note, when I *do* get offered the ability to select (in the Roku Mezzmo app) because the audio is supported and it does not transcode, it looks like "English 5.1" and "English 2.0" get (the text) shrunk down to just English. Maybe i'm missing something there though.

Cheers!

[Peter]

The Roku only supports stereo audio, if you have an audio receiver connected then the Roku will pass the audio to the receiver. When there are multiple audio streams and the first audio stream is stereo then the Roku should be able to play the stereo stream, it will ignore the unsupported audio stream. If the first stream is 7.1 then it will not try to discover further audio streams and will usually fail to play the file so you should encode your files with the stereo stream as the first stream if possible. Pre-transcoding to mkv will encode a stereo aac and an AC3 5.1 so that if you have a receiver connected you will get multi-channel and if not then the file will still play.

[hsbrown2]

This isn't really the behavior I am seeing.

What I've noticed is that with the Roku plugged into an HDMI port on an audio receiver (or TV that can decode it/pass it through, and does so from other sources) that supports TrueHD and DTS HD-MA (.mkv), Mezzmo transcodes the file and remixes the audio.

If it is DTS or DD, then it passes through. The Roku can only pass through 5.1 streams, and the Roku Media app (not the Mezzmo app) will refuse to play the file, but the Mezzmo app will transcode and remux the audio down.

All 5.1 streams play (i.e. DVDs), but a Blu-ray with 7.1 transcodes every time.

I can repro this on 2 televisions that support 5.1, and a Harmon-Kardon receiver that supports all formats (except Atmos).

[hsbrown2]

Adding something a little more interesting to this...

If I disable transcoding to the Roku devices, and tell it to always deliver all content, it stops the transcoding, and the files play just fine.

Color me confused.

[Peter]

We have a Roku profile that has support for DTS we can give you to try, send an email to support [at] conceiva [dot] com and we'll send you the profile.