[mythtv-users] Sony Android TV does not play AVC [h.264] recordings from MythTV UPNP - but from MiniDLNA

[John Pilkington]

On 17/06/18 09:50, Philipp Hahn wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have a Sony KD-55XE8096 TV, which is powered by Android TV. Using the
> "Video" App I'm able to play my h.264 transcoded videos (using
> Handbrake), but DVB-C [Germany] recordings using h.264 fail to play. I
> only get the following error message on the TV:
> 
>> "Video kann nicht abgespielt werden".
> 
> which translates to "Video cannot be played".
> Recordings still using "MPEG-2" play fine.
> 
> If I take the same file and serve it with "MiniDLNA", it plays fine.
> 
> Using curl I see the following differences in the returned HTTP headers:
> 
>> $ curl -I  http://scout.fritz.box:8200/MediaItems/25.mpg
>> HTTP/1.1 200 OK
>> Connection: close
>> Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2018 08:25:38 GMT
>> Server: Debian DLNADOC/1.50 UPnP/1.0 MiniDLNA/1.2.1
>> EXT:
>> realTimeInfo.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_TLAG=*
>> transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming
>> Content-Type: video/mpeg
>> Content-Length: 3092638728
>> Accept-Ranges: bytes
>> contentFeatures.dlna.org: DLNA.ORG_PN=AVC_TS_HP_HD_AC3_ISO;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_CI=0;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01700000000000000000000000000000
> 
>> $ curl -I  http://192.168.178.33:6544/Content/GetRecording?RecordedId=3516
>> HTTP/1.1 200 OK
>> Accept-Ranges: bytes
>> Cache-Control: no-cache="Ext", max-age = 7200
>> Connection: Keep-Alive
>> Content-Disposition: inline; filename="13150_20180611154300.ts"
>> Content-Language: de
>> Content-Length: 3092638728
>> Content-Type: video/mp2t
>> Date: So., 17 Juni 2018 08:27:59 GMT
>> Keep-Alive: timeout=10
>> Last-Modified: Mo., 11 Juni 2018 16:35:00 GMT
>> Server: MythTV/29.1-9-gd9d702526b-dirty Linux/4.9.0-6-amd64 UPnP/1.0
>> transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming
> 
> For comparison here's one of my h.264 encoded videos playing fine:
> 
>> curl -I http://192.168.178.33:6544/Content/GetVideo?Id=1414
>> HTTP/1.1 200 OK
>> Accept-Ranges: bytes
>> Cache-Control: no-cache="Ext", max-age = 7200
>> Connection: Keep-Alive
>> Content-Disposition: inline; filename="REDACTED.m4v"
>> Content-Language: de
>> Content-Length: 745221397
>> Content-Type: video/mp4
>> Date: So., 17 Juni 2018 08:46:21 GMT
>> Keep-Alive: timeout=10
>> Last-Modified: So., 27 Mai 2018 14:15:40 GMT
>> Server: MythTV/29.1-9-gd9d702526b-dirty Linux/4.9.0-6-amd64 UPnP/1.0
>> transferMode.dlna.org: Streaming
> 
> 
> I found <https://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?info_id=799>
> which documents the "Supported File Formats for DLNA® and USB Compatible
> Sony® TVs", but its unclear if it also applies to the Android based TVs.
> 
> I've also tried to run the recording through "ffmpeg -c:v copy -c:a copy
> -sn -movflags empty_moov -flags global_header", but that hasn't helped.
> 
> 
> Does someone know how to play those h.264 recordings on Android?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> Philipp

I've read the responses to this and am puzzled.  The question was about 
DLNA playback but I believe the reponses have been about 'native' 
playback, with the TV responsible for examining the file and selecting 
the appropriate codec  (MCDI ?).  I thought that in DLNA that choice is 
mainly made by the server.

Your post shows Content-Type: video/mpeg (plays, miniDLNA) and

Content-Type:  video/mp2t (does not play, MythTV)

I have used DLNA to play assorted video files on my Panasonic TV, on 
monitors using recent VLC and on an Android tablet using IIRC AnDLNA and 
kodi.

DLNA servers have been MythTV and Twonky-on-a-Seagate-NAS.  Results can 
often depend on the filename suffix, or on presentation as a 'video' or 
a 'recording'   Audio files .mp2 do not play, renamed .mp3 and they're fine.

I have no experience of Android TV, which may be quite different. 
Almost certainly YMWV

John P