Playback freezing when seeking certain videos on Apple TV

@james can we please get this looked at for 8.0.7? Been an issue for almost a year now and it is affecting about 50% of my UHD movies

1 Like

I canā€™t tell if you are speaking on behalf of Firecore, or just assuming that this is not on the road map due to lack of activity (and user support).

I am curious why this isnā€™t a bigger issue on this forum (only 7 Likes).
Here are a few possibilities I came up with:

  • Maybe there is something wrong with my system/procedure and this is not a widespread issue.

  • Maybe there are not many users using the VideoToolbox encoder. Is the x265 encoder better, or is free time not a big deal anymore?

  • Maybe there are not many users using macOS for encoding.

  • Maybe there are not many users that RIP their own UHD discs.

  • Something else?

In either case, I will continue testing and trying to figure out where the problem is until it is fixed. This is a major problem for me as 4K HDR video makes up a third of my library.

Just see on road map. No info about this topic.

This is still in our queue to investigate. I will post an update once more info is available.

Thanks for your patience.

4 Likes

Iā€™ve been having this exact problem, but in my case x265 encodes are the ones giving me problems. VideoToolbox is the only thing that gives me smooth seeking. Itā€™s frustrating this has been a problem for so long.

Forgot to mention my conversion pipeline is the same as OP with everything up to date. AppleTVs are all latest model.

Considering there have been 6+ Infuse updates and also OS updates since this thread started it may help to give version numbers as well as a model number of the device(s) youā€™re experiencing this on.

Apple TV 4K 2017/2021/2022.
tvOS 17.x/18.2
infuse 6.7/7.x/ 8.0.8.

Bug on all versions.

Infuse 8.0.8
tvOS 18.1
Apple TV 4K 2022 128gb wired model A2843
Handbrake 1.9.0

Bug occurs for me with direct mkv remuxes from disc and 4K x265 10bit HDR encodes from Handbrake. VTB seems to produce the smoothest results but not always the best image quality.

Edit : Forgot to add that playback through Plex on the ATV works fine with the same files.

If you are seeing playback issues with specific files, it could be helpful to send in a sample file we can review here.

Files of any size can be submitted here.

Hello.
I sent you some video files earlier. I sent the codes. I sent a video showing the problem. Did it help you in any way or do you need more?

I uploaded another file where you can see the friezes after pausing and rewinding. File name The Thing.mkv (file size 68,5 GB).
The same bug happens as shown in the file named IMG_1107.mov (this file was uploaded in November 2024).

UPDATE.
Upload another file where you can see the friezes after pausing and rewinding. File name Titanic 1997.mkv (file size 72,8 GB).

Now you have enough files to diagnose and fix the bug. And m2ts, and mkv.

This is still a major problem for me and makes it difficult to watch with infuse. Iā€™m finding even HD Blu-ray rips that cause a problem, although generally 4K. I basically canā€™t use the seek function without the movie freezing. @james, can we get this fixed soon?

1 Like

Hi, came to say Iā€™m also having this issue when playing ultra 4k HDR. Hope this gets resolved soon cause itā€™s a bit annoying. Iā€™m playing my files directly from a shared drive to infuse.

Currently uploading a full 4K HDR movie. Encoded using Handbrake 1.9 into 10bit HDR x265 with AAC audio. Plays fine on everything but the Infuse Apple TV app. Infuse on other platforms works fine when seeking. Same with Plex on the same Apple TV.

Edit : Also tested on Infuse 8.0.9 (5066) with no resolution.

We have received a few samples which exhibit this issue on certain devices, and will be looking into these cases.

If you havenā€™t had a chance to send in a sample, it would ensure your specific situation is looked into as well.

Files of any size can be submitted here.

Interesting update. Was experimenting with the Home Sharing / Media Sharing using the AppleTVs native Computers app with the same files, which worked perfectly as it uses the native system player.

This only works as Iā€™m using MP4s with AAC audio across the board for native support. To get each title to appear correctly in the Computers app Iā€™ve been using Subler to pull metadata and resave the file without a full remux.

Mysteriously, the same files I was having problems with in Infuse now seek without skipping. This makes me think the file directly out of Handbrake can be problematic or inconsistent.

If youā€™re coming out of Handbrake with MP4s, give Subler a shot. If youā€™re using MKV, a quick remux with MPVToolnix might be worth a try.

1 Like

Me too. Not on all but on a few of them. Ex. the Hobbit trilogy freezes a lot. Iā€™m streaming files from a HD connected to Mac Air. All update. Mac and infuse.