This video is not able to play in your browser.

[rdilauro]

In the past three weeks, I have been getting the error message

This video is not able to play in your browser.

On some of the video streams I want to look at.  It tells me to download the video to watch it

My Video settings for the ULTA are

AUTO HDR ON

AUTO ZOOM  OFF   (Some of my other Ultas have this set ON, I set it to ON, so now I have to wait for new videos)

Are there special settings or reasons why this happens.... Doesnt happen with most of my cameras

[StephenB]

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@rdilauro wrote:

In the past three weeks, I have been getting the error message

This video is not able to play in your browser.

My Video settings for the ULTA are

AUTO HDR ON

AUTO ZOOM  OFF   

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What processor is in the PC you are using?

Is graphics acceleration enabled in your browser?

Generally this problem is because the PC+browser does not support HEVC video.  You can test that by seeing if you can play this sample:

• https://lf-tk-sg.ibytedtos.com/obj/tcs-client-sg/resources/video_demo_hevc.html#main-bt709-sample-1

[AikaneKai]

That has happened to me off and on for years.  It'll happen sporadically for a few months, on some, but not most recordings, on one or two cameras, but not all.  Then it goes a way for a while before coming back again.  It happened on both the old app and the new one.  It's an issue on Arlo's side, not yours.  It's something they need to look into.  Since I can still view it after DLing it, I've never considered it at the top of their many many many bugs.

Not that this is a solution, but it should stop happening fairly soon.  I think I haven't seen it on my cameras now for at least 6 months if not longer.  Hm, now that I say that, I may not have seen it since being put onto the new POS version

Area you still running the previous version or have you downgraded to the newer design?

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@AikaneKai wrote:

That has happened to me off and on for years.  It'll happen sporadically for a few months, on some, but not most recordings, on one or two cameras, but not all.  Then it goes a way for a while before coming back again.  It happened on both the old app and the new one.  It's an issue on Arlo's side, not yours. 

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There are two main causes for this problem.  One is that the PC simply doesn't support the HEVC video codec that is used for 2K and 4K.  In that situation, all 2K/4K video will fail to play.  Turning auto zoom on will resolve it, because Arlo switches to 1080p AVC when that setting is enabled.   IMO, this situation isn't on Arlo.  Though a manual setting to force the video recordings to 1080p/AVC would provide a useful workaround.

The other cause is when a video recording was corrupted.  Most HEVC recordings will then play, but in some cases the browser will tell the Arlo app that it cannot play a specific video that was damaged.  The download might appear to play correctly - it depends on the player's ability to conceal the damage.  If you use a tool that lets you go frame-by-frame (Avidemux is a free one), you can usually see the damaged frame(s).  IMO, this one is on Arlo.   They could do more to make sure that recordings (and live streams) are not damaged, and they could also identify corrupted streams in the Feed.

If the test sample I posted above fails to play, then the problem is with the PC/browser.  If the PC is new enough to support HEVC acceleration (less than ~10 years old), then using Chrome with graphics acceleration enabled should work.  So might other browsers.

[AikaneKai]

None of that explains my experience with this issue.  It'll happen on mainly one camera (sometimes on one other).  It'll happen intermittently over a period of time, say a few weeks.  Then it'll stop for a month or 5, then start happening again.  No changes to my hardware, (cameras or computer), standard upgrades to OS and browsers, but the issues or their resolution aren't associated with those upgrades (an upgrade doesn't immediately cause the issues or resolve them.)

I still hold that it's something on Arlo's side with how they're encoding the video stream.