Audio Codec preference Filtering & Mid Stream Codec Switching Issues

[Vasanthavanan-Devarajan]

Have you read the FAQ and checked for duplicate open issues?
Yes

If the problem is related to FairPlay, have you read the tutorial?

No

What version of Shaka Player are you using?

4.12.11

Can you reproduce the issue with our latest release version?
Yes

Can you reproduce the issue with the latest code from main?
Yes

Are you using the demo app or your own custom app?
Custom app

If custom app, can you reproduce the issue using our demo app?
No

What browser and OS are you using?
LG Web OS

For embedded devices (smart TVs, etc.), what model and firmware version are you using?
2023 model.

What are the manifest and license server URIs?

NA

What configuration are you using? What is the output of player.getNonDefaultConfiguration()?

'{\n "drm": {\n "retryParameters": {\n "maxAttempts": 11,\n "timeout": 10000,\n "stallTimeout": 30000,\n "connectionTimeout": 30000\n },\n "servers": {\n "com.widevine.alpha": "https://widevine-proxy/getLicense"\n },\n "advanced": {\n "com.widevine.alpha": {\n "distinctiveIdentifierRequired": false,\n "persistentStateRequired": false,\n "sessionType": "",\n "serverCertificateUri": "",\n "individualizationServer": ""\n }\n }\n },\n "manifest": {\n "retryParameters": {\n "maxAttempts": 11,\n "timeout": 10000,\n "stallTimeout": 30000,\n "connectionTimeout": 30000\n },\n "dash": {\n "ignoreMinBufferTime": true\n }\n },\n "streaming": {\n "retryParameters": {\n "maxAttempts": 11,\n "timeout": 10000,\n "stallTimeout": 30000,\n "connectionTimeout": 30000\n },\n "rebufferingGoal": 6,\n "bufferingGoal": 30,\n "inaccurateManifestTolerance": 0\n },\n "abr": {\n "useNetworkInformation": false,\n "defaultBandwidthEstimate": 3200000\n },\n "preferredAudioCodecs": [\n "ec-3",\n "mp4a.40.2"\n ],\n "preferSpatialAudio": true\n}'

What did you do?

Set the preferredAudioCodecs start of the player

What did you expect to happen?
Shaka should return all the available A/V variant tracks, irrespective of preferredAudioCodecs/PreferredVideoCodecs preference.
Seamless mid stream codec switching should happen, if we change the codec preference mid stream

What actually happened?

Current Behaviour:
When preferredAudioCodecs is set to ["ec-3", "mp4a.40.2"], Shaka filters the variant tracks to only include ec-3 codecs, despite the manifest containing other audio codecs. This prevents access to the complete list of available audio codecs.
Audio codec preferences are not respected during mid-stream updates:

• If the preferredAudioCodecs setting is changed during playback
• The player does not switch to the newly preferred codec
• The original codec selection persists

Are you planning to send a PR to fix it?
No

[avelad]

The operation is not a selection preference, it is a track filtering preference. Perhaps the documentation needs to be improved to make this clearer.