How to Create Emby DLNA Profile for Samsung TV 

Streaming movies on your big Samsung TV using Emby is pure magic. But sometimes, things just don’t work quite right. Your TV might not play a certain format. Or it starts buffering halfway through your favorite scene. That’s where creating a custom DLNA profile for your Samsung TV comes in!

TL;DR

If your Samsung TV has trouble playing videos from Emby, a custom DLNA profile can fix that. It tells Emby exactly what your TV can handle — no guesswork. Just copy a built-in profile, tweak a few lines, and restart Emby. Boom, smooth playback!

What is Emby and DLNA?

Emby is a media server, just like Plex. It takes your movies, music, and shows, and serves them beautifully to all your devices.

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. It’s a standard that allows your compatible devices to talk to each other over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Your Samsung TV already supports DLNA. Emby takes advantage of this to stream content directly to it.

Why Create a Custom Profile?

Each device speaks its own language when it comes to video and audio formats. A custom DLNA profile tells Emby:

• Which video and audio formats your Samsung TV supports
• What resolution and bitrate it can handle smoothly
• When to transcode (convert) and when to stream directly

Without a proper profile, Emby might end up transcoding unnecessarily, slowing things down — or worse, causing playback to fail.

Where Are the DLNA Profiles?

Emby stores its DLNA profiles in an XML file. On most systems, you can find them here:

• Windows: C:\Users\[YourUser]\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\config\dlna\profile
• Linux: /var/lib/emby/config/dlna/profile or ~/.config/emby-server/config/dlna/profile

Take a deep breath. You’re about to do some XML editing. But don’t worry, we’re keeping it simple and fun!

Step 1: Back It Up

Before you do anything, make a copy of the original profile directory. You never know when you’ll want to roll back.

cp -r profile profile_backup

Safety first, hackers later.

Step 2: Find the Right Base Profile

Emby already has built-in profiles for many Samsung TVs. These are often labeled something like:

• SamsungSmartTV.xml
• SamsungDLNAProfile.xml

Pick the one closest to your TV’s model and year. If you don’t see your exact one, choose SamsungSmartTV.xml as your starting point.

Step 3: Duplicate and Rename

Copy the base profile and rename it to something unique.

cp SamsungSmartTV.xml MySamsungTV.xml

Now open MySamsungTV.xml in a code editor like VS Code, Notepad++, or nano.

Step 4: Edit the Profile

Here’s the fun part. We’re going to tweak the XML file to fit your TV.

Look for this section near the top:

Change it to:

This makes sure Emby loads your new profile correctly.

Match Model Number

Add your TV’s model name or UPnP details under the Identification section. Like this:

  Samsung.*
  UN55TU7000

Use wildcards like Samsung.* to match a range of models.

Adjust the Media Support

This is where you fine-tune what your TV can handle. Under MediaFormats, make sure you list supported ones:

Don’t know your TV’s full list of supported formats? Check your model’s specs on Samsung’s website or experiment a little.

Set Max Bitrates and Resolution

Help Emby know your TV’s limits. Example:

  20000000 
  2160 

If streaming is too slow, try reducing MaxVideoBitrate a bit — maybe to 15000000 (15 Mbps).

Step 5: Save and Restart Emby

Once you’re done editing:

1. Save the file
2. Restart the Emby Server

This loads your new profile into action. You can do this via the Emby dashboard or manually restart the service depending on your OS.

Step 6: Test It!

Turn on your Samsung TV and head over to the DLNA Media Player app.

Navigate to Emby, open a video, and play. Does it work smoothly? Yes? Fantastic!

If not, try adjusting the bitrates or removing unsupported formats in your custom profile.

Extra Tips

• Transcoding Settings: Set Emby to transcode only when needed to save CPU power.
• Match Resolution: If your TV is HD (1080p), don’t stream massive 4K files unless necessary.
• Logs Help: If something’s not working, Emby logs will show what’s breaking.

Bonus! Add Custom Logos and Visuals

Want to make things stylish? You can go beyond formats and tweak how your Samsung TV’s interface shows the Emby library via DLNA. Icons, categories and even better naming conventions can all be added to improve the browsing experience on your TV.

Troubleshooting

• Videos still won’t play? Check if the container and video codec match what your TV accepts.
• Audio but no video? Your TV might not support the video codec. Try adding support for alternative formats or allow Emby to transcode.
• Nothing shows up on TV? Confirm the Identification section matches your real model number and name.

Conclusion

Creating a custom Emby DLNA profile for your Samsung TV may sound techy — but now you know it’s actually pretty simple.

It’s all about helping your media and your TV speak the same language.

And once they do? Smooth playback, no buffering, and lots of screen-time happiness.

Happy streaming!