4K/HEVC movies @60fps have choppy playback on Apple TV 4K

Plex Players Streaming Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.18.4.2171

Thank you for taking a look at my issue.

A video of what of the issue:

Issue Summary :Some 4K HDR Movies seem to be constantly dropping frames, which results is jittery playback.

More Info :Some movies seem to be dropping frames when being played on my Apple TV 4K. So far, it’s only happening with one movie. It’s a 4K HDR movie in HEVC @ 86000 kbps bit rate. I don’t think it’s a network issue, because I’m hard wired in on a 1gbps network and I’ve played similar sized movies and bitrates before without issue.

I’ve tried both the new Plex player as well as the old one by changing the Plex App settings on the Apple TV. Both times, I chose to play original quality (no transcoding) because transcoding 4K HDR always results in a “flat color” for me. However, the audio is getting transcoded. I tried both audio tracks and the issue was the same.

Questions:

  1. How can I confirm why frames are being dropped?
  2. Any troubleshooting steps I can try?
  3. Can I remux the media to fix the issue? Maybe to something that works nicer with ATV?

Logs:

Screenshot from ATV player info:

612×816 166 KB

Screenshot from Plex dashboard:

324×394 132 KB

Hardware:
Apple TV 4K
Wired Ethernet connection over 1gbps network
FreeNAS hosting the Plex Server
-Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1225 v5 @ 3.30GHz (4 cores)
-32 GiB RAM
-WD-RED Disks

Video File Information:
Media

  • Duration 1:57:03
  • Bitrate 86188 kbps
  • Width 3840
  • Height 2160
  • Aspect Ratio 1.78
  • Video Resolution 4K
  • Container MKV
  • Video Frame Rate 60p
  • Video Profile main 10Part
  • Duration 1:57:03
  • File Gemini.Man.2019.UHD.BluRay.2160p.TrueHD.Atmos.7.1.HEVC.REMUX.mkv
  • Size 70.53 GB
  • Container MKV
  • Video Profile main 10
  • Codec HEVC
  • Bitrate 80974 kbps
  • Bit Depth 10
  • Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
  • Coded Height 2160
  • Coded Width 3840
  • Color Primaries bt2020
  • Color Range tv
  • Color Space bt2020nc
  • Color Trc smpte2084
  • Frame Rate 59.94 fps
  • Height 2160
  • Level 5.1
  • Profile main 10
  • Ref Frames 1
  • Width 3840
  • Display Title 4K (HEVC Main 10 HDR)
  • Codec TRUEHD
  • Channels 8
  • Bitrate 4204 kbps
  • Language English
  • Audio Channel Layout 7.1
  • Bit Depth 24
  • Sampling Rate 48000 Hz
  • Title TrueHD Atmos 7.1
  • Display Title English (TRUEHD 7.1)
  • Codec AC3
  • Channels 6
  • Bitrate 640 kbps
  • Language English
  • Audio Channel Layout 5.1(side)
  • Sampling Rate 48000 Hz
  • Title AC3 5.1-EX
  • Display Title English (AC3 5.1)
  • Codec PGS
  • Bitrate 31 kbps
  • Language English
  • Title English
  • Display Title English (PGS)
2

Have you tried selecting the AC3 5.1 audio channel to see if it will DIRECTPLAY the audio, instead of transcoding ithe 7 channel format that your setup doesn’t handle.

3

Yes, I tried selecting both available audio options. The resulting behavior was the same for both.

4

The issue, I was told, is that the Apple TV Plex app doesn’t support HEVC @ 60FPS. I downloaded the Infuse media player from the app store, and that app plays the movie perfectly.

5

Im having the same issue as well. Are there any short term plans on the roadmap to add this support?

1 Like
6

I’m having the same issue as well and am also curious when support is going to be added for this.

7

Do you have any other 4K HEVC video?
I have this kind of problem with HEVC codec video (usually with VLC, not plex), so maybe it could be that.

8

I’m having the same issue as well, more 60fps are on the way, when will this be resolved?. Just to let everyone know, just installed Infuse as a front-end player which plays this 60fps and any other PLEX problematic media {AOMOS/HD & >30fps]. I’m staying with PLEX for organization but will use Infuse for my player.

9

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