4K movie buffering

Plex Media Server
,
1

I am trying to stream 4K movies, but my tv keeps buffering, basically every 5 seconds it buffers for 5 seconds. Weird thing is, if I just leave it paused for 1 minute it will not run any longer before buffering.

I know that it doesn’t transcode because I can see that there is no CPU usage on my PC while it is streaming. I am not using any subtitles either.

I also tried with the DLNA instead of the WebOS client, but it has exactly the same problem.

I tried a speedtest on my TV, and it returned 250 Mbps, from internet, mind you, while the Plex stream is local, should be as fast or faster. My server is connected via gigabit LAN.

It’s properly infuriating that I have to go back to plugging my HDD into my TV by USB, while my network is more than strong enough to handle a stream like this. Anyone recognise this problem?

EDIT: I tried streaming the movie via Window’s DLNA and it worked almost flawlessly.
EDIT 2: Yea those were a pleasant 5 minutes, then the Windows DLNA started buffering as well, fml

TV: LG C9 OLED

Server Version: latest
Player Version: latest

2

What are you using as you Plex server? Hardware, specs, and operating system?
Have you verified that Direct Play is happening for sure? What are the specs of the original 4k file?Does it have multistream audio?

3

I am using my PC as Plex server.
-i7-9700k @ 4.8 GHz
-GTX 1080 Ti
-Windows 10 1909

Video stream is set to “original” and I can see that my PC is not putting in any work, so I’m 99% sure it’s using direct play. When it transcodes I can see the CPU usage go to 100%.

4K HDR, HEVC, 75 GB and 2h30m, total bitrate is about 8.5 MB/s. There are indeed multiple streams of audio in the mkv container, if that is what you meant.

EDIT: Tried putting it on my NVME SSD to rule out disk throughput. It buffered like on the HDD.

4

The LG C9 does not have Gigabit LAN only 100Mbit. And 4K Remuxes sometimes go way beyond 100mbit. Hence the stuttering.

5

Oh wow that’s seriously disappointing, and a bit ridiculous in such an expensive TV. I suppose putting in a LAN cable also wouldn’t have any effect then. I guess there is no away around this apart from something like a Shield or just plugging in an HDD. 1300 euros and they don’t even put in a 10 euros network adapter :sleeping:

6

Don’t be disappointed. Use the 5G wifi or a USB3 to gigabit Ethernet adapter and you will be just fine.

7

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