Because it hasn’t been fixed yet.
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I double checked with Moussa and the only update is that he is still working with Microsoft to resolve this issue.
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I guess we can write off Plex for 4k content for a while. MS isnt going to be in any hurry to fix it.
It is possible to play 4K content, this issue only affects 4K video files that are direct streaming instead of direct playing. From what I have seen with my library this typically happens because of incompatible audio that needs to be converted for the app. To get around this you can use a program such as ffmpeg or mkvmerge to move/create a direct playable audio track in the 1st position. (IE I put 5.1 AC3 audio into the first audio track position)
yer i tried this with a file that contained an TRUEHD Dolby track, and removed it and set the default to AC3 audio (which is much lower kps) and i still had Plex on XBOX One buffer and turn off HDR. believe me, myself and many other people on this forum have tried so many different work arounds. and the issue remains. but i appreciate your suggestion.
What exactly are you logs showing? HDR only turns off because the video itself is transcoding. In this specific issue the cause is because the file is direct playing but trying to play an audio track that isn’t track 1. (Using some ninja magic I can force the video to continue playing which actually forces the stream to reset very badly every 10 seconds or so, on a non ninja force it would trigger the fall back to transcoding)
Not trying to downplay the issue at all, that was just the exact thing I did to turn a file that would not work into one that would work, and was able to force it back to a non working file. For reference, this is the exact ffmpeg line I used to convert (With file name removed):
ffmpeg -i File1.mkv -map 0:0 -map 0:2 -map 0:1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -disposition:a:0 default File1.fixed.mkv
This command copies the video stream, switches audio stream 1 and 2 without converting them, and sets the new audio stream 1 to the default. When I first did it without the disposition tag it performed how I described above where it would keep checking the streams based on bad data.
Hi,
I don’t want to sound snarky… but I’m probably going to. If so, I apologize in advance.
You wrote:
ffmpeg -i File1.mkv -map 0:0 -map 0:2 -map 0:1 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -disposition:a:0 default File1.fixed.mkv
If this fixes the problem, then why isn’t Plex silently DOING THIS for me (ie: convert the file as described to a temporary target file and stream THAT instead)? If there is a platform issue preventing the optimal playback method from working, fine – I get it. No fix has been forthcoming from Microsoft, though, so it seems like Plex should be a) detecting that this file indeed will not play on the Xbox One X, and b) converting it to a format that will not exhibit the problem.
Since it wouldn’t have to transcode (ie: the audio and video stream is being retained) its nothing more than a file copy operation (which, I would expect, would run faster in the background on the Plex server than the outgoing “stream” would require).
This is just a thought, but the whole “Microsoft isn’t fixing this so we’re just going to ignore it” approach is costing you customers, I think. Its been 6 months now – its time to think outside the box for the sake of your customers.
Another Xbox Alpha build released today. Anyone want to check if this bug is fixed?
The problem is that since we can’t stream the file while it is copying (That is what is triggering the buffering loop via direct streaming) a user would need to wait for the entire copy to complete. That would mean before a user could start playing a file they would need to wait close to 5 minutes for a full copy of the video to occur. Most users don’t want to wait that long when they hit the play button, which is why I suggested how to do it manually. In addition, I put in a ticket to add an additional profile for the optimizer so it could also be ran as an optimized task instead of manually done by the user.
The problem is, the only way to copy to a format that can still play 4K HEVC with HDR is to do full copy of the file before streaming it. There currently is no other format capable of streaming the HEVC on the fly to playback. The only other option would be to transcode it to H264 for on-the-fly playback, but the h264 decoder still has a problem with 4K material and h264 cannot store HDR so playback would then be restricted to 1080p SDR.
Sadly, I am just the messenger. Plex Ninja’s are volunteer’s for the various platforms that we typically use. I definitely understand the problem, but in my current role all I can do is explain and do my best to give workarounds that help others try and get some enjoyment. I typically try and only give workarounds to issues that I have tested to work, but with the wide world of media it’s hard to ensure a oneline command that will work for everything.
Sorry what do you mean make a full copy of the file? Where do then store the copy of the file what directory? I am not sure what you mean by making a copy. give me more of a breakdown of your work around
He is suggesting that you download the ffmpeg tool and run it using the command shown. It will take your source file (the filename after the -i parameter) and modify it and then save it under the directory & filename that is the last thing on the command line.
It isn’t the kind of thing your going to be doing unless you are very comfortable with command line tools (and know a little about ffmpeg).
@jmckee I believe Windows actually has non-blocking file access capabilities, so it should actually be entirely possible to read the file from the head-end while the tail-end is still being written. As long as the file doesn’t contain metadata at the end, my suggestion should actually be workable. (Obviously, if the metadata for an MKV is at the end though it wouldn’t work out. I don’t know one way or the other.)
100% correct. That is also why I put in a request to make it an additional profile for the built in media optimizer.
I haven’t used ffmpeg on windows in about a year or so, last time I tried ffmpeg itself actually starts writing at byte 0 so when it writes the first byte it no longer has the data to read from and the file gets demolished. Things may have changed since then, as far as I know it wasn’t a OS thing so I try and recommend the safer method of make changes, verify the new file works, and then remove the old one.
thanks code is not my thing. if the process is easy enough i may try it. But still waiting for Plex to give us an official update on this issue,
The last official update was 2 days ago from Moussa:
Unfortunately regular updates aren’t very feasible. All I can tell you is ourselves and Microsoft are totally aware of the issue, and we’re in regular communication with them trying to find a solution. We have made progress with some platform bugs that affected some users, but we’re aware that many others are still having issues with 4K HEVC content. We’re working on it.
You’ll see me in a lot of these posts because I’ve been trying to make sure I get the information out as best I can.
we appreciate the response.
Im a tech company owner, and used many vendors in the past to develop and deploy apps, i can tell you if MS has acknowledged and 6 months later havent fixed it, then its not important enough to further investigate. Plex needs to step up and ensure their customers are receiving the required functionality as advertised, your service is a subscription paid service and its really not acceptable to have a major feature like this outstanding for half a year. Time for you guys to apply pressure on MS to rectify.
@Moussa looks like HDR is broken with the latest alpha xbox one patch released yesterday. I am using the latest plex server and plex app for xbox one.
Xbox One X here on latest public build and it still doesn’t work.
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Xbox One X on the latest Omega build, still having issues. I purposefully entered the insider program to try and get faster updates to fix this.
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That’s dissapointing to hear 
Plex most likely has to release an update after testing that Omega build to get 4K Atmos to Direct Play.
